March 2026

There were 1,682 posts published in March 2026 (this is page 38 of 169).

Streaming MLB games has never been easier! Just follow this simple 16-step guide

The 2026 MLB season is just around the corner, and you know what that means: It’s time to catch up on how the league has once again changed the way you’ll be watching 162 games of your favorite team, plus playoffs and special events.

Have no fear because Yahoo Sports is here to walk you through what’s ultimately a very simple process. It just breaks down into 16 steps across seven streaming platforms.

To be clear, we are going to be trying to sign up for every service you’d need to watch every MLB game and major event this year, and we’re assuming you’re approaching this without a subscription to any of them or a cable provider.

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Your first step is probably going to be to try to watch the home team. How that works depends on where you live and how much watching that team means to you. Ponder that, and let’s move on.

This is several steps in itself, but we’re just saying that the best way to watch your local team is still probably by signing up for a cable bundle or something similar that offers you a slate of sports channels.

If you’d rather stream the games, in-market streaming has become the norm in MLB, so you can likely sign up for something in that realm with your team.

If you had MLB.TV last season, you can skip this step (for now). Just renew your subscription as you normally would. You also probably don’t need this if you shelled out for MLB Extra Innings with your cable or satellite provider.

But if you’re new to MLB.TV, our next step will be to go to MLB’s streaming page, which will then send you to ESPN Unlimited, the new, $30-per-month, direct-to-consumer streaming service that will be the home of MLB.TV — the platform through which fans have watched out-of-market games for years.

As with all Disney streaming products, you’re going to need a login with the Mouse if you want to sign up for ESPN Unlimited, in order to sign up for MLB.TV. So go ahead and create an account there.

OK, so $30 per month might sound like a lot of money just to have the ability to pay even more money to watch baseball games. Fortunately, MLB and ESPN have offered a buffer for this year.

Go ahead and sign up for ESPN Unlimited, which will give you the first month free. You can also get ESPN Unlimited through your cable or satellite provider, so definitely check if that’s an option for you.

Our next step is to sign up for MLB’s actual subscription service, which will run you $150 for the season or $30 per month.

The good news is you don’t actually have to pay for ESPN Unlimited all season to use MLB.TV — this year, at least. If you cancel ESPN Unlimited during your one-month free trial, you will continue to have access to MLB.TV for the remainder of the season.

Next year, however, ESPN and MLB might not be so kind, as returning MLB.TV subscribers won’t be able to go through the league’s platform to renew, and the free month of ESPN Unlimited might no longer be available.

If you don’t want to spend $30 per month on ESPN Unlimited, you’ll still need to maintain access to ESPN if you want to watch every baseball game. That’s because while ESPN no longer has “Sunday Night Baseball,” the network does have a seemingly random selection of MLB games, many of them TBD, to air this season, as well as the Little League Classic and the second-half opener.

ESPN Select, formerly known as ESPN+, won’t cut it to watch baseball on ESPN. So you might need to keep ESPN Unlimited after all.

The new home of “Sunday Night Baseball” is NBC. If you want to watch all of the games that NBC will broadcast, you will need its Peacock streaming service to watch not just SNB but also the new “MLB Sunday Leadoff” package previously featured on Roku.

So go to Peacock and get ready to pay either $8 per month or $80 per year so you can have full access to MLB on most Sundays. NBC and/or Peacock will also be the home of the entire wild-card round, the MLB Draft, the Futures Game and some prime-time games (such as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ opener on Thursday).

Netflix has also entered the MLB arena with a deal for the Opening Night game between the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, the Home Run Derby on July 13 and the Field of Dreams game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins on Aug. 13.

Those are three events that, quite conveniently for Netflix, fall at least a month apart. To watch all three, you’ll have to pay $8 (with ads) per month for at least three months.

Fox and Fox Sports 1 remain the home of the World Series, the MLB All-Star Game, half of the games in the Division and Championship Series, and the “Baseball Night in America” games on Saturdays.

If you signed up for a cable subscription, you should be fine here. If you didn’t, you might need to sign up for Fox One, which will run you $20 per month. Fox games are also available by over-the-air antenna if you have that, while Fox Sports 1 games are usually non-exclusive.

Want to watch the other half of the Division and Championship Series games, plus the TBS “MLB Tuesday” games? Again, a cable subscription will cover the TBS slate, but otherwise, you’re going to need HBO Max, which costs $11 per month with ads.

OK, here’s our last stop. Apple TV is where you must go to watch “Friday Night Baseball.” Sign up for that, too, for $13 per month.

Let’s add all of this up (and hopefully by now you’ve realized we are dealing heavily in satire).

If we try to calculate all the streaming services a person would need to watch any out-of-market game without a cable subscription — namely MLB.TV, ESPN Unlimited, Peacock, Netflix, Fox One, HBO Max and Apple TV — we’re talking about a group of streaming services that add up to $120 per month when not factoring in free trials or annual plans.

Heck, you can add Amazon Prime to that list, too, if you’re a New York Yankees fan inside the team’s footprint, as they have a package of 21 games available only on Prime Video locally.

Does any of this sound pleasant to you? Does any of this sound fan-friendly? The cord-cutting trend seems to have reached its natural conclusion, as the full assortment of MLB games is now available to either cable subscribers with a few streaming subscriptions or people with a collection of streaming subscriptions that perhaps cost even more than a cable subscription.

The transactions here are at least understandable. In a world of increasingly fragmented entertainment options, in which streaming services are attempting to juice subscriber counts by any means possible, sports have become an attractive option. And MLB has decided to fill its dance card more than any other league in the industry.

Sure, Netflix might be getting only a few events here and there. And Peacock’s “MLB Sunday Leadoff” slate is likely to be relatively light on must-see games. But if they get you to sign up for even one month to watch a particular game they acquired at a cut rate, when compared to the Fox and TBS packages, they’ve won. It’s all likely good business for MLB, which is doing its best to navigate the ongoing destruction of its previous television business model, the regional sports network.

It’s again at the cost of fans, who are about to spend a season relearning how to watch their sport.

Shohei Ohtani strikes out 11 Angels but stumbles late in final spring training start

Shohei Ohtani appears ready for the MLB season to start — but maybe not for a full start.

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ superstar finished spring training on Tuesday with an impressive showing against his former team, the Los Angeles Angels. He posted 11 strikeouts against his first 14 batters but left in the fifth inning after allowing three straight singles.

