Posted on by Michael Halpern

2026 Positional Dynasty Baseball Rankings: Top 80+ First Baseman (Patreon)

First off, I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving break and spending time with their family! Because there is never any stress or anxiety when families come together 😉 My family definitely had zero family drama this weekend 😉 None at all hah … wild times … But now we are back to business, and that business is the business of ranking baseball players! So Welcome to First Baseman Rankings Week where I’m ranking some the biggest boppers in the game. A position so “easy” to play, that it will bring grown men to near tears when they have to play it … Rafael Devers. I’m going over 80 deep with full analysis, 2026 projections, and Prime Projections for every player, as usual. Top 6 free here on the Brick Wall. Here is the 2026 Positional Dynasty Baseball Rankings: Top 80+ First Baseman:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THESE RANKS & TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
-A TOP 70 SNEAK PEEK OF THE 2026 TOP 1,000 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
–2026 DEEP POSITIONAL RANKS: Top 80 Catchers–Top 80+ 1B
–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 (Full Top 130 FYPD Ranks coming soon)
-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)—Cincinnati Reds (free)—Colorado Rockies—Detroit Tigers—Houston Astros—Kansas City Royals—Miami Marlins—Milwaukee Brewers—Minnesota Twins—New York Yankees (free)—Pittsburgh Pirates (free)—Sacramento Athletics—Seattle Mariners—Tampa Bay Rays—Texas Rangers—Toronto Blue Jays—Washington Nationals

1) 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

2) Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – TOR, 1B, 27.0 – Vlad sparks a really interesting floor vs. upside debate when it comes to very early round picks. I understand the strategy of taking high floor guys with your early picks, and then going for the upside shots later on. It makes sense. And Guerrero has as high of a floor as anybody with elite contact rates (13.8% K%) and elite Hard Hit (50.7%). It resulted in a very strong season with a .292 BA and 23 homers in 156 games, which was good for 53rd overall. That is also clearly on the low end of his ability as he smashed 8 homers in 18 games in the postseason. He’s a true talent 30 homer bat with a very high BA, which is awesome, but unless he starts lifting and pulling more, that just isn’t the level of production that other elite dynasty assets can give you. I really want all category contributors with my very top picks, and because Vlad isn’t going to help much in steals, he’s already capped there. So if you aren’t going to contribute in all categories, you need to be an absolute beast in others, and taking out his 2019 season where played in 2 miniature ballparks, he’s never hit more than 32 homers. He’s averaged about 27-28 homers over the last 4 years. His xwOBA says he’s been unlucky, but as I laid out in the Tatis blurb, xwOBA most certainly underrates lifting and pulling, and Vlad doesn’t lift and pull with a 7.8 degree launch and 14% Air Pull%. He’s underperformed his xwOBA in his career. If he starts lifting and pulling more, he can definitely have that explosion, and if you are in leagues that devalue steals (points/6+ category leagues), then for sure he would be ranked higher in those leagues, but in 5×5, I think this is a pretty fair ranking. He’s just more BA dependent than optimal. – 2026 Projection: 96/31/105/.303/.390/.507/5

3) Pete Alonso – UFA, 1B, 31.5 – Alonso is one of the true rocks of our game. He’s never played in less than 152 games (he’s played in all 162 the last 2 years) and he’s never hit less than 34 homers (38 homers in 2025). Underlying numbers wise, he actually had a career year in 2025 with a career high .399 xwOBA and career high by far 93.5 MPH EV. His only weakness was that he was a BA risk, and even that is now gone with a .272 BA and .288 xBA. The 75.3 MPH swing is near elite. No matter where he lands, he will once again be one of the best power hitters in the game. Simple as that. – 2026 Projection: 92/40/120/.263/.348/.519/3

4) Rafael Devers – SFG, 3B/1B, 29.5 – Devers is going to be a beast no matter the ballpark. When you hit the ball as hard as he does (93.5 MPH EV, 16% Barrel%, 56.1% Hard Hit%), you can play on Jupiter (Jupiter has the strongest gravity in our soler system at 2.5 times Earth), and you will still hit plenty of dingers. He cracked 11 homers in 48 games at Oracle Park in San Francisco. He hit 20 homers in 90 games after getting traded. His power isn’t going anywhere. But even for a beast, it’s still a ballpark downgrade. He had a .977 OPS at Fenway vs. a .825 OPS at Oracle. His strikeout rate spiked after the trade with a 22.8% K% and .272 BA with Boston vs. a 29.4% K% and .236 BA with SF. He said he wasn’t going to change his approach after the trade, but he started to lift and pull a lot more, which came at the cost of more swing and miss. I don’t know if he was feeling pressure after the trade, or if it was a conscious choice based on his new ballpark, or if it was the result of him relenting and finally giving 1B a try, or a combination of all of them, but there was a clear approach change after the trade. A full off-season to get mentally prepared for his new team, new ballpark and new position should only help him, and he has the type of special bat that I’m simply not betting against. If this change prompts him to lift and pull more, and if he can actually combine that with usually strong K rates, it could result in a monster season, especially since he also put up career bests in BB% (15.4%) and Chase% (25.5%). I would advise against discounting him too much, or at all. If he gets lukewarm love this off-season, I would jump on that value dip. – 2026 Projection: 92/33/104/.267/.355/.501/3

5) Bryce Harper – PHI, 1B, 33.6 – There are reasons to start fading Harper in dynasty, or at least consider selling if you want to cash him in before we really see the next level value dip. The most obvious one is that he’s 33 years old. He’s also been pretty banged up in his career and of late, averaging only 129 games over his last 5 seasons (132 in 2025). And he really doesn’t have one truly standout, elite category we can bank on in 5×5 BA. He hit .261 with 27 homers, 12 steals, 72 Runs, and 75 RBI. Those numbers are really not all that out of line with what he’s been doing of late, maybe with some bad luck on the BA. If he has another good but not truly standout season, the dynasty value drop will be extreme going into 2027. Right now the value is still pretty stable. I’m still 100% betting on him being a beast deep into his 30’s as his .379 xwOBA was still in the Top 9% of baseball, but if there is some decline, and if he keeps on missing 30 games a year, he might start to look like just a really good fantasy player rather than a great one. I’m just saying he wouldn’t be untouchable for me if the right deal came along and I wanted to kick start a rebuild, but of course I would still need a haul to move him. – 2026 Projection: 85/30/85/.277/.370/.510/12

6) Josh Naylor – SEA, 1B, 28.9 – We’re all gonna underrate Naylor again, aren’t we. I warned you last year that we were underrating him, writing in his Top 1,000 blurb, “He finished 30th overall on the Razzball Player Rater and is currently going 92nd overall in NFBC drafts, so that tells me that everyone is expecting regression, but I think there is a real chance he could put up a few really big seasons in these prime man muscle late 20’s years.” … and then in 2025 he went and finished 31st overall on the Razzball Player Rater. Why are we making this so hard on ourselves? Just take him 30th overall. We need to stop overthinking this. Granted, he took a different path to that outcome in 2025 than he did in 2024. Like many expected, he wasn’t able to come close to the 31 homers again (he hit 20), but he made up for it by hitting for a much higher average (.295 BA), and most notably, becoming Ricky Henderson on the bases with 30 steals in 32 attempts. He also ripped up the playoffs with 3 homers, 2 steals, and a .340 BA in 12 games. The double ballpark downgrade (first Arizona and then Seattle) didn’t faze him at all, and him re-signing with Seattle should not scare us at all considering the damage he did there already, including his dominant post-season. He’s a complete hitter with elite contact (13.7% K%), above average Hard Hit (41.9%), the ability to lift in the air (19.6% Air Pull%), and now base stealing ability too, despite being slow as dirt with a bottom 3% sprint speed. Even if we can’t count on close to 30 steals again, I don’t see why he would just stop running. He had another season where he stole 10 in 121 games, so this wasn’t quite completely out of nowhere. No matter how he gets to Top 30 overall (power, BA, steals), I’m not going to keep doubting that he is going to get there again. I am valuing this man correctly. – 2026 Projection: 80/23/92/.280/.340/.460/18

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THESE RANKS & TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
-A TOP 70 SNEAK PEEK OF THE 2026 TOP 1,000 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
–2026 DEEP POSITIONAL RANKS: Top 80 Catchers–Top 80+ 1B
–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 (Full Top 130 FYPD Ranks coming soon)
-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)—Cincinnati Reds (free)—Colorado Rockies—Detroit Tigers—Houston Astros—Kansas City Royals—Miami Marlins—Milwaukee Brewers—Minnesota Twins—New York Yankees (free)—Pittsburgh Pirates (free)—Sacramento Athletics—Seattle Mariners—Tampa Bay Rays—Texas Rangers—Toronto Blue Jays—Washington Nationals

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

Posted on 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

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

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

Posted on 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:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THESE RANKS & 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
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–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

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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

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

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THESE RANKS & 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
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–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

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

Posted on 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:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THESE RANKS & 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
-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—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

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—New York Yankees (free)—Pittsburgh Pirates (free)—Seattle Mariners—Texas Rangers—Washington Nationals

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THESE RANKS & 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
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–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

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)
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Posted on by Michael Halpern

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

Off-season content is already in full swing on the Brick Wall! 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. We are deep into Dynasty Team Report season, while the first Sneak Peek of the 2026 Top 1,000 Dynasty Baseball Rankings hit last week. Deep Positional Rankings are also right around the corner. But first, here is the Chicago Cubs 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 25 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
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–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

Atlanta Braves—Arizona Diamondbacks—Colorado Rockies—Detroit Tigers—Houston Astros—Kansas City Royals—Miami Marlins—New York Yankees (free)—Pittsburgh Pirates (free)—Texas Rangers

Hitters

Pete Crow-Armstrong – CHC, OF, 24.0 – Can we just enjoy the season Pete Crow had before we start bashing him for this 2nd half and Chase. I feel like the angry 1950’s dad at the dinner table yelling at his kids while the family is crumbling around him. You’re going to sit there and be quiet, enjoy this food, and thank your mother for her hard work. Don’t make me bust out the whooping stick. Pete Crow was almost definitely my biggest hit of 2025 (I’ve been the high guy since he was drafted), ranking him 64th overall, and writing in part, “Pete Crow Armstrong’s power has been underrated from the time he was drafted. And in 2024, especially the 2nd half of 2024, we started to see the first buds of a breakout that could absolutely explode in 2025. For starters, he put up a 88.9/94.0 MPH AVG/FB EV on the season, which shows that power potential I saw 4 years ago wasn’t a mirage. And when it comes with a 17.2 degree launch, an elite 30.0 ft/sec sprint speed, and elite CF defense, you have the makings of an extremely exciting fantasy player. Put some respect on this man’s name. His name is Pete Crow Armstrong, not Pete Crow Armweak.” … and then the true explosion came in 2025 with him upping his Hard Hit% 4.8 points to 41.6%, upping his Max EV 6 MPH to 113.2 MPH, upping his Barrel% 5.6 points to 13%, and upping his bat speed 2.1 MPH to 72.7 MPH. It resulted in 31 homers, and he combines the power explosion with elite speed (29.5 ft/sec sprint with 35 steals) and elite CF defense. This was the insanely fun fantasy player I foresaw, but of course things can never be easy, and Pete Crow had go out and end the season with a massive slump. He put up a .525 OPS in his final 50 games. He definitely got unlucky with a not too bad 25.9% K% and a .222 BABIP, but it for sure more than hints at the risk still present in this profile. And that risk is the way too high 41.7% Chase%. High chase adds a lot of volatility, and that isn’t just high chase, that is full danger zone high chase. If you want to be scared off, that is fair, and I completely get it, but if you’ve read my work at all over the years, you know I’m not running scared. His glove is going to keep him on the field, and even with a low BA, that power/speed combo is going to make a major impact. I’m also betting on the plate approach improving as he matures. Pete Crow has already paid off majorly if you’ve taken my advice over his career, and I’ll be happy to keep buying if people are scared off by the 2nd half. He ranked 21st overall on A Top 25 Sneak Peek of the 2026 Top 1,000 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon). – 2026 Projection: 86/28/88/.252/.308/.469/33

