2025 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft: Dynasty start-up for Head-to-Head (H2H) points scoring

If you saw our Rotisserie Dynasty start-up mock recently and thought, "What about points leagues?" well, here you go. We did the process all over again, this time with that scoring format in mind.

It made a difference, I think. With much smaller lineups -- no corner or middle infielder and just three outfielders -- I wasn't so motivated to draft a prospect at a position where I already had a long-term solution. (Who's ever going to topple Gunnar Henderson, am I right?) So instead, I gravitated toward established players with plenty of runway left, taking advantage of the values created by others swerving for prospects, and mostly used my minor-league slots to stockpile pitching depth, which is always in demand in this format.

Even so, I couldn't take advantage of all the values. Matt Chapman going with the second-to-last pick (311) is borderline hysterical to me, but you only have so many roster spots and are being pulled in so many directions. It's almost like 12 team is too small for the optimum Dynasty experience, and now that I think about it, all my actual Dynasty leagues are 24-teamers. Not everyone can be so blessed, but it is a blessing.

Because this draft format can make for some bizarro individual player values, I'd rather not draw attention to that but instead focus on how each team came together. The teams are listed by draft order. Given that prospects are a central part of the Dynasty experience, each was required to select at least five. I've made a point to list off which prospects each team took and with what pick.

1) Chris Mitchell, FantasyData
@CJMitch73
Prospects: Roman Anthony (48), Walker Jenkins (49), Max Clark (96), Coby Mayo (97), Starlyn Caba (312)

Chris used two of his earliest picks on prospects Anthony and Jenkins and then grabbed Clark and Mayo just a few picks later. It's a build that's seemingly set its sights on the future, but then again, the pitching staff trends old. There are a number of offbeat picks worth noting here, too, namely Grant Holmes (216) and Zack Gelof (265). You're more likely to see those sorts of pet projects in a Dynasty draft.

2) Raymond Atherton, Fantasy Aceball
@RaymondAtherton
Prospects: Andrew Painter (71), Jackson Jobe (74), Bryce Eldridge (98), Kevin McGonigle (143), Hye Seong Kim (239), Bryce Rainer (290)

Raymond took 32-year-old Aaron Judge with the second overall pick, which seemed like a not-so-Dynasty-inspired choice, but then he came right back with Junior Caminero in Round 2, Ozzie Albies in Round 4, Grayson Rodriguez in Round 5, and the top two non-Sasaki pitching prospects, Painter and Jobe, in Rounds 6 and 7. McGonigle is also a great fit for this format and suitable heir to Raymond's third-round pick, Francisco Lindor. The build may appear to be disjointed at first glance, but there's a logic to it.

3) Tim Kanak, Fantasy Aceball
@fantasyaceball
Prospects: Matt Shaw (70), Emmanuel Rodriguez (75), Josue De Paula (171), Alejandro Rosario (238), Jaison Chourio (243), Michael McGreevy (310)

Tim clearly moved Matt McLain (Round 4) and Spencer Strider (Round 5) up his draft board in light of it being a Dynasty league and got a really nice value in Shaw, who appears to be his Plan A at third base both now and forever. But then he turned around and cashed in on old-man discounts for Jose Altuve (94), Teoscar Hernandez (118), Willy Adames (123), Sonny Gray (166) and Nathan Eovaldi (267). He was also clever enough to snatch up Tommy John patients Shane Bieber (190) and Kyle Bradish (195) at a discount. Tim may not be set up best for the present or the future, but he's set up well for both, all while being anchored by points-league darling Juan Soto.

4) Jeremy Olenek, The Upside Prospect
@UpsideProspect
Prospects: Nick Kurtz (69), Quinn Mathews (93), Luke Keaschall (165), Rhett Lowder (213), Aidan Smith (285)

Jeremy got the benefit of Shohei Ohtani sliding to Pick 4 and then grabbed up two dominant arms in Garrett Crochet (21) and Cole Ragans (28). His top prospect expenditures (Kurtz, Mathews, and Keaschall) all seem particularly well suited for points leagues as well. The lineup is a little strikeout-prone for my liking, with the obvious exception of Vinnie Pasquantino, but it's strong throughout and also trends young.

5) Scott White, CBS Sports
@CBSScottWhite
Prospects: Travis Bazzana (68), Chase Burns (164), Hagen Smith (173), Marcelo Mayer (188), Thomas White (221), Jarlin Susana (308)

After reluctantly taking on the role of prospect hoarder in the Rotisserie Dynasty mock, I played things more conventionally this time around, not really seeing the need to build a big stable of prospects when my first three picks were Gunnar Henderson, Julio Rodriguez, and Fernando Tatis. With studs also at catcher (William Contreras), first base (Pete Alonso), and third base (Manny Machado) and a pitching staff that's strong 1-5, I imagine I'll be one of the early favorites. Most of my players still have plenty of years ahead of them, too.

