Middle infield sleepers: Jeremy Peña, Connor Norby and more value picks for fantasy baseball 2025

New York Times

19-02-2025

If you love a bargain — and who doesn't? — you've come to the right place. We tasked our staff of fantasy baseball experts with a mental trip around the diamond to come up with a sleeper — defined here as anyone who is believed to return a healthy value over ADP cost — among starting pitchers, corner infielders, middle infielders and outfielders.
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Our staff of sleeper selectors includes Eno Sarris, John Laghezza, Michael Salfino, Owen Poindexter, Greg Jewett, Scott Engel and Andrea Arcadipane.
Here are our staff middle infield sleepers for 2025:
(Note: ADP data in parentheses below is courtesy of FantasyPros)
He's only 24 and was once considered a better prospect than Juan Soto. The upside is his July and August: .337 with eight homers and 10 steals in 47 games. His Statcast expected stats (which factor in contact quality, trajectory and frequency) rank in the upper third and are obviously higher than that when looking only at the middle infield crowd. (Michael Salfino)
Labeling him a sleeper may not be accurate, but he could be on the cusp of taking the next step in his development. He posted 15 home runs and 11 stolen bases in his first full season of the majors. He also scored 85 runs while driving in 57 across his 150 games, accruing 637 plate appearances.
Winn took over as the leadoff hitter in June. He hit first in the lineup in 98 of his last 100 starts, scoring 69 runs with 13 home runs, 39 RBI, and four stolen bases in six attempts. Fantasy managers would prefer seeing him be more aggressive on the bases, and Winn agrees. He's striving for 30-to-40 steals in 2025.
Some growing pains and adjustments were required in the second half of 2024, but his swinging strike percentage remained stable, and he increased his hard contact along with his contact in the strike zone in September. Hopefully, this sows the seed for success in 2025, which may yield 20 home runs and 30 stolen bases with runs upside based on his lineup position. It's not too shabby for a player with an ADP of 183.6 at FantasyPros. (Greg Jewett)
India is a steal for on-base percentage as the leadoff hitter for the Royals. With the Royals now in a competitive window, India should have consistent opportunities for stolen bases and run-scoring. Additionally, the Royals indicated they are looking to test India at positions beyond second base (potentially outfield), which will provide positional flexibility. In terms of expectations, India walks consistently and strikes out less than average. Last season, he did a great job of reducing his Whiff% and making more contact in-zone. He performs well against all pitch types, uses the whole field and has some power. (Andrea Arcadipane)
After showing much promise in 2023, Gelof got the opportunity to play regularly over a full year last season and flopped. He posted an alarming 34.4 K% and an ugly .270 OBP. But the A's allowed him to stay in the lineup and work through his issues, and Gelof still hit 17 homers and stole 25 bases. He was ready to head into the offseason to make significant adjustments, and let's not forget that the 25-year-old was a .291 career hitter in the minors. Gelof is not even being drafted as a top-25 second baseman, and a rebound year is indeed possible. The counting stats could be impressive if he makes more frequent contact. (Scott Engel)
Norby is more of a deep league play but deserves to be more than a draft-day afterthought. His strikeout issue is real, but so is his power, as evidenced by a 14.8% barrel rate and nine homers (and nine doubles) in 45 MLB games last year. Add in double-digit steals, and you have a surprisingly useful player going in the dregs of the draft. The park and supporting cast are less than ideal, but he should hit in the top half of the lineup all year if he's healthy. (Owen Poindexter)
Estrada just screams, 'Buy last year's fantasy trash. After coming off back-to-back .260 BA, 14 HR, 21 SB fantasy campaigns, now 28-year-old Estrada experienced a throwaway season in 2024, mired with wrist injuries and poor production. A career .262 hitter entering 2024, Estrada's batting average took a nosedive along with everything else on the spreadsheet. Except now he's going +100 picks later and playing in Coors for a Rockies' team without a true OBP threat or prototypical leadoff hitter. (John Laghezza)
(Top photo of Connor Norby: Samuel Corum / Getty Images)