Spring training has wound to a close, but there are still a couple of days left to sneak in a fantasy baseball draft. If you, like me, are one of those people who are planning to draft until the bitter end, I wanted to give you one more article highlighting some of my favorite values in fantasy baseball drafts right now. So far, I’ve written about breakout hitters using Process+, my favorite bounceback starting pitchers, my favorite bounceback hitters, my favorite late-round starting pitcher targets, my post-hype sleeper hitters, and more.
While this article will feature some of the same players, I wanted something that could serve as a one-stop shop for all my favorite draft picks who I believe are going too late in drafts. With that in mind, all of these players are currently being drafted after pick 200 and are players I am actively targeting enough so that I’m OK jumping ADP by a few rounds. Once you’ve hit pick 200 in your drafts, at least half of your picks, if not more, will be churned off your roster at some point during the season, so that’s the point in a draft where I am more willing to aggressively focus on the players I believe in rather than follow ADP or make the safe choice.
I’ve separated the section between hitters and pitchers to make it easier to find your value, and I’ve listed them in ADP order. All ADP is taken from NFBC Online Championship (12-team redraft league) drafts between March 16th and March 23rd (55 drafts).
Fantasy Baseball Hitter Draft Values
Kevin McGonigle – SS, Detroit Tigers (ADP: 215)
At this point, McGonigle is still in Tigers camp and seems to be headed towards being named the Opening Day shortstop. I know projections are tepid on him, as they are on most prospects, but this is a top-five prospect in baseball who hit .305/.408/.583 in 88 minor league games last season with 19 home runs and 10 steals. He hit .250 this spring, but had just a 5.9% SwStr% with 11 walks and 8 strikeouts in 52 plate appearances. That’s an elite understanding of the strike zone that I think will set him up for plenty of success. Once you get outside of the top 200, these are the types of risks you should be taking.
Caleb Durbin – 3B, Boston Red Sox (ADP: 219)
Durbin makes an elite level of contact and shows a tremendous understanding of the strike zone. He is now moving from a park that ranked 19th for right-handed hitters, according to Statcast’s Park Factors, to one that ranks 8th. If you sort just for hits, Boston is the 4th-best park for right-handed hitters, while Milwaukee is 24th. The issue is that Boston ranks 22nd in right-handed power, while Milwaukee ranks 6th. Good thing for Durbin that his value doesn’t come from his power. He may only hit 10 home runs in Boston, but it would not surprise me if the Green Monster helps improve his batting average from .256 to something over .270. Considering he’s also a threat to steal at least 20 bases and play almost every day in a good lineup, that makes him a strong buy this fantasy season.
Jake Burger – 1B, Texas Rangers (ADP: 237)
I interviewed Burger during spring training and wrote about that here. The short version of my takeaway from that interview is that Burger struggled to start the season and then was putting tremendous pressure on himself to produce for his new team, which led to mechanical changes in his swing that he identified in the offseason when watching tape. He spent the offseason simply trying to get back to the swing path and contact point he had in 2023 and 2024 when he put up back-to-back seasons with a .250 batting average and at least 29 home runs. We don’t have to argue that Burger will be better than that. We just have to say that the real version of Burger is what we saw in those two seasons, and he’s a major value at this price.
Mickey Moniak – OF, Colorado Rockies (ADP: 244)
Moniak is coming off a career-best season where his bat speed increased, his barrel rate jumped to nearly 14%, his hard-hit rate was a career-high 45%, and he made more contact than he ever had before. He doesn’t walk, and there will always be some swing-and-miss in his game, but he has plenty of power and hits in arguably the best offensive environment in the game. Maybe he’s more of a .250-.260 hitter, given his league average overall contact, but he’s going to make that contact count. Another 20 home run season feels like a given, and he has the speed to swipe 10 bases as well. He may sit versus lefties sometimes, but Colorado doesn’t have tons of options to challenge him early, so you’re going to get a .255 hitter who goes 20/10 as a baseline. That’s pretty good at this cost.
Jordan Lawlar – 3B, Arizona Diamondbacks (ADP: 257)
Lawlar has been climbing up draft boards as it becomes clear that he’s going to make the Opening Day roster, but I’m still taking shares. He’s going to pick up outfield eligibility early and slashed .313/.403/.564 with 11 home runs and 20 steals in 63 games at Triple-A last season. I know that hasn’t carried over to MLB at-bats yet, but he has looked good this spring and came into the 2024 season as the 11th-ranked prospect in baseball. I think he has the chance to be a 20/25 guy in a full season, and that has value at this point in your draft.
