2025 Position Previews: Outfield, Part 3
We finish the outfield preview going the whole way to my outfielder #107 and hitting some prospect stashes as well.
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Podcast
I am happy to be done with starting pitcher and outfield. These two positions are beasts to get through, and it’s not easy to do! But here you go, my outfielders #67-#107, and then a handful of prospects at the end.
Tier Eight
#67 Brendan Donovan: He plays a ton and hits for at least a decent AVG and OBP. That works pretty well at this stage in the draft when you’re in a deep league and are just looking for playing time.
#68 Victor Robles: I’m way down on Robles, and probably overly so. He’ll steal some bags, and there aren’t a ton of guys in Seattle vying for his job. But I can’t forgive him for his past wrongs.
#69 Jake McCarthy: McCarthy is essentially the same guy as Robles, although with a better track record of actually being able to hit. There’s very little power, and he doesn’t have a locked-in everyday job, but the steals and batting average should be there.
#70 Michael Conforto: The Dodgers like him, so maybe we should, too! He can still hit the long ball. I do think he’s at a risk of losing some playing time to Andy Pages, but he’s a nice cheap source of homers and RBI.
#71 Trevor Larnach: He’s another strong-side platoon and doesn’t have quite the same upside as the Matt Wallner’s and Luke Raley’s of the world. But he is a capable Major League bat, and I think he could get to 20 homers this year.
#72 Jesus Sanchez: Same as Larnach. He won’t play against lefties, and he strikes out a lot. He started stealing bases all of a sudden last year, so there’s a pretty decent upside, even in the platoon role. And the Marlins are so bad that they just might be forced to play him against lefties too.
#73 Daulton Varsho: He’d be much higher if not for the shoulder injury. He might miss the beginning of the year, and the power could be completely gone for a little while when he does return. The batting average has always been low, so if he’s not playing with at least a 15-15 pace, he’s useless.
#74 Nolan Jones: The ceiling is still there, but we saw the floor last year. He whiffs a ton and had all kinds of other issues last year to boot.
#75 Jacob Young: Fits the “elite center field defense keeps him in the lineup and he’ll steal bases when he gets on base” player type. It’s only useful for deep leagues.
#76 Jonny DeLuca: Same as Jacob Young.
#77 Jo Adell: He had a quietly decent season last year with 20 homers and 16 steals, but you’re hard-pressed to even get a .220 batting average out of him (.207 last year).
Points Leagues
Upgrade: None
Downgrade: The steals-only guys (Young and DeLuca).
Tier Recap
There are still very capable players in this tier; it’s just a question of whether they can keep their jobs or not. I like Conforto and DeLuca the most.