Jackson Chourio, Roman Anthony among must-draft players in fantasy baseball

Value. It’s a word we use often on these pages, but what exactly does it mean?

Value is when your opinion on a certain player rises above that of the room. It’s when you recognize raw ability in a player that no one else seems to see. Draft lists and ADP (average draft positions) are plenty useful tools, but the best fantasy baseball managers research and ultimately formulate their own, differing opinions on players.

Don’t be afraid to go against the grain. Opinions, even strong and out-of-the-norm ones, about players are more than welcome in this game. Remember, it’s your team.

What follows represents my strongest opinions on 20 players I like — players I hope to roster on all of my teams for 2026. They cover a variety of league types, but primarily ESPN’s standard points-based format, and include 13 American League and seven National League players, 12 hitters and eight pitchers.

He’ll be tougher to sneak by your leaguemates after hitting the game-winning home run in Team USA’s World Baseball Classic semifinals victory, but Anthony’s big hit was again representative of the heights of his statistical potential. In the 71 regular-season games he played between his June call-up and season-ending oblique injury in September, Anthony was second among qualifiers in hard-hit rate (60.7%) and 12th in chase rate (19.3%), doing so at 21 years of age.

George M. Steinbrenner Field’s pitcher-unfriendly confines wreaked havoc on Baz’s otherwise encouraging, healthy 2025. There, he surrendered MLB’s worst qualified home HR/FB rate (13.5%) and a BABIP that came in 40 points higher than on the road. Escaping the venue, even if for a more neutral environment in Baltimore’s Camden Yards, will work to the right-hander’s benefit. Incidentally, he had a 40.5% whiff rate over his first two spring starts.

Often overlooked at what was a deep first base pool — seven players scored 400-plus and another six 350-plus fantasy points in 2025 — Busch is closer in raw talent to Freddie Freeman and Matt Olson than the likes of Willson Contreras and Spencer Torkelson. It’s easy to overlook that Busch finished the year 10th in Statcast’s Barrel rate (17.6%) and 11th in wOBA (.369) — and that’s among all batting title-eligibles, not merely first basemen.

He’s the Yankees’ starting shortstop, at least until Anthony Volpe‘s projected return from shoulder surgery roughly one month into the season. Caballero is a sound defender — one who qualifies at four fantasy positions — who led the majors in stolen bases in 2025.

However, what really stands out are his 56 point OBP jump last season, as well as his 2026 goal of boosting his bat speed to roughly the league’s 71.7 mph average. He might no longer be a one-category speedster.

It’s easy to forget how lofty scouts’ projections were for this prospect ahead of his batting just .157 in his first taste of the majors — the 13th-worst mark by a modern-day rookie with at least as many as his 232 plate appearances. However, Caglianone’s raw power potential remains monstrous. The Royals’ decision to bring in and lower the outfield fences at Kauffman Stadium will certainly boost his breakout prospects, while his first spring and WBC homers traveled a combined 863 feet.

Chourio hasn’t yet blossomed into a superstar, and yet he’s the youngest player in history to record multiple 20 HR/20 SB seasons, both happening before his 22nd birthday. While hamstring issues bothered him during the second half of 2025, he otherwise seemed to be finding his own at the plate. From July 1 on (and counting the postseason), he hit .300/.341/.511 with the majors 11th-best hard hit rate (54.2%). He could be in the first-round conversation for 2027.

My preferred “go cheap” catcher in ESPN standard leagues, Diaz doesn’t appear to be an ideal fit for the format due to his free-swinging nature. His 3.5% walk and 43.4% chase (swing rate at non-strikes) rates over the past three years rank among the league’s bottom five. But what appeals here is his catcher/DH dual role, which has earned him the fifth-most plate appearances among catcher-eligibles, along with good pop. His 59 homers rank fourth among that group, over that same time span.

Some regression was inevitable last season, after Duran managed one of the loftier plate appearance totals this century (735), but it’s testament to his durability that he was able to play 157 games and total 696 PAs in his follow-up campaign. Fantasy managers don’t seem to fully appreciate his combination of above-average power, elite speed and strong defense from all outfield positions, which give him a great chance at evenly splitting the difference between his numbers from the last two seasons.

This kid can flat-out hit. In 43 games of Triple-A ball last summer, he managed a 58.8% hard-hit rate, which he followed up with a 58.3% such rate in 20 September games for the Royals. He has since supplemented those numbers with a 55.0% rate during Cactus League play. To put it all into perspective, only eight qualified hitters managed at least a 55% rate in the majors in 2025. Jensen is ready to handle an everyday job, and he has one of the position’s higher ceilings.

