6 Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Trade Targets for Rebuilders and Contenders (2025)

Kevin's dynasty fantasy baseball trade targets, sleepers and buy-low picks. Look to acquire these players in the second half of the fantasy baseball season.

As we enter the second half of the MLB season, that means we're in prime dynasty baseball trade season. If you're contender, it's time to make moves to try and win a title. If you're a rebuilder, it's time to find assets that will help you in future seasons.

For contenders, it's a little easier to find trade targets —you're looking for older players who are producing on rebuilding teams. Some guys I'd be looking to acquire: Eugenio Suarez, George Springer, and Carlos Rodon.

However, some more interesting trade targets are ones that all teams should try to acquire. Let's take a look at a few.

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Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Trade Candidates for All Teams

These are younger players that are on the precipice of breaking out and should have strong value for the rest of this season and in the future.

Drake Baldwin, C, Atlanta Braves

With the massive influx of talent we've seen at the catcher position this season, one catcher who may not be getting enough hype as a potential dynasty stud is Drake Baldwin.

Baldwin has been highly productive whenever he's been on the field this season for the Braves. He has a 132 WRC+, which is fourth amongst all primary catchers with at least 200 PAs this season. He has shown a very impressive hit tool, with a 16.1 percent K-rate and an 8.9 percent BB-rate. He also has a very good quality of contact.

His counting stats so far this season have been solid, but don't wow you —11 HRs with 23 runs and 33 RBIs. This is because he just hasn't been a full-time fixture in the Braves lineup. While most catchers don't play every day, Baldwin has been splitting time with Sean Murphy since Murphy returned from his early-season injury, and Marcell Ozuna has been their primary DH for most of the season.

Baldwin's playing time situation should change soon, as one, if not both, of these roadblocks should be traded out of Atlanta at the upcoming trade deadline. Atlanta has obviously disappointed this season, and teams are calling about both Murphy and Ozuna.

If Murphy and/or Ozuna get traded and Baldwin is able to play a majority of the games for the Braves, you're looking at a potential top five dynasty catcher who can provide plenty of production this season and beyond.

Addison Barger, 3B/OF, Toronto Blue Jays

If you're looking for a young hitter that has big breakout potential in the second half of this season, I think it's Addison Barger. He has been very productive this season with a 131 WRC+ and 14 HRs, hitting in the middle of the surging Blue Jays lineup.

However, his quality of contact metrics suggests that more production is coming, especially in the power department. Barger has a 93.3 mpg Avg. EV (94th percentile) and a 54.5 percent HH-rate (96th percentile). He's also pulling the ball in the air at an above league average 24.1 percent of the time.

If you pull the ball in the air with Barger's quality of contact, you're going to produce big power numbers for fantasy. Barger also has a very palatable strikeout rate of 24.1 percent, which is not always the case for emerging young sluggers. It's just a matter of time before Barger's statistics catch up to his metrics. Try to acquire him before they do.

Barger has the upside to be a top-75 overall dynasty asset by the end of the season, who can probably be had for around top-150 prices.

Jac Caglianone, 1B/OF, Kansas City Royals

Is the Jac Caglianone manager in your league panicking about his slow start to his major league career? Caglianone has been pretty terrible so far as he has a 27 WRC+ over his first 143 PAs.

While there are many Cags truthers in the world who are full diamond hands over the young slugger, there might be some managers starting to worry, especially as Caglianone was an exciting but flawed prospect.

Everyone knows about his prodigious power upside, but his chase rate has been a concerning aspect of his game that has been with him since his days at Florida. He currently has a 37.9 percent chase rate.

He will need to improve his chase rate to reach his full potential, but I'm hopeful that will improve as he gets more acclimated to major league pitching. His K-rate has been only 21.7 percent, but all of those chases are resulting in a lot of soft contact and easy outs. However, he's one of the few players in the league who can do something like this when he chases.

Jac Caglianone's first Major League home run came on a pitch that was at HIS EYES 👀 https://t.co/hV4biZxqVR pic.twitter.com/Uv5Hd7lxjG

— MLB (@MLB) June 19, 2025

He is also due for a bit of positive regression as he has been the unluckiest hitter in the majors so far this season. Among hitters with at least 100 PAs this season, he has the most significant negative gap between his xwOBA (.331) and wOBA (.210), his xBA (.259) and BA (.143), and his xSLG (.457) and SLG (.263). He has the triple crown for ratio bad luck right now.

I've always been a Nick Kurtz over Caglianone guy, but these two were neck and neck as prospects earlier this season. Kurtz has obviously shot up dynasty rankings as he has been one of the hottest hitters in the majors over the last couple of months, but Caglianone has the potential to make a similar rise with a hot run late this season.

Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Trade Candidates for Rebuilders

These are younger players who may not have a significant impact for the rest of this season but should make an impact for next season and beyond. I'm not including non-debuted prospects, but you can see how I think about most of them in my Top 100 rankings.

Jordan Lawlar, SS/3B, Arizona Diamondbacks

I know, I know: a lot of people in the fantasy community are done with Jordan Lawlar. After he had a -5 WRC+ and a 32.4 percent K-rate in his first short stint in the majors and a -52 WRC+ and a 40.9 percent K-rate in his second short stint, it might be hard to have faith in the third time being the charm for Lawlar.

