November 2025 – Imaginary Brick Wall

Posted on November 18, 2025November 22, 2025 by Michael Halpern

Cincinnati Reds 2026 Dynasty Baseball Team Report (Top 10 Prospects/Interesting MLB guys/Strategy Talk)

It’s all about the Reds today on the Brick Wall, and there are targets galore to go after on this team. Like during the regular season, I will be posting a few articles a month for free here on Imaginary Brick Wall with the vast majority of the content over on the Patreon. The Patreon is cooking with deep Positional Rankings kicking off last week, my analysis of Imai, Murakami, and Okamoto for FYPD’s dropping yesterday, a Top 70 Sneak Peek of the 2026 Top 1,000 already up, and 17 Dynasty Team Reports completed. Here is the Cincinnati Reds 2026 Dynasty Baseball Team Report (Top 10 Prospects/Interesting MLB guys/Strategy Talk):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
-A TOP 70 SNEAK PEEK OF THE 2026 TOP 1,000 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
–END OF SEASON 2025 TOP 450 DYNASTY RANKS
–END OF SEASON 2025 TOP 325 PROSPECTS RANKS
-TOP 60 2026 FYPD RANKS w/ Analysis & Prime Projections for every player
–2026 Deep Positional Rankings: Top 80 Catchers
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: END OF SEASON MAILBAG!
–SPREADSHEETS
–OFF-SEASON CONTENT: Dynasty Team Reports (Top 10 Prospects/Interesting MLB guys/Strategy of the Day), Deep Positional Rankings, Predicting Future Prospect Lists, Position by Position Targets, 2026 & Prime/Peak Projections, Top 1,000+ Dynasty Rankings, Top 500+ Prospects Rankings, Top 100+ FYPD Ranks + much more

Previous Dynasty Team Reports on Patreon

Arizona Diamondbacks—Atlanta Braves—Baltimore Orioles—Chicago Cubs (free)—Colorado Rockies—Detroit Tigers—Houston Astros—Kansas City Royals—Miami Marlins—Milwaukee Brewers—New York Yankees (free)—Pittsburgh Pirates (free)—Seattle Mariners—Texas Rangers—Toronto Blue Jays—Washington Nationals

Hitters

Spencer Steer – CIN, 1B, 28.4 – Steer is one of my favorite buy low vets for 2026. He got off to a rough start to the season with his Hard Hit rate way down, but we know the reason for that. He had a shoulder injury that required a cortisone shot in spring which wiped out basically his enter spring training. He couldn’t play the field due to the injury until late April. It’s clear he wasn’t 100%, and it resulted in a 9.8 point drop in Hard Hit% through July. He went from a 39.9% Hard Hit% in 2024 to a 30.1% Hard Hit% in his first 101 games, but it was a different story in August and September. The shoulder obviously started to feel much better, and not only did his Hard Hit% rebound, but it jumped to career best levels. He put up a 37% Hard Hit% in August and then a 47.4% Hard Hit% in September. At the very least, it seems likely the Hard Hit rate will jump back up into the high 30’s, and with a full off-season to get healthy and stronger entering his age 28 year old season, my bet is that he will be at career high levels. I think September was just a taste for the future. He also ran far less than he did in 2023-24, but when you are nursing an injury, it’s only natural to not risk getting hurt on the bases. He was still 7 for 8 when he did run, and he has a 28 ft/sec sprint, so the ability for 20+ is still in here if he so chooses, and I think he will choose to run a lot more in 2026. Combined with his lift and pull profile (18.8 degree launch with a 25.8% Air Pull%), plate skills (21.6/10.1 career K%/BB%), and great ballpark, all signs point towards a big 2026 season for Steer. Between 1B, DH, and LF, I’m not worried about his playing time either. Buy the dip. – 2026 Projection: 77/24/89/.252/.331/.445/15

Noelvi Marte – CIN, 3B/OF, 24.6 – I want to name Marte a major target, but seeing his 134th overall NFBC redraft ADP, and knowing his value is probably even stronger in dynasty, I actually don’t think my value of him is all that different from consensus. People like him, and so do I, but there are enough flaws in the profile for me to stop short of saying I would truly pay up much higher than where he’s currently going. When I give my “Targets,” I try to give real sharp targets based on perceived value. If I name a target who is already being valued pretty highly, like Hunter Greene last off-season, it’s because I still don’t think that high value is high enough. They aren’t just “breakout” picks. Not to say giving “breakout” picks isn’t valuable, but if everyone agrees that someone is a good breakout candidate, I can’t call them a true target. And the main thing stopping me short from going full 5 alarm target status on Marte relative to perceived value is that the 36.3% Hard Hit% and 91.4 MPH FB/LD EV are pretty mediocre. It sat 35.5% in August and September, so you can’t say it was getting better either. The other reasons are that the plate skills are rough with a 23.6/4.4 K%/BB%, the contact is below average with a 27.1% whiff%, and he’s in defensive limbo with a move to RF where we still don’t know how good he’s going to be out there. But the reason he’s a major breakout candidate is because he’s an electric talent with a 73.3 MPH swing and 29 ft/sec sprint. He already broke out somewhat in 2025, bouncing back from his PED induced down year, hitting .263 with 14 homers and 10 steals in 90 games. He improved his lift and pull with a 12.7 degree launch and 17.6% Air Pull%, and Cincinnati is one of the best hitter’s parks in the game. 20/20 with a solid BA seems reasonable, and the talent is in here to do much more than that with continued improvement and more hard hit, which should come considering that bat speed. He’s worth his current high price. – 2026 Projection: 75/23/77/.258/.309/.445/19

Matt McLain – CIN, 2B, 26.8 – I can’t say my faith in a McLain bounce back is as strong as my faith in a Steer bounce back, and that is because I don’t trust the hit tool. His batting average tanked to .220 which is backed up by the .213 xBA and 28.9/9.5 K%/BB% in 147 games. Maybe you can say he was shaking off the rust after missing the entire 2024 season with a shoulder and rib injury, but you would have hoped to see him improving as the year went on, and that wasn’t the case. He was even worse at the end of the year with a 35.4% K% in August and September. He can hit it hard enough with 40%+ Hard Hit rates, and he can lift it with a 16.3 degree launch, but the very low 12.9% Air Pull% is why he still only managed 15 homers in 147 games. He’s fast and he runs with 18 steals (and the capability for more if he can get on base more), and he’s a good 2B, so the glove should keep on the field. The fantasy friendly upside is most certainly still in here, and I would bet on a better season in 2026, but I’m not confident enough in it to call him a target. He’s actually going higher than Steer at 203rd overall (Steer is going 226th), and I also sense his value is stronger in dynasty, so I don’t foresee myself getting much McLain this off-season. – 2026 Projection: 76/19/65/.238/.315/.420/22

