Fantasy Baseball Player Notes

Mike Trout has firmly landed in the "What if?" category for both fantasy and real-life baseball. He started the 2024 season looking like his old self, tearing through the first 29 games with 10 home runs and six stolen bases. Then, just like that, his season ended due to a knee injury, leaving fantasy managers who took a mid-round chance on him wondering what could have been. Now, he carries nearly every durability concern possible heading into 2025. Before drafting him, consider that he hasn't reached 500 plate appearances in a season since 2019. While his production when healthy remains elite, in head-to-head leagues, missing significant time can sink your chances. The move to RF should help him stay healthy, but that's a heavy dice to roll. There's still a point where he becomes worth the gamble, but for the first time in his career, that might not come until the double-digit rounds.

Taylor Ward has the potential to hit 25 home runs in 2025 if he stays healthy, offering solid counting stats depending on how often he gets to bat alongside Mike Trout. The challenge with Ward is his streaky production-he'll go on a tear for a month (March/April: 7 HR, 19 R, 23 RBI, .273 BA-coincidentally, the same time Trout was healthy) before hitting a rough patch, only to rebound later. If you're willing to weather the ups and downs, he's a viable OF4 option.

Jorge Soler signed a three-year deal with the Angels in the offseason where he will continue doing what he does: Hitting between 20-30 home runs and going 75/75 in the other counting stats.