His final line: 4-plus innings, 4 hits, 3 ER, 2 walks and 11 strikeouts on 86 pitches. He also went 1-for-2 at the plate.

As much as Ohtani and the Dodgers would’ve likely preferred a complete shutdown performance, the more important information from a spring training start is the pitch count and how his stuff looked.

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Ohtani’s pitching has been something of an unknown this spring. This is the first time he has entered spring training with plans to be part of the Dodgers’ Opening Day rotation, but he didn’t pitch in a game this spring until he returned from the World Baseball Classic.

While working as a full-time hitter for Japan, Ohtani was stretching out with bullpen sessions and simulated games on the side. That’s how he got up to 61 pitches in his first spring training start last week while throwing as hard as 99.9 mph.

The Dodgers were clearly interested in stretching him out even further on Tuesday. He was sitting at 79 pitches after four dominant innings, but the team sent him back out for the fifth.

It was evident that he was feeling some fatigue at that point. Ohtani averaged 98.4 mph with his four-seam fastball in his first start, but that ticked down to 96.5 mph on Tuesday. And the three fastballs he threw in the fifth inning: 94.2 mph, 93.4 mph and 93.5 mph. The latter two pitches were both sinkers, but those numbers were also more than a tick down from the rest of his spring training sinkers.

Compare that to Ohtani’s final batter of the fourth inning, against whom he reached as high as 96 mph with his four-seamer and 97.3 mph with his sinker.

Is that concerning for the Dodgers? A sudden drop in velocity can often be a red flag for injury, but in this case, it seems more feasible that Ohtani was simply stretched out a little longer than advisable.

Ohtani spent his first season with the Dodgers as a full-time hitter. He returned to the mound in June of his second season and spent much of the year under limitations, as the Dodgers were clearly most interested in ensuring he would be starting for them in the postseason.

All of that obviously worked out just fine for the Dodgers, who will be going for their third straight World Series title in 2026. Where it gets interesting, however, is in what they plan to do with Ohtani as a full-time pitcher throughout this season.

Ohtani has never thrown more than 166 innings in a season, regular season and postseason combined, and that was four years ago in 2022. A full season of pitching on his usual schedule (once every six or seven days) might get him there in the regular season alone.

You can usually bet on the Dodgers to know what they’re doing. It’s just notable that the team was willing to stretch their golden arm past 80 pitches shortly before the season, when the more predictable route might’ve been starting him in a limited capacity and letting him build up as the months progress.

However many pitches or innings Ohtani throws, the Dodgers are set to open the season with a rotation consisting of him, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Emmet Sheehan and Roki Sasaki, with Justin Wrobleski available as a sixth starter when the rotation can’t get a rest day in between turns.

Frank Thomas reportedly suing White Sox, Nike, Fanatics for allegedly profiting from jersey sales without his consent

Frank Thomas’ name is all over the Chicago White Sox’s record books. He’s the club’s leader in home runs, RBI and OPS, among several other categories. But the Hall of Fame slugger has a complicated relationship with the franchise he once starred for, and the latest chapter of that topsy-turvy dynamic is reportedly unfolding in Illinois’ Cook County circuit court.

Thomas is suing the White Sox, Nike and Fanatics for allegedly profiting from jersey sales without his consent, according to multiplereports Tuesday. Thomas is reportedly seeking at least $50,000 and punitive damages. The suit also demands a jury trial, per ESPN’s report.

Additionally, Thomas claims he hasn’t received compensation or other consideration for the use of his name and likeness in selling City Connect 2.0 jerseys, according to The Athletic’s report.

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The jerseys in question featured a Chicago Bulls crossover. They were designed with a red and black colorway that pays homage to owner Jerry Reinsdorf’s other team in the Windy City. The Bulls are attached as a respondent in discovery in the suit, along with the Baseball Hall of Fame and retailers such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, Academy, Kohl’s, Lids and Macy’s, per The Athletic.

Thomas’ No. 35, which was retired by the White Sox in 2010, and his last name are on a City Connect 2.0 jersey sold by the team. It’s still available on Nike’s and Fanatics’ websites.

“The complaint we filed alleges violations of the Illinois Right to Publicity Act,” Thomas’ attorney, William T. Gibbs of Corboy & Demetrio, said in a statement to ESPN. “Companies may not profit from anyone’s identity without their permission. We believe our filing speaks for itself.”

On May 21, a case management hearing is scheduled to take place in a Cook County circuit court, per ESPN.

Just last month, Thomas took a shot at the White Sox, whom he played for in 16 of his 19 MLB seasons. The team’s social media account posted a timeline of team Black history to celebrate the first day of Black History Month on Feb. 1. Thomas wasn’t highlighted in the graphic and is mentioned only under a section about Dick Allen becoming the first Black player in franchise history to win AL MVP in 1972.

“I Guess the black player who made you rich over there and holds all your records is forgettable!” Thomas wrote on X in response at the time. “Don’t worry I’m taking Receipts!”

Thomas won AL MVP in 1993 and 1994. He was an All-Star in five straight years from 1993 to ‘97. In the final season of that prolific stretch, he finished as the AL batting champ.

Thomas’ decade-plus run with the White Sox came to an end in 2005. Before that, however, things got quite tense, especially after then-general manager Ken Williams triggered a “diminished skills” clause in Thomas’ contract that reduced his base salary to $250,000 after a 2002 campaign that still saw him hit north of .250 and pile up 28 home runs and 92 RBI. Nevertheless, as a result, $10.125 million on Thomas’ deal was deferred over 10 years without interest, as reported by ESPN.

Thomas finished his playing career with the Athletics and the Toronto Blue Jays. But he’s best known for his time with the White Sox, even as his relationship with the club grows increasingly tenuous.

NBA MVP rankings: Luka Dončić is rising, but can anyone take the trophy from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?

We have examined the NBA’s MVP race in greatdetail over the last few weeks, but now it is high time for another look at this year’s candidates.

The list is not so dissimilar to our top candidates since the regular season’s one-third mark, when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić, Jalen Brunson, Luka Dončić and Victor Wembanyama — in that order — were our leading candidates. It is just a bit jumbled now, and with Cade Cunningham in Brunson’s stead as the Eastern Conference’s sole representative on this ballot. His Detroit Pistons, who hold a four-game lead for the No. 1 seed, earned him that right.