Pitchers

Nick Lodolo – CIN, LHP, 28.2 – Just call him Nick “The Eternal Target” Lodolo, because for the 28th straight year, Lodolo is a target this off-season. Can’t say I didn’t see it coming, both in terms of him breaking out in 2025, and in terms of him still somehow remaining an underrated target, writing in his Top 1,000 blurb last off-season, “The Eternal Buy Low is back at it again. It wouldn’t be a dynasty baseball off-season without Nick Lodolo being a buy low candidate. I imagine that one day I will be in my 80’s, and I will be writing about how Nick Lodolo Jr. is a great buy low candidate. Like father, like son (or maybe like grandfather, like grandson at that point). It’s been a frustrating start to his career because we all know there is so much more in here, but I’m not letting that frustration get to me. Certainly do not sell low on this man, and once again, target him.,” … and now that he broke out in 2025 with a 3.33 ERA and 24.3/4.8 K%/BB% in 156.2 IP, paying off majorly if you’ve been taking my advice over the years … he’s still somehow underrated and a target. Even in the breakout, he left hints that this isn’t the peak, and those “hints” were a 2.90 ERA with a 27.4/4.8 K%/BB% in his last 77.2 IP. The 27.5% whiff% on the season is well above average, and it jumped to 34.7% in those final 77.2 IP. He’s always been a big strikeout guy throughout his career. That 24.3% is so clearly on the very low end of his ability, and as we saw in the 2nd half, he has the ability to combine his newfound elite walk rates with a high strikeout rate. The 93.8 MPH fastball isn’t dominant, but it’s a good pitch with a 23.1% whiff% and .305 xwOBA. The curve is a whiff machine with a 40.3% whiff% and .212 xwOBA. And the changeup and sinker were actually his two best pitches by Statcast Run Value with a +7 on each pitch. Both pitches keep the ball on the ground. Maybe it’s that people are still super scared off by Great American Ball Park, but I’ve been hitting on targets like crazy the past few years by not being scared of it. I’ve hit on Greene (see below), Lodolo and Burns (I guess that remains to be seen), and I’m going to keep going to that well on all 3. Lodolo has only 409.2 IP in his career, so he’s still in the ascending part of his career. 2026 is the year where it truly all comes together for that career year. He’s never been more of a target, and I’m sure going into 2027, he will somehow still be a target. – 2026 Projection: 13/3.28/1.11/185 in 165 IP

Hunter Greene – CIN, RHP, 26.8 – I nailed Greene’s ace breakout in 2024, calling him a major target, and then I doubled down in 2025, predicting that wasn’t even the peak. Who else predicts a random jump in control but me? Greene had a 9% BB% in 2022, a 9.6% BB% in 2023, and a 9.3% BB% in 2024, and I looked at that and said, you know what, I’m smelling improvement coming, writing in his Top 1,000 blurb last off-season, “His control/command remained below average, but I still think there is another level in here as he stays healthy and gains more experience. I don’t even think this is the peak, assuming he stays healthy, which who knows there honestly (he missed time with elbow inflammation this year). Greene had the ace breakout I knew was coming, and I’m going to continue to buy high.” … and then he went out in 2025 and proved me prescient with that huge jump in control I saw coming, putting up a 6.2% BB%. It wasn’t a “random” prediction of course. It was me betting on his athleticism and work ethic, and it resulted in the cementation of true ace status with a 2.76 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and a 31.4/6.2 K%/BB% in 107.2 IP. The 99.5 MPH 4-seamer put up a +20 Run Value which was tied for 5th best in baseball and the double plus slider put up a 46.9% whiff%. You can ding him for injury risk as he only pitched 107.2 IP and has never pitched more 150.1 IP in a season, but it was a groin injury that knocked him out for over 2 months this year, so I find it hard to really hold that against him too much. He also didn’t improve his third pitch at all, the splitter, with a negative 5 Run Value on the pitch. The negatives are enough to very clearly keep him out of the true top tier, but you know I’m going to keep betting on this kid. He ranked 36th overall on A Top 70 Sneak Peek of the 2026 Top 1,000 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon). – 2026 Projection: 13/3.22/1.06/207 in 170 IP

Cincinnati Reds 2026 Top 10 Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Prospects Rankings

1) Chase Burns – CIN, RHP, 23.2 – Chase Burns is my #1 pitching prospect in baseball (at least in leagues that use the 50 IP threshold, like most of my leagues do, and not service time, because based on service time he’s not prospect eligible anymore). I was high on him in First Year Player Drafts last off-season, ranking him 4th overall, because I saw the type of true ace upside that was worth sticking your neck out for, and then he went out and proved it. He sliced through the minor leagues with a 1.77 ERA and 36.8/5.4 K%/BB% in 66 IP, and then he almost did the same in the majors with a 3.47 xERA (4.57 ERA) and a 35.6/8.5 K%/BB% in 43.1 IP. The 98.7 MPH 4-seamer is near elite with a 25.2% whiff% and +4 Run Value and the slider is also near elite with a .229 xwOBA and 43.7% whiff%. He only went to the changeup 5.6% of the time, mostly vs. lefties, but it was a solid pitch with a 33.3% whiff% and 75.7 MPH EV against. The control was really good too. He’s an athletic 6’3”, 210 pounds. I don’t see how it can get anymore obvious than this. This is a true ace waiting to happen, even pitching in Cincinnati. – 2026 Projection: 10/3.42/1.15/190 in 150 IP Prime Projection: 14/3.03/0.98/245 in 190 IP

2) Sal Stewart – CIN, 1B/3B, 22.4 – As much love as Stewart is getting right now, it’s not nearly enough. I honestly don’t see how he’s not being valued like an elite dynasty prospect. He’s always displayed near elite plate skills with a plus hit tool his entire professional career from the time he was drafted at 18 years old as the 32nd overall pick. And then in his age 21 year old season he had that monster power breakout to combine with the plate skills. He hit 20 homers with a 93.1 MPH EV, 51.3% Hard Hit%, 14.2 degree launch, and a 15.6/9.3 K%/BB% in 118 games at Triple-A. That is a special hit/power combo, and then he closed the year out by dominating the majors with 5 homers, a 95.4 MPH EV, 17.9 degree launch, 52.5% Hard Hit%, and a 23.9% whiff% in 18 games. It was good for a .399 xwOBA. That is absurd for a 21 year old in his first taste of the majors. It’s fully backed up by what he did in the minors. Him going 231st overall in NFBC is way too low, and that is just for redraft. The two biggest knocks on his game are that he’s slow with a 25.8 ft/sec sprint, but he was a solid base stealer in the minors with 17 steals in 20 attempts this year, and we’ve seen slow guys steal a ton of bags (Soto, Naylor), so I think he should at least chip in with a handful, and maybe much more than that. He’s also not great on defense, but Cincinnati has plenty of room at 1B/DH, so I don’t see that as a problem for fantasy. The dude is an elite fantasy prospect and he doesn’t quite get treated that way. – 2026 Projection: 76/25/82/.260/.328/.457/7 Prime Projection: 91/30/94/.277/.351/.502/9