Matt Shaw – CHC, 3B, 24.5 – Matt Shaw unveils new batting stances like it’s a fashion show. I can’t wait to see what batting stance he’s going to unveil in the next spring collection. The anticipation is killing me. One week it’s your standard upright little man leg kick (this was my favorite one). The next week it’s your dark and brooding, super closed, hunched over, cartoonish leg kick. The next week it’s an open, bending over backwards, bat on his shoulder stance. And then the next week it’s a loose, bat waggling, toe tap swing. I’m not even joking at all. These are all the batting stances Shaw has used over the last 1-2 years, and I might have even missed some versions. It looks different every time you watch him. It’s almost impressive he can change stances this much on the fly and not completely crumble. I think it’s a good sign that he can make the adjustments necessary in the never ending cat and mouse game that is MLB baseball, and those adjustments paid off majorly in his rookie year. After struggling in the first half with a .556 OPS in 63 games, he turned it around post break, slashing .258/.317/.522 with 11 homers, 6 steals and a 23.9/8.3 K%/BB% in his final 63 games of the season. Even with the lackluster season overall (93 wRC+), he did a lot of things well. He can lift and pull with a 13.4 degree launch and 21.8% Air Pull%, he’s got plus speed with a 29 ft/sec sprint, he gets the bat on the ball with a 22.5% whiff%, he can get on base with a 8.7% BB%, and he played a solid 3B. He really only did one thing poorly, but that one thing is a big one, and it’s hit the ball hard. The 84.9 MPH EV and 29.4% Hard Hit% were super weak. They were better in the 2nd half (86.4 MPH EV and 32.4% Hard Hit%), but they still weren’t great, and they were bad in September again. The good news is that his profile can work without huge hard hit numbers (contact, speed, lift and pull), and looking at his minor league career, those numbers are almost certainly going to come way up as he gets more comfortable. He put up a 44.3% Hard Hit% in 24 games at Triple-A in 2025 and an 89.3 MPH EV at AAA in 2024. I’m betting on Shaw hitting the ball much harder in 2026, and if he does, he’s going to be an easy 20/20 guy with a solid BA. Shaw was my guy in the 2023 Draft like PCA was my guy in the 2020 Draft, and just like with PCA, I’m going to stay high through the ups and downs. – 2026 Projection: 78/19/69/.252/.331/.438/23 Prime Projection: 88/23/81/.266/.347/.459/26

Pitchers

Cade Horton – CHC, RHP, 24.7 – Horton was a pretty damn hyped pitching prospect who had an awesome rookie season with a 2.67 ERA in 118 IP, and nobody really seems to care. It’s because we are all looking at the same shit, and that shit is a weak 20.4/6.9 K%/BB% and weak ERA estimators (3.93 xERA, 4.27 xFIP, 4.26 SIERA), but you don’t have to dig all that much deeper to see there are things to be extremely excited about. For one, he was truly lights out post all star break with a 1.03 ERA in 61.1 IP, and the 23.5/6.5 K%/BB% over that time looks much prettier and closer to what we want to see. There is also clearly more strikeout upside in here with 2 whiff machine secondaries in his sweeper (36.8% whiff%) and changeup (47.8% whiff%). Displaying plus control with 2 bat missing secondaries and big velocity (95.7 MPH fastball) is a great foundation to build. The fastball probably got lucky with a .312 wOBA vs. .378 xwOBA, but we know the best pitchers tinker like crazy. He can throw the fastball less in favor of the secondaries, he can go to his lesser used sinker more, he can tinker with the 4-seamer pitch shape, etc … This is just the start to his career, and while I agree the mediocre K/BB can’t shoot him up into the young top of the rotation tier already, he’s in the tier right under that. – 2026 Projection: 11/3.64/1.19/139 in 150 IP

Shota Imanaga – CHC, LHP, 32.7 – Last year in these here Dynasty Team Reports I called Shota Imanaga my biggest miss of 2024, as I evaluated him as more of a solid mid rotation type than a true top of the rotation starter, and after his 2025 season, I feel a lot better about my original evaluation. He put up a 3.73 ERA, 4.21 xERA, and a 20.6/4.6 K%/BB% in 144.2 IP. I questioned how good the low 90’s fastball was going to be vs. MLB hitters, and it got hit up this year with a negative 10 Run Value and .396 xwOBA. The splitter was still really good, but not quite as dominant as 2024. I’m not trying to take back my walk of shame, as you still got the 2024 season if you drafted him, and I was still too low on him even if this is his true talent level. The 0.99 WHIP is elite, the walk rates are elite, and the 2nd half 24.3% K% is right in line with what he did in 2024 (25.1%). He’s not as good as he was in 2024 and he’s not as bad as he was in 2025, and even in 2025, he wasn’t bad at all. He’s a veteran starter with both a safe floor and upside. I would be happy to buy if his price dips too low. – 2026 Projection: 12/3.47/1.06/153 in 165 IP

Bullpen

Daniel Palencia – CHC, Closer, 26.2 – The Cubs could so easily sign a vet to take this job away from Palencia. I don’t think buying expensive bullpen pieces would be their optimal allocation of funds, that would be Kyle Tucker and the rotation, but if they whiff there, and if they have money burning a hole in their pockets, they could definitely pivot to buying an established closer. Palencia is good enough to take on that risk, but he wasn’t so good that I would be willing to pay huge for him before I was certain he was retaining the role. He broke out with a 2.91 ERA and 28.4/7.4 K%/BB% in 52.2 IP, securing the closer job in late May and not looking back with 22 saves. The heavily used 99.6 MPH fastball put up a +5 Run Value and the plus slider put up a 39.4% whiff%. He also has a good splitter that he rarely goes to. A big part of the breakout was due to improved control, and related to that, he doesn’t have a long track record of success even in the minors. Relievers pop up like this all the time, but along with risk he loses the job this off-season, there is still some regression risk here too. And he missed time with a shoulder strain towards the end of the season, which he returned from, but it is another risk to take into account. I like him a lot, but some caution is warranted until we see more of the off-season play out. – 2026 Projection: 4/3.46/1.19/69/28 saves in 60 IP

Chicago Cubs 2026 Top 10 Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Prospects Rankings

1) Owen Caissie – CHC, OF, 23.9 – The toughest part of Caissie’s evaluation is figuring out his path to playing time. It doesn’t seem like Chicago is going to leave a spot open for him in 2026, but with Happ and Suzuki free agents after the 2026 season, I don’t see why he wouldn’t get a real shot in 2027 and beyond. Chicago has the money to keep signing vets to block him, and he’ll have competition in house too to win a long term job, so nothing is guaranteed. And the thing that can really stop him from being given that full time job with a long leash is that the hit tool is a major concern. It immediately got exposed in the majors with a 40.7% K% and 39.7% whiff% in 27 PA, and while it was in a super small sample and with sporadic playing time, it’s still not exactly great to see. His strikeout rates have been very high in the minors too with K rates in the high 20’s his entire career. We’ve seen hit tool risk sluggers like him need a long leash to reach their ultimate power hitting beast destiny, and not every team is will to give them that long leash. His power upside is worth that risk though with 22 homers, a 92.1 MPH EV, and a 53.4% Hard Hit% in 99 games at Triple-A. The 74.8 MPH swing was great to see in his debut. The dude is going to mash if given the chance, the only question is when he’s going to get that chance, and how long of a hit tool adjustment period there is going to be. – 2026 Projection: 26/10/33/.229/.304/.430/3 Prime Projection: 79/28/89/.248/.335/.473/7

2) Ethan Conrad – CHC, OF, 21.9 – If there is one guy in this FYPD class that really makes me tingle. The guy who I would hate to leave the draft without. The guy I want to say is my guy, it’s Ethan Conrad (Kilby is a close 2nd). He can so easily become the best fantasy player in this draft, and that isn’t even close to a stretch. He’s 6’3”, 220 pounds, and I’m in love with his lefty swing. It’s loose, athletic, upright, and then he absolutely unfurls on the baseball like a big cat striking it’s prey. He was in the midst of a junior year power explosion with 7 homers in 21 games in the ACC before hurting shoulder diving for a ball which required surgery to repair. But you know I’ve been loving the shoulder surgery discount with so many hitters coming back completely fine, and obviously the Cubs thought the same thing stealing him at 17th overall in the Draft. Not only is the power no joke, but he’s fast and he loves to run with 77 steals in 88 attempts in 200 amateur games. He’s also hit extremely well everywhere he’s been since his freshman year. He had a .813 OPS in 200 PA his freshman year in the MAAC, he topped that his sophomore year in the MAC with a 1.171 OPS in 259 PA, he then went to the Cape and put up a .920 OPS in 120 PA, and then he transferred into the ACC and dropped a 1.238 OPS in 21 games. He’s literally never not hit, and his contact rates have always been pretty damn good too with a 14.4% K% this year, a 15% K% in the Cape and a 12.4% K% his sophomore year in the MAAC. He’s had some chase issues throughout this career, he’s yet to really face super tough competition as he was just getting into the meat of his ACC schedule before getting hurt, and I guess there is some risk coming off the shoulder surgery, but all of that just looks like it opens up a giant buying opportunity to me. Conrad is the guy I’m really targeting in this draft. He ranked 4th overall in the End of Season Top 60 2026 First Year Player Draft Rankings (Patreon). – ETA: 2027 Prime Projection: 83/24/88/.262/.324/.461/21

3) Jaxon Wiggins – CHC, RHP, 24.6 – A pitching prospect like Wiggins is why you don’t have to pay up for the already extremely expensive, universally highly ranked elite pitching prospects, and also why you don’t have to dip into the hyped teenage lottery ticket bucket of pitching prospects. Every year there are quite a few truly beastly, huge stuff, huge upside, huge K rate pitching prospects who are in the upper minors and who don’t get all that much hype where you are going to have to pay up majorly for them in an off-season prospect draft. And if a few of them go earlier than you think, there are plenty more to choose from. I talked about this “flaw” in prospect rankings in an earlier team report, and Wiggins highlights this perfectly. He’s 6’6” with a double plus upper 90’s fastball that has good shape and misses a ton of bats. He combines the heat with a plus, bat missing slider, and the lesser used changeup is a really good pitch too when he goes to it. It resulted in a 2.19 ERA with a 31.0/11.5 K%/BB% in 78 IP at mostly Double-A. Sure there is risk, which we will get to, but every pitching prospect has risk. I would much rather take the inherent risk of a pitching prospect later in the draft than passing up elite hitting prospects for an already hyped to death pitching prospect earlier in the draft. The risk is that he has below average control, he needs to keep working on the changeup, and there is injury risk too, as 78 IP is his career high (he missed time with a shoulder injury this year). But he’s the type to get the redraft guys in a tizzy when they finally discover who he is in spring training, and ponder why this guy didn’t get more prospect hype. Wiggins is one of the top pitching prospect targets this off-season. – 2026 Projection: 4/3.89/1.31/83 in 80 IP Prime Projection: 12/3.55/1.22/170 in 150 IP