That makes this the perfect time to try and buy him, especially if you're a rebuilder.

Lawlar has been considered a top-10 fantasy prospect multiple times throughout his minor league career, but the shine has worn off a bit due to his struggles in the majors and the Diamondbacks' seemingly unwillingness to give him a real opportunity in the majors.

However, if we can just use the Men In Black neuralyzer on our memory of Lawlar in the majors and we just see a 22-year-old (just turned 23 a couple of days ago) shortstop with a 135 WRC+ in Triple-A with 10 HRs and 18 SBs in 250 PAs, we would be very excited about that prospect. He should also get a chance to play soon.

Jordan Lawlar continues to rake in Triple-A.

He's still a buy for me in dynasty leagues.pic.twitter.com/GUuc8ozavF

— Eric Cross (@EricCrossMLB) June 18, 2025

Suarez was the talk of the town All-Star weekend as he is one of the most prominent hitters expected to be moved at this upcoming trade deadline. He's on the last year of his contract and the Diamondbacks are expected to sell at the deadline. Suarez has four homers over the first two games of the second half, bringing his total to 35 and increasing his demand to contending teams.

Assuming Suarez gets dealt, that gives Lawlar the first real opportunity he'll have in the majors to get regular playing time. He'll be out a few more weeks with a hamstring injury, but when Lawlar is healthy, he should be playing almost every day for the Diamondbacks for the rest of the season. He remains a high upside prospect with five-category potential, whose price tag is likely the lowest it has ever been.

Joe Boyle, P, Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays can't keep getting away with this. Their pitching lab appears to have turned another flawed thrower into a pitching demon with Joe Boyle.

Boyle has consistently shown exciting strikeout upside throughout his time in the Reds and Athletics organizations. However, his walk rates have been astronomically high, ranging between 16 to 20 percent throughout most of his stints across different levels.

The Rays received Boyle this offseason as part of the return for Jeffrey Springs from the Athletics, and they appear to have quickly fixed his walk issues while not messing with his nasty stuff. In 73 innings in Triple-A this season, he has a 10.6 percent BB-rate while still striking out 32.9 percent of batters. He had a dominant 1.85 ERA and .99 WHIP.

In his limited opportunities so far in the majors, he has been even better. In 17 innings, he has a 1.13 ERA and .69 WHIP. He has a 10.0 percent BB rate while still maintaining a strong K rate at 28.3 percent.

Joe Boyle is oozing potential. Rays are gonna make him into a monster https://t.co/Sid0g7kgWW https://t.co/FlOwCdt0yS pic.twitter.com/1kxKRwuei9

— Prospect Savant (@ProspectSavant) July 17, 2025

What makes Boyle a trade target for rebuilders is that he might not have many opportunities the rest of this season. Although Boyle has been great, the Rays' starting rotation has been solid, and Boyle is currently slated to be a long reliever.

Many fantasy managers are hoping the Rays will trade Zack Littell to open up a full-time rotation spot for Boyle, but he's been very solid for them, and the Rays are trying to win and can use all the starting pitching depth they can. Boyle should still have some value in a relief role while getting a few spot starts, but it's hard to count on his volume if you're a contender.

Going into next season, I expect Boyle to be a more regular starter for the Rays and provide excellent ratios and strikeouts for fantasy teams.

Denzel Clarke, OF, Athletics

Here's a target for deep leagues who is likely free in many leagues right now. I've always said that I don't care about defense for fantasy, but I might be changing my tune slightly, but only for 80-grade defenders at premium positions.

One of the biggest fantasy breakouts this season has been Pete Crow-Armstrong, and we're also seeing Ceddanne Rafaela start to emerge into a fantasy and real-life star.

While both of these players had more prospect pedigree than Clarke, they fall into the same category of toolsy, elite defenders who had plenty of playing time to develop as hitters because their defense was so valuable.

PCA and Rafaela are considered two of the best defenders in all of baseball, and Clarke came up and started doing video game tricks in center field. Despite only playing in 47 games this season, Clarke has 12 OAA in center, which is tied for third among all outfielders, behind PCA and Rafaela with 15.

This immense defensive value is keeping him in the lineup as he figures out how to become a major league hitter. We're seeing many higher-end prospects struggle to get regular playing time or get sent back down to the minors if they struggle to hit right away.

However, the Athletics are committed to playing Clarke regularly even with a 75 WRC+ and a 38.5 percent K-rate. If he still gets the opportunity to play regularly, his hit tool should improve, and he should get to more power and speed. He's an elite athlete who has stolen over 30 bases twice in the minors. He has also demonstrated the ability to hit tanks like this.

Denzel Clarke just BLASTED this ball 471 feet 😳 pic.twitter.com/EZmXczKJjT

— Athletics on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) July 5, 2025

What gives me optimism that his plate approach will improve is what he did in Triple-A this season. He had a 21.8 percent K-rate and 17.3 percent BB-rate.

Do I think Clarke will become a Rafaela or PCA level hitter? Probably not, but PCA only had an 86 WRC+ last season, and Rafaela never had above an 80 WRC+ in the majors before this season. Clarke may not ever reach their heights, but his price tag is way lower than either of these emerging stars. He's worth a flyer, especially since he'll continue to get opportunities to play.

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