3) Alfredo Duno – CIN, C, 20.3 – Duno vs. Rainiel is a really interesting debate to me as the top catcher prospect in the lower minors, and while it seems the vast majority (or maybe everybody but me, I’m not sure) has it as an easy call in Rodriguez’ direction, I can’t lie that I’m leaning Duno by a slightest of hairs. There are several reasons for that, but the two biggest are that Duno has a massive ballpark advantage (Cincy has the 2nd best ballpark for righty homers and St. Louis has the 5th worst) and Duno also has a path to playing time advantage. Essentially, I think this is Duno’s job when he’s ready and I think he is going to inherently get a longer leash with the bat and glove when he does get that chance. St. Louis is stacked at catcher up and down their organization. The other reasons I have it Duno are because he’s bigger (6’2” vs. 5’10”) and he hits it considerably harder (48.6% Hard Hit% vs. 39.2% at Single-A). Duno had a .423 xwOBA vs Rodriguez’ .368 xwOBA at Single-A. Those are vastly different xwOBA’s. You can say Rodriguez has the age to level edge, but Duno was really good at Single-A as an 18 year old too in 2024. The biggest edge to Rodriguez, and the one where this call could make me look dumb, is that he has the better contact rates. Duno had a 31% whiff% vs. Rodriguez’ 23% whiff%. But Rodriguez had a .249 BA at Single-A because he lifts and pulls an extreme amount, which is great in general, but in a terrible ballpark for righty homers, and with good but not great Hard Hit (there is little to no projection left on his frame, he’s already thick), it might not lead to the highest BA’s in the future either. I love both and it’s coin flip for me, but I have to give my raw unfiltered take on what I would do if I had this choice in my league, and my gut is just leaning Duno. He ranked 14th overall on the Top 80 Catchers: 2026 Positional Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon). – ETA: 2028 Prime Projection: 71/31/87/.251/.340/.491/4

4) Steele Hall – CIN, SS, 18.8 – Selected 9th overall in the 2025 MLB Draft, Hall’s double plus speed and athleticism is his calling card, giving him enticing fantasy upside just based on that, and there is a chance his power potential is being considerably underrated. He’s one of the youngest players in the draft, and while he’s not a huge guy at 5’11”, his righty swing is super fast, explosive, and he knows how to lift it. His power already took a big jump last off-season with tacked on muscle, and if he was able to do it once, who says he can’t keep on tacking on mass. The biggest issue is that he struggles vs. breaking balls, and generally when you go after these type of speed prospects, you want their hit tool to be a plus, rather than a risk. The upside is super fun, especially hitting in Cincinnati, and his young age gives some added legroom for both the power and breaking ball struggles. He has a chance to be a fantasy beast. He ranked 6th overall on my End of Season Top 60 2026 First Year Player Draft Rankings (Patreon). – ETA: 2029 Prime Projection: 86/18/74/.251/.321/.427/37

5) Tyson Lewis – CIN, SS, 20.3 – Tyson Lewis is the Spencer Jones of the lower minors. Or the Munataka Murakami of the United States … kinda (I just dropped my Analyzing Imai, Murakami, and Okamoto for 2026 First Year Player Drafts post on the Patreon). These are the type of players who really test your risk tolerance, and while you know I’m not scared of taking on extra risk, even I have to stop and pause for a second at these atrocious contact rates. Lewis put up a 45.8% whiff% with a 35.4% K% in 35 games at Single-A. We should write him off then, right? Well no, because his talent is just as insane in the opposite direction. He’s a physical specimen at a rock solid 6’2”, and the power/speed combo is elite with a 92.4 MPH EV, 50% Hard Hit%, and 27 steals in 81 games on the season. Even with missing the ball like half of the time, he still managed a 114 wRC+. These players are honestly impossible to evaluate, because you are inevitably going to either end up too high or too low. If he can get the contact rates into a reasonable range, a la the career path of Elly De La Cruz (who wasn’t even as bad as Lewis), we could be looking at an elite dynasty asset, but if can’t, he might barely make it out of Triple-A, or he might breakout at like 27 years old on his 3rd team. We almost have no choice but to split the difference, which is why I had him ranked 57th overall on my End of Season Top 325 Dynasty Prospect Rankings (Patreon). – ETA: 2028 Prime Projection: 77/22/76/.229/.308/.435/24

6) Rhett Lowder – CIN, RHP, 24.1 – 2025 was a completely lost season for Lowder. A right forearm injury sidelined him until May, he got bombed in 4 outings, and then he missed almost 4 months with an oblique injury. He returned for one start at the end of the year and 4 in the AFL, so he should be fully healthy for 2026 at least. While he deserves a mulligan for the lost season, his upside was already questionable without big stuff and in a terrible ballpark. I love the ballpark discount for guys with nasty stuff like Greene/Lodolo/Burns, but not for these control over stuff guys. Lowder had a 90 Stuff+ in his 30.2 IP MLB debut in 2024 and he struggled to miss bats with a 20.1% whiff%. The fastball sits 93+ MPH and he’s got two good secondaries in his slider and changeup, so it’s not like he’s got no stuff at all, and the plus control/command helps everything play up. He got drafted 7th overall for a reason. In a better ballpark, I can see going higher than this, but in Cincinnati, I don’t see the fantasy upside to really go after him. – 2026 Projection: 2/4.29/1.32/61 in 70 IP Prime Projection: 11/3.81/1.20/164 in 170 IP

7) Hector Rodriguez – CIN, OF, 22.1 – Rodriguez has been a precocious hitter since the time he stepped on a pro field at 17 years old, and in 2025 he proved that special hit tool will have no problems in the upper minors, putting up a .283 BA with a 15% K% in 135 games split between Double-A and Triple-A. A hit tool like that generally finds it’s way onto the field, but the negatives in his profile overshadow that hit tool a bit for me. He doesn’t have much defensive value as a decent corner outfielder, he doesn’t get on base with a 46.6% Chase%, he’s not a great base stealer with 15 steals in 22 attempts on the season, the raw power is only average to maybe above average with a 39.3% Hard Hit%, and he hits the ball on the ground a ton with a 48.1% GB%. It doesn’t seem like a high upside fantasy profile or a high upside real life profile. He’s always going to have to scratch and claw for playing time because the defense ain’t great. He’s a fringe Top 100 prospect for me, and that could be generous. – 2026 Projection: 11/2/13/.255/.295/.391/3 Prime Projection: 82/16/61/.273/.322/.429/16

8) Cam Collier – CIN, 1B, 21.4 – Collier had one of the all time weird power outages in 2025. He went from hitting 20 homers in 119 games at High-A as a 19 year old, to just 4 homers in 95 games at mostly Double-A as a 20 year old. You can say it was because of the higher level, but he also hit just 1 homer in 22 games in the hitter’s paradise that is the AFL. It’s just odd. He had a 90.1 MPH EV in the AFL and he has impressive top end exit velocities, so it’s not like he can’t hit it hard either. He’s not a huge lift and pull guy, but it doesn’t go extreme in the other direction either, so that can’t fully explain it. He almost certainly got unlucky and I’m sure he will hit a lot more in 2026, but with him moving to 1B, the bat needs to be bulletproof, and 5 homers in 117 games is certainly not bulletproof. He hit well otherwise, especially for a 20 year old at Double-A with a 114 wRC+, so it wasn’t a disaster season by any stretch, but the 27.9% K% shows there is also hit tool risk here. He was useless vs lefties with a .563 OPS. I like Collier and I like his bat, but at 1B, you need to really love the bat to rank him highly, and 2025 was just too underwhelming. He’s a solid fantasy prospect but I can’t say he’s a highly valued one. – ETA: 2027 Prime Projection: 71/22/77/.250/.332/.441/1

