2025 Fantasy Baseball Draft Prep: Jackson Jobe highlights new late-round targets for Sleepers 1.0

Usually, you can't stop Fantasy Baseball drafters from being excited about rookies. Too excited, even. We love a Mystery Box, and we'll convince ourselves that every top-20 prospect is bound to hit the ground running as an immediate Fantasy superstar.

Which makes Jackson Jobe's price in drafts so far this season so confusing. Because he's the one top prospect Fantasy players aren't tripping over themselves to hype up. Roki Sasaki is going to be a top-100 pick in most drafts, and Jobe's ADP in the month of February sits at just 265.5? I just don't get it.

But I'll take it. In every single draft, if I can.

Jobe may not be on Sasaki's level as a prospect, but he's not far off. Sasaki is the best prospect in baseball entering the 2025 season by most lists, and Jobe is only around the 10th-best. Ho-hum. Now, in fairness, Jobe wasn't quite as impressive as expected last season, sporting a strikeout rate of just 25.6% across three levels of the minors, with an uncharacteristically high walk rate, to boot. He was still good – a 2.36 ERA will get the job done at any level – but he wasn't quite overwhelming.

But the pieces are all here, and Jobe is still adding new ones. It starts with a fastball that sits around 96-97 mph, with the kind of low-release slot and ride that modern talent evaluators are looking for. And he has an almost unmatched feel for spin that allows him to throw at least two different breaking balls that project to be above average – and he spent this offseason reintegrating his curveball, with the intention of generating more strikeouts. Add in a changeup that will flash at least plus, and even a sinker, and you've got a deep arsenal full of pitches that could all end up being at least above average.

There's a bit of a gap between the scouting reports and the production for Jobe, and maybe that's where the lack of hype is coming from. I don't know. All I know is, the people who are paid to evaluate prospects all seem to think Jobe is going to be a very good major-league pitcher, and he's all but locked into a rotation spot for the Tigers. There might be some question about how many innings he'll end up throwing after falling below 100 last year, but hey, the same thing is true for Sasaki – who had his own production decline in 2024 while pitching in Japan.

Again, I'm not saying I'd rather have Jobe than Sasaki – though, in a H2H points league, Jobe's RP eligibility makes it an open question, at least. But there's no question who I'd rather draft at their current cost – Jobe should be a top-200 pick, and he's available outside the top 250 in most leagues. That might not last if he has a hot spring, but right now, he's one of the best values in Fantasy and one of the players I'm most excited about adding to my Sleepers 2.0 list.

Back in January, I put together my Sleepers 1.0, and Jobe was one of the obvious omissions I needed to correct. Now that that's done for this updated list, we're adding five more new names to the list. Before we get to that, let's look at the eight players who are carrying over from Sleepers 1.0, and the four who aren't:

Carrying over from Sleepers 1.0

Nothing has changed for these eight names from my first round of sleeper picks. They're all still outside of the top 200 in NFBC ADP, and I'm still very excited about drafting each one of them ahead of their ADP.

