This is a companion piece to our 2025 Dynasty League Rankings. The opinions below are my own and do not reflect the TDG consensus.

TYLER SODERSTROM, ATHLETICS (AGE: 23, RANK: 21)

First base is a deep position and is about to get deeper. In fact, although there are true superstars at the top of the list, fantasy teams won’t suffer too badly with almost any player in the top twenty at the first base and corner infield positions. It would be a fun exercise to see if the top twenty first basemen outperform the top twenty outfielders over the next few years – it’s that deep.  If Bryce Harper, Freddie Freeman and Christian Walker ever start to slow down, there are prospects like Samuel Basallo, Bryce Eldridge and Nick Kurtz poised to take their places. And amidst all this greatness and potential greatness, there is a player sitting just outside our top twenty who will be a very valuable pick-up: Tyler Soderstom.

Soderstrom was drafted by the Athletics in the first round of the 2020 draft. It was easy to see why a catcher with grades of 70 for both raw and game power was highly rated. Even though he lost a year of development in 2020, he made a splash in 2022 at Single-A Stockton, hitting 12 home runs and posting a 306/.390/.568 slash in 57 games. He continued to progress in 2022 playing across three levels, and over a full season posted a .267/.324/.501 slash line with 29 home runs and 105 RBI.

Soderstrom started the 2023 season in Triple A Las Vegas where the power display continued but we started to see a slip in his batting average. He was called up to Oakland for 45 games and was overmatched at the plate. Even though 2024 looks just as bad, or possibly worse, there are reasons for optimism and why I’m targeting him while others around me are looking elsewhere. In the 49 games prior to his injury (bone bruise in his left hand), he was not doing well (.219/.307/.404 with seven home runs). After missing two months, he hit three home runs in six games during his rehab in Las Vegas, then performed much better, hitting .279/.340/.512 with two home runs in the final twelve games of the season. It’s a small sample, but encouraging nonetheless. I think it is noteworthy that over the full season in Oakland, he had an 84% Zone contact rate and an acceptable 24% strikeout rate.

In terms of security at the position, don’t forget that when he was still a catcher, the Athletics moved Sean Murphy and now that he’s at first base, they felt comfortable shipping out Ryan Noda to make room. Nick Kurtz is waiting in the wings, but Soderstrom will have time to cement himself in the lineup before Kurtz is ready for the majors. As for the future, unless his power explodes even more than I project it will, a top ten ranking is not likely but look for him to be firmly in the top fifteen, and therefore relevant for fantasy managers in fifteen (or more) team leagues.

(Drew Klein)