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Andy's top 5 second half fantasy baseball trade targets and risers for the 2025 season. Buy low on players like Salvador Perez, Pete Alonso, Bryan Reynolds, Tyler Glasnow, and Dansby Swanson to help your team win a championship.
After a wild real-life baseball trade deadline that saw one of the top closers in baseball, Mason Miller, and prospects like Leodalis De Vries swap teams as the San Diego Padres look to make a deep run in October, it is time to begin to take a deep dive into our fantasy rosters.
Many fantasy leagues are quickly approaching their trade deadline, which is one of your final opportunities to put the finishing touches on your roster before the stretch run.
Below are my top trade targets to look to acquire to bolster your team. Who should you be targeting? Be sure to follow RotoBaller MLB and me on X for all your fantasy baseball needs this season. Let's get to it!
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Note: All stats are as of August 2
Salvador Perez, C/1B, Kansas City Royals
2025 Fantasy Stats: .254/.296/.461, 19 HR, 34 R, 65 RBI, 0 SB
2025 Advanced Stats: ..368 xwOBA, .288 xBA, 545 xSLG, 14.7% Barrel%, 46.1% HH%
Current Standard Roto Rank (among catchers): 6
While Perez has begun to turn the corner following a rough start, he is still significantly undervalued and possesses high-end No.1 catcher upside over the final months of the season. Even though he sits as the No. 6 catcher in standard leagues, I believe he will finish within the top three by the end of the summer.
Over his first 86 games, Perez was off to a rough start, holding .234/.275/.384 slash line with just 23 doubles and nine long balls. However, he carried impressive metrics all summer and has finally begun to see some positive regression kick in.
Since July 6 (20 games), the former World Series Champion has posted an elite .342/.392/.808 line with four doubles and an eye-catching 10 long balls.
Overall, the 35-year-old sits in the 85th percentile in xwOBA, 89th in xBA, and 94th in xSLG, which suggests he should continue to remain a high-end contributor in the batter's box. In addition, Perez has generated a remarkable 90th percentile barrel rate with a 67th percentile hard-hit rate.
When looking deeper at his batted-ball profile, there could be even further room for Perez over the final months of the season. He has seen fastballs just under 55% of the time and has generated an elite .403 xwOBA, but carries a lower .364 wOBA on the surface. In addition, his xSLG against breaking balls and offspeed pitchers sit at .504 and .401, respectively, which are much higher than the .426 and .234 in his baseline.
In addition, seeing his xwOBA continue to climb each month is a very promising sign for a strong second half.
If you have a low-end C1 like Yainer Diaz or even William Contreras, I would suggest pivoting to the longtime Royal.
Dansby Swanson, SS, Chicago Cubs
2025 Fantasy Stats: .246/.296/.406, 16 HR, 60 R, 51 RBI, 8 SB
2025 Advanced Stats: .345 xwOBA, .271 xBA, .479 xSLG, 11.6% Barrel rate, 48.3% HH%
Current Standard Roto Rank (among shortstops): 18
The Chicago Cubs have been one of the best teams throughout the first half and have been led by MVP frontrunner Pete Crow-Armstrong in center field. In addition, right fielder Kyle Tucker, designated hitter Seiya Suzuki, second baseman Nico Hoerner, and first baseman Michael Busch have also been very productive fantasy assets for all league types.
However, shortstop Dansby Swanson has been near the middle of the pack in terms of middle infielders throughout the season, but could be nearing his long-awaited breakout.
He showed some life in May, posting a .293/.360/.495 line but took a step back in June, handling a much lower .205/.288/.344 line. But fantasy managers should expect the first version of the former first overall pick to lead the Cubs down the stretch.
Currently, his xBA is nearly 30 points higher than his current batting average, and xSLG is almost 70 points higher.
In July, Swanson posted an elite .428 xwOBA against fastballs, which is near the .483 xwOBA he generated against them during his torrid May. However, this past month, Swanson was able to find much more success against breaking balls, which was an Achilles heel throughout the first half.
He was able to post an impressive .352 xwOBA against this pitch type in July, the highest mark of the season and a 200-point jump in relation to June.
While Swanson has always been able to mash fastballs, seeing him take steps forward against secondary pitches is a very good sign and suggests his strong underlying metrics can begin to appear on his true stat line. He is a great buy-low in all formats, as many managers may be close to cutting ties with the first infielder given his inconsistencies.
