Mid-Season Fantasy Baseball Catcher Dynasty Rankings, Prospect Rankings, Buys, and Sells (2025)

Eric Cross provides his 2025 fantasy baseball prospect and dynasty rankings for the catcher position and discusses catchers to buy or sell for the second half.

We're officially done with the first half of the season. Per usual, we've seen plenty of risers and fallers in both dynasty and prospect rankings. And with us in the middle of the season, it's a great time to go position by position, and take a look at updated dynasty and prospect rankings for each position, along with some names to buy or sell right now in dynasty leagues.

The catcher position has seen a major shake-up at the top. Cal "Big Dumper" Raleigh has been dumping a lot of baseballs over the outfield fence and is on pace to have a season for the record books. But outside of him, many of the other top names at this position have seen their value decrease this season, while some exciting young names are joining the fray near the top of the rankings.

Below you'll find my current Top 20 dynasty rankings and Top 15 prospect rankings for the catcher position, along with thoughts on several notable players, their values moving forward, and whether to buy or sell right now.

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Catcher Dynasty Rankings

Tier 1: Cal Raleigh

Tier 2: Will Smith, Samuel Basallo

Tier 3: Adley Rutschman, Agustín Ramírez, Hunter Goodman, William Contreras, Ivan Herrera

Tier 4: Drake Baldwin, Yainer Diaz, Logan O'Hoppe, Shea Langeliers

Tier 5: Dalton Rushing, Austin Wells, Moises Ballesteros, Alejandro Kirk, Kyle Teel

Catcher Prospect Rankings

Tier 1: Samuel Basallo, Josue Briceño, Dalton Rushing

Tier 2: Moises Ballesteros, Kyle Teel

Tier 3: Eduardo Tait, Harry Ford, Marco Dinges, Rainiel Rodriguez

tier 4: Thayron Liranzo, Alfredo Duno, Carter Jensen, Jeferson Quero, Blake Mitchell

Catchers to Buy/Sell/Hold

Agustin Ramírez, Miami Marlins (Buy)

Agustin Ramírez is the biggest buy at the catcher position right now. In his first 280 plate appearances in the Majors, Ramírez has smacked 14 home runs and 18 doubles with a .249/.296/.487 slash line. The AVG and OBP don't exactly stand out, but Ramírez's underlying metrics certainly do.

Agustín Ramírez will be considered a universal Top-5 catcher for dynasty by the end of the season.pic.twitter.com/5KlAjxNk9x

— Eric Cross (@EricCrossMLB) July 8, 2025

First and foremost, Ramírez's quality of contact metrics stand out with a 12% barrel rate, 92 mph AVG EV, and a 48.8% hard-hit rate. Those all rank in the Top-26% of hitters this season, and Ramírez also has a .522 xSLG, .424 xwOBACON, and an 88th percentile bat speed. He's far from an all-or-nothing thumper, too, as Ramírez has recorded an 18.9% strikeout rate, an 85.8% zone contact rate, and a 76.6% overall contact rate this season.

Even if the OBP is a bit lower than we'd like to see long-term, Ramírez is an above-average contact bat with plus or better power. The upside moving forward is a hitter who flirts with or exceeds 30 home runs annually while hitting in the .260 range or so, maybe even higher than that. Ramírez's stock is already on the rise, but he's still a great buy as the value should only continue to rise from here.

Drake Baldwin, Atlanta Braves (Buy)

Drake Baldwin's stock is already on the rise right now, but it could really soar in the final two months of the season if Atlanta trades Sean Murphy. While playing in roughly 50% of the time since being called up earlier this season, Baldwin has excelled. In 196 plate appearances, Baldwin has a .274/.352/.474 slash line with 10 home runs.

Baldwin's quality of contact metrics has really stood out so far with an 11.1% barrel rate, 92 mph AVG EV, and a 51.4% hard-hit rate. On top of that, he's also been making above-average contact with an 86.2% zone contact rate, 81.1% overall contact rate, and an impressive 15.8% strikeout rate to pair with a solid 9.7% walk rate. Baldwin is hitting above .250 with a contact rate above 70% on all three pitch types, and has an AVG EV above 92 mph on both fastballs and breaking balls.

