Welcome to part 2 of my first annual top 200* FYPD rankings. (* Top 106 hitters, top 96 pitchers)

Last week I published my top 20 hitters and top 20 pitchers in the FYPD class. This week you get the rest of the list, 86 more hitters and 76 more hitters.  Is that a bit of overkill? Maybe, but need I remind you that Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal was the 255th pick in the 2018 draft? Is the 2029 CY Young Award winner on this list?  Maybe, maybe not, but that’s the fun of it.

This was a labor of love, and as I wrote last time, I don’t watch a lot of amateur baseball and rely heavily on scouting reports and local news stories. And truth be told, there are a lot of fun and interesting stories deep in the draft. I may never roster 97th-ranked hitter Joseph Sullivan of the Houston Astros, but it was fascinating to read about the lessons in humility he learned from his Heisman Trophy-winning grandfather (Pat Sullivan, ‘71, Auburn). It was also touching to hear Marlins draftee Fenwick Trimble talk about his brother playing with the Savannah Bananas and, unfortunately, how he dedicated his last college season to his father who passed away (see Around the Bases with Fenwick Trimble (Jupiter Hammerheads) 2024).  Honestly, reading these and other draft day stories is a great reminder that in this game that we play, centered on performance and statistics, we’re talking about real human beings too.

Before you jump to the rankings, I encourage you to take a couple of minutes to consider the following caveats.

Unlike most rankings on The Dynasty Guru website, these rankings are my own. Our positional rankings are presented as a compilation of all the great minds here at TDG, but for this project, I broke from the herd.

I have not included international players on this list.  I’ll do some work on that after they’ve signed, apologies to those of you in leagues who are already drafting the J-15s.

In general, it’s a safer bet to take a long shot on a hitter off of this list, but as noted above, there are going to be some diamonds in the pitching rough.  (Sounded better in my head, but you know what I mean).  I can’t wait until next year when I can add a year of minor league data to this list and see how much it changes.

On the pitcher rankings, the DK+ score is a simple combination of scouting grades on the fastball and command. I used that as a starting point, not a final determination of rankings, but I like how it combines two skills I most value when ranking fantasy players.

Player Notes

Griffin Burkholder, (H25, Phillies), is the player most likely to make me regret leaving him out of the top 20.  A high schooler who has exhibited a strong hit tool, power, and speed, he’s going higher than this in the few FYPD drafts I’ve seen. My bias for college bats is showing here, so don’t be afraid to draft him if you have time to wait while he develops.

Another high schooler to mention, and in this case I’m higher on him than most, is Kale Fountain, (H35, Padres). The concerns about his hit tool are real, but so is his power.  Keep an eye on him.

If you like taking a chance on speed with risky hit tools, look at Braylon Payne (H39, Brewers) and Dakota Jordan (H42, Giants). Personally, I’m passing on these two and looking at Austin Overn (H45, Orioles) and Dante Nori (H46, Phillies) a little later in the drafts.

At the end of every draft, I’m grabbing Victor Figueroa, (H66, Padres).  He was the 540th pick in the draft but signed $1,350,000 over slot. The Padres see something, maybe that .400/.485/.623 slash line his first year at Mississippi Valley State, and I’m a believer.

A few pitchers to look at are Griffin Herring (P25, Yankees) who has an above average fastball, slider, and command; Zach Swanson (P28, Tigers) who throws three pitches for strikes and is in an organization that has been doing wonders with pitchers lately; and Hunter Cranton (P45, Mariners) who throws a fastball that touches 100 mph. Cranton’s a definite reliever risk and is already 24 years old, but it wouldn’t totally surprise me to see him pitching in high leverage situations in Seattle as early as 2026.

For more thoughts on these and other FYPD players, listen to Episodes 60 and 61 of Join the Ranks.

2025 FYPD Hitters 21 - 106

2025 FYPD Pitchers 21 - 96