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It is weird now how the MVP ballot reflects a position-less All-NBA First Team. Will any of the 100 voters’ top-five MVP candidates look different from their All-NBA First Team? I suppose it is possible. It would not be here, if I had a vote, because of course the five most valuable players should make up your position-less All-NBA First Team.

That is, of course, if they qualify for the NBA’s 65-game rule, which requires players to play in that many games in order to be considered for end-of-season awards.

(Bruno Rouby/Yahoo Sports Illustration)

Kawhi Leonard can miss only one more game before he is disqualified. He may not appear on anyone’s MVP ballot, since his Los Angeles Clippers are .500, but his production should absolutely be in play for a spot on the All-NBA Second Team.

Cunningham’s MVP case is the one that is in most danger. He has missed 10 games, and he is expected to miss at least a handful more with a collapsed lung. To rush him back from that injury, just to qualify for end-of-year awards, might be a mistake.

Cunningham’s absence could leave the door open for Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown to make his way onto a ballot. Before we reveal too much, our MVP rankings …

Honorable mentions: Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics; Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks; Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves; Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers.

Dončić played his way into this conversation over the Lakers’ nine-game winning streak. Over that span, he averaged a 40-8-7 on a 63.6 true shooting percentage. He added a routine 32-7-6 on Monday, albeit on less-than-stellar shooting in a loss to the top-seeded (and Cunningham-less) Pistons that ended the Lakers’ streak at nine.

On the season, Dončić is now averaging a 33-8-8 on better than 60% true shooting. Nobody attempts more shots (22.8), 3-pointers (10.9) or free throws (10.2) a night. His usage rate (38.0%), obviously, leads the league. The Lakers score 119.2 points per 100 possessions, similar to the league’s second-best offense, when he is on the court.

Unfortunately, Los Angeles also allows 115.5 points per 100 possessions — a number that approaches the NBA’s bottom-10 defensive ratings — when he takes the floor. That figure is far better (110.6 points allowed per 100 possessions) over the past 10 games, where Dončić has also improved on that end. If he can sustain that effort over the course of a full season, the 27-year-old may yet one day get his MVP.

Recency bias may suggest that Dončić belongs higher on this list, but remember: The Pistons perform like one of the league’s few title favorites, along with Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder and Wembanyama’s Spurs, when Cunningham is in the lineup.

Detroit is 44-17 when the former No. 1 overall pick takes the court, a 59-win pace. Cunningham is not the team’s best defender, though he is one piece of an outfit that rates as the league’s second-best defense. He is also the sole creator for an offense that scores 119.7 points per 100 possessions (a top-two figure) when he’s on the floor.

Cunningham’s 24.5 points per game rank 13th in the NBA on decent efficiency (56.7 true shooting percentage). He could improve in that regard. But his 9.9 assists a night have generated more points (1,548) than anyone else, including Jokić, even as Detroit starts two defense-first non-shooters (Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson).

Jokić is enjoying a typical Jokić season, which is to say: The numbers are off the charts. He is averaging a triple-double, leading the league in both rebounds (12.6) and assists (10.6) per game. Needless to say, nobody has ever done that, especially not while averaging 28 points per game on league-leading efficiency (67.6 TS%).

There is little doubt he is the game’s most impactful offensive player. The Nuggets own the NBA’s best offensive rating (120.2), and they are even better, scoring 125.1 points per 100 possessions, when Jokić is on the floor. That is just insane efficiency.

It is on the defensive end of the floor where Jokić’s MVP argument suffers. He is the anchor of the league’s 21st-rated defense, though it is a little bit better, allowing 114.7 points per 100 possessions (a middling figure), when he is actually on the court.

It does not help that his Nuggets have essentially played .500 ball since Christmas. Even as an injury-plagued roster has regained some of its health, Denver remains an inconsistent team, despite its superior offense, and that comes with porous defense.

The Spurs have climbed within three games of the Thunder for the West’s No. 1 seed, and that is Wembanyama’s key to moving into the top spot on these rankings. If San Antonio can catch Oklahoma City, there is a legitimate case to be made for Wemby.

After all, he is the NBA’s most dominant defensive force. He is as impactful on that end as anyone is on offense. The Spurs allow 103.5 points per 100 possessions, more than two points better than OKC’s league-leading defense, when Wembanyama is on the court. San Antonio is a middling defensive outfit when Wemby is on the bench.

Offensively, the Spurs score 120.1 points per 100 possessions, something like the league’s best unit, whenever Wembanyama is on the floor. He is the NBA’s 13th-most impactful player offensively, according to Dunks and Threes’ Estimated Plus-Minus, trailing only Jokić, Gilgeous-Alexander, Dončić and 10 other dynamos.

There is a real case to be made that a 22-year-old 7-foot-5 (7-foot-7?) phenom is already the NBA’s best player, depending on how much you weigh defense against offense, though the standings do not reflect it. Yet. The Spurs are 44-13 when Wemby is in the lineup, a 63-win pace. You have to be better than that to catch the Thunder.

Someone has to take the MVP trophy from Gilgeous-Alexander, who edged Jokić for the regular-season award last season, and then added a Finals MVP honor to his collection en route to his first-ever championship.

Nobody has taken it from him. Not yet.

The Thunder once again own the league’s best record — by three full games over Wembanyama’s Spurs. They operate better than the NBA’s best offense, scoring 120.7 points per 100 possessions, and better than its best defense, allowing 105.7 points per 100 possessions, when Gilgeous-Alexander is on the court for them.

When SGA is off the floor, Oklahoma City still performs like a 54-win team, owning the NBA’s top defense, allowing 105 points per 100 possessions, but its offense drops to one of the league’s worst outfits, scoring 110.3 points per 100 possessions.

That could be a strike against Gilgeous-Alexander in the right argument. But we should measure him against what the Thunder look like with him on the court, not how good they are when he is not playing, and they look like a juggernaut with him.

Besides, SGA is averaging 31.5 points per game on 66.6% true shooting. Only one other guard has ever scored 30-plus points a night on better shooting efficiency: Stephen Curry in his unanimous MVP campaign for the 73-win Warriors in 2016.

In other words, Gilgeous-Alexander is enjoying one of the best offensive seasons ever for a guard, while serving as a cog on the league’s best defense, for the NBA’s best team. Until someone can match those credentials, the award is SGA’s to lose.

2026 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft, No. 7 Pick: Analysis, key takeaways and full roster

The 2026 MLB season is almost here and that means you’re likely prepping for your fantasy baseball draft. One of the best ways to prepare is to do as many mock drafts as possible. Of course, sometimes it’s tough to find an accurate representation of your league settings by using the public mock draft lobby.

Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season

Not to fear! If you’re a Yahoo Fantasy+ subscriber, you have access to the Instant Mock Draft tool, allowing you to practice your draft in seconds. You can test different strategies, pick from various draft slots and experiment with roster construction as many times as you want, anytime, instantly. Now is a great time to subscribe to Yahoo Fantasy+, so you can use the wealth of tools for your draft prep.

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In this series, we’re going to be using the Instant Mock Draft tool to pick from each of the 12 slots in a 12-team fantasy baseball league. In this piece, we’ll be drafting from the No. 7 overall pick.

I’m not revealing my strategy up here — because it’ll give away my first pick.

Note: We’re using Yahoo’s default points league settings for these mock drafts.

C: Cal Raleigh, Mariners
1B: Bryce Harper, Phillies
2B: Brice Turang, Brewers
SS: Willy Adames, Giants
3B: Austin Riley, Braves
OF: Randy Arozarena, Mariners
OF: Seiya Suzuki, Cubs
OF: Jo Adell, Angels
UTIL: Daulton Varsho, Blue Jays
UTIL: Spencer Torkelson, Tigers
SP: Paul Skenes, Pirates
SP: Luis Castillo, Mariners
RP: Raisel Iglesias, Braves
RP: Daniel Palencia, Cubs
P: Ryan Pepiot, Rays
P: Andrew Abbott, Reds
P: Shane Baz, Orioles
P: Ryan Weathers, Yankees
Bench: Kyle Teel, White Sox
Bench: Willi Castro, Rockies
Bench: Matt Wallner, Twins
Bench: Jake Cronenworth, Padres
Bench: Justin Verlander, Tigers

STRATEGY REVEAL! It was HeroSP.

I recently read an article by Chris Towers about the starting pitcher dead zone. I believe it won him an award, so may be worth checking out. Anyway, it talks about how, as a draft progresses, the value of starting pitchers slowly declines until things flatten out. The idea is to take a high-end starter early in the draft and then employ a “HeroSP” approach, similar to a HeroRB strategy in fantasy football. So I took a pitcher in the first round and didn’t think about the pitcher position until the 10th round.

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As you can see, we landed on Paul Skenes as our “hero” in this exercise. Tigers SP Tarik Skubal, whom I’ve dodged in every mock so far, was already off the board when I came up at No. 7. So it was between Skenes and Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet. The Pirates should be a bit better this season, which could lead to a few more wins for Skenes. I don’t think you can really go wrong with any of that trio as your top arm.

Investing in bats early: After we nabbed Skenes, it was all offense until the later rounds. Raleigh fell to me in the second round and hadn’t had the opportunity to draft him yet in this series. Most projections have him between 34-45 HRs this season. But what if there’s a world where he doesn’t regress much? If that’s the case, I’ll buy the potential that Raleigh duplicates — or comes close to — the season he had in 2025. If that’s the case, you’re getting first-round value after the fact.

I also waited a bit on outfield (not by design) but it worked out fine by me. The position is still pretty deep and you’re going to be able to find power sources in the later rounds. We were able to get a solid group of Arozarena, Suzuki and Adell, players I’ve been targeting frequently. Wallner regressed in 2025 but has upside coming off the bench.

Building out my staff: Okay, back to the pitcher strategy. So my first SP pick after Skenes was Castillo in the 10th round. I’ve pubbed my colleagues quite a bit in this series but we can never link out too much — Fred Zinkie has Castillo as one of his safest picks based in a 10-team draft. This is for a 12-team league but what does that matter in this context? “According to Relative Range data via Yahoo Fantasy Plus, Castillo is the 27th-safest starter in baseball,” writes Zinkie.

I was also able to grab a few reliable closers in Iglesias and Palencia. The Braves closer has at least 29 saves in three straight seasons. Palencia will get the first crack at closing on what should be a good Cubs squad. I’ll reiterate that you should always be proactive on the waiver wire when it comes to relief pitching. There will almost certainly be relievers who emerge due to opportunities injuries or poor performance present, who can help you out.

Let’s look at the rest of the SP staff. Abbott is a polarizing name this season. With Hunter Greene sidelined for up to four months after elbow surgery, Abbott is the de facto ace for Cincinnati. He’s entering his prime years and is coming off his best MLB season with a 2.87 ERA and 5.6 WAR, finishing top-10 in NL Cy Young voting. As a groundball pitcher, he isn’t going to miss many bats, so the K numbers aren’t ideal. While his ERA should go up, you aren’t going to find many Opening Day starters this late in your draft.

Lastly, we took a flier on the Verlander farewell tour. The future Hall of Famer should give everything he’s got at 43 years old in what should be his final MLB season. He pitched well last year for the Giants and could pick up some more wins on a better Detroit team. Verlander was my last pick, so you’re basically getting him for free. Why not?

Takeaways with drafting No. 7: In points formats, I really like this approach of waiting on SP. Maybe it isn’t going full ZeroSP or HeroSP, but some iteration where you’re not spending too much of your high draft capital on the position. Obviously, there’s positional scarcity but based on projections, pitching is less valuable. But if you’re going to miss out on one of the top bats (Judge, Ohtani, Soto, Witt), then it makes sense to shift gears to SP in the first round. There won’t be as much of a difference between that second tier of bats.

2026 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft, No. 6 Pick: Analysis, key takeaways and full roster

The 2026 MLB season is almost here and that means you’re likely prepping for your fantasy baseball draft. One of the best ways to prepare is to do as many mock drafts as possible. Of course, sometimes it’s tough to find an accurate representation of your league settings by using the public mock draft lobby.

Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season

Not to fear! If you’re a Yahoo Fantasy+ subscriber, you have access to the Instant Mock Draft tool, allowing you to practice your draft in seconds. You can test different strategies, pick from various draft slots and experiment with roster construction as many times as you want, anytime, instantly. Now is a great time to subscribe to Yahoo Fantasy+, so you can use the wealth of tools for your draft prep.

Yahoo Fantasy+ unlocks premium draft tools, player projections and more

In this series, we’re going to be using the Instant Mock Draft tool to pick from each of the 12 slots in a 12-team fantasy baseball league. In this piece, we’ll be drafting from the No. 6 pick and using Fred Zinkie’s “OPS Floor” strategy, as featured in his easy-to-execute draft strategies for 2026.

