If you have been reading or listening to my content, you have likely heard me reference fScores (named fScores for “fantasy scores”) or use them to compare players. This is a custom fantasy stat I created that aggregates other stats into core skills, weighted against the average player where 100 is average, similar to wRC+ or OPS+.
Drafting based on core skills, rather than attempting a “one size fits all” ranking allows for more customization in team building and team design to target the weak points of your team and allows for more balance.
Please read the article “What is fScore?” for a better understanding before going through the below rankings. The outfielders/utility players listed at the top of each tier are where the tier starts and ends.
If you have been reading or listening to my content, you have likely heard me reference fScores (named fScores for “fantasy scores”) or use them to compare players. This is a custom fantasy stat I created that aggregates other stats into core skills, weighted against the average player where 100 is average, similar to wRC+ or OPS+.
Drafting based on core skills, rather than attempting a “one size fits all” ranking allows for more customization in team building and team design to target the weak points of your team and allows for more balance.
Please read the article “What is fScore?” for a better understanding before going through the below rankings. The outfielders/utility players listed at the top of each tier are where the tier starts and ends.
I know Shohei Ohtani is utility only, but I’m not doing a five-person fScore article for utility players, so you get them mixed in with outfielders. Ohtani is the best player in baseball history as far as I’m concerned and should be the top choice for anyone in a daily league where he’s two separate players. I can see an argument to pick Bobby Witt Jr. first because of his shortstop eligibility in leagues where steals matter, but that’s about it.
Aaron Judge belongs in the same tier as Ohtani, as a 60-home run threat. As long as he’s healthy, Judge will be the best power bat in baseball.
Juan Soto could be a Tier 1 selection in points or on-base percentage (OBP) leagues, but the power will likely downtrend off the 2024 highs with the ballpark change. He’s still an elite four-category contributor in roto or standard category leagues.
Ronald Acuna Jr. was the unanimous number one player in 2024 drafts after a 40/70 season, but his 2024 season was arguably his worst after his last ACL injury, so it’s something to keep in mind as he returns in 2025. Even so, a 20/20 outcome is likely the worst-case scenario assuming a full season of playing time.
Kyle Tucker was on pace for a career season in 2024 until an unlucky foul ball broke his leg in the most obvious injury cover-up in a good while. The skills stick him squarely in the 30/30 range over a full season. He’s also in a contract year.
Corbin Carroll had a miserable first half and revived his season with a phenomenal second half. I think his true talent lies closer to what he did in 2023 where he went 25/54, even though he still finished with a second- or third-round caliber 22/35 season in 2024.
Yordan Alvarez has a better hit tool and power tool than Juan Soto, per the fScores, but he gets the ultimate edge due to the Hall of Fame level plate discipline.
Julio Rodriguez had a rough season, as did the entire Mariners offense. He has some inconsistent plate skills, which can lead to his streakiness. If the Mariners can figure out a way to upgrade the offense this offseason I like his chances to rebound in 2025.
Fernando Tatis Jr. is kind of in the same boat as Rodriguez, except he seems to be more consistent when healthy. Health is the biggest issue, as you can see his power scores are closer to Alvarez’s than to Rodriguez’s. With health, Tatis should put up first-round production.
Kyle Schwarber had probably his best season in 2024 as he traded a little power to increase his batting average. Hope the new Schwarber sticks around for 2025.
I was shocked to find out how well the supporting stats backed up Lawrence Butler’s 2024 breakout season. He went 22/18 in 125 games and could be on track to become a 30/30 player.
Wyatt Langford had a nice finish to the season, so if you tuned out and started watching football instead of baseball you might have missed it.
Jackson Chourio and Wyatt Langford are a toss-up for me, but my recommendation is to select Chourio first in roto or batting average leagues and Langford first in points or OBP leagues.
James Wood is right behind those two guys and is almost a blend of their skills. If you want to reach a little on the upside of more power potential as he matures next year it wouldn’t be a longshot to take Wood instead of Chourio or Langford.
