2025 Sagittarius Archers
If you’re familiar with Astrology, you’ll know that the 12 signs are broken up into four elements, which are in turn broken up into two polarities. If you follow Fantasy Astrology Baseball, you’ll know that I use these elements as “Divisions” and the polarites as “Leagues” that compete against each other. 2025’s top-scoring sign, Scorpio, plays in the Water Division, which is part of the Negative League. Switching polarities, the top Positive sign was Sagittarius, leader of the Fire Division.
The heart and soul of Sagittarius in 2025 is Cal Raleigh, Mariners catcher. The Big Dumper had one of the best power hitting seasons, not just for a catcher, not just for a switch hitter, but in MLB history. Sticking with prodigious power, Raleigh will be joined in the lineup by Pete Alonso, a free agent late of the Mets, who has not yet signed a deal for the 2026 season. The Archers’ third 2,000-point scorer is much more well-rounded, as Byron Buxton is not only a tremendous hitter, but also plays a very good center field… when healthy, which has been the biggest obstacle to his reaching consistent stardom with the Twins.
Christian Yelich was a primary designated hitter for the Brewers in 2025, which is where he’ll stay for SAG. That’s due to the presence of corner outfielders Taylor Ward (who got traded from the Angels to Baltimore this offseason) and Tyler Soderstrom (who got moved from first base to left field for the Athletics). The move for Sodie was designed to open up first base for eventual Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz (pride of the Pisces Fish), but it had the extra benefit of allowing him to share the Sagittarius field with Alonso. Although it’s worth noting that, all injuries being equal, these two would be in a left field platoon situation, because right field would belong to Ronald Acuna Jr.
The infield to the left of first base is much less settled. Gleyber Torres has 2B spoken for, but you have to go way down on the Fantasy Points ladder before we get to SS and 3B. Ryan McMahon has a great glove, which got him traded from the Rockies to the Yankees at last season’s trade deadline, but he hasn’t contributed much at the plate recently. Javier Baez is no longer an All-World shortstop, but he reinvented himself as a utility threat, logging time at center field and third base. If the Sagittarius manager wanted to play fast and loose with positional eligibility, Spencer Steer (who played a lot at the hot corner for the Reds earlier in his career) and Jackson Holliday (who has shortstop experience in the minors) could be offensive improvements in those two spots.
Sagittarius had a very top-heavy (and very lefty-heavy) rotation in 2025, but that top tier was choice. Cristopher Sanchez had an absolute breakout year, leading the National League in Wins Above Replacement (for those of you who prefer a less esoteric evaluation method than Fantasy Points). Carlos Rodon put up ace-like numbers for the Yankees, although he slotted in behind Capricorn Max Fried in their real-life playoff rotation. Speaking of playoffs, while Luis Castillo had the third highest Fantasy Point total among 2025 Sagittarius pitchers, a theoretical Game 3 would likely go to Blake Snell, who got healthy just in time to help the Dodgers win the World Series.
After this top four, the rotation picture is decidedly dicey. Kyle Hendricks pitched the last season of his MLB career with the Angels. Joey Cantillo was primarily a reliever for Cleveland, but the Archers would likely press him into rotation duty based on his ten starts, rather than rely on White Sox rookie Sean Burke. Injuries hit this sign hard, as former top pitchers Cole Ragans and Joe Musgrove were basically non-factors this year.
Luckily Sagittarius has a strong enough bullpen to make up for some rotation weakness, with no fewer than three bona fide closers. Going forward, Trevor Megill might lose his grasp on the ninth inning in Milwaukee to Abner Uribe (a Gemini), but he got most of their save opportunities this past season. Pete Fairbanks has already lost his roster spot with Tampa Bay, as he was surprisingly non-tendered earlier this offseason, but he has the stuff to handle the ninth inning. And Ryan Walker got his share of save opportunities in San Francisco, especially after Camilo Doval was traded.
Speaking of trades, plenty of SAG relievers were on the move in 2025. The Rogers twins (Tyler and Taylor) both changed teams last year (although only the former had a strong 2025 performance). Tampa Bay and Toronto BOTH acquired a pair of Sagittarians at this past deadline – the Rays picked up Bryan Baker and Griffin Jax, while Louis Varland and Seranthony Dominguez became two of the most trusted weapons out of the Blue Jays bullpen in the World Series.