2026 Fantasy baseball draft kit: Rankings, sleepers, cheat sheets, strategy and more

Ready to dominate your fantasy baseball league? Welcome to The Athletic’s 2026 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit.

We’ve assembled your ultimate arsenal for the draft: award-winning rankings, expert projections, customizable cheat sheets, sleepers and prospect discussion. Whether you are a veteran manager or a rookie, this toolkit will help you outsmart and outdraft your competition.

Check back often; this is a living document, and we’ll be dropping new analysis throughout spring training. Is there something you need but don’t see? Leave a comment below — if it can help you and others win, we’ll see what we can do before you’re on the clock.

It’s time to get to work. Play ball!

Rankings, projections and cheat sheets

2026 fantasy baseball rankings: Top 600 hitters and pitchers
Jake Ciely offers his 2026 fantasy baseball rankings, with overall rankings for hitters and pitchers, sortable by position.

Downloadable 2026 fantasy baseball draft sheet
Jake Ciely provides his 2026 fantasy baseball draft sheet, complete with auction values.

2026 fantasy baseball points-league rankings: Top 300 players
Michael Waterloo shares his top 300 players for 2026 fantasy baseball points leagues, with Dodgers phenom Shohei Ohtani topping the list.

Top 300 hitters for fantasy baseball 2026
Juan Soto lands a lofty spot in Derek Van Riper’s 2026 hitter rankings, but the best fantasy bat in New York still belongs to Aaron Judge.

Dynasty league baseball rankings: Top 400 players
Chris Welsh shares his top-400 dynasty list for fantasy baseball and explains how he values players at opposite ends of the age spectrum.

2026 fantasy baseball top-40 reliever rankings and tiers
Relief pitching has become increasingly valuable in fantasy baseball. Greg Jewett discusses which RPs to target in drafts.

Top 75 relievers for fantasy baseball 2026 SOLDS leagues
Greg Jewett ranks his Top 75 relievers for SOLDS leagues, a format that brings all high-leverage relievers into the spotlight.

Eno Sarris’ starting pitcher rankings and other essentials

Using bat speed, swing shape to find potential MLB breakout stars
How the swing metrics Bat Speed, Swing Tilt and Intercept Point can help identify potential breakout hitters for the 2026 season.

Which MLB pitchers are going to benefit most from the Automated Ball-Strike system?
It isn’t clear exactly who will benefit the most from ABS challenges, but pitchers who can paint at the top of the zone might get a boost.

Potential MLB breakout pitchers for 2026
These pitchers meet the criteria to be potential breakout starters this season, though some breakouts seem more likely than others.

Intriguing MLB spring training roster battles that could produce exciting young players
Roster battles aren’t always that intriguing, but when one contender is a potential future roster pillar, they take on more meaning.

7 pitchers showing improved stuff this spring
Spring stats are largely meaningless but there is data from spring games that can hint at which pitchers might break out this season.

Q&A recaps: Feb. 20

Sleepers, bounce-backs, analysis and more

A three-tiered approach to building a bullpen in fantasy baseball Roto leagues
Al Melchior discusses when and where to draft relievers, and the pros and cons of many RPs in the top three tiers.

Draft ‘The Kyles’: Tucker, Schwarber are early-round fantasy baseball gold
John Laghezza provides a blueprint for drafting in the first five rounds ahead of the 2026 fantasy baseball season.

How much will Brice Turang and other 2025 fantasy baseball breakouts regress in 2026?
Al Melchior looks at the 2026 staying power of some of the biggest fantasy baseball breakouts from last season.

Draft these 8 fantasy baseball bounce-back candidates
Al Melchior highlights Marcus Semien, Gleyber Torres and six others primed for major bounce-back seasons.

The major 2026 fantasy baseball impact of MLB’s biggest offseason trades, signings
Jake Ciely details how some of the biggest offseason MLB headlines impact fantasy baseball player values.

30 top prospects to know for fantasy baseball 2026
Owen Poindexter highlights all the prospects worthy of attention for those preparing for their upcoming redraft leagues.

Prospects proving their fantasy baseball worth in spring training, plus draft-day steals
Andy Behrens has steals and draft-day deals on his mind as he touts the fantasy ROI potential of Justin Crawford, Matt McLain and more.

Check these injury-predicting fastball metrics before drafting an ace
John Laghezza looks at which pitchers might be most susceptible to injury this season based on their four-seam fastball velocity data.

Projections vary on these 6 players. How to value them in fantasy baseball drafts
Al Melchior looks at highly variable 2026 projections for six players and offers guidance on how to value them in fantasy baseball drafts.

Dollar values, tier drops and unicorns: A positional breakdown for fantasy baseball 2026
Owen Poindexter dives deep into the hitting positions, illustrating the value pockets and highlighting the unique contributors at each spot.

Bored with Roto? Try Head-to-Head fantasy baseball
Michael Salfino explains how head-to-head fantasy baseball can spice things up if your traditional Roto format has become a drag.

Best late-round buys in fantasy baseball
John Laghezza picks through the rubbish beyond ADP 250 in fantasy baseball drafts to surface some late-round treasures.

7 late-round fantasy baseball SPs having great springs
Need a late-round starting pitcher? Owen Poindexter offers up seven SPs who are showing promise this spring.

Dalton Del Don’s draft-day diamonds: First base | Third base | Second base | Shortstop | Outfield | C & UT

Staff sleepers: SP | Corner infield | Middle infield | Outfield

Michael Salfino’s Zero SP series: Draft strategy | Hitters | Mid-to-late round SP targets

Keith Law’s prospect reports

Ranking all 30 MLB farm systems
The top tier includes the Brewers, the Mariners and … yes, the Dodgers.

MLB prospects who just missed Keith Law’s top 100 ranking
These players are all significant prospects, but just missed Law’s latest top 100 prospect list for a variety of reasons.

Every MLB team’s top 20 prospects for 2026 by division
A complete index of Keith Law’s MLB top prospect rankings heading into the 2026 season.

The top 20 most likely rookies to make an impact this season
These 20 rookies have the potential and playing time opportunity to impact their big-league teams in 2026.

2026 MLB Draft ranking 1.0
This year’s MLB Draft class has a clear-cut favorite for the No. 1 pick, UCLA’s Roch Cholowsky. It’s also deep in high school pitching.

Q&A recaps: Top-100 prospects | 2026 top MLB prospects 

Rates & Barrels: Positional previews

Eno Sarris and Derek VanRiper discuss advanced stats, strategy, prospects and more on their podcast, also available on Apple, Spotify and YouTube. From the first move of the Hot Stove season to the final pitch of the World Series, join us for year-round baseball talk.

Infield previews: Shortstop | First base | Second base | Third base | Catcher

Outfield previews: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 + Utility rundown

Insights from The Athletic’s MLB writers

MLB rookies to watch this spring
The potential MLB rookie class is extremely deep. These 20 prospects, in particular, are worth monitoring closely this spring.

The biggest offseason change for every National League team
The Mets and Braves made a flurry of moves, but is it enough to get them past the Dodgers?

The biggest offseason change for every American League team
As full-squad workouts begin, some clubs have added key players, others have blown it up, and for a few, the plan is a little unclear.

Early spring training observations: ABS system a hit, young players standing out and more
From the ABS system to young players opening eyes to teams exploring contract extensions, it’s already been an exciting spring.

The Phillies hear the ‘noise’ about running it back: Why they think they can make history
After three disappointing October exits, the Phillies brought back the same core group again to try to win it all. Legacies are on the line.