Top 25 Fantasy Baseball Prospects to Stash (Redraft): Eric Cross' Rookie Rankings for Week 16

July 18, 2025

Eric Cross' top 25 fantasy baseball prospects to stash in redraft for Week 16 (2025). His updated MLB rookie rankings for prospect call-ups to make 2025 impacts.

We've finally reached the All-Star break. The next few days are a good time to take a long, hard look at your fantasy teams to see where you stand and formulate a plan for the second half of the season.

One part of that plan could involve stashing one of the prospects below if you're in a good spot in the standings and/or can afford to use a bench spot on one of them. The first half of the season brought plenty of exciting prospect debuts, some of which have worked well, others not so much. And we still have plenty of notable names who will likely debut or get recalled over the final two and a half months of the season.

These prospect rankings are for 2025 redraft value only. These are MLB prospects who could potentially make a fantasy baseball impact in 2025 redraft leagues. You can also see our top fantasy baseball dynasty prospects rankings for longer-term outlooks and our 2025 fantasy baseball rankings dashboard for all other league formats.

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Top 25 Prospects to Stash in Redraft Leagues

My prospect write-ups are below the rankings. These rankings are for 2025 redraft value only, not dynasty. These are MLB prospects who could potentially make a fantasy baseball impact in 2025.

Promoted Last Week: Cam Schlittler (NYY), Brice Matthews (HOU)

Honorable Mentions (Hitters): Jett Williams (NYM), Kevin Alcantara (CHC), Sterlin Thompson (COL), Alex Freeland (LAD), Blaze Jordan (BOS), Deyvison De Los Santos (MIA), Jakob Marsee (MIA), Jorge Barrosa (ARI), Matthew Lugo (LAA), Adrian Del Castillo (ARI)

Honorable Mentions (Pitchers): Thomas Harrington (PIT), Noah Schultz (CHW), Brandon Sproat (NYM), Carson Whisenhunt (SFG), Cade Cavalli (WAS), Rhett Lowder (CIN)

Fantasy Baseball Prospect Rankings Analysis

Spencer Jones, New York Yankees

Alright, we need to start this week by discussing the absolute tear that Spencer Jones has been on lately in Triple-A. In just 14 games since being bumped up from Double-A, Jones has already racked up seven home runs, six steals, 15 RBI, and 18 runs scored while slashing .362/.426/.776.

There might not be a more polarizing prospect or a bigger boom or bust profile in the minors right now than Jones. The power upside is enormous, especially as a left-handed bat in Yankee Stadium. In his 14 Triple-A games, Jones has posted a 55% hard-hit rate, 94 mph AVG EV, and a 17.5% hard-hit rate.

However, even with all the sexy surface stats and quality of contact metrics, Jones is still running a 63% contact rate in Triple-A and sub-60% for the season with a 32.6% strikeout rate. That's the major problem with Jones. He'll probably have spurts where he looks like a league-winner for fantasy, but the valleys will likely be more prominent and more consistent than his peaks.

Owen Caissie, Chicago Cubs

Over the last month, Owen Caissie has been red hot at the plate, slashing .333/.457/.803 over the last 30 days with four doubles, nine home runs, and nearly as many walks (14) as strikeouts (16). For someone who has long been hovering around a 30% strikeout rate, Caissie dropping his strikeout rate to just 19.5% over his last 17 games is certainly encouraging.

Even if Caissie is more of a .250-.260 hitter, the power is here to be an annual 30-homer bat at the Major League level. That has been evident throughout his minor league career, including this season in Triple-A, where he has a 92.1 mph AVG EV, 53.8% hard-hit rate, and a 20.2% barrel rate.

With all of that said, Caissie needs an injury or a trade to open up playing time as outfield and DH for the Cubs are full with impact bats. There have been rumors of the Cubs looking to add pitching at the deadline, though, which could mean they deal from their surplus of outfielders.

Jonathon Long, Chicago Cubs  

A lot of what I said above about Caissie applies here for Jonathon Long. Like Caissie, Long is a top-100 overall prospect, hitting well in Triple-A, who is blocked at the Major League level. But it wouldn't surprise me to see Long dealt in a deal for pitching at the deadline either. Basically, what I'm trying to say here is that you need to be keeping a close eye on the Cubs and their possible trades, as it could open up playing time for Long or Caissie on a different team.

After a mini-skid in early to mid-June, Long has been on fire over his last 22 games, slashing .357/.439/.607 with six doubles, five home runs, and only striking out in 17.3% of his 98 plate appearances.

Long has been hitting well for the vast majority of the 2025 season in Triple-A, slashing .323/.401/.514 with 14 home runs in 373 plate appearances. His underlying metrics are just as promising with a 51% hard-hit rate, 91.7 mph AVG EV, 11.2% hard-hit rate, 77.3% overall contact rate, and an 85% zone contact rate. If he were to find regular playing time via injury or trade, Long would be an intriguing bat to target in all fantasy leagues.

Zac Veen, Colorado Rockies

Another hitter heating up in Triple-A is Colorado's Zac Veen. After a stint on the IL in late May and early June, Veen has been red hot since returning to Triple-A. Over his last 18 games, Veen is slashing .417/.463/.625 with eight extra-base hits, three home runs, and three steals while only striking out in 16.3% of his plate appearances.

While Veen's first Major League stint wasn't anything to write home about, this is still a fantasy-friendly offensive profile. Veen is a plus or better runner with solid raw power, which has shown up in his 90.3 mph AVG EV and 48.7% hard-hit rate. If Jordan Beck or Tyler Freeman were to play their way out of regular playing time, Veen could be the one recalled to step into the starting lineup for Colorado.

Bubba Chandler and Hunter Barco, Pittsburgh Pirates

It's only been two starts, but it's highly encouraging to see Bubba Chandler only walk two batters in each of those outings. Because in his 10 starts before these last two, Chandler walked 15% of the batters he faced while posting a 4.75 ERA and 1.78 WHIP. I'm fully convinced that we would've seen Chandler up with Pittsburgh weeks ago if it hadn't been for the massive walk rate spike in May and June.

But now that he's gotten that area back under control for a couple of outings, we're back on Chandler watch in Pittsburgh. Even with the higher walk rate, Chandler has remained in my top five of my pitching prospect rankings and is one of the few remaining pitching prospects that could make a substantial impact for fantasy after debuting in the second half of the season.

With that said, will Hunter Barco beat Chandler to Pittsburgh? Barco has been pitching well in Triple-A, especially over his last four starts, where he's recorded a 1.54 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 27% strikeout rate, and a .139 BAA. But like Chander, Barco has had difficulties limiting walks this season with a 13.7% walk rate in 43 Triple-A innings.

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