This yearly article used to be an email. Some baseball peeps would drop a note around draft time and ask for last-second advice, picks and pans, swing thoughts. I’d give a bunch of off-the-cuff observations and opinions and ship it out. If you were in my inner circle — and not a direct competitor — I’d send you this stuff.
Now, I give it away for free. Maybe it doesn’t help my bottom line — I know some friends will use this list against me in fantasy baseball drafts to come — but I’m here for the greater good.
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Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season
Imagine you were an hour away from your fantasy baseball draft and we met on the street. This is the stuff I would tell you.
Top tips to crush your drafts
— Hitting is more reliable, pitching is more variable. So I start every draft with an idea that I want to pound the hitting and figure out the pitching. I’ll aim for one Hero SP at the front of my rotation, something in the first four rounds. I will consider Tarik Skubal, Garrett Crochet and Paul Skenes in the second half of the first round, but Logan Webb, Logan Gilbert or Hunter Brown later would also work.
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— If given the No. 1 pick 10 times, I’d split it with five Aaron Judge picks and five Shohei Ohtani picks. There’s no obvious right answer.
— If given the No. 3 pick 10 times, I’d probably split that evenly between Bobby Witt Jr. and Juan Soto. Both are in the prime of their careers. The Royals have an improving lineup and fences coming down and in. Soto stole bases last year for fun, and will surely win an MVP someday. Maybe someday is 2026.
— Ohtani is an easy pick and Kyle Tucker belongs in the first round, and Teoscar Hernández is one of those boring-value bets. But the Dodgers could be a tricky fantasy team because this club can operate like a team that’s already in the playoffs. It’s possible none of the LAD starting pitchers will make it to 150 innings. This leans me against Tyler Glasnow, no matter his electric stuff, and Blake Snell’s workload carries an even lower ceiling.
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— It’s not fun to play fantasy baseball as an actuary, but it’s often the right approach. With that in mind, future Hall of Famers Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman have to slip off their current ADPs before I draft them.
— Your early picks should mostly be tied to elite offenses or favorable backdrops. I want my best hitters to be surrounded by other good hitters, for volume and run-production purposes. This is a fairly obvious point, but it also makes José Ramírez a soft fade of mine, despite his obvious skills.
— When in doubt, get pitchers tied to good teams and roomy parks. Seattle’s home park is the best place for any pitcher; we all know that. But recognize that the Rangers have the second-best backdrop for pitchers in the American League. The Padres and Giants give their pitchers the best chance to succeed.
— Defense also matters, at least on the extreme. The Brewers and Cubs are terrific on defense, which means I’ll draft their starters proactively all month. The Boston infield is still a work in progress, but the Red Sox have fantastic defenders in the outfield.
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— I also like drafting into organizations I trust. Milwaukee is at the head of this list. The Brewers have become what the Rays used to be — the lower-market team that spends its money smarter than everyone else. Andrew Vaughn is a perfect post-hype sleeper. I believe in the improvements Brice Turang made last year. I’ll draft multiple starters from this rotation, not just because of their skills but also because they’re tied to the air-tight defense.
Click here to check out our Draft Blueprint for 2026. (Photo by Davis Long/Yahoo Sports)
— If you’re a fan of the shiny toys and have to have a rookie on spec, Kevin McGonigle probably makes more 2026 sense than Konnor Griffin. McGonigle has shown category juice this year and has more walks than strikeouts — that’s always the sign of a good hitter. Griffin is going to be a monster someday and obviously, he’s still a kid — he turns 20 in April. But along with those four homers this month, he has 10 strikeouts and zero walks. Griffin still is legitimately the No. 1 prospect in baseball — his minor-league stats last year are almost too good to be true. But McGonigle is the better value right now.
— Generally, I don’t like to target a first-tier closer; knowing that, Cleveland’s Cade Smith is your target. Elite strikeout rate, good control, hard to homer off. And he’s tied to a Guardians team that’s built to win low-scoring games.
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— Kyle Schwarber is the perfect second-round pick. He’s going to hit 40 homers at minimum, and another 50-plus is possible. The run production will sing, tied to a strong offense and slotted first or second in the order. Schwarber no longer carries significant batting-average risk, and although I don’t want to pay expectantly for his steals, he’s shown the ability to swipe 5-10.
— Manny Machado is the perfect third-round pick, a Hall of Fame-tracking talent who’s somewhat unappreciated in his 30s. Machado quietly contributes in all five primary categories and checks the durability card, too. Third base is not deep in 2026.
— Geraldo Perdomo is a tricky call because last year’s power spike came out of nowhere. But the average is safe — he makes excellent contact and rarely strikes out — and the stolen bases have a high floor. If he merely keeps 12-15 homers, he’s a profit at ADP.
