Good day, friends! I hope you all survived the four-day period of game viewing, live scoring, and box score withdrawal that Major League Baseball likes to call the All-Star Break. I, for one, usually plan a trip or vacation around this time of year every year, but this round trip was a quick two-day trip to the California coast and back. So as luck would have it, I was already at home and was able to call my esteemed editor MattTruss a request to put together the names of Razz and come to you all day earlier this week. If there’s no baseball to watch, why not write about it, right? And I decided to go a step further by writing this post a day early; I will actually be writing it six or seven months in advance. Well, on this midsummer day in 2024, I present to you my first shot at the 2025 Insomniacs post. I’m not using a lot of facts and figures here, it’s more of a gut feeling on guys that I think somewhere in the back of my mind I think they can have a shot to not only be useful fantasy contributors next year but also maybe a little bit more. on the radar than it should. Maybe some will be good in the second half and end up with more money than they were undrafted next season, while others could crash and burn and rightfully fall off our awesomeness radars next year; time will tell. Also, some are behind the deep league, some are in the middle or even before that, the guys in the league that I think can still pass their draft position. So, we’ll go from most owners to least (using current CBS sports data) to give this hodgepodge of midseason thoughts some organizational consistency.
Brandon Nimmo. Is there a chance that a 100% player who didn’t even make 100 of Gray’s Top 100 in the Second Half of 2024 Fantasy Baseball could be a draft day deal, at age 32 or younger, next year? It’s unlikely, I think, but I think it’s possible based on my feelings that it feels like underestimating the guy every year. I had to force myself to list him in the previous NFBC 50 and catch up league last spring, and it took all the willpower I had to add him to my list with the popularity of a young firebrand. Jordan Walker or James Outman. Obviously I’m glad I did it now, and I already suspect I may have the same conversation with myself next January or February.
Tanner Bibee. If the effort is to mix things up and keep this list full of players who aren’t currently at the top of the fantasy rankings, I wouldn’t include anyone from Gray’s second half list. But, as I made my list and saw that I had one pitcher and one hitter that appeared on Gray’s list, I thought that was an acceptable and interesting amount of overlap. I was going to compare Skubal to this fade, but I don’t have to after reading the aforementioned post and can just quote Gray instead: “I’m going to write Bibee all over the place next year. He is basically 2023 Skubal. Next year Bibee will be (bee) the third best starter.”
Brent Rooker. One of the fun parts of this job, for me, was finding out how much I would fail if you gave me a multiple choice test where I had to match players with their current ID numbers. I did not expect Rooker to come in at #3 on this list in that category, with 95% registered. Sometimes when you look at things through a deep league lens, the values change much faster than you realize. So maybe this means Rooker should be on my “Preliminary Thoughts on Players to Avoid Overdrafting Next Season” instead (especially since, assuming he’s not with the A’s come March, that should automatically raise his profile). I’ll keep him here for now, though, as Rooker has been a godsend for me in my 2024 draft and catching leagues. Even owners who realize how useful he and his 21/62 RBIs in the first half have been, may not know that he is hitting .291 with a .369 OBP, and has 5 stolen bases. .
Heliot Ramos. Repeat what I just said about being surprised by ownership numbers. Ramos owns 94%? Who knew? I guess I should, since he made the All-Star team and is hitting .298 with 14 homers in just 60 games. So maybe if he continues his hot hitting he’ll be on more people’s minds than I thought next season. He may be in dire straits in terms of second half regression, but the skills are there and if he can put together a solid second half I feel like I’ll target him to at least some degree in 2025.
Alec Burleson. Bibee is the pitcher who makes this list over Gray’s Second Half Top 100, and Burleson is the hitter. Mr. Albright called him a “star of the future”… says enough, I guess. That’s me quoting Gray for the second time in four blurbs!
Cutter Crawford. I was a year behind Tanner Houck, who I wrote off like crazy last year and couldn’t hold off this year (aargh), but my time was better than Crawford. I can see that this list could end up being less of a post and more of “guys I’m going to reach in 2025″… than his draft position next year, despite the fact that it will be much higher than it was in 2024.
