Fantasy Baseball Draft Day Decisions: Jose Altuve or William Contreras? Bryson Stott or Jeremy Pena or Masyn Winn or Anthony Volpe, and More

The MLB regular season opens this week, but most fantasy leagues are still a week-plus away from opening.

Fantasy drafts have been happening more and more with each passing day, and things will really pick up in the last 10 or so days before the season gets rolling.

Today, I wanted to check out the FantasySP Who Should I Draft tool and offer up my opinions on several trending decisions. I'll only cover hitters in this story. Let's jump right in!

Check out Fantasy Baseball Average Draft Position data for 2025 and get ready for your fantasy drafts by utilizing the FantasySP Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft Simulator. Also be sure to check out the FantasySP 2025 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit!

Draft Lourdes Gurriel Jr. or Ceddanne Rafaela?

This is not what I expected for the top trending draft decision. What makes it surprising is that these two players are separated by several rounds on the ADP list so far. 

Gurriel has an ADP mark of 151.3, while Rafaela's is 205.4, but we'll still dive into each player since this is what fantasy owners want to know.

In 2024, Gurriel played 133 games, hitting .279 and getting on base at a .322 clip. He added 18 homers, 75 RBIs, seven stolen bases and 72 runs scored. Gurriel struck out 101 times and walked on 29 occasions.

Rafaela appeared in 152 games, so the extra 20 games were certainly nice for points leagues. He had a .246 average, .274 OBP, 15 homers, 75 RBIs, 19 stolen bases and 70 runs scored. Rafaela struck out 151 times and walked on just 15 occasions.

This is still a pretty lopsided decision, but let's look at the season ahead. Rafaela is projected to play everyday, but hit at the bottom of the Red Sox lineup. Gurriel is the projected cleanup hitter for Arizona.

Unless fantasy owners are expecting a big step forward from Rafaela, I'm not seeing a very fair fight here. Gurriel should be the pick in all redraft formats. The only time I'd consider taking Rafaela over him would be in a keeper/dynasty league, and even then, I think Gurriel has more fantasy value.

Draft Jose Altuve or William Contreras?

This is a fun draft decision between hitters at different positions. Contreras is primarily going to start at catcher, or otherwise be the designated hitter for the Brewers. Altuve has played second base over his career, but will move to left field this season.

Contreras has a 33.5 ADP, while Altuve is at 46.3. The extra position versatility makes this a pretty close call though, so let's look at some other numbers.

In 155 games last season, Contreras had a .281 average, .365 OBP, 23 homers, 92 RBIs, 99 runs scored and nine stolen bases. He struck out 139 times and walked on 78 occasions.

Altuve played in 153 games, tallying a .295 average, .350 OBP, 20 homers, 65 RBIs, 22 stolen bases and 94 runs scored. He walked 47 times and struck out on 119 occasions.

Contreras scored 416 fantasy points a season ago, while Altuve was at 385 points. Contreras isn't your typical catcher, playing just about everyday, and Altuve can make up the difference in power numbers with some stolen bases.

This season, Altuve should continue to hit leadoff, giving him plenty of chances to score runs and steal bases, but not have a ton of RBIs. Contreras will hit in the heart of the Milwaukee lineup, allowing him to offset a lower stolen base total with RBIs.

Finding a fantasy catcher is not easy given the lack of elite options, so if I had to decide between these two, I'd grab Contreras and then not worry about the catcher slot anymore. I think both their ADPs are where they should be, meaning if you have the chance to take either, that Contreras is the better draft value.

Draft Bryson Stott or Jeremy Pena or Masyn Winn or Anthony Volpe?

We'll end on a four-player decision between Stott, Pena, Winn and Volpe.

As of the time of publication, the player's ADPs are fairly close. Stott is at 131.5, Pena 170.8, Winn 158.7 and Volpe 147.1.

In 2024, Volpe led the quartet with 160 games played. Pena appeared in 157 games, while Winn played 150 and Stott 148. Those extra games played helped Volpe lead the way with 689 plate appearances. Pena had 650, Winn 637 and Stott just 571.

Winn had the top batting average (.267). Pena was just behind him at .266, while Stott was at .245 and Volpe .243. Stott led the way in OBP (.315). Winn had a .314 mark in OBP, while Pena was at .308 and Volpe just .293.

Winn and Pena each clubbed 15 home runs. Volpe had 12 homers, while Stott had 11. Pena was the leader in RBIs (70). Volpe drove in 60 runs, while Stott and Winn each had 57 RBIs.

Stott was the leader in stolen bases, racking up 32. Volpe swiped 28 bases, while Pena had 20 and Winn 11. Volpe scored 90 runs, while Winn had 85, Pena 78 and Stott just 65.

Pena is projected to hit sixth and play everyday in a pretty good Astros' lineup. Volpe is in the exact same projected role, but in a good Yankees' lineup. 

Winn is the projected everyday leadoff hitter for the Cardinals, who have a weaker lineup than the Astros and Yankees, by quite a bit.

Stott is the projected No. 8 hitter for the Phillies, who may have the best lineup between these four players/teams. The only problem is that Stott is in a projected platoon to kick off the season.

A couple days ago, I wrote about how I thought Stott was one of the biggest overrated fantasy players going into the season. He has bounceback potential, but if he does fall into a platoon, he's very unlikely to remain a standard league option for long. 

Winn is an up-and-coming player, and despite my thoughts on the Cardinals overall, I expect Winn to improve most of his numbers in 2025. Hitting atop the lineup will give him more opportunities to stuff the stat sheet and be a better fantasy asset.

Volpe might not be in a super favorable spot in the lineup, but hitting behind the likes of Aaron Judge, Paul Goldschmidt and Jazz Chisholm Jr. should give Volpe a ton of RBI chances. He's also due to improve his numbers as another young-and-upcoming player.

Pena is in a pretty similar boat, but more locked in in terms of what we can expect out of him. I think he's one of the more overlooked fantasy players every season, and he looks on his way to that status again in 2025.

Last season, Winn scored 329 fantasy points. Stott had 294, Pena 319 and Volpe 296.

I had Pena as my top fantasy shortstop between him, Winn and Volpe, while having Stott in a similar area as Winn and Volpe. I'm sticking with that and taking Pena first among these four fantasy infielders. I'd go with Winn, then Volpe, then Stott to round things out.

I really have no issues taking Winn or Pena first, but believe they are the better fantasy values around their ADPs. I think Stott is going far too early, while Volpe might be a touch overrated with his ADP right now.

While I could see Pena, Winn and Volpe being daily starters at shortstop and Stott maybe regaining his form from a couple seasons ago to be a daily starter at second base, I honestly think all these guys are better as secondary options.

If forced to choose though, I prefer Pena first, followed closely by Winn, then Volpe and finally Stott.