Note: We’re using Yahoo’s default points league settings for these mock drafts.

Full Roster – including each hitter’s OPS

C: Drake Baldwin, Braves (2025 OPS: .810)
1B: Freddie Freeman, Dodgers (.869)
2B: Gleyber Torres, Tigers (.745)
SS: Jose Ramírez, Guardians (.863)
3B: Brendan Donovan, Mariners (.775)
OF: Kyle Schwarber, Phillies (.928)
OF: Yordan Alvarez, Astros (.797)
OF: Seiya Suzuki, Cubs (.804)
UTIL: Luis Robert Jr., Mets (.661)
UTIL: Spencer Torkelson, Tigers (.789)
SP: Logan Gilbert, Mariners
SP: Dylan Cease, Blue Jays
RP: David Bednar, Yankees
RP: Trevor Megill, Brewers
P: Ryan Pepiot, Rays
P: Spencer Strider, Braves
P: Aaron Nola, Phillies
P: Jack Leiter, Rangers
Bench: Kazuma Okamoto, Blue Jays (.992 in Japan)
Bench: J.T. Realmuto, Phillies (.700)
Bench: Giancarlo Stanton, Yankees (.944)
Bench: Reid Detmers, Angels
Bench: Caleb Durbin, Red Sox (.721)

Experimenting with strategy: Again, we entered this draft with a goal of acquiring mostly players with an OPS of .800 or greater from 2026. The entire roster can’t fit that mold, of course, so anyone whose OPS was under .800 last season at least has a history of reaching that mark in their career at some point (Alvarez, Robert, Torres). Or they’re a younger player who could improve from last season’s results (Torkelson, Durbin).

Sticking to the plan in Round 1: Before we dive deeper into my mindset for this mock, we’ll go over the Ramírez pick.

Zinkie hates J-Ram this season because the Guardians don’t offer a quality offense and at some point, Ramírez has to regress, right? Well, in terms of this strategy, Ramirez is the gold standard. He has a career .857 OPS in 13 seasons. Is he the sexiest pick in the first round? Definitely not. But I don’t think he regresses enough where it kills your season.

Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season

When I had to pivot: Five players in my starting lineup had an OPS of .800 or better last season. So we’ll go over the outliers a bit and the thinking around that. Second base was tough once you get past the first few rounds. Only two players met the OPS requirements from last season (Ketel Marte, Jazz Chisholm Jr.). So I waited a bit and went with Torres, who had an .800 OPS a few seasons ago with the Yankees. He’s also surprisingly only 29 years old. Donovan was another middle infielder I was eyeing. He’s also 29 and was top-five in OPS among 2B in 2025. Perhaps a move to Seattle in a better offensive environment will boost him above the threshold.

Alvarez and Robert are both bounce-back candidates I’ve discussed in previous mocks. If you take out last season, when Alvarez was injured, his career OPS is an astonishing .978 over the six previous seasons. When healthy, he’s one of the best hitters in baseball. That said, it was risky selecting him in the fourth round. I would have liked him to drop a bit. Robert heads to New York where he’ll be a part of what should be a very good Mets lineup. Injuries have been an issue but in 2023, Robert was an All-Star and had an .857 OPS. He’s also only 28 years old.

Torkelson and Durbin don’t meet the requirements but are both still young, each 26 years old. Tork has a shot at reaching .800 OPS for the first time in his career and has a lot of pop with 30+ homers in two of the past three seasons. Durbin played well for the Brewers as a rookie in 2025 with a 2.8 WAR. He has a low strikeout rate and heads to a hitter-friendly stadium in Fenway Park.

Calculated risks: It was over in Japan, but Okamoto has reached the .800 OPS threshold in every season since 2018. He’s also a part of a solid Toronto lineup. Stanton is Stanton. He’s not going to be healthy all season but when he’s at the plate, he’s one of the most feared hitters in baseball. He may struggle to reach 100 games but I know I’m getting a high OPS while he’s out there. Realmuto is the weakest of this bunch but he’s my backup catcher, so it’s not an overly important role (I can stream some options). Also, he did have an .820 OPS not too long ago in 2022.

Plan of attack on the mound: We’ll go over pitching next because I really like how the staff shook out. I was able to grab a couple of high-end starters in Gilbert and Cease, both at the top of the rotation for good teams. Bednar has a chance to lead the AL in saves. I wanted to pair Megill with Abner Uribe but wasn’t able to. Again, not the end of the world; we can stream RPs. Leiter has a lot he needs to improve but he’s got a high pedigree and is still young, set to turn 26 in April. Pepiot should benefit from the park change, while Strider and Nola are similar to Alvarez and Robert — both bounce-back candidates at SP.

Takeaways with drafting No. 6: This was a lot of fun. We’re halfway through this series and this was my favorite mock yet. You have to do more prep work to figure out targets based on OPS but that isn’t that heavy a lift. The J-Ram-Schwarber 1-2 punch as my offensive anchors feels very solid and it doesn’t really feel like this roster has any holes, maybe up the middle and at catcher. I highly recommend this strategy and again, be sure to check out the rest of Fred’s ways to attack your draft here.

2026 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft, No. 4 Pick: Analysis, key takeaways and full roster

The 2026 MLB season is almost here and that means you’re likely prepping for your fantasy baseball draft. One of the best ways to prepare is to do as many mock drafts as possible. Of course, sometimes it’s tough to find an accurate representation of your league settings by using the public mock draft lobby.

Not to fear! If you’re a Yahoo Fantasy+ subscriber, you have access to the Instant Mock Draft tool, allowing you to practice your draft in seconds. You can test different strategies, pick from various draft slots and experiment with roster construction as many times as you want, anytime, instantly. Now is a great time to subscribe to Yahoo Fantasy+, so you can use the wealth of tools for your draft prep

[Yahoo Fantasy+ unlocks premium draft tools, player projections and more]

In this series, we’re going to be using the Instant Mock Draft tool to pick from each of the 12 slots in a 12-team fantasy baseball league. Up next is drafting from the No. 4 overall pick.

Note: We’re using Yahoo’s default points league settings for these mock drafts.