Andrew Vaughn – 1B, Milwaukee Brewers (ADP: 268)
I covered Vaughn in a few of the articles linked above, but the short version of why I’m interested in him is that he hit .308/.375/.493 with nine home runs and 46 RBI in 64 games with Milwaukee while posting an 11% barrel rate and 47.4% hard-hit rate. He also cut his chase rate a bit and has really always been a pretty decent hitter. In a full season in a good home park and better team, I think Vaughn is a legit .270 hitter with 20-25 home run power. I’d even take him as my 1B in deeper formats.
Josh Lowe – OF, Los Angeles Angels (ADP: 280)
Yes, Josh Lowe can’t stay healthy, and he already had some oblique issues this spring. However, we’re talking about a player who had 20 home runs and 32 steals in 2023 and has a career 8.6% barrel rate with a .250/.306/.414 slash line in 403 MLB games. There are flaws in Lowe’s profile: he doesn’t hit lefties well, he swings and misses too much, and he’s oft-injured, but he also has the raw tools to be an incredibly fantasy-friendly player when healthy. Given that his ADP has fallen around pick 300, it’s worth a gamble to see if you can get a strong run of production to start the season, especially now that he plays in Angel Stadium, which ranks 8th in baseball for left-handed home run production.
Brett Baty – 2B/3B, New York Mets (ADP: 284)
Baty is another player I’ve written about who I’ve been targeting in drafts. He looked great in 110 games last season after his early demotion to Triple-A. He hunted his pitch more often and got behind in the count less, which caused his overall swinging strike rate to drop, and his barrel rate to jump to 13%. I think he’s the starting designated hitter for the Mets against right-handed pitching. When you add his ability to play second base, third base, and potentially even left field if the Mets need to give somebody an off day, there is still a path for Baty to push for 500 plate appearances this season, which makes him a real value at his draft price.
Miguel Vargas – 1B/3B, Chicago White Sox (ADP: 298)
Vargas is a smart hitter who consistently puts himself in good positions to succeed based on his elite understanding of the strike zone. He has a high zone swing rate while also posting a near double-digit walk rate, an 87% zone contact rate, and just an 8% SwStr%. His power also isn’t great, but a 9.3% barrel rate, 40% hard-hit rate, and 89.7 mph average exit velocity are all slightly above league average. In the second half of the season, Vargas hit .267/.354/.436 in 45 games with six home runs and 25 RBI. Given that last year was also his first year as a full-time player, it makes some sense that he would begin to settle in as the year went on. I think that second half is a pretty good reflection of who Vargas could be as an MLB hitter, and that type of player has value for you as a multi-position bench bat or a corner infielder in deeper formats.
Cam Smith – OF, Houston Astros (ADP: 299)
Cam Smith hit .236/.312/.358 slash line in his 134-game rookie season after having just 20 TOTAL PLATE APPEARANCES above High-A before winning a starting job. Smith showed good swing decisions all season and has a stretch over the middle of the season where he hit .271/.330/.386 in 76 games with a 42% hard-hit rate. The consistency wasn’t there last season, but I think that can be expected given his age and limited experience. I would expect some clear steps forward this season.
Coby Mayo – 1B, Baltimore Orioles (ADP: 326)
Thanks to an injury to Jordan Westburg, it appears that Coby Mayo will have a spot in Baltimore’s lineup to start the season and could have the chance to hold onto it, given Westburg’s checkered injury history. Mayo is another former top prospect who had a 10% barrel rate last season in 294 plate appearances. He seems to have settled in at the plate a bit this spring, and while I’m not convinced he’ll ever post a rally high batting average, I think he could push for 20-25 home runs if he’s able to hold onto the job for the majority of the season.
Tyler O’Neill – OF, Baltimore Orioles (ADP: 344)
Tyler O’Neill is basically free at this point, and I think it’s because he wasn’t listed as a starter on Roster Resource for the longest time. Oh, yeah, and because he played just 54 games last year due to injury, and he seems to be injured all the time. However, much like with Josh Lowe, that’s a gamble you can take at this point in your draft. O’Neill is making $16.5 million this season. The Orioles simply aren’t going to limit him to a small-side platoon role when he’s healthy. This is also a player who hit 31 home runs with an .847 OPS for Boston in 2024 before signing his deal with the Orioles. We know what he can do when he’s on the field, and we’re seeing it this spring since he’s gone 9-for-19 with a 47% hard-hit rate. You take this gamble now, and you can just cut him if/when he gets hurt.
