Players like Mookie Betts add roster flexibility and impact draft strategy in fantasy baseball

New York Times

10-03-2025

In every fantasy baseball draft, there are points where managers have tough decisions to make. In snake drafts, two similarly ranked players may be calling to you. In a salary cap auction, managers need to know when to bid an extra dollar or two and when to stop.
Upside, consistency, durability, positional need and statistical versatility are important player profile components to consider when faced with a hard choice. Flexible positional eligibility can be a surefire tiebreaker during a snake draft or when deciding whether to bid higher on a player in auction formats.
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Multi-position eligibility elevates the fantasy appeal of a draft target. It gives you maneuverability throughout the draft when looking to fill various positions. During the season, you will have more roster pliability when dealing with injuries, and players who can slide in and out of different lineup slots become additionally valuable in daily lineup formats.
I'm looking comprehensively at position eligibility factors for the 2025 season, including positional depth and prime draft targets. My analysis is mainly based on standard 5×5 Roto leagues.
This will be the first installment in a two-part series where I focus on positional depth, site requirements and guidelines and share top players to highlight on fantasy spreadsheets.
Below, I've ranked offensive positions for fantasy baseball depth as a first step to determining where multi-position players can be most valuable. Before diving into specific site platform qualifiers, positions are ranked from weakest to strongest overall.
This is always the thinnest position in fantasy baseball, especially in tougher leagues where two players must be started at catcher. There aren't too many guys who will give you ample production at more than one position, including catcher, yet I am interested in stashing David Fry until he returns to full health.
Following catcher, second base must be considered regarding position scarcity. In NFBC leagues, only six second basemen are being drafted in the top 100. Jordan Westburg, who can also play third base, and Matt McLain, with additional shortstop eligibility, are being drafted around pick 90.
Somewhat comparable to first base, there is a fall-off after the top 5 at third, which ends with Manny Machado. Still, you can get an adequate option through the top 12. Jazz Chisholm Jr. gives you usefulness at third base and the outfield — more on him below. As you get deeper into the position, many players also qualify at second base, providing additional flexibility at the middle and corner infielder spots.
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According to the most recent NFBC ADPs, almost 10 first basemen are being drafted in the top 100. Good power is available in the position's top 12 or so spots. Depending on the platform, some viable dual-position finds are available, such as Cody Bellinger, who can also play the outfield, and Jake Burger, a qualifier at third base.
Shortstop is loaded with good depth at the top, as six of the best shortstops are being drafted in the top 25 in NFBC leagues. A total of 11 shortstops are being taken in the top 100. Mookie Betts, the ultimate dual-position acquisition, has an ADP of 11.2 overall. Oneil Cruz offers SS/OF versatility at 39.6.
This is naturally the deepest offensive position in fantasy baseball because of pure volume, but it must be viewed uniquely because while three outfielders start for every MLB team, many fantasy baseball teams require five OF spots. Outfielders fly off the board fast, as the top 24 are gone in the top 100 in current NFBC drafts. Only approximately five of them have any sort of multi-positional eligibility. How deep this position is on the surface is sort of an optical illusion.
Where players qualify depends on the platform or custom settings put in place by a league manager. Here are some of the basic hitter guidelines by site, with default rules spotlighted.
On Yahoo Sports, information from previous seasons and MLB rosters are used for preseason determinations, and a player must make five starts or 10 total appearances to qualify at a position. On ESPN, players must have logged 20 games or 25 percent of their games played at a position in a previous season. Once a player has 10 games at a position in-season, he can qualify at a new position.
In CBSSports.com leagues, hitters must have played 20 games at a position last year or will play five there during the upcoming season. On Fantrax, hitters require 20 games played at a position from the previous year or 10 during the current season. The NFBC has similar requirements as Fantrax.
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Considering the aforementioned depth by position, these are some of my favorite multi-position players to target in 2025 drafts. The ones not featured here will appear in the following article of this two-part series:
Mookie Betts (NFBC ADP of 11.22) SS/OF/2B (Yahoo): Betts is the top multi-positional superstar available and is even more valuable in Yahoo leagues. Betts qualifies in all other formats at SS and OF, yet his 18 games played at 2B in 2024 boost his appeal on that site even more.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. (23.5) OF/3B/2B (pending): He can be drafted as a top-three third baseman, but the major added appeal of Chisholm is that he is going to return to second base in 2025, which will give him unique eligibility at three positions on all platforms. If he can play close to a full season, Chisholm will be an ideal multi-eligibility and multi-statistical standout.
Oneil Cruz (39.6) SS/OF: With 23 games played in the OF last year, Cruz barely cracked eligibility there, yet now he is set to play outfield full-time. There is a definite 30/30 promise for 2025 here, and while Cruz is being drafted as a top 15 OF, he goes off the board as a No. 7 SS.
Jordan Westburg (85.0) 3B/2B: After his breakthrough campaign with Baltimore last year, Westburg is being drafted as a top 4 fantasy second baseman and has the extra 3B qualification. You can get 20 homers and 10 steals if you're concerned about the thinner nature of 2B availability.
Matt McLain (91.6) SS/2B: He missed last season and has yet to play a full schedule in the majors. McLain, however, carries a lot of potential for power and speed in a favorable home park, and we could see a 20/20 season from him as a projected top-5 to top-10 second baseman.
Cody Bellinger (102.88) OF/1B): If I don't land one of the top 5 players at 1B, I will be satisfied with Bellinger as a top-10 option. He is being drafted as the 25th OF in NFBC leagues. He should be a solid pick for 25-plus home runs in Yankee Stadium, with the opportunity to be a featured performer in a retooled lineup.
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Jake Burger (112.4) 1B/3B: I will take dual eligibility with 30-plus HR power here as long as batting average can be recouped elsewhere. Moving away from Miami into a better hitting environment in Texas can only help Burger's outlook. If you miss out on Pete Alonso and his possible 35-plus HRs earlier, getting Burger and a few less HRs is a decent alternative.
Luis Rengifo (151.6) 2B/3B: Keep an eye on Rengifo's preseason hamstring injury, but if he logs close to a full season's worth of games, you can get a respectable batting average along with 15 homers and 15 stolen bases. Rengifo is an adequate complementary infield pickup.
Luis Arraez (175.8) 1B/2B: Arraez is just a one-category hitter. Get him later and slide him into the middle or corner infield. He may be more valuable at 2B due to the scarcity there.
Next: Site-specific standouts, sleepers and players who will gain or lose eligibility in 2025.
(Photo of Mookie Betts: Brandon Sloter / Getty Images)