9) Aaron Watson – CIN, RHP, 19.3 – Selected 51st overall in the 2025 MLB Draft, Watson is a projectable 6’5”, 205 pounds who already has polished control/command over his low to mid 90’s fastball. If that thing ticks up into the mid 90’s consistently, he’s going to be dangerous just off that, and he combines that with two potentially plus secondaries in his slider and splitter. Both still need refinement and he doesn’t command them as well as the fastball, but there are a lot of really interesting ingredients here. Size, easy delivery, projection, double plus control of a good fastball, two good secondaries. There is a lot to like here. I’m a fan as a later round FYPD arm to go after. – ETA: 2029 Prime Projection: 10/3.91/1.22/165 in 170 IP

10) Edwin Arroyo – CIN, SS, 22.8 – Arroyo has a good SS glove with a good feel to hit, above average speed, and upper minors production, giving him one of the safer profiles a minor league can have. He slashed .284/.345/.371 with 3 homers, 12 steals, and a 16.9/7.7 K%/BB% in 120 games at Double-A. He had a more contact oriented approach this year, putting up a career best K%, but it came at the cost of his power with a career worst 50.8% GB%. He needs to find a happy medium between the two approaches, and considering he missed all of 2024 after undergoing shoulder surgery, missing key developmental time, we might want to give him some leeway to do just that. A power breakout, or even just a leveling up will start to get his hype brewing again, but even as if, he’s not a bad prospect for medium to deeper leagues – ETA: 2027 Prime Projection: 74/14/56/.266/.320/.405/16

Just Missed

11) Chase Petty – CIN, RHP, 23.0

12) Stharlin Torres – CIN, RHP, 19.10

13) Mason Neville – CIN, OF, 22.3 – Selected 114th overall in the 2025 MLB Draft, the 6’3”, 200 pound Neville is a super fun fantasy prospect with big time power (26 homers in 57 games in the Big Ten) and athleticism (9 steals), but as you can see from the draft slot, MLB teams don’t think he’s going to hit. He put up a 23.6% K% this year, he had a 33.5% K% in the Pac 12 last year (a tougher conference than the Big Ten) and he had a 48.7% K% in 39 PA in the Cape. He then proved the hit tool fear correct in pro ball with a 34.4% K% and 41.7% whiff% in 23 games at Single-A. He’s a good defensive OF and can play CF, so at least his glove has a chance of getting him on the field to give the hit tool time to improve, and Cincinnati is also the most fun landing spot for a guy like this. If you want upside from a bat later in the draft that isn’t a teenager, Neville is a good option, but those contact numbers in pro ball were too extreme to really target him. – ETA: 2028 Prime Projection: 62/18/69/.226/.305/.430/12

14) Arnaldo Lantigua – CIN, OF, 20.3

Dynasty Baseball Thought/Strategy of the Day (which may or may not be related to the team I’m covering that day)

There is a major gap between how badly fantasy managers think Great American Ball Park tanks pitchers, and how much Great American Ball Park actually tanks pitchers. It’s really not that bad guys. It is only the 4th worst ballpark in baseball with a 103 Park Factor (3 year rolling average), meaning it’s not all that much worse than average (100 Park Factor). Coors has a 113 Park Factor for reference. For just 2025, it was actually a below average hitter’s park at 18th overall! I’m telling you, it’s really not that bad. Sure it juices up homers, but that is much more a positive for hitters than it is a negative for pitchers if the rest of the park factors mitigate that HR advantage, which is the case in Cincy. People were scared off of Greene when I was yelling buy. People were scared off of Lodolo when I was yelling buy. People were dropping Burns in FYPD Ranks because of it when I ignored it. Shit, just look at the season Andrew Abbott just had. He doesn’t even have nasty stuff and he still managed a 2.87 ERA in 166.1 IP, I’m not saying that wasn’t good luck or that is sustainable, I’m just saying you can even get random great years like that. Please do not be scared of this ballpark. It is not worthy of that level of fear, and I still see fantasy managers treat it like some horrific ballpark. I’ve been sweeping up on value because of that fear, and I plan to do the same in 2026.

Previous Dynasty Team Reports on Patreon

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)
Blue Sky: Dynasty Halp (@ImaginaryBrickWall)

Posted on November 11, 2025November 14, 2025 by Michael Halpern

2026 Positional Dynasty Baseball Rankings: Top 80 Catchers (Patreon)

Catchers sure aren’t what they used to be. Back in my day, a catcher needed to take a boatload of PED’s to actually be a fantasy beast. Also, we have so many catchers these days who merely dabble in catching. I don’t remember many, or really any of those types back in the day. You either caught, or you didn’t. Now we have these tweeners who (maybe) catch enough to retain eligibility, but also play nearly full time at DH/1B. The ABS Challenge system is coming to the majors now too. It’s fun time to be alive for a catcher. For fantasy, you really don’t have to stick your neck out at all to get a good catcher. In a 12 teamer, you will probably be able to get a good one for like $1 in an auction, or late in drafts. Even in medium leagues to deeper leagues you can likely wait. You need to find little edges and differentiators in fantasy to win, and my strategy has really always been to wait on catcher while using as much draft capital to build as beastly of a team as possible at other spots. Sometimes it comes back to bite me, but with how deep catcher is this year, it’s a no brainer strategy. Top 5 free here on the Brick Wall. Here is the 2026 Positional Dynasty Baseball Rankings: Top 80 Catchers:

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Previous Dynasty Team Reports on Patreon

1) Cal Raleigh – SEA, C, 29.4 – Raleigh’s insane 2025 was very obviously a career year. I don’t think anybody is now expecting him to be a perennial 60 homer bat, or even 50 homer bat. The 28 year old career year is textbook, well almost textbook, as he does have one thing that says we shouldn’t discount a real leveling up here. And that is that he’s a catcher. Catcher’s are known for delayed offensive breakouts because of how much time they spend on their defense. And Raleigh did show real improvement in his underlying numbers too. The 26.7% K% and 13.8% BB% were both career bests, so it looks like there was some maturation of the plate skills. His 49.6% Hard Hit% is a career best, and while it’s not up majorly from 2024, it is up majorly from where it was in 2022-2023. His lift and pull was also up with career bests in launch (25.2 degrees) and Air Pull% (38.4%). Only Isaac Paredes had an Air Pull% even close to that (Paredes beat him out by 0.1 at 38.5, but the next highest was Tork at 31.8%). And the cherry on top is that he ran a ton for a catcher with 14 steals in 18 attempts. He was just having fun out there. So while it’s almost certain that 2025 will be the best year of his career, it does look like he’s leveled up from a 30+ homer bat to a 40+ homer bat. Catchers take a beating behind the plate, so who knows how long he will be able to hold that level, but I’m betting on a few more monster power seasons at least. – 2026 Projection: 90/42/110/.244/.346/.541/10