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— Alec Burleson figured out lefties in 2025 and no longer has any worry about being platooned. His contact skills are excellent and he still might grow into a 25-30 homer guy. He’s one of the quiet values I want you to focus on at the table.
— Roman Anthony and Wyatt Langford are already great, but they could be first-round great as soon as next year. I want to target elite talents who are still on the escalator.
— Matt McLain is finally healthy again in Cincinnati and can go back to the star we saw in 2023. He’s still just 26. His ADP around 190 is a screaming bargain.
— Get power early, it runs out quickly. Be mindful of batting average early, because you’ll want to consider later picks who don’t offer it. Stolen bases are available everywhere in the draft; you want to keep chipping away, but you should never feel stressed by that category.
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— First base and third base are shallower than we usually see. Second base is neutral. Shortstop is loaded; if your league requires a utility middle (a player who plays 2B or SS), that UM will probably be a shortstop.
— I thought the outfield depth was so-so a month ago, but a bunch of drafting has me thinking it’s actually just fine. And if you only need four outfield fills, you’ll have no problem getting a group you like.
— Catcher is deeper than usual, in part because a lot of these guys hit well enough to absorb DH at-bats. In a one-catcher league, there is no reason to attack this position early.
— Hitting ranks tend to cluster together while pitching opinions are more diverse. Don’t be surprised when you get more of your pitching targets than you initially projected. Of course, we’re chasing a butterfly with pitching, as hurlers are constantly battling injuries and reinventing themselves.
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— When the April games hit, be proactive in churning the bottom of your roster. When we have more information to act on, it makes sense to make changes. Your early picks deserve time and a long leash. Your late-round picks need to show something quickly, and if they don’t, get to the wire and use the fresh information to your advantage.
— Load all of your FAAB and free-agent cadences to your calendar. “I’ll remember that” is not a strategy. Try to cultivate a routine.
— If you’re in multiple leagues, let free agent behavior trigger you for worthwhile pickups elsewhere. If a smart opponent grabbed some unknown player in one of your leagues, perhaps you could make that same move in a different room. Most of my free-agent offerings come on Sunday, and I will use the early results to inform the picks I make later in the night.
— Unless your closer is lights-out, don’t watch him on live TV. It will only cause stress.
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— I don’t like to draft players already hurt unless the room is giving me a major discount. Injury optimism is rarely your friend.
— Remember that staying engaged for the full season is almost always rewarded. In most leagues, even the most competitive, engagement starts to fall off in September. Some managers will lose interest if they realize they probably can’t win the league, and some others will be tripped up by the distractions of September, with schools reopening and football season starting.
— Even if you don’t subscribe to a baseball package, recognize that there will be a few free trials during the year — and surely one at the front of the season. Your eyes and your ears (listen to the announcers, they know that team better than you do) need to be open at all times.
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— If you can find a friend who shares a similar baseball view to you, co-managing is forever a cheat code. You have a buddy to share the fun and the work, and someone else who always cares about your team. It needs to be the right fit, but if you can find it, I promise you the winning odds just improved.
— When ERA and WHIP don’t tell the same story, trust the WHIP.
— New metrics enter baseball every day and some of them are wonderful. We’re adding a bunch of flashy bells and whistles to the Yahoo interface this year, too. But never forget walks and strikeouts are the first thing to look at for any pitcher, and for most of the hitters, too. The K/BB ratio is the water of baseball stats.
— Every year, a bunch of unknown relievers become useful in our game, in part because more wins are being filtered back into the bullpens. A few weeks into the season, look for these guys. Don’t worry if you don’t know the name or if they were bad in the past. Several of these emergences will be real, and it’s a potential way to help your ratios at the cheapest acquisition cost.
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— Recognize the people in your network who specialize on a specific team. If I need Tampa Bay Rays advice, Jason Collette is always my first call. Sara Sanchez is knowledgeable on everything baseball, but she specifically knows the Cubs inside and out (and she’s often at the ballpark). I know a lovely couple that always has the Giants game on — if I need San Francisco intel, I give them a nudge. You get the idea.
— Right before my key drafts, I’ll take one more look at the projected lineups. Although those preseason lists are often speculative and always subject to in-season change, I want to avoid platoons and 7-8-9 guys whenever possible.
— Yahoo has more position flexibility than any other provider in the industry, but I still want a few Swiss-army knives on the roster. If you’re trying to break a tie, an extra position is often a good way to do that.
— Listen to everyone you respect, but make your own picks. It’s your team. You’ll spend six months watching the best of your roster. Pick players you like.
Let’s have fun, amigos. Baseball is fun.
