The plain truth is that there's absolutely no difference whatsoever between performance in the season's first 20 days and any other 20-day span throughout the year. It's all a matter of perception.
Crow-Armstrong's 4.5% walk rate, the fifth-worst mark among 145 qualifiers for the batting title, surely played some role as pitchers adjusted and began to retire him with more regularity. Crow-Armstrong hit .265/.302/.544 during the season's first half, providing an outstanding 25 home runs and 27 stolen bases (in 31 attempts).
The Dodgers did not win the most regular-season games in 2025 (the Milwaukee Brewers did!), but they were the team that won the final game of baseball's playoffs. The formidable Toronto Blue Jays entered Game 6 of the World Series with a chance to dethrone the defending champs and they had multiple chances to win an extraordinary Game 7, but ultimately, the Dodgers became the first repeat champions since the 2000 New York Yankees.
Tracking the offseason MLB trades and signings with fantasy baseball implications for the upcoming season, Eric Karabell and Tristan H. Cockcroft will analyze and provide an outlook for all of the key players involved. While players were allowed to sign with new teams as early as Nov. 6, things really started to heat up at the league's annual winter meetings in Orlando, Florida, which took place Dec. 7-10.
Nothing against Detroit Tigers LHP Tarik Skubal, Boston Red Sox LHP Garrett Crochet or Pittsburgh Pirates RHP Paul Skenes, but these excellent fellows were supposed to be rotation anchors in fantasy baseball this season. Each was among the top starting pitchers in ESPN ADP for good reasons and, while they produced fantastic statistics for investors in standard points formats and roto/categories leagues alike, they were not "draft day bargains."
Fantasy baseball's Week 25, the penultimate week of the MLB season, represents the first of two-week championship matchups in ESPN standard head-to-head leagues. It's the busier of the two weeks, as Week 25 has 96 total games and 12 teams scheduled to play seven times. Week 26, by comparison, has just 90 total games with all 30 teams scheduled for exactly six games apiece.
Somehow, some way, it's almost September. For many of us, the season is still technically going, but any realistic expectations of winning have long since passed. For others, though, the chase remains afoot, and these possible champions of the future need to scrounge points wherever they can. Including the bane of many fantasy existences. That's right, America -- I'm talking about red-hot speed.
Cincinnati Reds 2B/3B Sal Stewart sure is doing his best to force the franchise to promote him to the major leagues soon, and fantasy managers must notice. Stewart, outside the top 100 prospects in the original Kiley McDaniel list entering this season, has thrived and is among the better options now, appearing at No. 31 on his updated list, published last week.
Warming Bernabel has enjoyed outstanding batted ball luck with a .394 BABIP and has struck out just eight times in 45 plate appearances across 11 MLB games.
Jurickson Profar delivered surprisingly wonderful numbers during the 2024 season, hitting .280/.380/.459 for the San Diego Padres over 158 games, with 24 HR, 85 RBI, 10 SB and 94 runs.
The volatility of rookie pitching prospects is evident in recent performances, highlighting the uncertainty faced by fantasy managers. Jacob Misiorowski's stellar outing contrasts sharply with Chase Burns' struggles.