2) Samuel Basallo – BAL, C/1B, 21.7 – Basallo is going to follow the Junior Caminero track to a T. I can feel it. Caminero came up and was horrific in his first little taste in 2023 (which I told you not even to look at those numbers) and then was mediocre in his more extended taste in 2024 (which I advised, “if there is any buy window based on the small, mediocre MLB sample, I would be all over it.”), before having a monster explosion this season. Basallo is going through that exact same adjustment period, looking mediocre in his pro debut with a .559 OPS in 31 games, but just like Caminero, please completely ignore those numbers. His 75.5 MPH swing is near elite, and while not as elite as Caminero, it’s still damn good. He demolishes the baseball like Caminero with a 94.2 MPH EV, 57.4% Hard Hit%, and 23 homers in 76 games at Triple-A, and also like Caminero, it’s always come with solid strikeout rates while being extremely young for the level. Even with some chase and whiff in their game, these are the type of bats where it really doesn’t matter. And Basallo lifts and pulls more than Caminero. It’s inevitable that Basallo is going to start raking his face off in the majors in the very near future. Whether it comes at catcher or 1B or DH or a combination of all of them, I don’t know, but it doesn’t really matter. He’s going to be one of the top young power hitters in the game real soon. – 2026 Projection: 67/25/81/.249/.317/.446/3 Prime Projection: 92/34/111/.266/.339/.522/4

3) Shea Langeliers – SAC, C, 28.4 – Langeliers gets the small nod over Rice because we still have to sweat out how long Rice will actually retain catcher eligibility. In dynasty, having that stability that you know you are locked in at the catcher position for several years is valuable, if for nothing else than piece of mind. And Shea has a case for it even taking defense out of the equation. He had a breakout season on the back of much improved contact rates, bringing his K% down 7.5 points to 19.7% and his whiff down 4.1 points to 25.1%. It led to a .277 BA vs. a .224 BA in 2024. It didn’t impact his power at all either, jacking out 31 homers in 123 games (he missed some time with an oblique) with tons of lift/pull (16.3 degree launch with a 21.9% Air Pull%) and good Hard Hit (90.8 MPH EV with a 44.8% Hard Hit%). He put up a 1.018 OPS post break in 57 games, so the breakout was actually ramping up as the season went along, and it wasn’t just the result of his minor league home park with 19 homers on the road vs. 12 at home. It’s a little scary putting Langeliers 3rd when the .328 xwOBA is much worse than his competition, but we know Statcast underrates lifting and pulling, and the xwOBA was much better in the 2nd half (.351). If anyone’s profile here mimics Cal Raleigh’s career path, it’s Langeliers, and Raleigh just had an all time season at 28 years old. Maybe Langeliers can follow in his footsteps. – 2026 Projection: 74/33/84/.256/.319/.498/6

4) Ben Rice – NYY, 1B/C, 27.1 – Last off-season, when it looked like Rice had nowhere to play, when it looked the Yanks didn’t fully believe in him, when he was coming off a season where he hit .171 … one man stood in the face of all that adversity and said, fuck it, I’m still targeting him whether you like it or not, writing in his Target blurb, “Listen, I don’t have the slightest clue how he ends up with a full time job either. Even with Goldy only on a one year deal, the Yanks could so easily acquire another vet next off-season. And he’s already 26 years old. But sometimes I just want to bet on the bat, and let things shake themselves out, and that is how I feel with Rice. He’s obliterated every stop of the minors, and while he was always on the older side, you can only dominate the competition put in front of you. Then in his very first taste of the bigs, the man put up a 15.6% Barrel% in 50 games. All he does is rake. Is it not great that the surface were so bad with a .269 wOBA, yea, it’s not great, but that is where the value comes in. I don’t know how. And I don’t know when. But I do know who. And that who is Ben Rice.” … and then Rice went out in 2025 and rewarded my faith in him in more ways than I even expected. Not only did the big offensive breakout come with 26 homers and a 133 wRC+ in 138 games, but he also caught 36 games, giving him catcher eligibility for 2026. That is a major bonus I wasn’t even planning on. The funny thing is, the surface stats still didn’t come close to matching the underlying numbers with a .358 wOBA vs. .410 xwOBA, but when the underlying numbers say you are the 7th best hitter in the baseball, you can underperform them and be just fine. He improved everywhere you look from his rookie year with a 93.3 MPH EV, 56.1% Hard Hit%, 21.5% whiff%, and an 18.9% K%. He’s a lift and pull machine, so it’s not even like he has the type of profile that should underperform Statcast this much. He’s underperformed it considerably for two straight years, so I wouldn’t expect anything different in 2026, but there is definitely a chance he was just unlucky two years in a row. I wouldn’t rule out another level of offensive performance in 2026. And defensively, it sure seems like he will once again rack up full time at bats at catcher, 1B, and DH, giving him a good shot to retain catcher eligibility for at least a few more seasons. I was buying hard when the price was cheap last off-season, and I’m still buying high this off-season. – 2026 Projection: 84/30/81/.265/.348/.511/4

5) William Contreras – MIL, C, 28.3 – Contreras just doesn’t lift and pull enough (7 degree launch with a 11.1% Air Pull%) to give you that ceiling you want from a fantasy player. It resulted in only 17 homers. When catcher was a toxic wasteland, his stability put him at the very top of the rankings, but now with so many more exciting options, I can’t put him at the very top. He does everything else well though with 150 games played, a 91.1 MPH EV, 48.5% Hard Hit%, and a 18.2/12.7 K%/BB%. That K%, BB% and also 24.2% whiff% were all career bests, so even in a mediocre year, there were signs of improvement. The .260 BA is clearly at the low end of his ability. If you want stability over excitement, I can still see going Contreras #2 or #3, but what can I say, I like to live dangerously 😉 – 2026 Projection: 87/20/80/.275/.365/.463/7

Previous Dynasty Team Reports on Patreon

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)
Blue Sky: Dynasty Halp (@ImaginaryBrickWall)

Posted on November 4, 2025November 6, 2025 by Michael Halpern

A Top 70 Sneek Peek of the 2026 Top 1,000 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon)

The Sneak Peek’s keep coming on the Patreon with A Top 70 Sneak Peek of the 2026 Top 1,000 Dynasty Baseball Rankings. Full analysis, 2026 Projections, and Prime Projections for every player. Top 17 free here on the Brick Wall. And I can’t wait to kick off the deep Positional Rankings next week with Catchers. The off-season content is just heating up, and baseball season will be back before you know it. Here is A Top 70 Sneak Peek of the 2026 Top 1,000 Dynasty Baseball Rankings:

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Arizona Diamondbacks—Atlanta Braves—Baltimore Orioles—Chicago Cubs (free)—Colorado Rockies—Detroit Tigers—Houston Astros—Kansas City Royals—Miami Marlins—New York Yankees (free)—Pittsburgh Pirates (free)—Seattle Mariners—Texas Rangers—Washington Nationals