Jackson Chourio. Chourio still has a long way to go this year to meet his high price tag entering this season, but I’m starting to wonder if some of that disappointment will make him a bargain candidate next year. He may not have ROY, flashy numbers considered, but 9 homers and 10 steals in halftime isn’t too bad for a 20-year-old just getting his feet wet.
Mark Vientos. I’ve lamented recently that I had a feeling Vientos might break out this year but somehow managed to come in a day late and a dollar short (literally in the opposite direction) in all my NL-only/keeper leagues about adding him. to be discontinued this year. So we’ll see what his market value is come spring, but I think there are probably enough owners who have been burned by him in the past or don’t want to pay full 2025 draft day value for a guy who was a free agent. in the deeper leagues in 2024, to keep his costs lower than they should be.
Michael Busch. First base has been a bombshell for a few of my deep league teams and only NL teams this year, so I already think Busch could be a good value play there, or as a corner outfielder in shallower leagues, if someone misses out. high-level option.
Tobias Myers. If I’ve learned anything this year, it’s to expect the unexpected at first with pitchers, especially young ones, and be prepared for the guys you’re ranked above to disappoint you. Also, guys you’re not high on but take on out of desperation seem like they could ruin your stats, or inadvertently reveal a gem with a powerful offense. I’m already worried that I won’t have any mid- to late-term SPs to target next year, and that the ones I’m targeting will end my hopes and dreams of a false success in 2025. Myers was the first name that came out of mine. brains as someone who may last a lot longer than he should in next year’s draft and may not wean off, earning him a spot on this list.
Masyn Winn. I’ve been playing Winn in a few leagues this year, and even so, I was surprised to see his stat sheet. I thought he had more homers (5), more steals (9), and a worse average (hitting .284). It doesn’t all add up to a “fantasy stud,” but it could add up to a “serviceable center fielder in mixed leagues with 15 or more teams, who has the potential to help you in all five categories.”
Zach Neto. It took a while after a tired start to the season, but Neto is still an important part of a few of my teams, and I predict that he will be in many of my squads next year. Even having him in the active lineup or two, I didn’t realize how productive he was, with almost any league-sized 12 homers and 14 steals heading into the break. If someone who lives on the west coast and likes to call himself a fantasy baseball analyst has trouble paying attention to the 2024 Angels, I can only dream of how far off the radar he is in the entire fantasy community. , and how this could lead to some great deals coming out of Anaheim next year.
Jordan Lawler. I’ll leave it to other fantasy people to delve too deep into anything related to ideas, but I felt the need to drop the name of at least one minor player. If there’s ever a year when people shy away from spending money on a talented, promising young player with little or no major league experience, it looks like 2025 will be the year after the slew of rookies that showed up this season. With Lawlar recently suffering an injury that will keep him sidelined until at least the end of August, it’s unlikely we’ll see him in the big leagues this year, let alone get a chance to make any kind of dream come true. . Who knows if next year will be his season, but it shouldn’t be too expensive to produce him while we wait to find out.
Lawrence Butler. I’ll admit I didn’t see 3 of Butler’s 9 innings coming during the A’s unexpected blowout of the Phillies going into the break on Sunday, but I did see Butler starting to bring the power that most of us expected at the time. we drafted him, or added him recently, to the deep leagues. Although the average remains below Mendoza’s line, Butler also has 6 steals in 64 games, and we may see him on more than one roster next year.
Angel Martinez. Starting with a guy who has been a solid resource man for the Guardian lately, I’m taking these last two names on my deep league list for the past few weeks… he’s been great lately. If they can keep it up, they could look very prominent in 2025 but not have the stats for the rest of the year even if they play well in the second half, which could help keep their profiles low as people start to dig deeper. – the organization of the league for the next season.
Matt Wallner. See above… and I wouldn’t be shocked if his ownership continues to rise in 2024 redraft leagues over the next two and a half months. (Or, he could be back in the minors next week. Baseball!)
Feel free to leave a mid-year thought, question, or comment, and let us know if there’s anyone you’re already eyeing as a potential deal next year. Thanks for reading, and happy second “half” of the season to everyone!
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