The fScores really like Oneil Cruz this year. However, as noted on the podcast where these tiers are updated, the below-average hit tool and plate skills make Cruz a bit risky, which counterbalances the upside a bit.
Jarren Duran offers a pretty solid 20/30 type of player with a good batting average who will hit in what should be a good lineup.
Jackson Merrill gets the edge over Duran in points or OBP leagues and has a ton of room for more power production as he matures.
Riley Greene should almost get a mini tier of his own as he doesn’t have the speed upside of the other players in this tier, but his hit potential outweighs the players in Tier 6, so I feel wrong ranking him with them. If he only was in a better park.
Brent Rooker heads up what is basically a power veteran tier of players who should produce pretty well from a counting stats perspective. However, this tier doesn’t have the same higher-level upside options as the tier above. Rooker was a stud last year and is moving to a Minor League park.
Marcell Ozuna keeps on chugging along. I was waiting for the collapse and it never came as he had been a pretty streaky player throughout his career until he arrived in Atlanta. He seems to have gotten his stuff together.
Teoscar Hernandez re-signed with the Dodgers, which was his best-case scenario. I love that for him. The counting stats should keep on coming.
Michael Harris is the one exception to what I noted in the Rooker blurb. He is younger and has shown more upside, but the exceptions are previous health issues, where he hits in the lineup (bottom of the lineup) and that he is not utilizing his legs as well as he could be.
Anthony Santander has still not signed as of this writing. it will be interesting to see where he ends up as Giants rumors could sap his power outlook a bit.
Christian Yelich has produced like a Tier 4 guy on a per-game basis the last couple of years, but like Mike Trout, he has not been able to stay on the field. If he can stay on the field, there is some solid value in buying him around this spot.
Ian Happ is a perpetually underrated player, but Roster Resource currently projects him to hit leadoff for the Cubs in front of Kyle Tucker. We could see some career-best counting stats from Happ this year.
Speaking of the Cubs, Seiya Suzuki is projected to hit third behind Happ and Tucker. We could see a similar positive outcome in counting stats. Suzuki has been very good when he plays but has not been able to stay on the field for a full lot of playing time. He is a very good OBP and points option.
Randy Arozarena had a drop off in production in 2024 and was also traded to a tough hitter’s park in Seattle. The Mariners need to add some power production for Randy Arozarena and Julio Rodriguez to reach their best outcomes.
Bryan Reynolds is pretty much a lock for 25/10 with a good batting average. He will apparently play some first basemen for the Pirates in 2025. Can’t go wrong here.
Mike Trout is still a complete stud when he plays, but has only played more than 100 games in a season once since 2019.
The metrics all look great for Jasson Dominguez, but we are still working off a small sample size at the Major League level and some inconsistent playing time. The 2025 season will provide us with a good measuring stick for his career upside.
Colton Cowser is kind of a poor man’s Bryan Reynolds because he will also likely be a strong-side platoon player. He will play well on a per-game basis, though.
Kristian Campbell looks like a big win when it comes to the metrics, but we have not seen his debut yet and the fScores are only pulling off Minor-League data. We also do not know when he will debut, but I think he either breaks camp with the Red Sox or is called up by Memorial Day.
Josh Lowe is the poor man’s Jarren Duran, who is also stuck in a classic strong-side Rays platoon.
Steven Kwan won’t give you anything in the power department, but he’s a boon in points leagues and is basically the outfielder version of what you were getting from Yandy Diaz in points. Though he comes about it in a completely different way (more speed than power).
I’ve mentioned this nearly every year of the fScores, but Luis Robert is trending to be the outfielder version of Javier Baez. He has pretty bad plate skills, which leads to inconsistent production, but the power and speed are real.
He has true talent as a 20/30 player over a full season but will run into large variances based on the injury record and plate skill inconsistencies.
Heliot Ramos is one of my favorite players for this season and his fScores kind of track him to be a Teoscar Hernandez-like player. The only downside is he’s in a tough power park, though the fScores are already accounting for that in his fPower.