1) Shohei Ohtani – LAD, RHP/DH, 31.9 – Shoulder surgery? No problem. Ohtani came back and put up career highs in homers (55), Barrel% (23.5%) and xwOBA (.439). Internal brace surgery? No problem. Ohtani returned to the mound and put up career highs in BB% (4.3%), xERA (2.45), velocity (98.4 MPH) and nearly K% (33.0%). You can cut this man open. You can slice and dice him. And like Ben Stiller from Dodgeball, he is just going to keep coming at you angrier and stronger. Nobody makes Othani bleed his own blood. Okay, maybe not like Ben Stiller from Dodgeball at all, because the small market good guys actually won in the end in Dodgeball, unlike real life, where the behemoth Dodgers crushed the spirits of the “good guys”, the Toronto Blue Jays, in one of the most epic Game 7 World Series comebacks of all time. This is real life, and most of the time, the bad guys win. I refused to let the injuries shake my faith in Othani one bit last off-season, still placing him 1st overall and writing, “It’s his 2nd major elbow surgery in 5 years, but I’m not betting against a super human talent like Ohtani, and the same goes for the shoulder surgery. I just can’t bring myself to bet against the true GOAT.” Father Time will now be the last boss for him to defeat, and while we all know Father Time is undefeated, I just might think Ohtani can take him ;). I don’t know the age Ohtani has to be to move me off him from this top spot, but I do know 31/32 isn’t going to be it. He once again is my #1 player in dynasty. – 2026 Projection: 130/50/115/.286/.391/.630/23 // 12/3.07/1.05/191 in 150 IP

Shadow1) Shohei Ohtani – LAD, DH only/Weekly Leagues, 31.9 – This is first time I’ve had Shadow Ohtani shadowing the real Ohtani. I feel like the world is folding in on itself. This is where I would rank Ohtani in weekly lineup leagues or as a hitter only. He’s just too good. I don’t care that he’s 31 years old. He’s going to give Father Time the first loss of his career. – 2026 Projection: 130/50/115/.286/.391/.630/23

2) Juan Soto – NYM, OF, 27.6 – Where the fuck did 38 steals come from? That was tied for the 4th most in baseball. More than Elly De La Cruz stole. More than Trea Turner stole. Just as many as Bobby Witt stole. And it wasn’t just that he decided to run more. He was also extremely successful, getting caught only 4 times. He was caught 4 times in just 11 attempts in 2024. He got caught 5 times in 17 attempts in 2023. He got caught 7 times in 16 attempts in 2021. And the craziest part is, he actually got slower this year. Like, a lot slower with a 25.8 ft/sec sprint (26.8 in 2024). And oh yea, he also hit a career high 43 homers with his usual truly elite offensive performance (.441 xwOBA was 2nd to only Aaron Judge). It would be so damn silly if he just went back to stealing 10 bags next year. We can’t expect 38 again, or maybe even 30, but I’m not sure how 20+ isn’t the expectation, and adding stolen bases to his profile easily makes him the #2 dynasty asset behind Ohtani. – 2026 Projection: 118/38/109/.282/.412/.535/21

3) Bobby Witt Jr. – KCR, SS, 26.10 – Witt hit only 23 homers in 157 games, and while I want to completely hand wave it away as just a down power season, I don’t think we can completely dismiss it. Kauffman Stadium is one of the very worst ballparks for homers, and I definitely think it is playing a big role in subduing Witt’s homer totals. But even looking at his expected homer totals in other ballparks, they all look like they hovered/averaged out to the mid 20’s area. His 12.5% Barrel% is good, but it’s not like off the charts good. His 34.9% Pull% is below average and pretty damn low for a power hitter. He hit 32 and 30 homers the two previous years, so I’m not saying at all that this is now his true talent level, but I feel like the hope was for Witt to explode into like a 30-40+ home run perennial type bat, and the numbers just aren’t saying that is who he is. The only other quibble is that the plate approach is still below average with a 7.1% BB% and 30.7% Chase%. The hope was that he would have improved on that by now too. I only bring up the negatives because they are more interesting to me. We all know Witt is an elite dynasty asset, and I have him ranked 3rd overall for a reason. He smokes the ball with a 93.3 MPH EV and a 48.5% Hard Hit%, both of which are career highs. He lifts it with a 15.2 degree launch, he makes tons of contact with a 18.2% K%, and he’s one of the fastest men in baseball with a 30.2 ft/sec sprint. I love him. He’s an untouchable if I own him. But I do think it’s worth mentioning the kinks in the armor. – 2026 Projection: 109/31/101/.306/.367/.518/36

4) Corbin Carroll – ARI, OF, 25.7 – If you thought the 5’10” Carroll was already topped out power wise. If you still had that scary moment in your head from 2023 where he held his shoulder in agonizing pain after a swing. If you thought we’ve already seen peak Carroll. Think again, because he just leveled up in 2025 to a whole new stratosphere. His power exploded with a 92.1 MPH EV, 14.5% Barrel%, 115.8 MPH Max EV, a 16.7 degree launch, 49.9% Hard Hit%, and a 22.9% Air Pull%. All of those were career highs by far, and they led to a career high 31 homers with a career high .383 xwOBA. He was already an elite dynasty asset, and now he’s leveled up to an elite real life hitter too. He combined the newfound power with his already elite speed (29.8 ft/sec sprint), leading to the first 30/30 season of his career. He has a real case to be 2nd overall, and his value is equal to Soto and Witt. – 2026 Projection: 112/29/91/.266/.350/.519/36

5) Ronald Acuna Jr. – ATL, OF, 28.4 – This wasn’t like the last time. The last time Acuna came back from a torn ACL he looked rough with only 15 homers and a .764 OPS in 119 games. This time he went right back to being elite with 21 homers, a .935 OPS, and a .407 xwOBA that was 8th best in baseball in 95 games. But just because I love to scare you a little, I can’t help but notice some similarities to Mike Trout’s career arc. Acuna has played in more than 119 games in a season just twice in his career. Just like Trout’s decline, Acuna’s whiff% is starting to creep up there as well with a 30.3% whiff% that was a career worst. And just like Trout, it sure seems like there could be stolen base decline, only stealing 9 bags with a barely above average 27.9 ft/sec sprint. If the back nine of Acuna’s career is injury filled with big power and declining steals and BA, don’t kill the messenger. But it’s too early to actually put that on him. And as you see with my extremely high ranking of him, I’m not running scared at that possibility. He proved he is healthy and back to being an elite hitter coming off the knee surgery. He should steal more bags with a full healthy off-season. That demands him being back into the elite of the elite dynasty tier. – 2026 Projection: 115/34/98/.279/.393/.520/25

6) Elly De La Cruz – CIN, SS, 24.3 – Elly’s evaluation is kinda all over the place. I try my best to present coherent thoughts/analysis/arguments when writing these blurbs, but Elly’s 2025 is making that as hard as possible. You can say one of the major positives of his season was the major improvement to his K% (25.9% vs. 31.3% in 2024), but his still risky whiff% wasn’t nearly as improved (31.7% vs. 33.4%), and his BA tanked in the 2nd half with a .221 BA and 28.9% K% in his final 52 games. So it’s hard to just say there is now no hit tool risk with him. His 22 homers and 37 steals are awesome, but both numbers were worse than what he did in 2024 (25/67). The 7.6 degree launch and 9.8% Air Pull% both regressed from 2024 too. He finished 23rd overall on the Razzball Player Rater, which is great, but again, his 2nd half slide really puts a damper on that (.854 OPS pre break vs. .666 post break). It’s really easy to start getting lost in the weeds here, so I feel the best thing to do is pull out as far as possible to not lose the forest through the trees. And the forest is telling us this is an insanely talented young kid who might not be perfectly refined quite yet, and might not be completely without risk, but is still on that path to put up some truly special seasons. He was just 23 years old last year. I’m not letting the poor 2nd half and things to nitpick throw me. This is an elite dynasty asset whose best years are ahead of him. – 2026 Projection: 107/27/89/.262/.338/.473/40