Max Muncy – 2B/3B, Athletics (ADP: 352)
I’m not sure anybody had a better spring than Max Muncy on the A’s. The 23-year-old was in a battle for the third base job and won it by going 19-for-49 (.388) with five home runs, 14 runs scored, 12 RBI, and one steal. He posted a 54% hard-hit rate and showed solid gains in his chase rate. Now, those gains are in a small sample size, and his overall contact rate of 72% is still below average, so we need to take this with a grain of salt. He had a 31% strikeout rate in the majors last year and a 27% mark in the minors in 2024, so strikeouts will likely always be part of his game. However, he also had a 10% barrel rate in 63 MLB games last season, so he might actually be a 20 home run hitter, especially in that park, who can hit .240. He’s not going to give you much in the way of stolen bases, but we’re talking about somebody you’re taking in deeper formats at the end of your drafts. It’s worth a gamble to see if this carries over early on.
Mike Yastrzemski – OF, Atlanta Braves (ADP: 356)
Yastrzemski is going to start in the outfield against all right-handed pitching and hit in the middle third of the lineup. Remember that the only two teams he’s played for are the Giants and Royals. Those home parks rank 26th and 28th, respectively, for left-handed home run power. Meanwhile, Atlanta’s home stadium ranks 7th. That’s a pretty big chance for Little Yaz. He has always made an elite level of contact, and while I doubt he hits better than .235-.240, his bat speed has improved in each of the last three years, which has contributed to his average exit velocity increasing as well. There’s a chance he hits .235 with 20+ home runs and 5-8 steals while hitting near the middle of Atlanta’s lineup, and that’s not nothing at this cost.
Cole Young – 2B, Seattle Mariners (ADP: 359)
Young popped for me in my second-year hitters article, which came out before spring training games started. He has since crushed spring training, hitting .281/.349/.667 with six home runs, 18 RBI, and three steals in 63 plate appearances. In my article, I mentioned that Young’s 9.1% SwStr%, 26.7% chase rate, and 79.3% overall contact rate indicate a strong contact profile. When he does put the ball in play, his 5.6% barrel rate may not be that alluring, but he did also post a 114.1 max exit velocity, which is tied with Jac Caglianone, who we think of as a power hitter. I think he’s more of a deep-league MIF target, but I wouldn’t just write off this spring performance as a fluke.
Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Draft Values
Kodai Senga – SP, New York Mets (ADP: 213)
I’ve been in on Senga all off-season, and he’s probably my most-rostered player. This is a guy who was inconsistent in 2025 and battled a hamstring injury down the stretch, but still had a 3.02 ERA despite all of that. Our biggest concerns for him were that his fastball velocity was down, and he had reduced his cutter usage. However, this spring he has been up to 99 mph, sitting 97 mph, and is using the cutter like we like to see. That fastball velocity and cutter usage is going to set him up nicely to put hitters away with the Ghost Fork, so I’m expecting a big season here.
Joey Cantillo – SP, Cleveland Guardians (ADP: 267)
I know people are souring on Cantillo because he’s inconsistent, but I’m going to stick to my guns here. Cantillo rejoined the rotation at the end of last year and, in his final 10 starts of the season, posted a 2.48 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, and 54/22 K/BB ratio in 54.1 innings. He had a really strong 32.5% CSW and 13% SwStr% over that stretch as well. His fastball isn’t great, but he has elite extension, which makes it play up a bit more than it seems like it will. The pitch only needs to set up his changeup and curve for success, and I’m a believer that he can do that.
Mick Abel – SP, Minnesota Twins (ADP: 278)
I didn’t believe Abel was going to beat out Zebby Matthews for a starting spot, and that’s on me. I preferred Abel, but I just thought the Twins would side with the player who had given them MLB innings before. Abel has far more upside though. His fastballs are good, and he flashed improved secondaries last season. I also think the mental skills work he did allowed him to attack hitters more and gave him more confidence on the mound. I’m fully in on a breakout happening here.
Parker Messick – SP, Cleveland Guardians (ADP: 283)
Messick was one of my picks for a late-round starting pitcher with the tools to finish inside the top 25. Now he has a rotation spot locked up, and the breakout could be happening. The 25-year-old pitched to a 2.72 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and 38/6 K/BB ratio in 39.2 big league innings last year. He’s a lefty with a really good changeup that had a 16.1% SwStr% against righties last year, which gives him legitimate strikeout upside. He has a deep arsenal and a track record of missing bats in the minors, so I’m fully buying in here.
Paul Sewald – RP, Arizona Diamondbacks (ADP: 285)
I think Sewald opens the season as the Diamondbacks’ closer. He’s back to throwing 92 mph, and while that may not seem like a lot, that’s what he was throwing in 2022 and 2023 when he saved a combined 54 games in two seasons. He simply needs his fastball to be good enough to set up his slider, and that hasn’t been the case the last two seasons. The Diamondbacks will be good enough to win games, but not so good that they blow teams out, which could mean plenty of save chances.