6) Derek Blake, lucky reader who got to join in
Prospects: Chase Dollander (174), Zyhir Hope (187), Cam Collier (211), Kyle Teel (222), Eduardo Quintero (283)

I'm always a little nervous turning over a draft spot to a Fantasy civilian, particularly for an offbeat format like this one, but Derek did a nice job here. Like me, he didn't fixate on the Dynasty aspect by going overboard for prospects but took advantage of the discounts created by others looking to go young, with Jose Ramirez in Round 2 being the most prominent example, but also Corbin Burnes in Round 4, Dylan Cease in Round 6 and Blake Snell in Round 9. With multiple studs both in the lineup and pitching staff, he'll be an early title favorite.

7) Doc Eisenhauer, Scout the Statline
@DocHollidayDyna
Prospects: Daulton Rushing (127), Caleb Durbin (151), Jace Jung (271), Agustin Ramirez (282), Josue Briceno (306)

I don't know why I pegged Doc as a prospects guy, but that's not how he approached either of the Dynasty mocks. Paul Skenes in Round 1 obviously makes sense. Wyatt Langford in Round 2 is so Doc but also reasonable enough for a Dynasty format. After that, it seems like he mostly just tried to build the most dominant team he could, capitalizing on slipping veterans. He's showing a lot of trust by making Durbin his second baseman, but the lineup is imposing otherwise. I'd like to have more pitching depth if I were him, and I don't really understand the need for three catcher prospects when he already has Adley Rutschman.

8) Matt Morris, Scout the Statline
@Matt_E_Morris
Prospects: Jasson Dominguez (56), Sebastian Walcott (89), Jesus Made (137), Travis Sykora (152), Franklin Arias (224), Felnin Celesten (233), Konnor Griffin (248), Ethan Salas (257), Jonny Farmelo (272), Caden Dana (281)

Matt was clearly fixated on drafting prospects, and while he got some good ones, most are so far away that he's really hamstrung himself in the short term. When roster space is limited, I don't so much recommend stashing those Arias and Celesten types. You're going to end up taking so many Ls on your way to a maybe. The good news is that Matt's lineup looks strong, highlighted by a studly infield and old but functional pitching staff. It's just that there's zero margin for error health-wise.

9) Chris Rossi, SportsEthos
Prospects: Roki Sasaki (33), Dylan Crews (57), Kristian Campbell (64), Noah Schultz (81), Leo De Vries (105), Jordan Lawlar (112), JJ Wetherholt (136), Cam Smith (153), Moises Ballesteros (201), Lazaro Montes (208), Tink Hence (232), Moises Chaice (249), Trey Sweeney (273)

Every Dynasty start-up draft has that one guy who goes all out for prospects, completely forsaking the present in the hopes of building an eventual juggernaut. Chris did it about as well as anyone could, especially when you consider that some of his non-prospect picks include recent prospects like Jackson Chourio, James Wood, Eury Perez, Heston Kjerstad, Taj Bradley, and Noelvi Marte. There are no guarantees with prospects, of course -- that's why they're called prospects -- but Chris has given himself enough bites at the apple to ensure a bright future. He'll almost certainly finish last this year, though.

10) Jake Holland, The Cutoff Man podcast
@jakebaseball17
Prospects: Bubba Chandler (82), Jac Caglianone (106), Samuel Basallo (130), Chase DeLauter (135), Christian Moore (154), Jacob Wilson (159), Aidan Miller (207), Noble Meyer (250)

While I like many of Jake's individual picks (Basallo at 130 got a big reaction in the chat), his lineup is left with major holes at first base (Jonathan Aranda) and shortstop (Jacob Wilson), which is the ultimate no-no in a small-lineup format. He's given himself a nice young nucleus, though, highlighted by Kyle Tucker, Jackson Merrill, and Michael Harris on the hitting side and Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Spencer Schwellenbach on the pitching side. It's also theoretically possible that Aranda and Wilson (or, later, Caglianone and Miller) work out.

11) Anthony Kates, SportsEthos
@akfantasybb
Prospects: Kumar Rocker (110), Colson Montgomery (131), Brandon Sproat (134), Cade Horton (206), Xavier Isaac (251), Sawyer Gipson-Long (302)

Anthony's roster is a nice mix of young and old with a chance of competing in the short term, though I'd feel better about that if he invested a little more up the middle (Luis Garcia at second base and Carlos Correa at shortstop) and had some extra starting pitchers ready to go on his bench. I'm not in love with his prospect choices either, though to be fair, he didn't invest much in them.

12) George Kurtz, Sportsgrid
@GeorgeKurtz
Prospects: Colt Emerson (85), Charlie Condon (132), Carson Williams (205), Owen Caissie (229), Jett Williams (253)

George started his draft with three guys (Mookie Betts, Zach Wheeler, and Freddie Freeman) on the wrong side of 30, and while he tried to buy it back with picks like Jackson Holliday in Round 5 and Jared Jones in Round 7, he eventually settled into drafting a bunch of old guys nobody else wanted, like Mike Trout in Round 13, Christian Yelich in Round 14 and J.T. Realmuto in Round 19. He's clearly in win-now mode, though his prospects are high-end enough that the eventual rebuild may not be so painful.

There's the team-by-team breakdown. Now, for the full results.