Dynasty and keeper leagues add an extra layer of strategy to drafts for fantasy baseball managers in deciding between playing to contend in the current season or increasing their odds in future years. Whether the league is a full dynasty that allows for a full roster to be kept, or a casual keeper league with just a few keepers, the temptation always exists to look ahead for future values. No matter the situation, targeting these players late in your upcoming dynasty or keeper league draft can help you get a jump on 2025.
Sneaky 2025 Keeper Values to Target This Year
Injured Stars with No Present Value
Shane McClanahan, Sandy Alcantara, Brandon Woodruff, Felix Bautista, Robby Ray, Liam Hendricks
The first group of sneaky 2025 target players usually involves star players who are now dismissed due to long injury absences or suspensions, removing their present-year value. This can entail players who had recently major surgeries, like Edwin Diaz and Rhys Hoskins last year, or players with long suspensions, like Robinson Cano several years ago. No matter the reason, this group often provides the best opportunity to add a future superstar keeper to your squad at a rock-bottom cost.
Injured Stars with Only Late Season Value
Clayton Kershaw, Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, Shane Baz, Dustin May, Jeffrey Springs
Several will likely provide partial season value in 2024 after injury rehab is completed, barring any setbacks, such as Clayton Kershaw, Jeffrey Springs, Max Scherzer, Shane Baz, and Jacob deGrom. The risk of those setbacks has still kept all of their values suppressed considerably. In deeper leagues, it’s usually worth the IL spot to hold one of the players who are certain to be out all season, as many did with Harper and Glasnow last year. Now both are top 50 players in current year drafts and provide a huge keeper value return for those who drafted them after pick 150 last year.
The Next Class of Top Prospects
Walker Jenkins, Max Clark, Ethan Salas, Roki Sasaki, Lazaro Montes, Colt Emerson, Brock Wilken, Noble Meyer, Samuel Basallo, Carlos Jorge, Jaison Chourio, Leo De Vries
The names listed above represent several of the many viable contenders to jump into next year’s top 10 prospect ranks, providing early investors with a huge payoff. For instance, last spring it was hard to find Junior Caminero on many top 100 prospect lists. Yet, he was still one of the most discussed prospects due to his breakout Dominican Summer League performance. Fantasy managers who took a late-round flyer on him now have a consensus top 3 prospect asset heading into this season. While not all late-round flyers pan out to that magnitude, like Oscar Colas last year, there’s usually little to no risk in drafting a year ahead to the future prospect class late in drafts.
Prospects Rebounding from Major Injuries
Jasson Dominguez, Andrew Painter, Max Meyer, Ronny Mauricio, Drey Jamison, Cade Cavalli, Endy Rodriguez, and Kumar Rocker
This last category of sneaky 2024 draft targets involves former top prospects that have likely been forgotten about or have lost their luster due to long injury absences. Yet, these rehabbed prospects can provide strong value in the current season but at a fraction of their original cost. For their true believers in long-term potential, there’s likely no better time to acquire them than now.
Get a Head Start on 2025 Late in Your Dynasty Drafts
While you should always prioritize winning the current season with your early-round draft picks, the late rounds present an exciting opportunity to acquire strong keeper players for pennies on the dollar. Usually one of these picks will have other managers scrambling to look up other dismissed players for viable 2025 keeper targets. By the time they have figured it out, you’ve likely had your pick of the litter and the envy of your league mates.
Start your dynasty planning with the best guidance on which players to take for future keeper values, check out our Top 500 player rankings for dynasty leagues.
For more of the great fantasy baseball rankings and analysis you’ve come to expect from FantraxHQ, check out our full 2024 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit! We’re here for you all the way up until Opening Day and then on into your championship run.