Crunch time, people. Prepare to enter the fantasy Thunderdome \u2026 12 teams enter, one team leaves. And now for the moment you\u2019ve all been waiting for: this year\u2019s all 250+ ADP team. Hooray! I know, I know \u2026 it\u2019s one of my favorite pieces too. Although similar to previous seasons, each new year remains unique, so stay malleable. Unlike prior go-rounds, I\u2019m not excited whatsoever about the late player pool for hitters.<\/p>\n
Everyone knows hitting on late-round bats feels amazing. Not only does your roster receive a nice unexpected boost, but you wind up looking smart. What could be better?<\/p>\n
An understanding of late-round options shapes our earlier draft decisions \u2014 and not the other way around. So, this work still makes a difference. Since fantasy GMs plan and fantasy gods laugh, it never hurts to have a Plan B. Here goes nothin\u2019 \u2026<\/p>\n
First Base: Andrew Vaughn, MIL \u2014 ADP 300<\/p>\n
When you spend as much time with your nose in spreadsheets as I do, hanging a left down Narrative Street gets excused once in a while. Enter Andrew Vaughn, a No. 3 pick in the 2019 MLB Draft \u2014 entering his peak age-27 season \u2014 who finally broke out after a change of environment in a good ballpark for a competent franchise. Where do we sign?!<\/p>\n
The trade to Milwaukee sparked something deep down. After the move, Vaughn slashed his chase rate precipitously to career lows while maintaining both contact and barrel metrics, resulting in a crazy 142 wRC+. Talent was obviously never Vaughn\u2019s issue. And now we get a full offseason of adjustment to all his regular routines plus a wide-open pathway to everyday playing time for a post-Pick 300 price? Count me in!<\/p>\n
I\u2019d like to see a little more pull power from Vaughn in the future, but we\u2019ll take a middle-order slot in a solid lineup with these underlying skills all day at the price. Vaughn ran pretty cold on batted-ball events last season, posting a .254 BA (.282 xBA), .411 SLG (.487 xSLG) and 35% HR\/BRL (MLB average ~52%). With positive regression to the mean on those expected stats, we\u2019re looking at a smash pick in a shallow position. Frankly, given the power potential, Vaughn\u2019s projection for ~19 HRs feels really light to me.<\/p>\n
ANDREW VAUGHN FOR THE LEAD! \ud83d\udca5<\/p>\n
(via @Brewers<\/a>)pic.twitter.com\/4GEWiMgNXz<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 12, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Second Base: Brendan Donovan, SEA \u2014 ADP 298<\/p>\n Donovan reminds me of a younger Marcus Semien, and the reasons for drafting him are similar. Donovan is a legitimately good player, who is short on counting tools but long on volume. He\u2019ll get enough at-bats to make him worth drafting at cost. In other words, he\u2019s the blandest oatmeal in the pantry \u2014 yawn. Boring veteran types win championships. Except I draft conservatively up top for more exciting swings down below. Donovan won\u2019t kill you anywhere, but he hardly moves the needle in any single category.<\/p>\n Through 2000+ plate appearances at the MLB level, Donovan is a career 119 wRC+ hitter (better than you\u2019d think, right?), playing every day with multi-position eligibility and leading off. Like I said, these player archetypes won\u2019t vault you up the standings, but they contribute a little everywhere and won\u2019t sink you. He even posted a respectable 35 barrels in 515 PA, believe it or not.<\/p>\n The 29-year-old 2B\/OF (and soon-to-be 3B) boasts all the disciplinary and on-base skills managers love in a leadoff hitter, minus being a big stolen-base threat. To that point, however, Donovan swiped 19 bags in 2019 as a minor-leaguer and suffered a bunch of lower-body injuries in 2025 (hip, toe, groin, foot) that might\u2019ve hampered aggression on the base paths. I\u2019m not expecting 20+ steals, but I think projecting him for just five across a full season may prove a little low. Not to put too much lipstick on this pig, but in 5\u00d75 formats specifically, runs and batting average can be really hard to find late. They\u2019re also the categories I find myself short on at times. So if you\u2019re like me and made it all the way to Pick 250 without a middle infielder, Donovan\u2019s our guy.<\/p>\n Brendan Donovan LASER for the lead \ud83d\udd25<\/p>\n (via @Cardinals<\/a>)pic.twitter.com\/7jwVrr6fqs<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Shortstop: Masyn Winn, STL \u2014 ADP 270<\/p>\n I warned you that the backend of the player pool was really uninspiring. When shopping for middle infielders after Pick 250, you\u2019re looking for playing time and a balanced skill set, even if it\u2019s boring as all heck. Does anyone embody a plain category filler more than the Cardinals\u2019 former second-round shortstop? Winn is fantasy baseball\u2019s plain vanilla ice cream \u2026 otherwise known as a reliable dessert.<\/p>\n Everything in the hitter profile screams prototypical 1980s NL infielder \u2014 excellent approach (19.0% K, 7.1% Swinging Strike, 29.7% Chase, 89.7% Zone-Contact) with well below-average power (34.6 Hard-Hit%, 0.322 xwOBAcon, 4.8 Barrel%) \u2014 another yawn. Winn\u2019s not completely without a ceiling. In 2023, he swiped 43 bags across two minor-league levels. At just 23 years old, he plays every day and could easily add power and surpass the 10-12 HR projections, given his lift and pull profile (40.6 Fly-Ball%, 40.5 Pull%, 17.0 Air Pull%). Hope is not all lost.