7) Aaron Judge – NYY, OF, 33.11 – Judge is the best hitter in baseball and it’s really not even close. His .476 xwOBA led all of baseball by a mile (Soto’s .441 was 2nd), and his .463 wOBA led all of baseball by 2 miles (Nick Kurtz’ .419 was 2nd). He doesn’t run a ton, but he runs enough to more than chip in there too (12 steals). The only question when it comes to dynasty is his age. He’s going to be 34 years old for most of 2026. I said that Ohtani is about to hand Father Time his first loss, and Father Time could be fighting a battle on 2 fronts with Aaron Judge coming for him too. It sure doesn’t look like Judge is falling off that cliff anytime soon. Maybe a smarter dynasty owner than me would pull the trigger on a trade when his value is still through the roof, but I know that I wouldn’t be able to do it if my team was still competing. Age be damned, he deserves a super high ranking. – 2026 Projection: 131/54/120/.313/.432/.666/10

8) Fernando Tatis Jr. – SDP, OF, 27.3 – Statcast expected stats are a tremendously valuable tool. I started using it in my analysis the second it hit the scene in 2015, and it has led to so many huge hits for me every single year since then (most notably Rice this season). But it’s not perfect. It has flaws. And the #1 one flaw seems to be that it underrates lifting and pulling. Tatis once again underperformed his expected stats with a .381 xwOBA vs. .353 wOBA. He had a .387 xwOBA vs. .359 wOBA in 2024 and a .364 xwOBA vs. .332 wOBA in 2023. He has a career .382 xwOBA vs. a career .368 wOBA. The discrepancy is very clearly due to the 9.4 degree launch and 12% Air Pull%. Not to come at Statcast, because I love Statcast, but why they wouldn’t change the formula a bit is beyond me. So while expected stats paint a rosier picture than reality, reality is still extremely rosy. Tatis went .268/25/32 and finished 27th overall on the Razzball Player Rater. He crushes the ball with a 93.3 MPH EV, he’s fast with a 28.6 ft/sec sprint, and he actually had the best K/BB of his career with a 18.7/12.9 K%/BB%, both of which were career bests. His 24.4% Chase% and 27% whiff% were both career bests as well. Unless he starts lifting and pulling a lot more, which is certainly possible, we can’t really expect those big mid 30’s, .900+ OPS seasons, but he’s still excellent as is. – 2026 Projection: 103/29/84/.277/.365/.490/29

9) Julio Rodriguez – SEA, OF, 25.3 – The 2nd half bandit struck again. Julio put up a .731 OPS in the 1st half vs. a .900 OPS in the 2nd half. It’s wild how consistent he is. In 2024, he had a .690 1st half OPS vs. .818 2nd half OPS. In 2023 he had a .721 1st half OPS vs. .941 2nd half OPS. In 2022 he had a .814 1st half OPS vs. .937 2nd half OPS. Can nobody figure out how to get him to hit as well in the 1st half as he does in the 2nd half? Is it too much like messing with voodoo. Like if you try to change a good thing to make it better, you are actually going to make it worse. Instead of his 1st half’s matching his 2nd half’s, it will be the other way around. I guess it’s better off this way if you play in playoff leagues anyway. And no matter how he gets there, it always ends up in a great fantasy season with 32 homers, 30 steals and a career best 21.4% K%. He still chases a ton with a 35.9% Chase%, which is probably a big part of the volatility, but when you swing a 76.4 MPH bat, you can make that work. He hasn’t really improved at all or refined his game from his rookie year, and while you can’t rule out improvement as he’s still really young, I think we gotta value him as is. Sweat out the poor 1st half and then enjoy the monster 2nd half. – 2026 Projection: 104/30/93/.275/.334/.482/31

10) Gunnar Henderson – BAL, SS, 24.9 – Gunnar hit only 17 homers in 154 games. Monster power hitters really don’t have seasons like that. Like ever. Power can fluctuate year to year for sure, but dipping to only 17 is not normal. And it’s not like it was the result of some extended cold stretch. He never hit more than 4 in a month and he hit only 1 in September. The barely above average 8.5% Barrel% is also not saying this was some massively unlucky aberration. And we already know he’s not a big lift and pull guy with a 9.5 degree launch and 15.3% Air Pull%. I’m not saying this is now who he is at all, but I think it does say the 37 homers he hit in 2024 isn’t who he is either. He’s probably more of a 25+ guy who will hit 30+ when things go right, similar to Tatis and Julio. You can also blame the intercoastal strain that put him on the IL to start the season. It just felt like he started the year behind the 8 ball and could never catch up. His 12.3% HR/FB% was way off from his career norms (18.8%), so you have to assume some positive regression, and he crushes the ball with a 92.1 MPH EV, a 49.2% Hard Hit%, and a 75.4 MPH swing, so there is just no way a power bounce back isn’t coming. And the big silver lining to his down year was that he stole 30 bags. A power bounce back to 25+ will put him right in line with a Tatis and Julio like projected stat line. – 2026 Projection: 101/28/86/.278/.359/.481/25

11) Nick Kurtz – OAK, 1B, 23.1 – Kurtz stepped right into the majors and immediately performed like one of the best power hitters of all time with 36 homers and a 1.002 OPS in 117 games. He was actually even better in his brief minor league career with a 1.152 OPS in 33 games, and he was even better than that in his college career with a 1.234 OPS in 164 games, so it’s not like what he did in the majors came out of nowhere. It follows the narrative of him simply being one of the best hitters of his generation. The 77.2 MPH swing, 18.4% Barrel%, and 97.7 MPH FB/LD EV are all in the elite of the elite. There is no question that he’s going to be a beastly power hitter for a long time, but there is a question if he’s really going to be an all time great. For one, he played in a minor league stadium that was massively juicing up homer totals (he hit 22 at home vs. 12 on the road). He’ll be playing there again in 2026 and 2027, so I’m not even sure we can use that as a negative, but it’s something to keep in mind for 2028 and beyond. The two biggest red flags are that he struggled vs. lefties (.197 BA with a .685 OPS), and that he showed danger zone level of swing and miss with a 35.5% whiff% and 30.9% K%. He had a 31.2% K% in his final 48 games, and a .221 BA with a 35.1% K% in his final 23 games, so you certainly can’t say it was improving by the end of the year either. If he has a sophomore slump where the BA tanks, it won’t be coming out of nowhere. The signs were there. But in dynasty especially, it would be far too risk averse to get scared off by that. This was just his first full year of pro ball, so I’m expecting contact improvement, and he’s the type of hitter who can hit for high BA’s even with an elevated K%, like he’s been doing his whole career. My bet is that he is one of the best power hitters of his generation, and the floor is high too as he’s going to hit a ton of dingers no matter what. – 2026 Projection: 97/38/111/.267/.361/.528/3