Matthew Liberatore – SP, St. Louis Cardinals (ADP: 291)
Liberatore posted a 4.21 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in his first full MLB season when the league average for starting pitchers was a 4.16 ERA and 1.29 WHIP. He also had a .300 BAIP and 70% LOB%, which were below average and could suggest some bad luck. This offseason, he modified his change-up into a kick-change that’s kind of a hybrid between a splitter and a traditional change-up. As a left-handed pitcher, a good changeup is crucial for Liberatore, but he posted a 8% SwStr% to righties last year with a nearly 40% Ideal Contact Rate (ICR) allowed, which was below league average. He also changed his cutter, which is now almost three mph harder and is a pitch he can use to get ahead against righties to set up the slider and new changeup. I expect a sizable step forward this season.
Zach Eflin – SP, Baltimore Orioles (ADP: 301)
I’ve written about Eflin basically everywhere, and he’s one of my most drafted players this season. After undergoing a “minimally invasive” procedure in the offseason to fix a slipped disc in his back that was causing nerve issues, I think we’re going to see a more precise Eflin this season. He still missed plenty of bats last year on his sweeper and curve, but they performed poorly in two-strike counts, which tells me that the movement may be fine, but the precision of the command was off. That’s thanks to the back injury. Eflin has a deep pitch mix and has shown a bit of a velocity uptick in spring training. Add to that his plus team context, and I’m buying all the way back in.
Lucas Erceg – RP, Kansas City Royals (ADP: 329)
This is simply because Carlos Estevez looks really bad this spring, an dhis velocity is down. Estevez has pitched around that over the last two seasons, but he has always seemed to be walking a tight rope as a closer, and there is a strong chance that he simply falls off this season. If he does, I think Erceg is the guy, so I’m taking early shares now to see what happens.
Brandon Sproat – SP, Milwaukee Brewers (ADP: 336)
The Brewers are going to be without Quinn Priester and potentially Brandon Woodruff to start the season, but it seems like Sproat has won a spot in the rotation. The 25-year-old had a mediocre four-start debut for the Mets in 2025, but he was emerging as a solid prospect in 2024 and 2025 in the minor leagues. He has a six-pitch mix that gives him plenty of ways to attack hitters, and that’s a profile that the Brewers really know how to get the most out of. This is a great late pick because you can keep him on your bench for his first start, and you’ll know right away if he’s ready or not.
Grant Taylor – RP, Chicago White Sox (ADP: 343)
At this point in the draft, I’d rather draft an elite multi-inning reliever like Taylor than speculate on saves for a bad team like the Twins or Rockies. Taylor wants to throw 100 innings this season, and he posted an elite 34.4% strikeout rate last season. He has overpowering stuff and could even find himself getting some saves or cheap wins for the White Sox. I like having those ratios buffers late in drafts.
Hogan Harris – RP, Athletics (ADP: 344)
If I am going to speculate on saves, I think Hogan Harris deserves some attention for an Athletics team that I think will be good. Yes, he’s left-handed, so he may not get all of the saves, but he has looked good this spring and is throwing harder than he did last year. Last season, he produced a 3.20 ERA and 23.5% strikeout rate in 64.2 innings. That added velocity has helped him add some swing and miss this spring, and maybe that will even carry over into the season? That’s a gamble I’ll take.
Justin Wrobleski – SP/RP, Los Angeles Dodgers (ADP: 355)
This is a bet against Roki Sasaki. Sasaki made the rotation, but half of the batters he faced in spring training reached base. I don’t think his new cutter is a difference-maker, and his fastball still is getting hit a lot. If Sasaki gets chased from a start early, it’s going to be Wrobleski that comes in for him. If Sasaki gets sent down to Triple-A, it’s going to be Wrobleski that takes his spot in the rotation. I’m not saying it’s a lock to happen, but I’ll take the chance on it in deeper formats.
Jordan Romano – RP, Los Angeles Angels (ADP: 357)
The Angels don’t have a closer right now, but many people are drafting as if it’s clearly Kirby Yates. It might be, but Romano hasn’t allowed a run in five innings this spring and has a 23.5% K-BB%. It’s been a rough two years for him, and he might be done, but maybe he’s not, so that’s worth a gamble at this point in drafts. If you’re in a league with IL spots, I love drafting Ben Joyce and just putting him on your IL. I think he could be back in May and quickly emerge as the primary late-inning guy for the Angels.
Anthony Kay – SP, Chicago White Sox (ADP: 360)
Hat tip to my podcast co-host Nick Pollack for this one. Kay has come back from Korea and is throwing harder while also featuring a changeup that looks legit. As a lefty, that will play. He could be a streamer this season, and has a strong case to be the best starting pitcher on the White Sox. He’s still more of a deep-league option only.
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