In case you haven’t heard the exciting news, Yahoo Fantasy Plus has some major upgrades for this fantasy baseball season, giving subscribers new tools with deeper insights for a competitive edge.
Among the improvements, you can access new, detailed maximum and minimum projections in points leagues to better predict a number of things when it comes to your draft prep, including which potential picks might exceed their projection and be a “Boom” for your squad — or fall short of expectations and be a “Bust”.
[Unlock premium draft tools & player projections with Yahoo Fantasy Plus]
Using the Fantasy Plus Experts Consensus model, we’ve identified three outfielders with the widest range of outcomes (AKA the hardest players to project) for 2025. We’ve also included a wealth of data, both free (projected fantasy points and consensus projected stats) as well as exclusive to Yahoo Fantasy Plus (maximum/minimum fantasy points projections and highest/lowest expert rank) to give you a sample of all we have to offer.
Andy Behrens has analyzed the data and reveals if he’s in or out on each player.
Wyatt Langford, Texas Rangers
-
8th-widest range of outcomes among OFs using Fantasy Plus modeling
-
Projected fantasy points: 1,167
-
Maximum fantasy points projection: 1,557 (THE BAT X)
-
Minimum fantasy points projection: 747 (THE BAT X)
2025 Yahoo Fantasy consensus projections
|
Average |
Home Runs |
RBI |
Stolen Bases |
Runs |
|
.263 |
18 |
80 |
22 |
82 |
Rankings overview
-
Composite expert rank: 51.8
-
Highest overall rank: 37 (Dalton Del Don/Yahoo)
-
Lowest 68 (Ryan Rufe/Rotowire)
On the one hand, Langford delivered an alarming percentage of his first-year production in the season’s final month when he launched eight homers, stole seven bags and slashed .300/.386/.610. But on the other hand, at least he demonstrated at some point that he was capable of such a binge against big league pitching. Langford absolutely tore through the minors with no difficulties whatsoever, hitting an outrageous .351/.469/.649 over 211 plate appearances. He wasn’t seriously challenged until he actually reached MLB.
Bottom line: I’m all-in. After going 16/19 as a rookie at the age of 22, this is a rocket-emoji player. He placed in the 98th percentile last year in sprint speed, 86th percentile in chase rate and 84th in bat speed. He’s a potential monster. It’s worth chasing the ceiling. Langford’s upside is a supernova season that lands him inside the first round of 2026 fantasy drafts.
Lawrence Butler, Athletics
-
9th-widest range of outcomes among OFs using Fantasy Plus modeling
-
Projected fantasy points: 1,085
-
Maximum fantasy points projection: 1,404 (THE BAT X)
-
Minimum fantasy points projection: 695 (THE BAT X)
2025 projected stats
Avg: 260 | HR: 23 | RBI: 68 | SB: 21 | R: 79
Rankings overview
-
Composite expert rank: 87.2
-
Highest overall rank: 77 (Del Don)
-
Lowest 108 (Andy Behrens/Yahoo)
While the projections might suggest a wide range of possible outcomes for Butler, the A’s themselves felt confident enough to give him a seven-year extension, signaling that he’s regarded as a foundational piece. We can assume his unimpressive performance at the big league level back in 2023 is contributing to his perceived floor — he hit just .211/.240/.341 over 129 PA — because he was mostly excellent in 2024. Butler hit 22 bombs and stole 18 bags last year while hitting .262 with a .301 BABIP.
Bottom line: I haven’t yet reached for Butler ahead of his 80.1 ADP, because I don’t view his best-case outcome as being quite in the neighborhood of Langford. Still, there’s an awful lot of red on his Statcast page, and last year’s numbers are perfectly in line with his minor league history. We shouldn’t ding him too hard for struggling two seasons ago at age 22. He’s a clear candidate to deliver another 20/20 campaign in terms of power and speed.
James Wood, Washington Nationals
-
15th-widest range of outcomes among OFs using Fantasy Plus modeling
-
Projected fantasy points: 1,188
-
Maximum fantasy points projection: 1,460 (THE BAT X)
-
Minimum fantasy points projection: 692 (THE BAT X)
2025 projected stats
Avg: 267 | HR: 20 | RBI: 79 | SB: 23 | R: 82
Rankings overview
Wood essentially made a Kool-Aid Man-style arrival in MLB last season, bashing his way into the league by destroying pitching at the Triple-A level. He hit an absurd .351/.463/.595 at Rochester over 52 games, then held his own in Washington, banging out nine homers and stealing 14 bags while batting .264. Wood also struck out 97 times in his 79 games with the Nationals and he experienced relative good luck on balls in play (.365 BABIP), so it’s not difficult to see potential batting average downside.
Bottom line: Wood should open the year batting in a favorable spot in the Nationals lineup and there’s no question the team will exercise patience with him, should he struggle for any reason. He clearly has the tools necessary to produce a 20/20 season. His upside in steals might be overstated a bit by last year’s raw total, because he wasn’t a high-volume base-stealer in the minors and he was actually caught eight times in 22 attempts last season. Wood is truly a case in which the range of possibilities is wide. In every draft, you will find someone who’s all-in on Wood’s 2025 potential, so he hasn’t yet found his way to any of my teams.
