ESPN Points Leagues Fantasy Baseball Rankings

RotoBaller strives to be the worldwide leader in fantasy baseball points leagues coverage, offering Overall Fantasy Baseball Points Rankings that are an aggregate of the individual rankings for the five major platforms (ESPN, CBS, Yahoo, Fantrax, NFBC). However, point scoring varies wildly from platform to platform, resulting in massive value swings that won't necessarily show up in aggregate for players who are large outliers on certain platforms.

This is why we are also putting out individual rankings for each of the platforms, along with scoring overviews and some general strategy tips. Remember, the first step to points dominance is knowing (and understanding) your particular system. The more accurate your preparation, the bigger head start you'll have.

These rankings will give you a big lead over your opponents in ESPN leagues, but if you're looking to lap the field with some turnkey prep, be sure to check out our industry-leading Custom Rankings Service for H2H Points/Categories, Roto, and Best Ball for RotoBaller Premium members (use promo code: NotBurt for discount). TL;DR -- You send us your league settings, and we send you a custom-made set of spreadsheets containing all of the projected values, points, and relevant stats you need to crush the competition.

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ESPN H2H Points Standard League Overview

League Size: Anywhere from 4-20 teams for custom leagues, but 10-12 team leagues make up a majority of the public leagues

Hitting Roster: C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, OF, OF, UT

Pitching Roster: Seven (7) Pitchers, open designation

Standard Scoring:

ESPN Points Leagues Scoring Highlights

1. Hitters receive (-1) point per strikeout. This is the most significant setting on ESPN (and arguably in all of points) and is the reason someone like Elly De La Cruz is only projected as a top 50 player but is top five nearly everywhere else. Underestimate the strikeout value-drag at your peril.

2. Hitters only receive (+1) points per stolen base, as opposed to the (+2) points that are nearly standard everywhere else. A one-point difference might not seem like a lot but keep in mind that still means stolen bases are worth 50 percent less for any speed-heavy players and that value-suck should be accounted for. Especially when it comes paired with a high strikeout rate. See: De La Cruz, Elly.

3. ESPN crunched its rosters a few seasons ago, dropping two (OF), one (MI), and one (CI). Relative to the old settings in a 12-team league, that means there are 24 OF, 12 MI, and 12 CI who would've been starters under the old rules but are now waiver-wire fodder in the present age. As a general rule, condensed rosters make the elite guys at each position more valuable, while expanding everyone else into a more ambiguous middle class. In other words, values tend to be a lot more muddled once you get past the goat tiers.

4. Pitchers only get (+2) points per win, the lowest of any platform, by a significant margin. They also get dinged (-2) points per ER, compared to (-1) on CBS and (0) on Fantrax. Translation: The classic points strategy of streaming substandard starters against bad teams while hoping for some innings and a win bonus is now a much dicier move.

5. ESPN uses (seven) pitcher slots with open designation (SP or RP). As with any scoring system without dedicated "RP" slots, this greatly devalues relievers unless RP-specific scoring is dramatically altered (i.e. saves are worth a ton, etc).

6. Relievers get (+2) points per hold, making them the only platform whose standard settings reward them. If you're thinking this qualifies as "dramatically altered," thereby pumping up the value of non-closing RPs, I wouldn't get too excited. While it does give extra value to the elite non-closing RPs, this is a small class; you better either have a whole lot of holds or also get a fair amount of bonus saves thrown in. There is value to be had in a strategy that grinds RPs but it's a narrow path.

2025 ESPN Rankings for Points Leagues

Here are the current 2025 ESPN fantasy baseball rankings for standard points leagues and H2H points leagues. Also included, if qualified, is how they finished in 2023 and 2024.

Comparing Old vs. New ESPN Scoring Rules

For some examples of how values have swung under the new(er) settings, here are the top 50 RPs from last season but also included is how they would've ranked under ESPN's old settings:

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