C: Agustín Ramírez, Marlins
1B: Nick Kurtz, Athletics
2B: Brice Turang, Brewers
SS: Bobby Witt Jr., Royals
3B: Manny Machado, Padres
OF: James Wood, Nationals
OF: Cody Bellinger, Yankees
OF: Byron Buxton, Twins
UTIL: Mike Trout, Angels
UTIL: Luis Robert Jr., Mets
SP: Luis Castillo, Mariners
SP: Tyler Glasnow, Dodgers
RP: Carlos Estévez, Royals
RP: Abner Uribe, Brewers
P: Nick Lodolo, Reds
P: Trevor Rogers, Orioles
P: Luis Gil, Yankees
P: Kris Bubic, Royals
Bench: Jorge Polanco, Mets
Bench: Kyle Teel, White Sox
Bench: Colt Keith, Tigers
Bench: Bryan Abreu, Astros
Bench: Mark Vientos, Mets

Real quick: The projections favored Juan Soto over Bobby Witt Jr., so that’s who we were left with in the No. 4 slot. I opted to go with the Royals SS over players like SP Tarik Skubal and 3B José Ramírez based on upside. Kansas City is moving the fences in and Witt is still just 25 years old and has been an AL MVP candidate in back-to-back seasons.

Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season

Hitter heavy: As you can see, we punted on starting pitching and at catcher in this draft, focusing on filling out my bats for the most part before addressing those positions. That gave us a nice core of Witt-Kurtz-Machado-Wood to carry most of our offensive categories.

I’d been wanting to land Kurtz in one of these drafts. The A’s first baseman feels like a great value toward the end of the second and early third given his potential. Same goes for Wood, who really just needs to improve his strikeout rate to take the next step.

Zero SP: Okay, let’s break down the pitching. I waited until the eighth round to take my first starter — Mariners’ Luis Castillo. He’s described as one of the safer picks toward the back-end of your draft by analyst Fred Zinkie, so I made Castillo a priority. He’s started at least 30 games in three straight seasons and has a career ERA of 3.55. If his K’s bounce back this season, he should outperform his draft slot.

Glasnow and Gil are pitchers looking for redemption on great teams. Rogers and Lodolo offer upside with each coming off a career year in 2025. Waiting on SP feels like a strong play in points formats. Worst case, you can explore trade options given your depth on offense. Best case, some of your late-round gems shine and you can shore things up off the waiver wire.

THIS SEASON WE SPELL REDEMPTION M-I-K-E: Many have spelled the downfall of Mike Trout. These people are cowards!

Just kidding. Trout isn’t going to return to his MVP form, perhaps ever. But if you wanna buy into foolish spring training narratives, Trout did hit 29.9 mph running the basepaths recently. Legs are pretty important at the plate, so if Trout is feeling fresh and healthy, he could (at least) bounce back a bit in 2026. That could mean 30+ homers, and who knows, maybe the future Hall of Famer has another great season left in him.

Draft the Mets: I don’t like talking about the Mets as a Yankees fan, but we’re going to suck it up here. I ended up grabbing three bats in that lineup and none of them are the big names (Soto, Lindor, Bichette). But remember, it’s important to target batters in good offensive environments.

Perhaps in a lesser role, Vientos can look more like his 2024 version, when he had 27 HRs and an .837 OPS. Robert feels like a great late-round sleeper who could bounce back; Scott Pianowski is thinking about it. Polanco should bat in the heart of a deep lineup, giving him plenty of opportunities to drive in runs. Team stacking is more of a DFS strategy and is much more risky in season-long, but can pay off if you limit said risk by targeting low-cost players.

That’s a Relief: In terms of projections, RPs are the least valuable players in points leagues. But you have to play two of them. Saves are always going to be the most valuable, but you can also stream saves off the waiver wire. Instead of grabbing two traditional closers, I picked up Estévez to carry me in saves and then took Uribe, who rarely allowed a run last season and racks up Ks. He’s also one of the premier setup men in MLB, a few slip-ups or injury away from becoming Milwaukee’s closer.

Takeaways with drafting No. 4: I think this was my favorite draft through the first four. There’s not really a hole in my lineup and every bat has some pop, which I like a lot. It’s also a nice mix of veterans and young players who could improve. I’ve also been spoiled up to this point, being able to select between the likely MVP candidates in both the NL and AL. We’ll see what the middle and later picks have in store.

2026 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft, No. 3 Pick: Analysis, key takeaways and full roster

The 2026 MLB season is almost here and that means you’re likely prepping for your fantasy baseball draft. One of the best ways to prepare is to do as many mock drafts as possible. Of course, sometimes it’s tough to find an accurate representation of your league settings by using the public mock draft lobby.

Not to fear! If you’re a Yahoo Fantasy+ subscriber, you have access to the Instant Mock Draft tool, allowing you to practice your draft in seconds. You can test different strategies, pick from various draft slots and experiment with roster construction as many times as you want, anytime, instantly. Now is a great time to subscribe to Yahoo Fantasy+, so you can use the wealth of tools for your draft prep

[Yahoo Fantasy+ unlocks premium draft tools, player projections and more]

In this series, we’re going to be using the Instant Mock Draft tool to pick from each of the 12 slots in a 12-team fantasy baseball league. Up next is drafting from the No. 3 overall pick. Which route do you take after Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani are off the board? Let’s get into it.

Note: We’re using Yahoo’s default points league settings for these mock drafts.

C: Shea Langeliers, Athletics
1B: Ben Rice, Yankees
2B: José Altuve, Astros
SS: Mookie Betts, Dodgers
3B: Noelvi Marte, Reds
OF: Juan Soto, Mets
OF: Jackson Chourio, Brewers
OF: Oneil Cruz, Pirates
UTIL: Colson Montgomery, White Sox
UTIL: Brendan Donovan, Mariners
SP: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers
SP: Cole Ragans, Royals
RP: Trevor Megill, Brewers
RP: Emilio Pagán, Reds
P: MacKenzie Gore, Rangers
P: Shota Imanaga, Cubs
P: Ryan Weathers, Yankees
P: Connelly Early, Red Sox
Bench: Yainer Díaz, Astros
Bench: Royce Lewis, Twins
Bench: Abner Uribe, Brewers
Bench: Konnor Griffin, Pirates
Bench: Gerrit Cole, Yankees

Round 1 dilemma: Once you get past Judge and Ohtani at 1-2, things can get sort of interesting, if you want them to. Scott Pianowski and Fred Zinkie like Bobby Witt Jr. at No. 3 overall. But the late, great Peewee Herman once said, “I’m a loner, Dottie, a rebel.” So we opted to select Juan Soto over Witt in the 3-hole. In my defense, the projections like Soto over Witt. The Mets slugger had a “down” year in terms of WAR, going from 7.9 with the Yanks to 6.2 in his first season at Citi Field. Soto still led the League in walks, stolen bases and OBP while belting a career-high 43 homers. He’s also still just 27 years old, so perhaps we haven’t seen Soto’s ceiling yet. I’m willing to roll the dice there and take him just a pick early.

Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season

Dodgers duo: Let’s talk about the back-to-back champs because nobody does that anymore. We’ll start with Betts. He can’t be done, right? It was only two seasons ago he led the NL in WAR at 8.6 and finished second in MVP voting. I’m gonna bank on a bounce-back season for Betts. His strikeout rate has been down the past few seasons despite his power draining.

I worry a little bit about Yamamoto’s innings if L.A. opts to rotate a lot of starters to stay fresh for October. But even in 30 starts last season, Yamamoto got past 170 IP and won World Series MVP. Maybe the Dodgers allow their ace to go after an NL Cy Young next?

Catcher depth: I find myself grabbing either Langeliers or Contreras at catcher around the 6-7 rounds consistently. So we may need to break that habit and wait on catcher one of these drafts. I do like my catcher depth with the Rice pick. He should rotate in at C, 1B, OF and DH for the Yanks. Rice should also have a great lineup slot and has been mashing in spring. If Rice takes another step forward at the plate, he could break the 30-homer mark.

Priority pitching target: Gore is a pitcher I wanted to make sure I snagged in one of these mocks, a top breakout candidate for Yahoo analyst Corbin Young this season. Gore misses a lot of bats with multiple pitches and, at age 27, is finally playing some meaningful baseball with Texas. Being on a better Rangers team should lower Gore’s ERA and he should get more wins as well. He feels like a great target outside of the “SP dead zone” that could pay dividends.

Planning ahead: I’m very excited to talk about my final two picks. Both are stashes/anticipatory moves. Personally, I don’t think the Pirates keep Griffin at the start of the season, but he could get a call-up soon. That’s rarely the case for teenagers but Griffin has a bright future and Pittsburgh needs to sell tickets. For Cole, I’m cool throwing him in an IL slot and leaving that final bench spot open for streamers (both hitters and pitchers). The Yankees could have their ace back at some point this summer and that could be huge for my roster later in the year.

Takeaways with drafting No. 3: The player pool still felt pretty similar in this slot compared to picks 1 and 2. I tried to stack my OF early on so I didn’t have to worry as much about that in the later rounds and could focus on pitching and grabbing some sleepers. In the next couple of mocks, we’re going to mix up the strategies a bit more. Stay tuned!

2026 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft, No. 2 Pick: Analysis, key takeaways and full roster

The 2026 MLB season is almost here and that means you’re likely prepping for your fantasy baseball draft. One of the best ways to prepare is to do as many mock drafts as possible. Of course, sometimes it’s tough to find an accurate representation of your league settings by using the public mock draft lobby.

Not to fear! If you’re a Yahoo Fantasy+ subscriber, you have access to the Instant Mock Draft tool, allowing you to practice your draft in seconds. You can test different strategies, pick from various draft slots and experiment with roster construction as many times as you want, anytime, instantly. Now is a great time to subscribe to Yahoo Fantasy+, so you can use the wealth of tools for your draft prep

[Yahoo Fantasy+ unlocks premium draft tools, player projections and more]

In this series, we’re going to be using the Instant Mock Draft tool to pick from each of the 12 slots in a 12-team fantasy baseball league. In this piece, we’ll be drafting from the No. 2 overall pick.

Note: We’re using Yahoo’s default points league settings for these mock drafts.

C: William Contreras, Brewers
1B: Willson Contreras, Red Sox
2B: Luke Keaschall, Twins
SS: Trea Turner, Phillies
3B: Junior Caminero, Rays
OF: Aaron Judge, Yankees
OF: Yordan Alvarez, Astros
OF: Byron Buxton, Twins
UTIL: Colson Montgomery, White Sox
UTIL: Alec Burleson, Cardinals
SP: George Kirby, Mariners
SP: Framber Valdez, Tigers
RP: Jeff Hoffman, Blue Jays
RP: Abner Uribe, Brewers
P: Nolan McLean, Mets
P: Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers
P: Sandy Alcantara, Marlins
P: Edward Cabrera, Cubs
Bench: JJ Wetherholt, Cardinals
Bench: Giancarlo Stanton, Yankees
Bench: Andrés Giménez, Blue Jays
Bench: Samuel Basallo, Orioles
Bench: Brayan Bello, Red Sox

All Rise! … Again: We went with Judge with the No. 1 pick in the first instant mock, but Yahoo’s Draft Scout tool (another benefit of Fantasy+) projects Shohei Ohtani as the top overall player. So, with Ohtani going No. 1 this time around, we’re still feeling great about taking Judge second. You can read a bit more about my debate when I picked first in the previous mock.

Building blocks: At the turn with picks 2-3, we had Caminero drop down to us. I’m not sure this will happen often, but this is the great thing about draft simulations with the Instant Mock tool. You can repeatedly practice and get a range of outcomes, so you’re ready as different things happen during your real draft. The move back to Tropicana Field this season for the Rays could nerf some offensive stats; Caminero had 45 HRs and 110 RBI last season, though he had pretty even home versus road splits. Projections believe he’ll regress a bit but if he doesn’t, Caminero has the potential to be a league-winner.

When it comes to Turner, he gives us a reliable pick with good speed.

Betting on a comeback: I decided to wait on starting pitching and lean into offense. The next pick I pulled from an idea about recency bias from Yahoo analyst Fred Zinkie, who offers a lot of great draft strategies here. Many drafters may shy away from taking a chance on Astros OF/DH Yordan Alvarez after being burned last season. He only played 48 games in 2025 as one of the bigger busts in fantasy baseball. Alvarez appears healthy and made his spring debut this week. Prior to last season, Alvarez had at least 31 HRs and 86 RBI in each of the previous four seasons. If we can get back to that type of production in 2026, Alvarez will be one of the steals of your draft.

Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season

Turning to the mound: My strategy at starting pitcher was to grab a few steady options. Kirby missed some starts last season but has made at least 23 in all four of his MLB campaigns. He’s also on what should be a very good Mariners club. Same goes for Valdez, who was signed by the Tigers after eight seasons in Houston. He has started at least 28 games in each of the past four seasons. After those two, things get a little wild …

We leaned into some young, high-upside starters in McLean and Misiorowski. Both have a ton of potential but could end up blowing up in my face. If nothing else, Miz should be a great source of strikeouts and should get to double-digit wins. McLean is a little less proven with just 48 IP last season. But he also has top-of-the-rotation stuff and is on a Mets team that should provide a ton of run support.