• Ivan Herrera, C, Cardinals – We haven't gotten much of an indication one way or the other as to whether Herrera is going to start ahead of Pedro Pages, and I'm going to keep pounding the table for him as one of the best No. 2 catchers you can draft unless it looks like he's going to be on the smaller side of the playing time split. He spent the offseason focused on improving his defense after proving he can be a very good MLB hitter, and if he can be even an average defender behind the plate, Herrera has the chance to be one of the most impactful players at the position – in Fantasy and real life.
• Brandon Lowe, 2B, Rays – The only concern I had with Lowe was the possibility of a trade, and it hasn't happened yet, so … Yeah, I expect him to be one of the most impactful power hitters at a position with very few of them. Especially with the Rays set to play their home games at what could be one of the best parks for left-handed power in the majors. Lowe is going to take advantage of that short porch.
• Carlos Correa, SS, Twins – The biggest concern with Correa is health, and he reported to Spring Training without any pain in his troublesome right foot, so I'm still on board. He is one of the very best values in Fantasy drafts right now.
• Michael Conforto, OF, Dodgers – Signing Conforto was one of the first things the Dodgers did at the start of a very busy offseason, and it sounds like the plan isn't for him to be a platoon bat. The move from San Francisco to L.A. represents a significant lineup and ballpark upgrade for Conforto, who still posted some pretty strong underlying numbers. He could be this year's Teoscar Hernandez but with a 200-plus pick discount from where Hernandez was drafted last season.
• Nolan Jones, OF, Rockies – Jones knows he was terrible last season. Just ask him. He also dealt with injury issues and a family health scare that made the already incredibly difficult job of being a major-league player all season for the first time even tougher. Jones still has plenty of power and athleticism, and he still has Coors Field to inflate his numbers, so he's still one of my favorite late-round targets in all drafts.
• Nick Lodolo, SP, Reds – Injuries have been a problem for Lodolo over the years, with a finger injury ultimately derailing his 2024. Before that, he looked like a potential ace, and I still think he has that kind of offseason. He hasn't had any issues so far this spring after a normal, healthy offseason, so expectations should be higher than they are.
• Spencer Arrighetti, SP, Astros – Arrighetti closed last season, with a 3.31 ERA and 29.5% strikeout rate over his final 16 starts. But the hype just hasn't been there this preseason – his ADP has risen from 218.5 to just 207.1 since I wrote about him as a sleeper in mid-January. Which means he still qualifies. He's going to be on a lot of my teams at this price.
• Mike Soroka, SP, Braves – Soroka remains more of a deep-league target, but I will be drafting him in every single one of my H2H points leagues if he's there with one of my final bench spots. Injuries have derailed Soroka's career, but he found some pretty interesting skills at the end of last season with the White Sox, and I'll give him a couple of starts at the beginning of the season to see if he can build on that. With his SPaRP eligibility, he could be extremely valuable if he's even an average starter.

Out of Sleepers 1.0

Don't take this as a shot at these four players. I'm still plenty excited about each of them

1. Deyvison De Los Santos, 1B, Marlins – De Los Santos is one of the Marlins most interesting prospects, and he doesn't really have much left to prove at Triple-A after hitting 26 homers in 99 games there as a 21-year-old last season. But with names like Griffin Conine, Matt Mervis, and Kyle Stowers in their mid-to-late 20s and with fewer minor-league options remaining, the Marlins seem likely to cycle through them before turning to De Los Santos. Barring serious struggles, we should still see De Los Santos relatively early this season, but he isn't such a can't-miss prospect that I feel comfortable calling him a viable stash at this point in 12-team leagues.
2. Kristian Campbell, 2B, Red Sox – The Red Sox haven't quite settled on what the plan for second base is even with the signing of Alex Bregman, but we are assuming it will be Bregman at second and Rafael Devers at third base. If that's the case, it just doesn't sound like there's room for Campbell, at least early in the season. He isn't on the 40-man roster, has played just 19 games at Triple-A, and won't be 23 until late June, so there's no real rush here. He is one of the top stash candidates, a potential impact bat as soon as he makes his MLB debut. But the path to immediate playing time is cloudier than it was in January.
3. Roman Anthony, OF, Red Sox – There's a chance Anthony plays so well this spring that he forces the Red Sox's hand, but playing time in the outfield looks like it might be even tougher to come by than the infield. With no moves made since January to clear any of the log jams up, the timeline for Campbell, Anthony, and Marcelo Mayer just doesn't look immediate enough to keep them here. Anthony might be the best prospect in baseball right now, but he has also played just 35 games at Triple-A and won't even be 21 until mid-May, so there just doesn't seem to be a ton of urgency here.
4. Quinn Mathews, SP, Cardinals – Mathews pitched his way all the way to Triple-A en route to a Minor League Pitching Prospect of the Year award, but he isn't happy about the bump in the road Triple-A represented. The Cardinals have a weirdly deep rotation, and while I do think we'll see Mathews in the first half of the season, it doesn't sound like he's going to break camp with the team. He'll be a high-priority waiver-wire target whenever he is promoted, but I'm not sure he needs to be drafted in 12-team leagues.