Kirby is the rare pitcher with pinpoint control, a high-90s fastball and a filthy slider capable of generating elite whiff rates. Typically, pitchers have two of the three, if that, but he’s not even garnering top-10 fantasy appeal at the position after what was a disappointing 2025 on the surface.

Remember this: Kirby has a 3.32 FIP and 1.09 WHIP over the last three seasons, not to mention a 6.87 K/BB ratio that’s second-best among pitchers with at least 50 starts in that time.

Again, with the lessons of patience regarding prospects’ adjustment to the majors, Lawlar hasn’t truly received a lengthy chance at this level, due both to the presence of Eugenio Suarez (2024-July 2025) as well as his own hamstring issues last summer. Now experimenting in center field, Lawlar seems to be finding his own in Cactus League play, hitting four home runs with a 46.2% hard-hit rate thus far. He’s a classic example of a post-hype fantasy sleeper.

Speaking of strong springs, McLain’s is one of the rare examples of one that’s absolutely relevant to his draft-day valuation. Thanks in large part to his using a bat one-quarter inch lengthier, as a way to address his struggles covering the outer-third of the plate, he’s leading all spring hitters in batting average (.553) and home runs (6), including generating seven hits on pitches on the outer-third. Always go the extra buck for the player who has made actionable changes.

Getting McLean for $17 in my Tout Wars 12-team, NL-only draft was the one higher-cost (read: $10-plus) acquisition I was not expecting to make, but as has been the case in a few of my drafts thus far, rostering him was a welcome surprise. Though the occasional Jacob deGrom comparisons might seem lofty, McLean’s rookie-year potential isn’t far off deGrom’s, as he possesses a 95-mph fastball among six quality pitches, with legit, elite K offerings in both his curveball and sweeper.

Injuries effectively ruined Merrill’s sophomore season, but don’t let one down season in that regard scare you off one of the league’s best up-and-coming hitters. After recovering from hamstring, concussion and ankle issues, he hit .275/.320/.626 with seven home runs over his final 24 games, looking much more like the player who finished second in 2004’s National League Rookie of the Year balloting. With better injury luck, Merrill should rebound to at least those levels.

My preferred pick amongst the three most prominent names who came over from Japan this winter — Tatsuya Imai and Munetaka Murakami being the others — Okamoto’s combination of selectivity (11.4% walk rate the past three years in Japan) and pop (.261 isolated power in that same time) should give him the best chance at swiftly adapting to U.S. pitching. He’ll bat near the middle of a deep Blue Jays lineup and has an ideal skill set for points-league play.

If not for the Tommy John surgery that cost him the entirety of 2024 and the first two months of 2025, Perez might already be regarded one of fantasy baseball’s premier starting pitchers. Through 39 big-league starts, his fastball has averaged 97.7 mph, and he has three secondary pitches (slider, curveball and changeup) that generate 40%-plus whiff rates. The only thing standing in his path to a massive breakthrough is a potential innings cap (perhaps 150).

See: Baz, Shane. Pepiot should also benefit from moving out of Steinbrenner Field, and away from its high temperatures and wind currents, but he’ll reap the rewards of the Rays’ return to pitcher-friendly Tropicana Field.

He had a 1.07 WHIP and 28.4% strikeout rate in his 14 starts there in 2024, whereas he surrendered nearly twice as many homers at home (17) than on the road (9) last year. This could be the year Pepiot emerges as the Rays’ staff ace.

Cody Ponce, SP, Toronto Blue Jays

Though the depth of the Blue Jays gives the perception of there not being enough room for Ponce, the adjustments he made last year in the KBO elevated his skill set to a level where he’d be tough to exclude. He’s now throwing 96 mph (that’s a three-tick boost) with his fastball and has added a splitter, a favorite among Blue Jays pitchers these days. Ponce should be one of the better overseas returnees we’ve seen, up there with Colby Lewis (2010) and Merrill Kelly (2019).

Another example of injuries ruining a 2025 campaign, Ragans missed three months due to a rotator cuff strain, which typically would be a no-go in my book the following year. But the lefty with filthy stuff rebounded in a massive way upon his late-season return, fanning 18 out of 35 batters over his final two regular-season starts. Ragans’ 11-mph contrast between his fastball and changeup, plus his 40%-whiff-rate slider, represents one of the game’s deepest pitching repertoires.

Taylor’s near-100-mph fastball and elite curveball give him the look of an elite closer already, except the White Sox don’t appear to want to use him in the role, instead stretching him out for apparent long relief. He’s too talented not to handle the front or back end of games, however, and regarding the latter, a logical move would have the team showcasing Seranthony Dominguez for a late-season trade. Taylor’s situation reminds me quite a bit of Mason Miller‘s entering 2024.