Pete Alonso, 1B, Pete Alonso
2025 Fantasy Stats: .260/.352/.498, 23 HR, 55 R, 83 RBI, 1 SB
2025 Advanced Stats: .402 xwOBA, .284 xBA, .587 xSLG, 19.5% Barrel rate, 52.8% HH%
Current Standard Roto Rank (among 1B): 4
Calling the No. 4 first baseman in standard scoring a "buy-low" may seem a bit ridiculous, but Pete Alonso has been in a rough skid in July, and there is an ever-so-small window to secure a league-winner at a lower price.
In July, the Polar Bear likely sunk your batting average on his own as he posted a low .141/.242/.306 line with just four home runs. However, Alonso wasted little time when the calendar filled to August as he hit a long ball on August 1 against the Giants.
Fantasy managers should act quickly on this one, as Alonso could be due for an imminent power explosion.
Looking under the hood, Alonso was extremely unlucky during July. When looking at his xSLG by month, his production against four-seamers and offspeed has remained relatively consistent, and only his production against breaking balls caused him some trouble in July. However, seeing that he often hit the other two pitch types well, his precision should not have plummeted that much.
The same can be seen when looking at his xwOBA. In July, his production against fastballs and offspeed was right in line with the first half, while his breaking balls caused him some harm.
Seeing that he sits in the 96th percentile or higher in overall xwOBA, xSLG, average exit velocity, barrel rate, and bat speed suggests he will once again find his footing against breaking balls and return to his first-half form, where he was on track to be the No.1 first baseman in all formats.
Bryan Reynolds, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates
2025 Fantasy Stats: .236/.295/.374, 10 HR, 41 R, 52 RBI, 3 SB
2025 Advanced Stats: .347 xwOBA, .271 xBA, .479 xSLG, 10.7% Barrel%, 47.2% HH%
Current Standard Roto Rank (among outfielders): 81
It's been a disappointing season for the Pittsburgh right-hitting outfielder. Many fantasy managers have already begun to cut ties with the fantasy bust as he sits just over the 60% roster mark on Yahoo! leagues. However, fantasy managers who can find him on the waiver wire should put him at the top of their priority list because he has been one of the great underachievers in the sport.
In terms of SLG-xSLG, Reynolds sits third among all hitters, and when looking at wOBA-xwOBA, Reynolds sits with the fourth-highest mark, suggesting he has gotten very unlucky in various aspects of the game.
Currently, his xwOBA, xBA, and xSLG all sit in the 68th percentile or higher among qualified hitters. He has also generated a strong 89th percentile LA-Sweet-Spot%.
Across the board, you can see how unlucky Reynolds has been this season. He has a higher xSLG by nearly 100 points (in relation to his base SLG) against fastballs and breaking balls, which he has seen just under 80% of the time in the batter's box this season.
Over his last 11 games, Reynolds has finally begun to see this regression begin to show, as he had a .313/.353/.306 line with four doubles. He has the upside to be a high-end No. 3 OF once his positive regression begins to kick in.
Tyler Glasnow, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers
2025 Fantasy Stats: 40 IP, 3.38 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 29.7% K%, 12.7% BB%
2025 Advanced Stats: 3.83 xERA, .219 xBA, 28.8% Whiff%, 39.4% HH% 43.6% GB%
Current Standard Roto Rank (among all pitchers): 251
Rounding things out will be a pitcher who is finally healthy. Tyler Glasnow has had trouble staying on the bump throughout his career, but when he is healthy, he is a near SP1 on a per-game basis. The right-hander hit the shelf with right shoulder inflammation on April 28 and didn't return until July 9.
During his first three starts since his return, Glasnow posted an elite 1.00 ERA with a 0.78 WHIP and a 23:5 K:BB across 18 innings of work. While he took a light step back in his most recent start in Cincinnati, allowing four runs across four innings, the right-hander flashed immense strikeout upside and is a top buy-high target.
Despite dealing with injuries, the right-hander sits in the 89th percentile in terms of xBA and has posted an elite 29.7% K rate. Glasnow boasts two elite secondary pitches that have been racking up the whiffs. His slider carried a 35.2% whiff rate but is susceptible to hard contact, given the .402 wOBA. However, the curveball has been near unhittable, with a 48.0% whiff rate and a .182 xwOBA.
If you are looking to increase your strikeout upside during the back-half of the season, send an offer for Glasnow. Given the time he missed and recent rough showing, your leaguemate may not be aware of the true upside he possesses. He should be a top asset to boost your WHIP while averaging more than a strikeout per inning.
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