The split in playing time between Baldwin and Murphy has kept his value somewhat in check for the time being, but it sounds like Atlanta is going to be a seller at the deadline, with Murphy being one of the pieces that could get dealt. If that happens and Baldwin moves into a more traditional starter's role, he could cement his status as a Top 10 catcher and maybe even push Top 5 status.

Josue Briceno, Detroit Tigers (Buy)

I've been recommending Josue Briceño as a prospect buy since last season, and my recommendation only got stronger and louder after seeing him live out in the Arizona Fall League last October and November. After being limited to just 40 games in 2024, Briceño took the Arizona Fall League by storm, slashing .433/.509/.867 with 17 extra-base hits and 10 home runs in 25 games en route to winning the league's offensive triple crown and most valuable player award.

112 mph off the bat of Josue Briceño 🫢

MLB's No. 58 prospect (@Tigers) ropes his 15th roundtripper of the year, raising his OPS to 1.026 for the High-A @WMWhitecaps.

Tune in to see FIVE top 100 prospects in the Free Game of the Day: https://t.co/lX9hi2VM6p pic.twitter.com/JaKKNxFtwc

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 3, 2025

That dominant performance shot Briceño up prospect rankings, and he's carried over that AFL dominance into the 2025 minor league season. In 248 plate appearances so far this season, Briceño is slashing .300/.423/.605 with 14 doubles, 15 home runs, and has walked as much as he's struck out (both 16.5%).

Briceño is making contact at an above-average 76% clip to pair with an elite plate approach and plus to double-plus power. All the skills are here to be a middle-of-the-order force at the Major League level.

Now, with all of this said, I'm not entirely sure how long Briceño stays at catcher long-term. He profiles more as a first baseman in my eyes long-term, but he's still splitting time between catcher, first base, and designated hitter this season. But regardless of long-term position, Briceño is a prospect to be investing heavily in right now in dynasty leagues.

Moises Ballesteros, Chicago Cubs (Sell)

Let me begin by saying that I like Moises Ballesteros in general and believe he's a good prospect. But I also believe that the perceived value for him is higher than my personal evaluation, hence having him as a sell here. On top of that, the short-term and long-term playing time outlook for Ballesteros is cloudy.

As it stands now, the Chicago Cubs are set at every position on the diamond and barely ever play their current bench guys. As a below-average defensive catcher who is too small to play first base, the designated hitter spot is probably the best spot for Ballesteros long-term. That really limits his value, especially on a Chicago team that already has Seiya Suzuki occupying that spot. Maybe Ballesteros will get traded at the deadline. That would certainly help his playing time outlook moving forward.

But as I mentioned above, the bat is really solid. Ballesteros has always been an above-average contact hitter and is making contact at an 86.2% rate in zone and 80.2% overall. There's also above-average power in Ballesteros' profile, and that has shown up in his 91.2 mph AVG EV and 42.8% hard-hit rate in Triple-A this season. The long-term upside is a .270/20 player, but I'm just not sure how or when he fits into the Cubs' starting lineup.

Hunter Goodman, Colorado Rockies (Hold/Sell)

Some might be tempted to sell Hunter Goodman right now, given his current performance and how much he struggled in 2024. And while I'm not 100% against selling if you can get a good return, I'd more so be looking to hold Goodman if you have him right now in dynasty leagues.

In 336 plate appearances this season, Goodman has slashed .280/.324/.519 with 17 home runs, 52 RBI, and 45 runs scored. His quality of contact metrics has all been elite with a 12.9% barrel rate, 92 mph AVG EV, and a 51.6% hard-hit rate. But outside of the power, Goodman is running a below-average 79.3% zone contact rate and 67.5% overall contact rate, along with a 36.7% chase rate.

Those contact rates certainly aren't great, but given the Coors Field BABIP boost, Goodman can still succeed with those rates, given his higher quality of contact metrics. I'm not a believer in the .280 average sticking moving forward, though, and Goodman is probably more of a .250-.260 guy moving forward. But that could also come with more than 25 home runs annually. So again, holding or selling really depends on the return.

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