4) Moises Ballesteros – CHC, C, 22.5 – Ballesteros had the type of MLB debut that I love to see, just immediately proving the profile will transfer, slashing .298/.394/.474 with 2 homers, an 89.1 MPH EV, a .342 xwOBA, and a 18.2/13.6 K%/BB% in 20 games. The dude has been a precocious hitter since stepping on a pro field in the DSL in 2017, and he’s just kept on hitting every single year and at every higher level, now including the majors. This is a bat you want to bet on, regardless of the warts, but there are some concerning warts. Most notably, he’s not a good defensive catcher, putting his ultimate defensive home in question, and putting major pressure on the bat. He doesn’t lift and pull with a 0.9 degree launch and 4.4% Air Pull% in the majors (9 degree launch and 9.6% Air Pull% at AAA). He’s super slow with a bottom 17% of the league sprint. And he was bad vs lefties at AAA with a .577 OPS. If he ends up a short side of a platoon DH that doesn’t hit a ton of homers, that is super weak for fantasy. But if he plays in 120+ games with catcher eligibility and an Alejandro Kirk like offensive profile, that ain’t bad at all. I’m actually getting more discouraged by him as I’m writing this blurb and listing out his negatives but all this guy has even done is hit, so I can’t fade him too much. – 2026 Projection: 31/8/36/.269/.310/.403/1 Prime Projection: 66/18/79/.283/.334/.435/3

5) Jefferson Rojas – CHC, SS/2B, 20.11 – I always put Rojas in the better real life than fantasy prospect bucket, and that is still the bucket I have him in. He has a good middle infield glove and he has a good feel to hit, which is as safe as a real life prospect gets, but he doesn’t have the tools to get me excited for fantasy with an average power/speed combo. To his credit, he bounced back in a major way coming off a down 2024, slashing .278/.379/.492 with 11 homers, 14 steals, and a 15.7/12.7 K%/BB% in 67 games at High-A, but he fell off a cliff when he got to Double-A with a 54 wRC+ in 39 games. He was only 20 years old, so the High-A numbers mean more to me, but I do think it hints at the subdued upside as he starts facing better competition. Solid prospect, but not a high upside fantasy prospect. – ETA: 2027 Prime Projection: 81/17/66/.271/.334/.419/19

6) Kevin Alcantara – CHC, OF, 23.8 – Alcantara has been such an intriguing fantasy prospect for several years now with raw upside to dream on at a projectable 6’6” with hard hit ability and plus speed, but he still hasn’t put it together. He had a decent year at Triple-A with a 109 wRC+ in 102 games, but it came with a 30.5% whiff% and 29.8% K%, he stole only 10 bags, and he didn’t lift and pull with a 9 degree launch and 12.7% Air Pull%. The 90.4 MPH EV and 45% Hard Hit% are good, but they aren’t so good where you can just ignore everything else. He’s simply still too raw. And he’s blocked in Chicago. He seems like the exact type to take a shot on when he’s like 27 years old on his 2nd team and starting to refine his hit tool enough to let his other tools shine. He’s got a good CF glove, so the glove should help him get on the field when the bat does potentially get refined enough. But in the near term, it’s hard to really keep targeting him. A trade would do wonders for his fantasy value. – 2026 Projection: 18/4/23/.227/.289/.378/2 Prime Projection: 67/20/74/.246/.318/.427/18

7) Jonathon Long – CHI, 1B, 24.2 – I really like Long’s bat. I’ve actually really liked Long’s bat since I called him a deep league sleeper as a 9th round pick in his 2023 Draft year, but unfortunately, when you are a 1B only prospect, really liking a prospects bat isn’t enough. You have to think it’s going to be one of the better bats in MLB to bet on them securing a full time job, and I can’t say that about Long. The biggest issue for me is that he didn’t lift and pull a ton at AAA with a 10 degree launch and 10.5% Air Pull%. He still hit 20 homers in 140 games, and he hits the ball really hard with a 90.9 MPH EV and 47.1% Hard Hit%, but if we need to bet on his bat exploding so hard and quickly in the majors to win a 1B/DH job, I would optimally want to see more lift and pull. The plate skills are strong with a 19.1/13.0 K%/BB%, so he’s not just a home run or nothing guy, but again, at 1B, a solid above average bat with good but not great homer totals just might not be enough. Especially in Chicago where Michael Busch is locked at 1B and they have plenty of other DH options both short and long term. If he were on another team, I could see ranking him higher, but until he’s on that other team, this is as high as I can go. – 2026 Projection: 14/3/15/.247/.308/.407/0 Prime Projection: 74/22/79/.265/.330/.453/2

8) Kane Kepley – CHC, OF, 22.2 – Selected 56th overall in the 2025 MLB Draft, Kepley had one of the best pro debuts in the class, and you know I love me a good pro debut. He slashed .299/.481/.433 with 2 homers, 16 steals, and a 11.5/19.1 K%/BB% in 28 games at Single-A. It’s the same thing he did after transferring into the ACC his junior year with a 7.1/14.2 K%/BB%, 3 homers, and 45 steals in 61 games. The plate skills are excellent, he’s a great base stealer with plus speed, and most importantly for this type of profile, he has a good CF glove. A guy with a good glove in CF, excellent contact rates/approach, and speed is going to make an impact in both real life and fantasy if he gets on the field. He’s not a big guy at 5’8”, 180 pounds, and he’s doesn’t much raw power, so the risk is that he tops out as a 4th outfielder. – ETA: 2027 Prime Projection: 76/10/53/.271/.332/.378/28

9) Josiah Hartshorn – CHC, OF, 19.2 – Hartshorn was selected 181st overall in the 2025 MLB Draft, but his $2 million signing bonus shows you the type of talent he has. He’s an already built up 6’2”, 220 pounds with easy plus raw power potential and a good approach at the plate. He’s a switch hitter, but injuries (elbow and back) have prevented him from actually hitting from both sides at the same time very often, sometimes only hitting righty and sometimes only hitting lefty, so there is a definitely a rawness there that you can either look at as a good thing (plenty of room for refinement) or a bad thing (risk). He’s a solid athlete but he’s not a burner and he looks a bit lumbering out there on the bases, so I don’t think steals are going to be a major part of his game. You are betting on the size, power and approach here, but plenty more refinement is needed. There is a reason he slipped so far in the draft despite the high signing bonus. – ETA: 2029 Prime Projection: 72/23/78/.258/.327/.441/8

10) Cristian Hernandez – CHC, SS, 22.3 – The big talent that made Hernandez the top international signing in his class is still here at an uber athletic 6’2” with an electric swing, raw power, and plus speed, but his pro career has been a struggle. Credit to him for righting the ship after it bottomed out in 2022 and 2023, but it just feels like so much work has gone into him just being a mediocre bat in the lower minors. He was a 21 year old at High-A and he put up a 97 wRC+ with a .252/.329/.365 triple slash. Granted, we saw a lot of 21 year old college bats step into the lower minors and put up some mediocre lines too, so maybe I’m being harsh, but that might say more about the 2025 college class than it does about Hernandez. The good news is that the 20.7/10.5 K%/BB% is solid, the SS glove is solid, and the fantasy upside is in here with 52 steals. The power upside is there too, but he hit only 7 homers with a 47.1% GB% in 115 games, so he doesn’t seem that close to tapping into it. He’s a mid 20’s breakout candidate at best, and it’s possible he drops like a stone once he starts seeing advanced pitching in the upper minors. – ETA: 2028 Prime Projection: 67/14/61/.243/.312/.413/22

Just Missed

11) James Triantos – CHC, 2B, 23.2

12) Pedro Ramirez – CHC, 2B/3B, 22.0

13) Juan Cabada – CHC, 2B/3B, 17.11

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

Way, way back in October of last year, I went where no man had gone before, deep into the bat speed leaderboards to see if we could glean any sleepers from them, and it was immediately obvious that there was a treasure trove of value to be pulled from there. Seriously, bat speed was not really being talked about or used that much (or nearly at all if my memory serves me right) as it was relatively new to Statcast. As the off-season went along, people jumped on the bat speed bandwagon, and at this point it is very obvious that bat speed is a tremendously valuable tool to use in your player evaluation. I had a ton of target hits using bat speed like Tyler Soderstrom, Jo Adell, Junior Caminero (less a target and more just staying super high on him), Spencer Torkelson, and Addison Barger. Hunter Goodman I didn’t call a target because I was worried about his glove, but I did name him as a bat speed standout and worth going after for that alone. There were misses too like Oneil Cruz and Jordan Walker, but I’m less interested in focusing on the guys with huge bat speed this off-season, and more interested in how many guys were able to improve their bat speed year to year. I closed out my thoughts on bat speed last year by writing, “Guys who “swing for the fences” are going to swing faster, hit for more power, and strikeout more. Guys who swing slower are going to make more contact, but not hit for as much power. So I don’t think bat speed is necessarily a completely sticky thing if a player decides to change his approach to hit for more power or contact. We’ll have to keep an eye on this in future years as we continue to build on this data to see how often that happens exactly, and how often it’s successful. Really cool to have this data at our fingertips now.”

And as we saw with PCA, bat speed can definitely be improved very quickly, and it can result in the power explosion we want. Meaning, we shouldn’t just automatically cap a player’s power upside if they come up and don’t immediately swing a fast bat. PCA improved his bat speed by 2.1 MPH and went from 10 homers to 31 homers. Brice Turang was the #1 bat speed riser in baseball, raising it 4.5 MPH, and he went from 7 homers to 18 homers. Anthony Volpe was the 2nd biggest riser at 3.3 MPH, and while he didn’t have a great year, he did go from 12 homers to 19 homers. Sal Frelick raised it 1.9 MPH, going from 2 homers to 12 homers. Geraldo Perdomo raised it 1.4 MPH, going from a career high of 6 homer to 20 homers. Maikel Garcia raised it 1.1 MPH, going from 7 homers to 16 homers. There are more power breakouts up and down the bat speed risers list. While you can’t solely contribute bat speed to all of the power breakouts, it is clearly a major reason. And the takeaway for me here is what I suspected last off-season, which is that guys can improve their bat speed considerably year to year. It’s why I’m not panicked over Matt Shaw’s below average 69.6 MPH swing. My bet is that rises in 2025, just like it did with PCA this year. So while bat speed is certainly a major tool to use, I would caution about putting too much emphasis on it, especially for younger players who are still getting comfortable vs. MLB pitching. It is not a power death sentence to swing a slower bat, as the skill can very obviously be improved, and be improved in a major way year to year.

