MLB Player News

Kingery, 30, spent all of 2024 in Triple-A with Lehigh Valley where he forged a .268/.316/.488 slash with 25 homers and 25 stolen bases. The former top prospect can play all over the field, and he’ll compete for a bench spot with the Angels over the spring.

Painter averaged a crisp 95.8 mph on his four-seam fastball in this one and topped out at 98.9 mph as well. He wraps up a highly-impressive fall showcase stint with a microscopic 2.30 ERA and 18/4 K/BB ratio across 15 2/3 innings (six starts). The 21-year-old prodigy, who is fully recovered from Tommy John surgery at this point, is arguably the top pitching prospect in baseball for fantasy purposes and appears to be a legitimate contender to break camp in the majors with Philadelphia.

The fourth overall selection from the 2024 MLB Draft has torn the cover off the ball in Arizona, batting .364 with two homers in just 11 AFL contests. The 21-year-old first baseman tore through a couple levels in the Athletics’ system to finish last year at Double-A Midland and could easy arrive in the big leagues at some point next season. He’s a name fantasy managers, even those in re-draft leagues, should be keeping a close eye on during spring training.

Hope’s dynasty value has skyrocketed this offseason with an extremely impressive showing out in Arizona. The 19-year-old’s fifth round-tripper of the fall circuit carried a stratospheric 105.8 mph exit velocity. His power/speed combination makes him a borderline top 20 prospect for fantasy purposes entering 2025. He’s highly unlikely to reach the majors next season, but he’s one of the most promising five-category fantasy prospects in the entire landscape, especially since he’ll be joining the Dodgers’ star-studded lineup at some point.

Briceño has been among the hottest hitters in the AFL over the last few weeks as the five-hit effort raises his batting average to a surreal .439 mark to go along with an AFL-leading nine round-trippers. The 20-year-old catcher is still at least a year or two away from reaching the big leagues, but the over-the-fence pop has been extremely impressive in the fall showcase.

Durbin set the AFL’s single-season stolen base record earlier this week and is now up to a remarkable 29 thefts. The stolen base landscape has changed pretty remarkably over the last few years, which limits Durbin’s overall fantasy upside slightly. However, his speed and defensive versatility is going to make him an impact contributor, especially in deeper mixed leagues. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said earlier this week that he expects Durbin to play “a big role” next season, so it’s plausible to envision him taking over as New York’s everyday option at the keystone, especially if they don’t re-sign Gleyber Torres.

It’s the fourth Silver Slugger Award for Judge following a 58-homer, 144-RBI campaign where he finished with a surreal 1.159 OPS over 158 games. The other big takeways here are Juan Soto tying Mike Trout for the most Silver Sluggers (five) before turning 26 and Brent Rooker becoming the first Athletics player to take home the hardware since 2002. Here are the rest of the American League winners: Salvador Perez (C), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (1B), Jose Altuve (2B), José Ramírez (3B), Bobby Witt Jr. (SS), Anthony Santander (OF), Juan Soto (OF), Aaron Judge (OF), Brent Rooker (DH) and Josh Smith (UTIL).

No surprise here after Ohtani wrapped up his sublime Dodgers debut with a stratospheric 1.036 OPS to go along with 54 homers, 59 steals and 130 RBI over 159 games. The other interesting note here is Jackson Merrill becoming just the 16th rookie ever to take home the honor since 1980. Here are the rest of the National League winners: William Contreras (C), Bryce Harper (1B), Ketel Marte (2B), Manny Machado (3B), Francisco Lindor (SS), Jackson Merrill (OF), Jurickson Profar (OF), Teoscar Hernández (OF), Shohei Ohtani (DH) and Mookie Betts (UTIL).

Miller went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment last week by the Angels to free up a roster spot for veteran starter Kyle Hendricks. The 28-year-old righty posted a serviceable 4.15 ERA, 1.62 WHIP and 11/8 K/BB ratio across 13 innings (13 appearances) last year in his first taste of the majors.

The total estimate to repair damage from last month’s Hurricane Milton is $55.7 million, according to a damage assessment report sent earlier this week to the St. Petersburg City Council. The biggest takeaway here for fantasy purposes is that the Rays will almost certainly be forced to play the entire 2025 season in a spring training stadium somewhere else in Florida. We saw the significant impact that had on offensive statistics for the Blue Jays, which skyrocketed during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign when they played out of Dunedin. There likely won’t be any clarity on Tampa Bay’s plans until sometime closer to spring training, but fantasy managers should continue to monitor the situation closely.

Lopez has opted to test the free agent waters instead of accepting an outright minor league assignment following his removal from Chicago’s 40-man roster. The 29-year-old infielder remains a stellar defender, but hasn’t offered much at the dish for fantasy purposes in several years. He would make sense in a bench role on a contending roster, but he’s highly unlikely to make any sort of contribution for fantasy managers, regardless of where he winds up.