<\/p>\n The downside? St. Louis stinks right now, and Winn\u2019s counting stats will probably come with a very firm cap attached. However, Derek Carty\u2019s THE BAT X puts Winn down for a line of .248 BA\/68 R\/59 RBI\/12 HR\/12 SB, which not only represents a profit at cost but a decent risk-reward ratio for a player this young.<\/p>\n Masyn Winn has been taking off! \ud83d\ude80@Cardinals<\/a> | #ForTheLou<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Dt7UkzP9kx<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) June 14, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n Third Base: Max Muncy, LAD \u2014 ADP 245<\/p>\n Had to fudge on ADP a bit here (as Muncy\u2019s is currently on the rise above 250), but third base is particularly shallow. Muncy\u2019s profile stands out from every other third baseman in his ADP range. Sure, he\u2019s age 35 and coming off some missed time due to minor injuries (knee, oblique), but that\u2019s easily accounted for in the price, and he\u2019s an everyday player in the center of MLB\u2019s best lineup. The power profile isn\u2019t just good for the price range (48.1 FB%, 51.5 HH%, 13.6 Barrel%, .522 xSLG, .227 ISO), it\u2019s elite, standing up to the very best in the game, especially once factoring in the insane pull-side power (54.0 Pull%, 26.0% Air-Pull%).<\/p>\n Projections love Muncy\u2019s power over a 600-PA pace (25 HR, 87 RBI) but aren\u2019t buying the batting average bump whatsoever. Every single system expects a .225 BA or worse, despite hitting .243 on an even better .254 xBA in 2025. In fact, last season marked the fourth straight year Muncy increased his BA without a single BABIP over .265. If his projected batting average is keeping people sour on Muncy, I\u2019m fine buying low for the big potential payout at corner infield. And, oh yeah, maybe getting that astigmatism addressed was a good idea \u2026<\/p>\n Max Muncy before wearing glasses: .188\/.301\/.292 \u2014 MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) June 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Outfield: Trent Grisham, NYY \u2014 ADP 265<\/p>\n I\u2019m old enough to remember the era of the Yankee tax, when New York\u2019s leadoff hitter would never fall past Pick 250 \u2014 especially if he finished the previous season as fantasy\u2019s 105th player (.235 BA, 87 R, 74 RBI, 34 HR, 3 SB). Bake in some natural regression coming off a career year, and there\u2019s still room for massive profit potential simply by reaching THE BAT X projections (557 PA; .224 BA, 73 R, 71 RBI, 27 HR, 6 SB).<\/p>\n Grisham\u2019s a plus defender with the perfect prototypical approach for a successful leadoff hitter (14.1 BB%, 7.7 Swinging-Strike%, 19.8 Chase%, 86.7 Zone-Contact%). He\u2019s playing basically every day, slotted in front of the world\u2019s best hitter, so runs should be plentiful in a healthy season \u2014 but what about the batting average? A .218 lifetime hitter through 2,800+ PA won\u2019t spawn much confidence, but there are some reasons for hope. Grisham\u2019s .235 BA last season was underpinned by a serviceable .245 xBA, which I\u2019m willing to gamble on given the other improvements across the board. In June 2024, the Bombers opened up Grisham\u2019s stance with an altered grip to boost pull-power (to fit the park) \u2014 the results speak for themselves.<\/p>\n Yankee fandom aside, Grisham\u2019s power is not only legit on its face (46.4 Hard-Hit%, 14.2 Barrel%, .509 xSLG, .444 xwOBAcon), it comes with the pull-side cheat code for Yankee Stadium (49.7 Pull%, 19.6 Air Pull%). I guess drafters are hand-waving last year\u2019s breakout as a blip, but we should not ignore a 100+ Run, 30+ HR ceiling outcome here.<\/p>\n Trent Grisham blows this game open with his 30th home run of the season!<\/p>\n (via @Yankees<\/a>)pic.twitter.com\/DhakVNFjcJ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) September 5, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Late-pitching plan: Young, wild and free<\/p>\n Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, so my general disdain for late hitters is matched by my excitement for a slew of young starters who could make a major impact in fantasy baseball this season. A younger version of myself would probably have at least one Zero-SP team consisting purely of my favorite late-round moonshots \u2014 who could all start the year in the rotation for their respective teams.<\/p>\n Here is a ranking of my top-15 backend fantasy starters in case you get stuck needing arms late:<\/p>\n Cade Cavalli, WAS Visit my X @JohnLaghezza<\/a> for links to all my musings, ranks and other work.<\/p>\n
Max Muncy after wearing glasses: .288\/.422\/.528 \ud83d\ude33@Russ_Dorsey1<\/a> | #MLBCentral<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/oM0XQskNzV<\/a><\/p>\n
\nRobby Snelling, MIA
\nAndrew Painter, PHI
\nRhett Lowder, CIN
\nRyan Weathers, NYY
\nJoey Cantillo, CLE
\nShane Smith, CHW
\nMick Abel, MIN
\nMike Burrows, HOU
\nRyne Nelson, ARI
\nBraxton Ashcraft, PIT
\nBrandon Sproat, MIL
\nConnelly Early, BOS
\nLuis Gil, NYY
\nZebby Matthews, MIN<\/p>\n