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A Top 25 Sneak Peek of the 2026 Top 1,000 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon)

Sneak Peek season has arrived, and I’m pumped to drop the first one of 2026 as we build towards the full 2026 Top 1,000. We start with the true studs of the game, or the ones we think (hope) will become those true studs. The Top 5 is free here on the Brick Wall with the rest of the Top 25 over on the Patreon. These drops continue all off-season with bigger and bigger chunks as we go. It’s A Top 25 Sneak Peek of the 2026 Top 1,000 Dynasty Baseball Rankings:

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Dynasty Team Reports on Patreon

Atlanta Braves—Arizona Diamondbacks—Detroit Tigers—Kansas City Royals—Miami Marlins—New York Yankees (free)—Pittsburgh Pirates (free)—Texas Rangers

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 K% (33.2%), BB% (4.3%), xERA (2.45), and velocity (98.4 MPH). 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 just steamrolled the small market “good guys”, the Milwaukee Brewers, in 4. 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 // 13/3.07/1.05/191 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

Dynasty Team Reports on Patreon

Atlanta Braves—Arizona Diamondbacks—Detroit Tigers—Kansas City Royals—Miami Marlins—New York Yankees (free)—Pittsburgh Pirates (free)—Texas Rangers

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THESE RANKS & TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
-A TOP 25 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
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–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

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

Posted on by Michael Halpern

New York Yankees 2026 Dynasty Baseball Team Report (Top 10 Prospects/Interesting MLB guys/Strategy Talk)

The 2026 off-season festivities officially kicked off on the Brick Wall last week with the 2026 Dynasty Team Reports. Like during the regular season, I will release a freebie here on Imaginary Brick Wall on some Mondays (in this case Tuesday, I like to keep you on your toes sometimes 😉 with the vast majority of the content over on the Patreon. Off-season content will include these Dynasty Team Reports, along with Deep Positional Rankings, Strategy articles, Target articles, 2026 Projections, Prime/Peak Projections, predicting future prospect lists, AFL/Winter League Updates, the Top 100+ FYPD rankings, Top 500+ Prospects Rankings, and the 2026 Top 1,000+ Dynasty Rankings. But first, here is the New York Yankees 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:
–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
-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—Kansas City Royals—Pittsburgh Pirates (free)—Texas Rangers

Hitters

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. He’s my #2 ranked catcher behind Cal Raleigh, and he ranked 82nd overall on my End of Season Top 450 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon). – 2026 Projection: 84/30/81/.265/.348/.511/4

Jasson Dominguez – NYY, OF, 23.2 – With how the Yanks used Dominguez down the stretch and into the playoffs, or more accurately, not used him, there is some fear about his role headed into 2026, but I still believe the Yanks are all in on developing him into a long term core piece. It would be so silly if they weren’t. He was a 22 year old who put up a 49.6% Hard Hit% with a 90.6 MPH EV, and did it with a 74.1 MPH swing. The special bat talent is so clearly there, and the 27.2% whiff% and 26.8/9.6 K%/BB% isn’t bad at all. He also stole 23 bags with a 28.7 ft/sec sprint. That is a really strong foundation to build on. He certainly has things to work on, like his defense, hitting lefties, and pulling the ball in the air, but that is what development is all about. Not everyone is going to be fully formed by 22 years old. And Dominguez is the type of talent with the type of upside that you want to be patient with. Bellinger and Grisham are both free agents, so it sure seems to make sense to leave a starting job open for Dominguez to take going into 2026. He won’t get endless leash, and he’ll have to show signs of development, but I’m betting he will. He’s a buy for me this off-season if his current owner is turned off. – 2026 Projection: 78/18/71/.263/.340/.428/28 Prime Projection: 88/25/83/.269/.351/.468/31

Pitchers

Cam Schlittler – NYY, RHP, 25.2 – I wasn’t on Schlittler last off-season, which was a mistake, but I like to think I made up for it in a major way during the season. Before he was getting any major hype, before he was getting any Top 100 love, before he got the call to the majors, I rang the major buy bell on him in June, writing in the Rundowns, “The stuff is nuts, he’s 6’6”, 225 pounds, and he’s been a strikeout machine in the upper minors. He’s so easily a Top 100 pitching prospect, and he should probably be valued right in that tier with Jump, Tong, and Yesavage.” … He was already starting to fly up my rankings in May too. Not too long after that he got the call to the majors in July, and the rest is history. He very clearly proved he belonged in that already hyped, pitching prospect tier, and quite frankly, he may have proved to be the best of that bunch with a 2.96 ERA and 27.6/10.2 K%/BB% in 73 IP. He was lights out in 14.1 playoff innings too. He did it on the back of an elite 98 MPH fastball that he threw 54.7% of the time, notching a 27.8% whiff% and a +9 Run Value. His beast status is so clearly locked in, but I can’t lie, I fear he might get a little overrated this off-season. None of his other pitches really stood out. His cutter was his best secondary, but it only put up a 27.3% whiff% with a +1 Run Value. The curve put up a lowly 21.8% whiff% and he barely went to the sweeper. To not have a true dominant, whiff, put away secondary is a tad concerning to me, especially when he also has below average control. The ERA estimators also had him as more of a high 3’s true talent level this year. Don’t get me wrong, I still think he’s a beast, just like I did back when there was a good chance you could have picked him up for free in your league, which I know a lot of my subscribers did, but with his massive ascent, I would be a bit too scared to pay up for him like he’s already a young true ace. I think the price might be a tad too high for me this off-season. – 2026 Projection: 13/3.59/1.24/187 in 170 IP

Gerrit Cole – NYY, RHP, 35.7 – I wrote this in the Corbin Burnes blurb in the Arizona Diamondbacks Team Report on the Patreon, but it’s worth repeating for Cole, and really, almost the entire blurb can be repeated for Cole as their dynasty value profiles are starting to look very similar, albeit Cole is also 4 years older. 2025 couldn’t have made it any clearer that taking the Tommy John discount on pitchers is a total roll of the dice. McClanahan got hurt again and never returned. Strider, Eury, and Alcantara all looked rustier than the 30 year old lawn furniture my parents gave me when I moved into my house. I think it’s time to buy some new lawn furniture. I’m overdo 😉 Andrew Painter was simply not the same perfect pitching prospect he was pre-injury. While on the other hand, Emmett Sheehan returned and immediately re-established himself as one of the most exciting young pitchers in the game. deGrom was awesome, but even he was diminished from true prime. Bradish looked even better than before, and Bieber looked damn good for the most part. Really nobody knows exactly what level of health/rust these guys will have when they return. And while Cole is generally the type of guy I like taking the Tommy John discount on, he was already in decline even before the injury. His days of being that 30%+ K rate guy were already done with a 27% K% in 2023 and then a 25.4% K% in 2024. His whiff rates match that decline. So you are buying a 35 year old pitcher who was already in decline coming back from Tommy John, which we see can be a treacherous recovery. He underwent the surgery on March 11th, so he may miss a big chunk of 2026 as well depending on the recovery. It’s just a lot, and I fear his name value will keep his price higher than I’m willing to go. – 2026 Projection: 7/3.71/1.20/130 in 130 IP

Bullpen

David Bednar – NYY, Closer, 31.6 – Hometown boy David Bednar, born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, risen to fame as the dominant closer on his favorite childhood team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, was told to pack up his shit, because he was getting shipped off to the Big City, New York. Ain’t no loyalty in baseball. Was he going to wilt under the big lights? Could he handle the pressure that many have succumbed to? You damn right he could, as he came riding in on horseback and done stole the closer job out from under Devin Williams with a 2.19 ERA and 36.1/9.3 K%/BB% in 24.2 IP with his new team. When the pressure was even higher in the playoffs, he was even better with a 1.50 ERA and 40.9/4.5 K%/BB% in 6 IP. He proved his down 2024 was just an aberration, likely due to injury and pitch tipping. The stuff is filthy with 97 MPH heat and two nasty bat missing secondaries in his curve and splitter. He doesn’t get quite treated like it, but he’s a truly elite closer. – 2026 Projection: 4/2.88/1.09/81/34 saves in 62 IP

New York Yankees 2026 Top 10 Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Prospects Rankings

1) George Lombard – NYY, SS, 20.10 – I get why Lombard gets ranked extremely high on many real life lists. He’s a good SS with projectable power at 6’2”, good athleticism, a mature approach, and some semblance of a good feel to hit. Scouts love this type, and for good reason. But for fantasy, I find it hard to already put him in that nearly elite prospect range. He slashed .215/.337/.358 with 8 homers, 24 steals, and a 26.4/13.6 K%/BB% in 108 games at Double-A, Granted he was only 20 years old, and he hit a lot better at the age appropriate High-A (1 homer with a 193 wRC+ in 24 games), but it’s still not screaming elite fantasy stud to me. I put him in the mold of a Geraldo Perdomo and Jeremy Pena, two guys who are obviously very good and both had excellent 2025 seasons, but neither of those guys got this type of elite prospect love, and it took them into their mid 20’s until they really came into their own. So I like Lombard a lot. I have him as a Top 50 fantasy prospect, which is really good, but I just can’t shoot him up in to that Top 20 range already. He should end the 2026 season in that area though if things go right. – ETA: 2027 Prime Projection: 86/18/73/.261/.338/.430/26

2) Spencer Jones – NYY, OF, 24.11 – Let’s be honest, the odds are really good that Jones just won’t be able to hit enough to truly be a fantasy beast. The guy had a 41.6% whiff% and 36.6% K% in 67 games at Triple-A as a 24 year old. That is beyond the danger zone. That is the Chernobyl nuclear disaster zone, the Exclusion Zone, the Black Zone … okay I think that is all the nicknames for the Chernobyl area. A guy who hits .200, if he’s lucky, can only provide so much fantasy value no matter how big the power/speed combo, but boy oh boy is that power/speed combo humongous. He’s 6’7”, 240 pounds with a 94.8 MPH EV and plus speed. He hit 35 homers with 29 steals in 116 games on the season. If there is an exception to the rule, it will be him. A .200/30/30 guy would be absolutely hysterical, but that is obviously a pipe dream. If he were 22 years old, I could see giving some more leeway for the hit tool, but he’s going to be 25 for most of 2026. The most optimistic comp we can point to is Joey Gallo, who had a career 106 wRC+ in 939 games with a 41.4% whiff%. Matt Wallner is another good one with a career 131 wRC+ in 273 games with a 36.6% whiff%. Jones has to improve majorly to even get down to Wallner’s whiff%, but at least it’s example that it’s not impossible to thrive with super high whiff rates. All indications also point to the Yankees still really believing in him. The upside is so massive, I think they want to roll that dice and eventually give him a shot, and because I’m a sucker for upside, I’m also willing to roll the dice. I still think he’s a Top 50-75 prospect just on the off chance he can get that hit tool into a good enough area. Maybe I’m crazy. – 2026 Projection: 15/4/19/.192/.279/.399/3 Prime Projection: 68/23/73/.218/.309/.438/17

3) Dax Kilby – NYY, SS, 19.5 – If you know me at all, you know I’m the OG pro debut breakout hype beast, going back to 2016, and nobody had a pro debut breakout like Kilby had. He slashed .353/.457/.441 with 0 homers, 16 steals, and a 13.6/16.0 K%/BB% in 18 games at Single-A as an 18 year old. Sure he didn’t hit a homer, but when it comes with a 91.9 MPH EV and 45.6% Hard Hit%, I’m not that concerned about it. The only flaw of the debut was the 1 degree launch, but this type of profile can still thrive with a low launch, and if he can raise that launch, watch out. I was already a big fan before the debut, ranking him highly in my original FYPD Rankings, writing, “Selected 39th overall in the 2025 MLB Draft, Kilby is a projectable 6’2” with a vicious and smooth lefty swing that has power potential written all over it if he can put on good weight. He’s currently more of a line drive, hit tool focused prospect with good speed, so either the power can tick up naturally to enhance that profile, or he can make an approach change to really tap into that hopeful raw power gain in the future. I love the swing, projection, hit tool and athleticism, which is a lot to like. If you can’t draft high enough to grab one of the top high school bats with big present power, you might as well take your shot on a guy who could develop that power down the line.” … obviously his awesome debut, where he showed more raw power than even I was expecting, is going to push his price way up, but I think he’s worth that high price. He ranked 10th overall on the Updated Top 60 2026 First Year Player Draft Rankings (Patreon), and I’m not even sure that is high enough. I’m all in. ETA: 2028 Prime Projection: 93/20/79/.278/.357/.445/30