Five more new names for Sleepers 2.0

We're planting a flag on five more names for 2025:

Hunter Goodman, C, Rockies

Goodman looks locked into a roster spot for the Rockies. Now, it's worth noting that is as the backup catcher behind Jacob Stallings, which means he isn't going to play every day, even if he gets the occasional outfield or DH start. However, that just doesn't matter all that much at catcher, where few players actually play every day, especially among the No. 2 catcher crowd. Goodman has been pretty bad in his MLB career, but he also hasn't had a consistent role, so I don't want to write him off just yet. He's got legitimate power and enough athleticism to at least hang in the outfield, and Stallings (0.3 fWAR over the past three seasons) just isn't much of a hindrance if Goodman plays well enough to force the issue. There's a chance Goodman provides similar production to Shea Langeliers and Logan O'Hoppe at a much cheaper price.

Jackson Holliday, 2B, Orioles

I didn't include Holliday in my first run because I just wasn't sure how likely it was he would open the season in the Orioles lineup. But with the team confirming that Jordan Westburg is focusing on third base this spring, it sure sounds like the plan is for Holliday to take the starting second base job. After how his rookie season went, that's no guarantee for Holliday, who surprisingly struggled to make contact and generally looked overwhelmed against major-league pitching. But Holliday remains one of the most talented young players in the league and still put up big numbers as a 20-year-old in Triple-A last season, so he remains a talent worth betting on when the price is this reasonable. We'll see if a big spring causes some inflation, but right now, Holliday is a great target in all drafts.

Jonathan India, 2B, Royals

India is old enough that I think most people just don't see much upside here. I'm not most people. India is moving to a worse park for home runs, but the move to Kansas City should be a net positive for him overall. He should open the season as the leadoff hitter ahead of Bobby Witt and Salvador Perez and the rest, and he'll have plenty of room for doubles and triples in that big KC outfield. There's room for a .275 average, 95 runs, and maybe a 15-15 ceiling here, and that should make him a viable starting option in any league – but I especially like him as a late-round target in Roto, where cheap sources of runs are incredibly hard to come by.

Evan Carter, OF, Rangers

I love a post-hype sleeper. This time last year, Carter had an ADP of 115.6 and was regularly being taken in the top 100. He had a year seemingly ruined by a back injury, and suddenly he's a total afterthought? I'm not saying Carter is guaranteed to be a superstar, but here's the thing: He wasn't guaranteed to be one a year ago either, and the upside case for him hasn't really changed. He's still just 22 until August and has still shown elite plate discipline and plus athleticism in his professional career. There are questions about his long-term home in the field as well as his ability to handle left-handed pitching, but when we're talking about a pick near the reserve rounds in most drafts, I just don't care very much about how things could go wrong. Only about what it could look like if they go right. And Carter could still be a five-category contributor in Fantasy if everything goes right.

Jesus Luzardo, SP, Phillies

Here's another one where the case for him might be as simple as "Just look where he was being drafted last year." Luzardo was a top-100 pick this time last year, but forearm and back injuries limited him to just 66.2 pretty terrible innings. We saw the downside in 2024, and his discounted price makes sense as a result. But at that price, I also just don't care what it might look like if things go wrong again. If Luzardo is back to averaging 96-plus with his four-seamer in his first few starts, he could end up being a great value; if he's sitting 95 again, you can probably just drop him after a few starts. But here's the best thing about Luzardo: Because he's pitching for a much better Phillies team than the Marlins team he was on this time last year, his upside is probably higher now than it was when he was 150-plus picks more expensive.