Youth movement continues: Both Basallo and Wetherholt are top-10 prospects who are expected to crack into the majors in 2026. The O’s gave Basallo a look late last season and he’s hit well so far in spring training. He only has catcher eligibility to start out but could get 1B and 3B if Baltimore moves him around. Wetherholt, a WVU product (like myself), already has tri-eligibility, which is always a plus. He should get plenty of ABs atop a St. Louis lineup that desperately needs something to get excited about. Wetherholt hit .306 with 17 HRs and a .931 OPS in over 100 minor-league games last season.

Takeaways with drafting No. 2: This exercise didn’t feel all that different from drafting No. 1 overall as you’ll need to still reach in some spots to get players you really like being close to the turn. It does feel like leaning into offense versus pitching early in the draft in this slot makes a lot of sense. With Judge, Caminero and Turner up top, if some of my riskier picks later in the draft pay off, I should be competitive all season.

2026 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft, No. 1 Pick: Analysis, key takeaways and full roster

The 2026 MLB season is almost here and that means you’re likely prepping for your fantasy baseball draft. One of the best ways to prepare is to do as many mock drafts as possible. Of course, sometimes it’s tough to find an accurate representation of your league settings by using the public mock draft lobby.

Not to fear! If you’re a Yahoo Fantasy+ subscriber, you have access to the Instant Mock Draft tool, allowing you to practice your draft in seconds. You can test different strategies, pick from various draft slots and experiment with roster construction as many times as you want, anytime, instantly. Now is a great time to subscribe to Yahoo Fantasy+, so you can use the wealth of tools for your draft prep

[Yahoo Fantasy+ unlocks premium draft tools, player projections and more]

In this series, we’re going to be using the Instant Mock Draft tool to pick from each of the 12 slots in a 12-team fantasy baseball league. In this piece, we’ll be drafting from the No. 1 overall pick. Who will it be? Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani? Let’s get after it.

Note: We’re using Yahoo’s default points league settings for these mock drafts.

C: Shea Langeliers, Athletics
1B: Alec Burleson, Cardinals
2B: Brice Turang, Brewers
SS: Francisco Lindor, Mets
3B: Noelvi Marte, Reds
OF: Aaron Judge, Yankees
OF: Jackson Merrill, Padres
OF: Luis Robert, Mets
UTIL: Colson Montgomery, White Sox
UTIL: Jacob Wilson, Athletics
SP: Cristopher Sánchez, Phillies
SP: Jacob deGrom, Rangers
RP: David Bednar, Yankees
RP: Raisel Iglesias, Braves
P: Kyle Bradish, Orioles
P: Trevor Rogers, Orioles
P: Shane McClanahan, Rays
P: Ryan Weathers, Yankees
Bench: Dylan Crews, Nationals
Bench: Austin Wells, Yankees
Bench: Jac Caglianone, Royals
Bench: Abner Uribe, Brewers
Bench: Andrew Painter, Phillies

Can’t go wrong at the top: I went with Judge over the Dodgers’ slugger but I don’t really think you can go wrong with either pick with the No. 1 overall choice — it’s that close. I’m a Yankees fan (yeah, yeah, whatever), so that factored in. It’s never bad to have your team’s best player on your fantasy squad, especially when it comes to Judge. I think the Yankees’ star has a slightly higher ceiling and I wonder if L.A. decides to rest Ohtani a bit more late in the season with the playoffs top of mind.

Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season

Roster building blocks: We took a balanced approach after my initial pick. Lindor is on track to play on Opening Day despite the hamate bone surgery. To me, he’s in a great offensive environment and you could argue he should be going in the first/early second round. I’ll take that value. I like the idea of having an anchor starting pitcher and Sánchez is in his prime and is on a Phillies squad that should compete for the NL East title again.

Balancing risk vs. reward: We added another top-end ace in deGrom to pair with Sanchez. The two-time Cy Young winner appears back on track after a resurgent 2025. There’s always injury risk, especially with a pitcher who will turn 38 this season. But I’m fine taking that risk if deGrom ends up in the Cy Young conversation again. Langeliers was a reach but I wanted to make sure I grabbed a catcher in Scott Pianowski’s top tier. The position is pretty thin and Langeliers may be the best-hitting catcher behind Cal Raleigh.

Waiting on closers: Points-league scoring seems to devalue relief pitchers and closers in general, so I felt OK waiting at the position. We grabbed Yankees closer David Bednar, since we can expect him to get plenty of save opportunities so long as he keeps the job. Raisel Iglesias was my other closer add. If the Braves stay healthy and bounce back, he should get plenty of work.

Team building challenges: The corner infield spots caused me a bit of trouble with the positions thinner as the draft went on. The Cardinals could be pretty bad this season but there’s a lot to like about Burleson entering his age-27 season. He really improved last season and could have finished with 20+ HRs and 80+ RBI with an OPS over .800 had he not missed some time.

Shifting to upside: We took some shots on some sleeper pitchers, including Ryan Weathers, Shane McClanahan and Andrew Painter. Yahoo analyst Corbin Young wrote about Weathers in his top breakout candidates at SP for 2026. Again, the Yankees bias is real for me but Weathers feels like a great low-risk, high-reward type of pick late in drafts. Painter, a once top prospect, should get a chance to showcase his stuff at the next level. He’s still just 22 years old despite logging over 200 minor-league innings.

We wrapped things up with Nationals OF Dylan Crews, who was listed as a potential breakout for analyst Fred Zinkie. Similar to Painter, Crews was among the top prospects in baseball last season but hasn’t put it all together yet. If he’s an everyday player, Crews has 20+ HR upside.

Takeaways with drafting No. 1: I love drafting from this slot in all fantasy formats (and it isn’t just because you get to pick one of the top players). Having the back-to-back picks at the turn allows you to plan ahead more, not worrying so much about ADP and where you’re selecting. You don’t have to fret as much about other managers sniping picks, which is also a plus.

When you’re able to add Judge (or Ohtani), you can put more of an emphasis on pitching and making some risk-reward picks on offense. Let Judge or Ohtani, plus your second pick, anchor your offense. Then, you can go out and grab your guys, your favorite sleepers, regardless of ADP and ranking.