12) Junior Caminero – TBR, 3B, 22.9 – Caminero vs. Kurtz is a going to be a super fun debate to have all off-season, and I really don’t think you can go wrong with either. Caminero has the same question that Kurtz has about having the huge season in a minor league park, which is very suspicious, but Caminero actually hit 22 homers at home vs. 23 homers on the road (albeit with a much worse OPS). Tropicana Field is also a good ballpark for righty homers, so I don’t really think it’s that much of a concern that Caminero is going back to the Trop in 2026. And like Kurtz, Caminero also has elite of the elite bat speed (78.6 MPH) and FB/LD EV (97.7 MPH). Caminero’s biggest edge over Kurtz is his contact rates (19.1% K% and 24.7% whiff%), but Kurtz beats him on Chase% (32.2% vs. 22.2%) and BB% (6.3% vs. 12.9%), so that mitigates that edge majorly. And while Caminero doesn’t lift as much (10.7 degree launch vs. 15.3 degree launch), he pulls more (21.5% Air Pull% vs. 15.8% Air Pull%). It is really a back and forth battle for the best young power hitter in the game that could be decided either way. Kurtz’ superior plate approach gives him a ceiling as a generational real life hitter than I don’t think Caminero quite reaches, and Caminero’s superior contact rate gives him a much safer floor. Because I lean upside over floor, I’m giving Kurtz the edge, but it’s truly dead even for me. – 2026 Projection: 92/35/107/.276/.330/.519/8

13) Roman Anthony – BOS, OF, 21.11 – I nitpicked a few things about Anthony last off-season that I thought could impact his ultimate fantasy value. For one, I questioned how many bases he was going to steal, and I was correct with him stealing only 4 in 71 games in the majors (3 in 58 games in the minors). I also questioned how much he was going to lift and pull, and again, I was correct as he put up a 6.9 degree launch with a 13.8% Air Pull%. He hit 8 homers in 71 games. And finally I questioned the contact rates, and there too I ended up being correct with him putting up a 27.7% K% and 29.8% whiff%. I was right about the things to nitpick, and maybe they still come into play in future years, but the bat was just so insanely elite I don’t think it matters anymore. He had an elite of the elite 75.1 MPH swing with a 94.5 MPH EV and 60.3% Hard Hit%. That puts him in the land of Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, and Yordan Alvarez. While the homer totals weren’t high, 6 of them came in his final 21 games. The .382 xwOBA is already in the near elite range. A bat like that is launch proof, and even if he doesn’t run a ton, anything he does add there is just gravy. His best comp looking at the elite dynasty assets could be Juan Soto, albeit with worse contact rates. – 2026 Projection: 102/25/81/.272/.379/.486/10 Prime Projection: 120/35/105/.285/.406/.530/15

14) Kyle Tucker – UFA, OF, 29.3 – The Quiet Killer finally had a season that wasn’t all that quiet. The spotlight was put on him with the trade to the Cubbies, and it looked like he was going to have one of those massive contract years in the 1st half with a .291 BA, 17 homers, 20 steals, and a .933 OPS in his first 82 games, but it all came crumbling down after that. He literally might have had a 100 million dollar slump with a .692 OPS, 5 homers, and 5 steals in his final 54 games. It seems the likely culprit was the hairline fracture he suffered in his right hand in June. They originally missed the fracture in the imaging, so he played through it, but it clearly had a major impact on his production. We can’t hold the slump against him, and hopefully MLB teams don’t hold it against him in contract negotiations, but I’m almost sure they will. Either way, Tucker is one of the most consistent players in our game, a perennial 30/30 candidate, and at 29 years of age, there should be several more elite seasons in him. I don’t think his landing spot should impact his value majorly, but he’s more of a lift and pull guy than a hard hit beast, so I would certainly prefer a good ballpark. It could swing his value a bit on the margins. – 2026 Projection: 94/30/89/.276/.380/.501/25

15) Garrett Crochet – BOS, LHP, 26.10 – There is a clear 3-headed monster in the true top tier of dynasty pitchers, and all 3 have great arguments to be the #1 overall dynasty pitcher in the game, but only one of them can take the crown, and I’m anointing a new King this off-season. Garrett Crochet is my #1 dynasty pitcher in the game. It feels to weird to say because he’s likely the worst pitcher of the 3 on skills alone. Worse being relative as he’s still insanely elite with a 2.59 ERA and 31.3/5.7 K%/BB% in 205.1 IP. He was the #1 overall pitcher on the Razzball Player Rater. His 255 strikeouts led all of baseball. He pitched the 2nd most innings in baseball behind only Logan Webb. He won the 2nd most games behind only Max Fried and tied with Carlos Rodon. And his 25.7% K-BB% was 2nd to Tarik Skubal. Even if he’s very, very, very slightly worse than Skubal and Skenes on skills alone, he has Skenes beat on Win potential (and probably Skubal too), and he has Skubal beat on age (I talk more about age in the Skenes blurb). I could pick any of the 3 out of hat and be fine with that order, but Crochet seems to be in that perfect Goldilocks zone of young, elite, and on a good team. Skubal and Skenes can’t fully check all 3 of those boxes like Crochet can. – 2026 Projection: 17/2.88/1.05/246 in 195 IP

16) Paul Skenes – PIT, RHP, 23.10 – Playing for Pitt kills Skenes’ in wins. Pitt scored 583 Runs which was last in baseball, and the only other team even close to them was Colorado at 597 (absolutely wild that it’s even possible for Colorado to be that bad playing in Coors). The guy put up a 1.97 ERA with a 29.5/5.7 K%/BB% in 187.2 IP and won only 10 games. Konnor Griffin is coming, and Pitt has nowhere to go but up, but it’s a major thorn in his fantasy value. On almost any other team, he would be the undisputed top dog, and in Quality Start leagues, he would be my top dog, but in Wins leagues, it has to be taken into account. Crochet and Skenes are close enough in age, and Crochet is elite enough himself, where I do give the edge to Crochet. But I just can’t seem to bring myself to say that I would trade a 23 year old Skenes for a 29 year old Skubal in dynasty, even though Skubal is the better win now fantasy pitcher. Skenes nestles inbetween Crochet and Skubal at #2. – 2026 Projection: 12/2.55/0.99/238 in 195 IP

17) Tarik Skubal – DET, LHP, 29.5 – Skubal is the best pitcher in baseball. He’s better than Crochet and Skenes. His 27.8 K-BB% led all of baseball amongst qualified starters. His 32.2% K% led all of baseball. His 0.89 WHIP led all of baseball. His 4.4% BB% trailed only Zack Littell. His 2.21 ERA trailed only Paul Skenes. He trailed Garrett Crochet by only 1 spot on the player rater, and that was in a year where Crochet won 5 more games than him, and we know wins are fickle. He’s in his last year of team control for Detroit, so wherever he ends up landing, it’s almost certain to be a good team. Wins shouldn’t be a problem. There is a great argument that at a not old 29, and considering age shouldn’t be factored in as much for pitchers due to the injury volatility, that he should be the #1 dynasty pitcher in the game. I wouldn’t argue with anyone that puts him first. I was honestly tearing the hair out of my head trying to figure out the right order. – 2026 Projection: 15/2.51/0.94/242 in 195 IP

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