4) Carlos Lagrange – NYY, RHP, 22.10 – Carlos Lagrange gives me major Dellin Betances vibes when watching him, and the similarities are really striking in so many ways. I have a hard time believing any Yankees fan that watches Lagrange won’t get those exact same vibes. Lagrange is a tall drink of water at 6’7”, 248 pounds with an upper 90’s fastball that gets over 100 MPH, a plus breaker, a solid, lesser used changeup, and double below average control. The control looked like it was taking a huge step forward in the beginning of the year at High-A with a 7.1% BB% in 41.2 IP, but it ballooned when he got to Double-A with a 14.9% BB% in 78.1 IP, showing the major control risk is still there. The upside is equally as high though with a 3.53 ERA and 33.4% K% in 120 IP on the season. I can’t help but feel he is most likely going to take the same path as Betances and become a hopefully elite reliever, and possibly closer, but the door isn’t even close to shut on him remaining a starter. Just look at Jacob Misiorowski, who is equally as tall and had almost equally bad control. And ending up a closer is a pretty damn good outcome anyway. – 2026 Projection: 2/3.82/1.29/32 in 30 IP Prime Projection: 4/3.30/1.19/80/33 saves in 65 IP

5) Elmer Rodriguez Cruz – NYY, RHP, 22.8 – Don’t call it a breakout. Just look at Cruz’ career minor league stats. He put up a 1.88 ERA in 38.1 IP in 2022, a 2.60 ERA in 55.1 IP in 2023, a 2.91 ERA in 89.2 IP in 2024, and now a 2.58 ERA in 150 IP in 2025. Just because nobody seemed to notice all that much or care all that much, doesn’t mean Cruz hasn’t been dominating professional baseball for 4 seasons now. And this year he was able to continue the dominance in the upper minors with a 2.64 ERA and 30.3/8.2 K%/BB% in 61.1 IP at Double-A. He has the talent to back up the excellent production with size (6’3”), velocity (95+ MPH heat), pitch mix (he threw a 4-seamer, sinker, curve, change, cutter, and probably his best secondary, the slider, in his one start at Triple-A to end the season), and bat missing ability. That is a lot of boxes to check. The control/command took a step forward in 2025, but it’s still on the below average side. I wouldn’t put top of the rotation upside on him, but maybe that is just the continuation of the underrating he’s gone through his entire career. An impact mid-rotation starter wouldn’t be a bad outcome though, and that deserves a spot in the Top 100 Prospects. – 2026 Projection: 3/4.07/1.31/62 in 70 IP Prime Projection: 12/3.68/1.22/175 in 175 IP

6) Ben Hess – NYY, RHP, 23.7 – Hess was underrated in First Year Player Drafts last off-season, and he’s still underrated now. The Yanks took him 26th overall for a reason, and that reason was that he’s a big man at 6’5”, 255 pounds with big stuff, and while he didn’t have that truly dominating Junior Year breakout, the breakout came in pro ball this year. He put up a 3.22 ERA with a 33.0/10.9 K%/BB% in 103 IP at High-A and Double-A, and he was even better at Double-A with a 2.70 ERA and 31.3/9.0 K%/BB% in 36.2 IP. He dominated with a plus mid 90’s fastball/curve combo, and the lesser used changeup is really good when he goes to it too. He also throws a solid slider. The control/command is below average, likely limiting his reasonable upside projection to a mid-rotation starter, but a high K mid-rotation starter is an impact fantasy starter. He should be valued as a back end Top 100 pitching prospect, but he doesn’t seem to get that kind of respect, making him a really good pitching target. – 2026 Projection: 2/4.14/1.33/47 in 50 IP Prime Projection: 11/3.71/1.24/171 in 165 IP

7) Bryce Cunningham – NYY, RHP, 23.3 – Cunningham was on the way to being a major pitching prospect breakout after the first 46.2 IP of his pro career with a 1.93 ERA and 25.7/6.0 K%/BB% at High-A, but he just didn’t look the same after returning from a shoulder injury he suffered in June. He put up a 5.11 ERA with a 20.0/16.4 K%/BB% in 12.1 IP over 5 outings after returning, and he looked just as bad in his latest AFL start. The most concerning part is that the stuff was down. The mid 90’s fastball that could get into the upper 90’s was down to about 93 MPH. The hope is that he was just taking it easy to end the season coming off the injury, and that he’s just trying not to hurt himself again before having a full off-season to ramp back up. That does make sense to me, and that is the way I’m leaning, but it does add some extra risk heading into the off-season. When healthy, he’s a beast of a man at 6’5”, 230 pounds with the big stuff to match. Along with the mid 90’s heat, he has a plus, bat missing changeup that is probably his best secondary, a solid slider, new cutter, and he threw the curve in the AFL game. The most impressive part of the start to his season was the excellent walk rate, because he had below average walk rates in college, but that disappeared when he returned. He might have been knocking on the door of the Top 100 had he remained healthy, but the injury put a halt to that, and he’s now a Top 200-ish prospect for me. – ETA: 2027 Prime Projection: 10/3.85/1.29/147 in 155 IP

8) Dillon Lewis – NYY, OF, 22.10 – Lewis was the 394th overall pick in 2024 despite going 22/20 with a .371 BA in his Junior year in the Atlantic Sun Conference. He was one of only 2 players to go 20/20 in Division 1, and yet, nobody believed in him. He was a very athletic 6’3”, 205 pounds, so he looked the part too, and yet, still nobody believed in him, Well, I guess the Yanks did in the 13th round, giving him a $150,000 signing bonus, but in hindsight, it’s pretty wild he was so disrespected. And that hindsight was provided by what he did in pro ball in 2025, slashing .237/.321/.445 with 22 homers, 26 steals, and a 23.5/10.2 K%/BB% in 122 games split between Single-A and High-A. His K/BB actually improved majorly at High-A, which is big to see with a 20.8/10.8 K%/BB% at that level, and it’s big to see because this dude absolutely smokes the ball with a 93.7 MPH EV and 54.6% Hard Hit%. He also has no issues lifting and pulling. The upside here is truly pretty damn massive, and you still hear barely anything about him. The reason for that is because nobody really believes in the hit tool, and a 21/22 year old in the lower minors with a .237 BA definitely isn’t good. He also doesn’t have a standout OF glove, projecting to be a solid corner outfielder. This is the type of player who can potentially breakout on the Marlins at 27 year old, so I get the lack of hype, but I mean, those EV and Hard Hit numbers deserve real respect. The power/speed combo is mouth watering for the price he’s going to go for this off-season. He’s a great high upside target. – ETA: 2028 Prime Projection: 64/21/71/.239/.307/.433/16

9) Brendan Jones – NYY, OF, 23.11 – I talked about Lagrange inevitably reminding Yankees fans of Dellin Betances, so let’s keep the nostalgia going with Jones, because the shades of Brett Gardner are strong with him. The controlled and simple lefty swing looks super similar to Gardner, and so does his size at 5’10”. The profile is super similar too, slashing .250/.365/.415 with 7 homers, 28 steals, and a 20.9/15.3 K%/BB% in 80 games at Double-A. That was good for a 131 wRC+. He doesn’t have big raw power, but he can lift and pull with a 33.1% GB% and 44.4% Pull%, giving him the chance to take advantage of that short porch, just like Gardner did. And like Gardner, he has a standout OF glove. It’s most likely a 4th outfielder profile, but that is what they said about Gardner, and if he does work his way into a full time job, the speed will make a fantasy impact. – ETA: 2027 Prime Projection: 66/10/48/.247/.324/.380/25

10) Chase Hampton – NYY, RHP, 24.8 – I could have went a number of ways with this 10th spot as nobody really fully deserves it, so let’s give it to Hampton who was trending towards being a consensus Top 100 prospect before injuries derailed his career. He had an elbow injury tank his 2024 season where the stuff and production were both down majorly, and then he once again felt elbow pain when ramping up for the 2025 season, succumbing to Tommy John surgery in February 2025. At full health, he’s 6’2, 200 pounds with mid 90’s heat, a diverse set of secondaries (slider, curve, cutter, change), and solid control/command. He put up a 3.63 ERA with a 33.1/8.4 K%/BB% in 106.2 IP split between High-A and Double-A in 2023. If he comes back 100% from the surgery, the hype can definitely get going again, but who knows how he will look after 2 lost seasons. – ETA: 2027 Prime Projection: 6/4.18/1.34/103 in 120 IP

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

Jumping off from the Ben Rice blurb, the beauty of dynasty leagues especially, is that you don’t have to panic if a player you believe in doesn’t have a perfectly clear path to a full time job to start the season. People have short memories, so maybe you don’t remember how his lack of clear path was absolutely killing his value last off-season, but it was real. The same thing happened with Spencer Torkelson, and Torkelson was also a major off-season target for me and big hit. Taking advantage of that playing time uncertainty created monster value to be had on both of them, with both of them going for soooooo cheap. Even a little uncertainty of a players full time job status will scare so many fantasy/dynasty managers away, and it’s an area to 100% take advantage of when it happens. I get in redraft leagues being a bit scared, but in dynasty, you have the long term view to fully stay the course if you believe in the bat. And Rice and Torkelson both had very clear reasons to believe in their bats.

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Arizona Diamondbacks—Kansas City Royals—Pittsburgh Pirates (free)—Texas Rangers

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

The 2026 off-season festivities have officially kicked off on the Brick Wall with the first Dynasty Team Report of the year. Like during the regular season, I will release a freebie here on Imaginary Brick Wall on some Mondays with the vast majority of the content over on the Patreon. Off-season content will include these Dynasty Team Reports, along with Deep Positional Rankings, Strategy articles, Target articles, 2026 Projections, Prime/Peak Projections, predicting future prospect lists, AFL/Winter League Updates, the Top 100+ FYPD rankings, Top 500+ Prospects Rankings, and Top 1,000+ Dynasty Rankings. Here is the Pittsburgh Pirates 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:
–END OF SEASON 2025 TOP 450 DYNASTY RANKS
–END OF SEASON 2025 TOP 325 PROSPECTS RANKS
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–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

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

There is nothing worse than identifying targets/sleepers early in the off-season, only to watch their value skyrocket by the time your draft comes around. You just sit and pray everyday that some popular analyst doesn’t decide to name them one of their sleepers, because if they do, forget about it, all value is lost in the blink of an eye. I’ve been playing fantasy since the late 1900’s, back when you could die of dysentery while traveling by covered wagon on the Oregon Trail (okay, not the real Oregon Trail, but that awesome The Oregon Trail video game we all used to play back then), when Yahoo brought it to the internet, and I would dread every Yahoo article that would pop up right on the league homepage, because if they named a guy who I liked a sleeper, I knew it was done. Even now as a writer, that feeling is almost tenfold, because I’m only human who can get petty sometimes, “hey, that’s my target!!!” Lay off Nick, Eno, Geoff, Grey, Chris, Eric, Ross etc … hah … I’m only half joking of course. I love all of those guys. That is where meditation comes in really handy, but that is a conversation for another day 😉 … so all of that to say, I wanted to kick off the Dynasty Team Reports with some targets who I think will remain targets all off-season. Real sleepers. Pitt is starting to become standouts in pitcher development, and while their reputation has been rising, it’s not even close to the level of Tampa or LA or Seattle. So these guys aren’t going to get the org bump that so many do. They also have a very deep rotation, which will make people hesitant about going all in on their bottom of the rotation guys because some of their roles are going to be up in the air, probably through the end of March. And none of these guys ever got huge prospect hype, so the name value is in check. So with that as the backdrop, let’s dive into the Pirates Team Report …