We are starting to get into some more depth as we get to Tier 8, The outfield position is huge, so I will try to highlight a good amount of guys in this tier and the tiers below, but will not hit on every single player.
Brenton Doyle brings an intriguing power/speed combo to the forefront of this tier but is a bit of a risk as a later career breakout. Can he repeat or will he be the next Nolan Jones?
Kerry Carpenter has an incredibly high power upside and projects as a better Nicholas Castellanos (more power) on a per-plate appearance level as long as he doesn’t become plagued by the back injury.
Dylan Crews and Emmanuel Rodriguez pair for an interesting rookie tandem in this tier. Crews gets the edge as he should break camp with the Nationals and should be a good bet for roto leagues as a 20/30 threat. Emmanuel Rodriguez could become a points/OBP superstar.
Cody Bellinger gets a nice park factor and lineup factor bump moving to the Yankees. The move could really push him back toward 30 homers with full health.
Tyler O’Neill, Lars Nootbaar and Tommy Edman round out the tier, and only one is a Cardinal at this point. O’Neill projects out to have another nice year thanks to the great lineup situation, but how will the park changes play for him and can he stay healthy?
Nootbaar has had injuries hold back his potential for two years running now. Can he stay healthy? Tommy Edman must have passed the health sniff test for the Dodgers to get a new contract already. I love anyone in that lineup.
Matt Wallner has some killer power potential, hopefully, he can reign in the K rate or this could just be Joey Gallo 2.0.
Garrett Mitchell is a guy I’ve always liked, but his health issues have held him back ala Lars Nootbaar. Can he stay on the field in 2025?
Adolis Garcia is a big rankings faller after a terrible second half. I’ve always seen him as an outfielder version of Javier Baez. With the drop in production, it’s fair to wonder if this is the end for him at only 32 years old.
Romany Anthony has some crazy high upside, but Kristian Campbell should debut ahead of him. The question is if the Red Sox will clear room for him before the season starts.
Jordan Walker has been bumped way ahead of his fScores for me in this tier as a leap of faith in Chaim Bloom fixing him and getting more out of his obvious natural talent.
I love Joc Pederson in Texas. He’s going to put up some career-best counting stats if he can stay healthy.
Parker Meadows would be Brenton Doyle if he were in Colorado. I think he’s in for a big year and could be the Austin Meadows we had all been dreaming of.
Evan Carter is a huge rankings faller for me, which is unfortunate, but the splits against lefties are terrible and this makes him a platoon bat ala Brandon Marsh.
Ceddanne Rafaela‘s defense will keep him in the lineup somewhere with all these young studs coming up. If he can hone in the plate skills, he could be the Red Sox’s version of Tommy Edman with a little more pop.
TJ Friedl is coming off a pretty bad year that if extrapolated would have still been a 20/20 season. He could be on the higher end of this tier if he bounces back to his 2023 levels.
J.D. Martinez was actually pretty decent on a per-plate appearance basis last season. Can he stay healthy in 2025? Giancarlo Stanton and Starling Marte are in similar positions. With enough playing time, all three are incredibly useful still.
Heston Kjerstad‘s outcome will all depend on playing time. I think he could be the Orioles’ version of Joc Pederson.
Nolan Jones had a terrible 2024. His value is in the dumpster for 2025, but it could be prime buying season if you believe in him.
Andy Pages‘ value tanked after the Dodgers brought back Teoscar Hernandez, but he should still get around 400 at-bats, as the fourth outfielder option/depth guy.
This is the dumpster diving, deep league tier. Or, if you are in a keeper or dynasty league, the pit where you can find some nice prospects who aren’t projected for much playing time in 2025.
I have a Broadcast Journalism degree from the University of Missouri and reported sporting news for the local NBC affiliate. I also have a Masters from UCF.
I own and operate multiple construction businesses in South Florida and in my free time write about fantasy baseball and podcast; including creating the fScores.
Find me via the Fantasy Aceball Podcast, here on Fantasy Pros or on FWFB. Twitter @fantasyaceball.
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