Fantasy Baseball 2025: 5 role players that will emerge as stars in new roles

With the annual offseason shuffle of trades and players signing elsewhere in free agency comes new opportunities for players that otherwise wouldn't have had the chance to make an impact.

When it comes to fantasy baseball, it's important to not only identify which players are going to get more playing time because of roster changes, but what players are really going to take advantage of the opportunity. While I wouldn't expect any of these players below to be top fantasy performers in 2025, they are certainly at least solid depth options to round out your team this season, and have the upside to put together some really valuable stretches.

1. Matt Shaw, 3B, Chicago Cubs

Although he has yet to play in a Major League Baseball game, Matt Shaw is slated to take over third base for the Cubs, and it's his job to lose. The Cubs parted ways with former third baseman, Isaac Paredes, during the offseason in a trade with the Astros. They did sign veteran third baseman Justin Turner, but more so as a depth piece as Turner is better served as a DH at this point in his career.

On a number of different prospect rankings, Shaw comes in as the top player in Chicago's deep farm system. Shaw has only played in the minors for a season and a half as he was drafted in 2023, but has already shown a strong ability to hit for power and contact and run the bases. In 2024, Shaw's first full professional season, he hit 21 home runs and stole 31 bases between Double-A Knoxville and Triple-A Iowa.

Shaw deployed a more patient approach in 2024, drawing more walks which gave him more opportunities to make things happen on the bases with his wheels. Because of his plus contact skills, Shaw didn't see an increase in his strikeout rate despite working deeper counts. I have always liked high-walk, low-strikeout hitters for fantasy purposes, especially if they can provide in the power department, as Shaw does.

Shaw was one of just four players in the minors last year to hit 20+ home runs and leg out 30+ steals. Of those four, he was one of two that did it between Double-A and Triple-A, and was the only one to do it with a K% below 20.0. That's about as good of a foundation a player can have headed into his first big league season.