Pitchers

Johan Oviedo – PIT, RHP, 28.1 – I don’t foresee a bunch of analysts jumping on the Oviedo bandwagon this off-season, or at least not enough to really inflate his value out of the true “sleeper” area by the time drafts come around. He returned from Tommy John surgery after missing the entire 2024 season, and unlike so many other Tommy John returnees, not only didn’t he look diminished, he came back a new man. He added 5 inches of induced vertical break to his fastball, and it turned into a dominant pitch with an elite 31.3% whiff%. It sits 95.5 MPH and it also comes with an elite 7.4 feet of extension from his 6’6”, 275 pound frame. The dude is a beast. He combines that with two good breakers in his slider (86.7 MPH EV against with a 27.6% whiff%) and curve (38.1% whiff%), while also mixing in a sinker and changeup. He was actually better vs. lefties (.560 OPS) than righties (.724 OPS) this year, so he doesn’t have major split issues either. It all led to a 3.57 ERA with a 24.7/13.5 K%/BB% in 40.1 IP. The control is below average, the K/BB doesn’t look great, and all of the ERA estimators (SIERA, xFIP) don’t love him either, but that is what makes him a true, last couple rounds of the draft sleeper. These days, everyone is looking at the same stuff, so if you want a real sleeper, you are going to have to find different avenues, and Oviedo is that avenue. I love him as a let him come to you at the end of the draft type target. – 2026 Projection: 9/3.77/1.28/164 in 160 IP

Braxton Ashcraft – PIT, RHP, 26.6 – Ashcraft has been a target of mine for a few years now, so if you’ve read my work, you might already have him, but if you don’t, this off-season could be your last chance to get in at a decent price. He made his MLB debut and he proved his skills will most certainly transfer with a 2.71 ERA and 24.3/8.2 K%/BB% in 69.2 IP. He throws gas with a 97 MPH 4-seamer and a 96.6 MPH sinker that keeps the ball on the ground with a negative 9 degree launch. The slider is his most used pitch and it induces weak contact with a 83 MPH EV against and misses bats with a 32.4% whiff%. The curve is a bat missing weapon too with a 36.6% whiff% and a .214 xwOBA, The slider, curve and sinker were all plus Run Value Pitches. He also had no split issues with a .675 OPS vs. lefties. And the control has been plus to double plus for most of his career. If he were on the Mariners, we would be looking at him as the next in line of their big, fire balling, plus control righties, but with Pitt, he barely gets a whisper of hype. He pitched in a variety of roles in 2025, many of them short outings, so while there is some role risk, that is another reason his price should stay low all off-season. With injuries and ineffectiveness, I would be surprised if he didn’t rack up plenty of innings as a full time starter in 2026. Ashcraft and Oviedo are not going to be the darlings of the off-season hype machine fantasy world. These are guys you can truly get on the cheap. They ranked 360th and 362nd overall on the End of Season 2025 Top 450 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon). – 2026 Projection: 9/3.58/1.21/150 in 150 IP

Mike Burrows – PIT, RHP, 26.5 – I don’t like Burrows quite as much as I do Oviedo and Ashcraft, but he has something neither of them do, which is a dominant changeup. His change was straight elite with a +9 Run Value, 83.6 MPH EV against, and a 43.1% whiff%. It was tied for the 6th most valuable changeup in baseball, and he did it in only 96.6 IP. Having a pitch that good should not be ignored. It’s really the only thing he does well, but he has big velocity with a 95.5 MPH fastball, and his slider isn’t too bad either with a +1 Run Value. It all led to a solid 3.94 ERA and 24.1/7.7 K%/BB% in 96 IP. Pitt is becoming one of the better pitching development teams in baseball, and while none of these guys are spring chickens, we know pitching development is all over the place. Late 20 breakouts are not that rare, and all 3 of these guys have the ingredients to take steps forward. Their rotation is deep, and it’s going to be a battle for spots, but we know that these things work themselves out. All 3 of their values should be super low too, which is where the real value comes in. I’m going to be grabbing a ton of Oviedo/Ashcraft/Burrows super late in drafts/auctions. They aren’t getting nearly the hype they deserve, and my guess is that they won’t get that hype all off-season. – 2026 Projection: 8/3.88/1.27/142 in 145 IP

Hitters

Oneil Cruz – PIT, OF, 27.6 – Cruz might have had the most disappointing 20/38 season of all time. If you told me he was going to go 20/38 before the season started, I would have said he’s going to be a huge hit, but we all know that isn’t how it played out. The BA completely tanked, sitting directly on the Mendoza line at .200, but even more worrisome is that it was getting worse as the season went along, much worse with a .184 BA in his final 104 games. And it was even more brutal vs. lefties with a .102 BA. He was sitting a ton by the end of the season, because he’s not a good defensive player either. We are in a real pickle here, because a guy who can’t hit lefties, has major BA risk, and isn’t great on defense doesn’t sound like a good bet, but at the same time, he can legitimately go 30/40, and that isn’t even a stretch to say. The 17.9% Barrel%, 95.8 MPH EV, 78.8 MPH swing, and 56.6% Hard Hit% are all off the charts. Well, they’re on the charts, but extremely high up on the charts. The 29.2 ft/sec sprint is double plus too. And the underlying numbers say he got unlucky. The .229 xBA and the .330 xwOBA were both much better than the surface stats. He has a career .233 BA. If he hits .240 next year, he has the type of talent that can win leagues, especially with how far I’m expecting him to fall this off-season. If you own him already, there is nothing to do but hold. Selling low would be silly. And while I can’t say I’m targeting him hard, I will 100% grab him if his price falls too low. This is still a Top 100 dynasty asset for me. – 2026 Projection: 76/22/74/.228/.309/.427/33

Bullpen

Dennis Santana – PIT, Closer, 30.0 – Banking on fringy closers to remain closers throughout the entire off-season is a bet that can often come back to bite you. Even with Pitt, who don’t spend big, they can still sign some lower priced vets to come in and compete. So while I can’t be certain that Santana will hold this role all off-season, he looks like the heavy favorite. He took over for Bednar after the deadline and dominated with a 1.27 ERA, 26.9/7.7 K%/BB%, and 10 saves in his final 21.1 IP. The stuff isn’t truly monstrous like many of the other top closers in the game, but it’s big enough with a 94.7 MPH fastball, and the slider is the true moneymaker with a .248 xwOBA and 35.7% whiff%. The cutter is a good pitch too. It’s not close to true elite closer status with true elite bat missing ability, which is why there is risk Pitt can bring in other arms, so he’s just a low end closer option right now. – 2026 Projection: 4/3.61/1.19/60/24 saves in 65 IP

Pittsburgh Pirates 2026 Top 10 Dynasty Fantasy Baseball Prospects Rankings

1) Konnor Griffin – PIT, SS/OF, 19.11 – I felt the Griffin explosion in my gut last off-season. The Baseball Gods were speaking to me, and I listened, predicting he would explode into elite prospect status in my Predicting the Top 50 2026 Dynasty Baseball Prospects Rankings last off-season, ranking him 4th overall and writing, “Griffin will have the explosion that everyone who passed on him in first year player drafts feared he would have. The hit tool concerns will be overblown as he maintains an under 25% K% at Single-A, and the power/speed combo will shine with 16 homers and 48 steals in 102 games. He’ll basically be the 2026 version of the 2025 version of Sebastian Walcott. Off the charts tools and a better than expected hit tool.” … and then he went out and surpassed even those expectations, slashing .333/.415/.527 with 21 homers, 65 steals, and a 21.7/8.9 K%/BB% in 122 games. He finished the season at Double-A where he actually put up his best wRC+ of any level with a 175 wRC+ in 21 games. Remember when everyone was making excuses for the 19 year old Walcott at Double-A all year for his mediocre slash? Well, Griffin came in and just busted that whole thing up, showing a 19 year old can most certainly dominate the level. Not only did I forsee the rise in the off-season, but I got blow back after ranking him 1st overall on the Prospect Rankings in early June before he even got the call to High-A. I then made a final plea in my August Dynasty Rankings before he got the call to Double-A, shooting him up to 29th overall and writing, “This is my final plea to you. DO NOT TRADE GRIFFIN UNDER ANY SCENARIO. I don’t even think Roman Anthony can touch his upside. Just don’t trade him, please.” And then after what he did at Double-A, there is no more room for debate. He’s lightning fast, he crushes the ball with a 91.2 MPH EV and 49% Hard Hit%, and the hit tool was better than expected. This is not only the #1 prospect in baseball, but he’s already a nearly elite dynasty asset for me. He ranked 1st overall on the End of Season 2025 Top 325 Dynasty Prospects Rankings (Patreon), and he ranked 23rd overall on the End of Season 2025 Top 450 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon). – 2026 Projection: 28/9/35/.247/.318/.433/17 Prime Projection: 118/32/111/.279/.351/.523/44

2) Edward Florentino – PIT, OF/1B, 19.5 – I don’t see Florentino getting ranked anywhere close to elite prospect range on the mainstream Top 100’s right now. In fact, he’s towards the back of those Top 100’s, so depending on how deep your league mates like to dig, there could actually be really good value on Florentino this off-season. I know there are many leagues out there that almost exclusively use those mainstream lists to value prospects, and even in leagues that use the underground sources like myself, I still think there is value to be had. This is straight up an elite dynasty prospect, and I don’t think many people are ready to really go all in like that on him, but I am. This is a 6’4”, 200 pound beast with an athletic, powerful, and smooth lefty swing that is made to hit dingers. He jacked out 10 homers in 54 games at Single-A and 16 homers in 83 games overall. The underlying numbers back it up too with a 89 MPH EV, 26 degree launch, and 38.7% Hard Hit%. He did that as just an 18 year old, so those hard hit numbers are only going up, and the best part is that he looked like a seasoned vet with excellent plate skills, putting up a 16.3% whiff% and 22.5% Chase%. This has the makings of a truly special power bat. And wildest part of all is that he’s a really good baserunner, going 35 for 41 on the bases. He’s not a burner with poor to mediocre speed grades, so maybe the steals slow down as he climbs the ladder, but Pitt also played him in CF mostly, which tells me there is very real athleticism in here. I doubt he ends up in CF, but you don’t just throw a guy into CF for funsies. It means something that they had him out there. Don’t be lulled to sleep by the low mainstream rankings, this dude is elite and deserves to be treated like it. – ETA: 2027 Prime Projection: 96/33/107/.268/.354/.509/16

3) Bubba Chandler – PIT, RHP, 23.6 – Triple-A is fucking hard. Like really fucking hard. The Majors is easier. That was a running joke I had in the Dynasty Rundowns all season, but it wasn’t really a joke at all. So many pitchers struggled hard at Triple-A, and then looked much better in the majors. Maybe it was the ABS Challenge system (which is coming to the Majors in 2026), maybe it was the ballparks, maybe they were pissed they weren’t in the majors already, maybe they were working on stuff, or maybe it was a combination of many things, but too many pitchers looked so much better once they got to the majors to write it off, especially their walk rates. And Chandler most certainly got the Majors is easier bump once he got there, putting up a 4.02 ERA with a 25.0/3.2 K%/BB% in 31.1 IP. He had a 5.96 ERA with a 21.2/13.1 K%/BB% in his last 51.1 IP at Triple-A before getting the call. The turnaround is just wild. The 98.9 MPH fastball got hit hard with a 93.9 MPH EV, but it was a whiff machine with a 30.8% whiff%, and that is more important to see right now. The famed changeup also dominated with a .155 xwOBA and 39.6% whiff%. And his worst pitch of the three, the slider, actually had the best Run Value of them all (+5), on the back of weak contact (85.6 MPH EV against), although it didn’t miss many bats with a 22.5% whiff%. It was a very positive MLB debut, and the bloom that was coming off the rose at Triple-A was fully put back on in the majors. He’s an elite pitching prospect, and possibly the #1 pitching prospect in baseball, although he has some competition for that crown, most notably from Chase Burns, Thomas White and Nolan McLean. – 2026 Projection: 10/3.56/1.27/178 in 170 IP Prime Projection: 15/3.29/1.10/225 in 195 IP

4) Seth Hernandez – PIT, RHP, 19.9 – Selected 6th overall in the 2025 MLB Draft, Hernandez has the highest pure upside of any arm in the class. He’s a great athlete with prototypical size at 6’4”, 195 pounds, and the stuff is filthy with a mid to upper 90’s fastball and a double plus changeup. The breakers (slider, curve) aren’t quite as impressive, and can be inconsistent, but they definitely have the potential to get to plus at peak. And his control/command is really strong for a high school starter with this level of stuff, generally throwing all of his pitches around the plate. I would be lying if I didn’t mention that I see at least some shades of Brock Porter, who had a very similar profile as a 19 year old starter with upper 90’s heat, an elite change, and inconsistent breakers. That also underscores how risky high school righties have traditionally been in the draft. Noble Meyer and Dylan Lesko can attest to that. Even Jackson Jobe and Andrew Painter, who have risen to elite prospect status, needed Tommy John and have had their struggles of late. But Hunter Greene exists too. There is an argument to let someone else draft Hernandez, and then buy low on him after he gets Tommy John surgery. But the top of the rotation upside is undeniable, and that upside is worth the risk. He ranked 8th overall on my Updated Top 60 2026 Dynasty Baseball First Year Player Draft Rankings (Patreon). – ETA: 2028 Prime Projection: 14/3.45/1.13/200 in 180 IP

5) Hunter Barco – PIT, LHP, 25.4 – Most people have Barco pegged as a back end arm, and I mean, they very well might end up correct. It’s probably the smart bet to make, but I think there is more in there than that, and because he doesn’t really get very much love in the prospect world (both mainstream and underground), that puts him into the pitching prospect aisle I love to shop in. For one, he has that funky lefty delivery that I am an absolute sucker for, and that deception helps his entire arsenal play up. He only had a 3 inning cup of coffee at the end of the year, but in those 3 innings he proved the stuff will translate to the majors with a 33.3% whiff% on the 94 MPH sinker, a 42.9% whiff% on the splitter, and a 33.3% whiff% on the slider. That gives him weapons to get both lefties and righties out. And we all know the low velo, plus changeup lefty was all the rage this year. Barco has that profile, and maybe even a supercharged version of it. He didn’t give up a single earned run in 25.2 IP at Double-A to start the year, and then he held his own in the Triple-A is fucking hard league with a 3.79 ERA and 25.4/13.0 K%/BB% in 73.2 IP. I mean, it’s arguably better than what Chandler did at the level. Just saying. The biggest problem is that he might be 7th on the depth chart right now, but in dynasty, it’s less of a problem. Barco is one of my favorite low cost, close to the majors pitching prospects. – 2026 Projection: 4/3.98/1.29/78 in 80 IP Prime Projection: 11/3.69/1.22/167 in 160 IP

6) Termarr Johnson – PIT, 2B, 21.10 – Johnson hasn’t had the rise we hoped for when he was the 4th overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, but it’s been far from a disaster, and that Pitt 2B job is still sitting wide open for him. Based off where they drafted him, I have to think he is going to get every chance to lock down that long term job, and not even taking draft slot into account, I still think he’s the best man for the job. The biggest issue is that the supposedly elite hit tool hasn’t even been close to elite in pro ball, but it finally started to show some signs of improvement in the 2nd half of this season. He hit .325 with a 18.3/13.3 K%/BB% in his final 42 games at Double-A as a barely turned 21 year old. That is what we were expecting from the get go, but better late than never. We obviously can’t just say he’s an elite hit tool guy again, but it gives a lot more confidence that he can fulfill the solid across the board projection I’ve been giving him for the past few years. The 119 wRC+ is also pretty damn good for his age. He hit only 9 homers with a 46.7% GB% in 119 games, and he’s also not a great base stealer, going 20 for 32, so this isn’t the upside we were hoping for at all, and I don’t think he’s a Top 100 prospect anymore, but I still believe he will be a fantasy relevant player, possibly for many years to come. – 2026 Projection: 38/6/29/.242/.306/.387/8 Prime Projection: 79/16/72/.265/.338/.423/18

7) Esmerlyn Valdez – PIT, 1B/OF, 22.6 – Pitt’s offense is atrocious. They scored the least amount of runs in the league, and while they have some good bats in the farm system, it’s not like they are stacked there either. Point being, a prospect like Valdez is in the perfect organization to bet on for fantasy. They need some big bats, and I don’t see why Pitt wouldn’t give Valdez a major chance to be one of those big bats. He obliterated High-A with 20 homers and a 176 wRC+ in 72 games as a 21 year old, and while he got off to a slow start at Double-A, he finished strong with 6 homers and a 145 wRC+ in his final 42 games. The dude can flat out mash with a powerful righty swing at 6’2” and plenty of lift and pull. There is hit tool risk with a 24.6% K%, and he doesn’t have much defensive value, but like I said, beggars can’t be choosers. Pitt needs some big bats, and I think Valdez is going to get his shot at some point, if not in 2026, then in 2027 and beyond. – ETA: 2027 Prime Projection: 70/26/81/.243/.318/.462/4

8) Wyatt Sanford – PIT, SS, 20.4 – Sanford is the type of prospect who just slowly rises up prospect rankings with a high floor profile. He’s got a good middle infield glove, he’s got a solid feel to hit, he’s got speed and he’s got some projectability at 6’1”. This is going to be a MLB ballplayer, the only question is how good, and that will likely be dictated by how much stronger he can get. He held his own at Single-A with a 104 wRC+, 4 homers, 21 steals, and a 20.1/9.8 K%/BB% in 44 games. The 85.3 MPH EV and 30.3% Hard Hit% aren’t great, but he was only 19 years old, and like I said, there is definitely room for him to tack on more mass. Those numbers are only going up. He’s not the flashiest of prospects, but he’s probably on the underrated side right now with a high floor and not bad upside at all. I like him. – ETA: 2028 Prime Projection: 76/14/67/.262/.323/.417/26

9) Rafael Flores – PIT, C/1B, 25.5 – Pitt targeted Flores in the David Bednar deal for a reason, and that reason is that they are desperate for close to the majors power bats, and Flores most certainly fits that bill at 6’4”, 232 pounds. He mashed 22 homers in 133 games in the upper minors. The reason I don’t have him ranked higher though, is because I was a little disappointed with the hard hit numbers once he got to Triple-A, putting up a 87.9 MPH EV and 36.4% Hard Hit% in 46 games. He’s also already 25 years old and has major hit tool risk with a 34% whiff% at Triple-A and a 41.2% K% in his small cup of coffee in the majors in 17 PA (albeit while crushing the ball with a 94.8 MPH in 8 batted balls). It’s also questionable if he can stick at catcher, making defense another area of risk. Pitt is sure to get his bat in the lineup somewhere (1B/DH/C) to see if he can be the big power bat they need, so he’s not a bad flier at all. If he stinks, you can drop him quickly, but maybe that power shows up. – 2026 Projection: 24/9/31/.226/.297/.415/2 Prime Projection: 45/16/57/.241/.318/.438/5

10) Antwone Kelly – PIT, RHP, 22.6 – As I’ve been harping on for most of this Team Report, Pitt has become a pitching development factory, and Kelly is yet another big hit for them in 2025. His velocity took a big jump this year, now sitting upper 90’s and hitting over 100 MPH, and it resulted in a 3.02 ERA with a 27.2/7.7 K%/BB% in 107.1 IP split between High-A and Double-A. He wasn’t quite as good at Double-A (23.5/8.2 K%/BB% in 48 IP), but he was reaching a career high IP, and he still put up a 3.00 ERA at the level. He’s not tall at 5’10”, but he doesn’t look small out there all all. He’s thick in the right spots, and the delivery is both explosive and pretty athletic. The secondaries aren’t as good as the fastball, but he throws a variety of them (slider, change, cutter, sinker), and hopefully there is more improvement coming down the line as he was only 21 years old this year. I’ll take a foundation of upper 90’s heat and strong upper minors production all day. He also has the fallback of being a possible future closer candidate. – ETA: 2027 Prime Projection: 10/3.82/1.26/156 in 155 IP

11) Tony Blacno Jr. – PIT, 1B/DH, 20.10 – I remember when Blanco was a fun international prospect sleeper as a giant of a man at 6’7”, 243 pounds, but like many giant men find, getting the bat on the ball is just really hard to do at that height. And Blanco certainly struggles with that with a 35.1% K% in 30 games this season, but he doesn’t struggle hitting bombs with 7 homers and a 135 wRC+ at Single-A. It came with a 93.1 MPH EV and 53.8% Hard Hit%. He’s basically been a DH only with a few games 1B mixed in, so it’s all bat and nothing but the bat, but the dude will hit bombs at any level clearly. – ETA: 2028 Prime Projection: 62/25/73/.220/.311/.478/0

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
–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
-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

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

Posted on by Michael Halpern

End of Season 2025 Top 400+ Dynasty Baseball Rankings

We’ve made it to the final in-season Dynasty Baseball Rankings of 2025! We finish strong here at the Brick Wall, and I can’t imagine a stronger finish than going over 400 deep with blurbs for every player to get you prepared for early off-season trades and early off-season dynasty drafts. I love this shit. The Top 25 is free here on the Brick Wall, and the rest of the rankings will be on the Patreon. Of course, the content keeps flowing into the off-season with Dynasty Team Reports (Top 10 prospects/Interesting MLB guys/Strategy of the Day), Deep Positional Rankings, Predicting Future Prospect lists, Position by Position Targets, Top 1,000+ Dynasty Ranks, Top 500+ Prospect Ranks, and Top 100+ FYPD Ranks. But we aren’t there yet. Previous rankings (August, Mid-Season, May, April, Off-Season) are in parenthesis. Here is the End of Season 2025 Top 400+ Dynasty Baseball Rankings:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THESE RANKS & TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
–END OF SEASON 2025 TOP 400+ DYNASTY RANKS
–END OF SEASON 2025 TOP 325 PROSPECTS RANKS
-TOP 60 2026 FYPD RANKS w/ Analysis & Prime Projections for every player
-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, Top 1,000+ Dynasty Rankings, Top 500+ Prospects Rankings, Top 100+ FYPD Ranks + much more

1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) Shohei Ohtani – LAD, RHP/DH, 31.2 – Only Ohtani can come back from major elbow surgery and actually put up a career best 4.8% BB% in 41 IP. So many of these other Tommy John/internal brace returnees are fighting for their lives to just survive, but not Ohtani, who is coolly putting up a 3.29 ERA with a 32.7/4.8 K%/BB%. He came back from shoulder surgery too, and that too had zero impact on his offense, jacking out 53 homers with 19 steals and a 1.015 OPS. The man is the greatest to ever do it. He started the year #1 overall, and he’ll finish the year #1 overall.

2) (4) (5) (11) (9) (5) Juan Soto – NYM, OF, 26.11 – Where the fuck did 35 steals come from? He actually got slower this year. Like, a lot slower with a 25.7 ft/sec sprint (26.8 in 2024). There is no way he is just going to stop running again, right? Maybe not to this level, but I’m assuming he’s got 20+ in him. And he hit a career high 42 homers. Legend. He steals this 2nd spot from Witt.

3) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) Bobby Witt Jr. – KCR, SS, 25.3 – He went .292 with 23 homers and 37 steals in a down year. The 93.4 MPH EV and 48.7% Hard Hit% leaves zero doubt that it was just a down power year. Expect 30+ in 2026

4) (5) (4) (10) (11) (10) Ronald Acuna Jr. – ATL, OF, 27.9 – Acuna did everything we could have asked of him coming off his 2nd ACL surgery with a .923 OPS and .404 xwOBA. He even ran enough with 8 steals to give hope that part of his game isn’t done yet. With a full off-season to get even further away from that knee surgery, it sure seems like Acuna is set up for a huge 2026

5) (6) (6) (4) (5) (6) Corbin Carroll – ARI, OF, 25.0 – Notched the first 30/30 season of his career by massively increasing his power with career highs by far in EV, Max EV, Launch, Barrel% and Hard Hit%. He was already an elite dynasty asset, and he now looks setup for some monster man muscle seasons in his mid to late 20’s

Shadow5) (4) (5) (5) (6) (5) Shohei Ohtani – LAD, DH only/Weekly Leagues, 31.2 – This is where I would rank Ohtani in weekly lineup leagues or as a hitter only

6) (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) Elly De La Cruz – CIN, SS, 23.8 – .585 OPS with 1 homer, 7 steals, and a 29.6/7.5 K%/BB% in his last 45 games. The man fell apart in the 2nd half. It looks like he might have just worn down. But he still showed continued hit tool improvement this year, which is huge to see, and going 20/36 ain’t too shabby. I still think his best is yet to come

7) (8) (10) (7) (10) (8) Aaron Judge – NYY, OF, 33.4 – Only a 199 wRC+. Not even 200. Come on man, we expect better from you 😉 … his .467 xwOBA leads of all baseball and it’s not even close (Soto’s .443 is 2nd) … age be damned, he’s an elite dynasty asset

8) (9) (11) (8) (6) (9) Fernando Tatis Jr. – SDP, OF, 26.8 – Like Gunnar, it could be time for Tatis to attempt to unlock more lift and pull this off-season. What he’s doing now is just fine with 23 homers, 32 steals, and a .267 BA, but if he ever wants his surface stats (.350 wOBA) to match his underlying Statcast numbers (.380 xwOBA), he’s going to need to lift and pull more. Or Statcast is going to have to change their formula to take lift and pull into account more, bringing the underlying numbers down to his surface stats. Or maybe both should happen

9) (14) (19) (16) (12) (11) Julio Rodriguez – SEA, OF, 24.8 – Slashing .306/.352/.615 with 20 homers and 13 steals in his last 62 games. You can set your watch to it. When he once again struggles in the 1st half of 2026, don’t even bother bringing it up. We all know it’s coming, and we all know the monster 2nd half is coming too

10) (7) (9) (5) (4) (4) Gunnar Henderson – BAL, SS, 24.2 – 16 homers in 148 games is super lackluster no matter how you sugarcoat it. That isn’t a season an elite power hitter should ever have really. Obviously a lot of has to do with poor HR/FB luck, but it seems to me it might be a catalyst for him to try to unlock some more lift and pull this off-season. And on the flip side, he stole a career high 27 bats. Make no mistake, this is still an elite dynasty asset even if he doesn’t try to unlock more lift and pull, but I think it’s time to give it a shot

11) (17) (45) (71) (74) (159) Nick Kurtz – OAK, 1B, 22.5 – I gave Kurtz the Jim Thome comp this off-season, and then he went out and hit almost exactly like Thome, slashing .291/.384/.613 with 33 homers and a 31.0/12.9 K%/BB% in only 111 games. Remember when everyone was calling the 2024 Draft class weak last year? Well, we already have an elite power hitter out of it, and much more is coming. You want to see a weak class? Look at the 2025 class unfortunately

12) (18) (24) (58) (39) (46) Junior Caminero – TBR, 3B, 22.2 – 44 homers in 144 games. I mean, what else is there to say? The man is an elite young power hitter

13) (13) (18) (18) (15) (13) Jackson Chourio – MIL, OF, 21.6 – Slashing .302/.347/.522 with 13 homers and 9 steals in his last 71 games. He’s pretty much cementing that he is a slow starter with a slow start for the 3rd year in a row. Also keep in mind he’s still just 21 years old. These are the type of numbers he’s putting up in his baby years, when most guys are still in the minors. We haven’t even seen prime Chourio yet. Not even close

14) (10) (8) (6) (8) (7) Kyle Tucker – CHC, OF, 28.8 – Tucker looked to be on his way to having a career year in his contract year, but it all fell apart. Maybe some of it was due to a hairline fracture to his hand he suffered in June. And now he’s battling a calf injury. He has a .718 OPS in his last 51 games. Was that like a 200 million dollar slump? He still had a really good season overall with a 139 wRC+. He has a career 139 wRC+ too. He’s going to get paid a ton. And he still deserves to have massive dynasty value. But talk about bad timing

15) (25) (50) (43) (57) (66) Roman Anthony – BOS, OF, 21.3 – 6 homers in his last 21 games before hitting the IL with an oblique injury. There was little doubt he was cementing near elite dynasty asset status before the homer binge, but that left no doubt. The man is launch proof with a 60.3% Hard Hit%. He did have a 33.7% K% over those last 21 games, and he’s not running a ton with 4 steals in 71 games overall, but that is just nitpicking. The expectations were high for him in his MLB debut, and he blew past all of them. He’s an elite dynasty asset

16) (19) (25) (20) (37) (43) Zach Neto – LAA, SS, 24.7 – He went 26/26 in only 128 games coming off shoulder surgery this off-season. Imagine what he could with a full off-season to really get healthy and prepared … okay, he can probably just do the same thing he did this year, but in a 150+ games. The raw power exploded with career highs by far in EV, Barrel%, Launch, and Hard Hit%. I still get the sense that Neto doesn’t get the respect he deserves. I’ve named him a target from before he got drafted, and I’ll still be the high guy on him 4 years later

17) (11) (13) (15) (33) (64) Pete Crow-Armstrong – CHC, OF, 23.6 – Ending the season in a slump is by far the most fun thing that could have happened for dynasty debates this off-season. He has a .480 OPS in his last 43 games. But if you know me at all, you already know what side of the aisle I’m going to be on, and that is the side of The Crow. I’ve been calling him a target since before he was drafted, and he had the monster breakout season I knew was in there. The extreme chase makes him streaky, zero doubt about that, but I’m betting on it improving as he matures. And his elite CF glove is going to keep him on the field through the slumps. This was just the start

18) (21) (21) (26) (26) (29) Garrett Crochet – BOS, LHP, 26.2 – I think it’s high time Crochet gets moved into the true elite of the elite of the elite pitcher tier with Skenes and Skubal, and taking into account all dynasty angles, I think he sneaks into the #1 spot. He has the win edge over Skenes like Skubal does too, but Crochet has 17 wins vs. Skubal’s 13 vs. Skenes’ 10 (I talk more about wins in the Skenes blurb). The 31.6/5.8 K%/BB% nestles right in between Skubal and Skenes. His age nestles right in between them. And his 197.1 IP and 249 strikeouts lead both of them. The WHIP and ERA trails both by a bit though. I can pick any of these 3 names out of hat and be fine with it, but I’m officially crowning a new #1 dynasty pitcher, and his name is Garrett Crochet.

19) (15) (14) (19) (18) (19) Paul Skenes – PIT, RHP, 23.3 – If you want to dock him for lack of wins, I get it, but wins can be fickle, and Skubal still has only 3 more wins than Skenes. Also, you might play in a QS league, which is what I play in mostly, in which case wins don’t matter at all. I’m giving the edge to Skenes over Skubal for the 5 year age difference, and even though I don’t take age into account nearly as much for pitchers as I do hitters, I do still think it is a consideration

20) (16) (15) (24) (24) (28) Tarik Skubal – DET, LHP, 28.9 – He’s better than both Skenes and Crochet, but he’s the oldest of the 3. Maybe I’m being too stubborn to not put him into the top spot. But again, I could pick any of the 3 out of a hat and be good with it

21) (20) (20) (21) (19) (18) Jose Ramirez – CLE, 3B, 32.10 – Just another quiet 30/40 season. He’s the quietest superstar in the league. Kyle Tucker used to be the Quiet Killer, but his trade, free agency, and recent slump has put all kinds of eyes on him. Jose Ramirez is the new Quiet Killer.

22) (24) (17) (14) (14) (14) Wyatt Langford – TEX, OF, 23.10 – .897 OPS with 6 homers and 6 steals in his last 34 games. I’ve been preaching patience on Langford all season, and he’s closing out the season with a bang. There is some 2nd half warrior in him, but in general, I think it is a sign of what is to come. Now is not the the time to give up on the big breakout. The foundation has been laid.

23) (29) (64) (83) (182) (161) Konnor Griffin – PIT, OF, 19.4 – Here is what I wrote in the August Update, ranking him 29th overall, “This is my final plea to you. DO NOT TRADE GRIFFIN UNDER ANY SCENARIO. I don’t even think Roman Anthony can touch his upside. Just don’t trade him, please” … and then he got called up to Double-A and is slashing .337/.418/.542 with 5 homers, 6 steals, and a 23.5/7.1 K%/BB% in 21 games. I don’t even think I need to make a plea anymore. It’s super obvious he’s almost an elite dynasty asset already. Even this ranking might be too low

24) (33) (23) (46) (93) (135) Cal Raleigh – SEA, C, 28.9 – 58 homers in 153 games as a 28 year old has career year written all over it. Hard to argue this is now his true talent, but he obviously doesn’t need to do this every year to be a fantasy beast. The monster power was always there, and he even stole 14 bags too. He is so easily the top dynasty catcher in the game

25) (12) (7) (12) (13) (12) James Wood – WAS, OF, 23.0 – .607 OPS with a 40.9% K% in his last 59 games. That is scary. No silver lining. He was also only 3 for 6 on the bases over that time. But that is secondary to the super scary hit tool risk popping up it’s ugly head with a vengeance. He’s a beast, and I’m 100% still betting on him long term, but it scared me enough to drop him a bit

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THESE RANKS & TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
–END OF SEASON 2025 TOP 400+ DYNASTY RANKS
–END OF SEASON 2025 TOP 325 PROSPECTS RANKS
-TOP 60 2026 FYPD RANKS w/ Analysis & Prime Projections for every player
-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, Top 1,000+ Dynasty Rankings, Top 500+ Prospects Rankings, Top 100+ FYPD Ranks + much more

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

Posted on by Michael Halpern

Welcome to End of Season Dynasty Baseball Rankings Week! (Patreon)

We’ve made it to the final in-season Dynasty Baseball Rankings of 2025! We finish strong here at the Brick Wall, and I can’t imagine a stronger finish than going over 400 deep with blurbs for every player to get you prepared for early off-season trades and early off-season dynasty drafts. I love this shit. Top 25-ish gets posted free here on the Brick Wall, and the rest of the rankings will be on the Patreon. Of course, the content keeps flowing into the off-season with Dynasty Team Reports (Top 10 prospects/Interesting MLB guys/Strategy of the Day), Deep Positional Rankings, Predicting Future Prospect lists, Position by Position Targets, Top 1,000+ Dynasty Ranks, Top 500+ Prospect Ranks, and Top 100+ FYPD Ranks. But we aren’t there yet. Catch you with the first post of the End of Season Dynasty Ranks tomorrow …

-Halp

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THESE RANKS & TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
–END OF SEASON 2025 TOP 400+ DYNASTY RANKS
–END OF SEASON 2025 TOP 325 PROSPECTS RANKS
-TOP 60 2026 FYPD RANKS w/ Analysis & Prime Projections for every player
-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, Top 1,000+ Dynasty Rankings, Top 500+ Prospects Rankings, Top 100+ FYPD Ranks + much more