The 2026 season MLB season is nearly upon us, and I’m once again reminded that it’s always a good idea to have your fantasy drafts as close as possible to opening day.
No one wants to see one of the players they drafted get injured before the first lineup lock. And you certainly don’t want to have one of your outfielders suspended for the season before it even starts. But we, as industry analysts, make those mistakes by drafting early so you don’t have to.
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In conjunction with the release of USA TODAY Sports Weekly’s annual Fantasy Extra issue, we present some trends and strategies that can help you win your leagues.
FANTASY RANKINGS: Top 200 overall players for 2026
1 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$765,000,000: Juan Soto, New York Mets (2025-39)
1 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$765,000,000: Juan Soto, New York Mets (2025-39)
2 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$700,000,000: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers (2024-33)
3 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$500,000,000: Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., Toronto Blue Jays (2026-39)
4 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$426.5 million: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels (2019-2030)* includes extension
5 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$365 million: Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers (2020-32)
6 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$360 million: Aaron Judge, New York Yankees (2023-2031)
7 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$350 million: Manny Machado, San Diego Padres (2023-33)
8 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$341 million: Francisco Lindor, New York Mets (2022-31)
9 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$340 million: Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres (2021-34)
10 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$330,000,000: Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies (2019-31)
11 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$325 million: Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins (2015-2027) – traded to New York Yankees in 2017
12 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$325 million: Corey Seager, Texas Rangers (2022-31)
13 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$325,000,000: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers (2024-35)
14 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$313.5 million: Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox (2024-33) – traded to San Francisco Giants in 2025
15 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$300 million: Trea Turner, Philadelphia Phillies (2023-33)
16 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$292 million: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers (2014-2023)* includes extension
17 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$288,777,777: Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals (2024-34)
18 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$280 million: Xander Bogaerts, San Diego Padres (2023-33)
19 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$275 million: Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees (2008-2017)
20 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$260 million: Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies (2019-26) – traded to St. Louis Cardinals in 2021, traded to Arizona Diamondbacks in 2026
21 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$252,000,000: Alex Rodriguez, Texas Rangers (2001-10)
22 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$245 million: Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals (2020-26)
23 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$245 million: Anthony Rendon, Los Angeles Angels (2020-26)
24 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$240,000,000: Kyle Tucker, Los Angeles Dodgers (2026-29)
25 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$240 million: Albert Pujols, Los Angeles Angels (2012-2021)
26 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$240 million: Robinson Cano, Seattle Mariners (2014-2023) – traded to New York Mets in 2019
27 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$225 million: Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds (2012-2021)
28 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$218,000,000: Max Fried, New York Yankees (2025-32)
29 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$217 million: David Price, Boston Red Sox (2016-2022) – traded to Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020
30 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$215 million: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers (2014-2020)
31 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$215 million: Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers (2020-28)
32 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$214 million: Prince Fielder, Detroit Tigers (2012-2020) – traded to Texas Rangers in 2013
33 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$212 million: Austin Riley, Atlanta Braves (2023-32)
34 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$210 million: Corbin Burnes, Arizona Diamondbacks (2025-30)
35 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$210 million: Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals (2015-2021)
36 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$209.3 million: Julio Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners (2023-34)
37 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$206.5 million: Zack Greinke, Arizona Diamondbacks (2016-2021) – traded to Houston Astros in 2019
38 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$202,000,000: CC Sabathia, New York Yankees (2009-17)
39 / 39
MLB’s $200+ million contracts
$200 million: Carlos Correa, Minnesota Twins (2023-28) – traded to Houston Astros in 2025
Youth is served
One of the most exciting things about this season is the wealth of talented young players getting an opportunity to shine.
Yes, expectations are incredibly high for the likes of Konnor Griffin, JJ Wetherholt, Kevin McGonigle and others, several of whom haven’t yet played in their first major-league games. But the allure of getting a Nick Kurtz in the reserve round (as Rotowire’s James Anderson did last year in AL LABR) or an Agustin Ramirez for $2 (as NL champ Matt Cederholm of Baseball HQ did in NL LABR) can be incredibly difficult to resist.
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In addition, there’s a bumper crop of young pitchers who saw limited action in the majors last year, but showed tremendous promise.
Cam Schlittler and Trey Yesavage in the AL, and Nolan McLean, Chase Burns, Jacob Misiorowski, Bubba Chandler and Cade Horton in the NL all look like they can be significant fantasy contributors in their first full MLB seasons.
Royal hitting upgrade
Italy’s Jac Caglianone celebrates a home run with teammate Vinnie Pasquantino by drinking espresso during the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
If you were captivated by the thrilling exploits of Team Italy at the World Baseball Classic (I sure was), you no doubt saw Royals sluggers Vinnie Pasquantino and Jac Caglianone making major noise with their bats.
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Generally, it’s foolish to put too much weight on statistics from small samples such as the WBC (or spring training or the previous postseason) but there’s a more concrete reason to be bullish on these two.
The Royals have changed the outfield dimensions at Kaufman Stadium, moving the outfield walls 9–10 feet closer to home plate everywhere but in straightaway center field and reducing the wall height to 8.5 feet.
“The K” wasn’t overly pitcher-friendly last season because its vast outfield allowed considerably more doubles and triples than the average MLB park. The new dimensions will likely turn a decent number of those doubles off the wall and long flyouts into homers.
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Pasquantino, one of the MLB leaders in pulled air rate last season when he hit 32 home runs, should be a major beneficiary. Caglianone, another one of those exciting young players entering his first full season, was an 80-grade power hitter as a prospect. He could thrive in a smaller yard. So, too, should established sluggers Salvador Perez and Bobby Witt Jr.
Crazy stolen base totals
One of the biggest mysteries from last season has to be the out-of-nowhere steals numbers from Juan Soto and Josh Naylor.
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Soto came into the season with a career high of 12 stolen bases, but after joining the Mets he ran wild by swiping 38 bases in 42 attempts and tying the Pirates’ Oneil Cruz for the most in the National League.
The Mets’ Juan Soto went on a base-stealing binge last season, swiping a career-high 38 and tying for the National League lead.
Naylor has one of the slowest sprint speeds in the game, but his incredible instincts on the bases allowed him to go 30-for-32 on his steal attempts (while playing for two different teams).
MLB made several rule changes three years ago to make stolen bases a larger part of the game – and it’s worked. Overall steals totals during those three years are higher than they’ve been since 1997.
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Whether Naylor or Soto continue to run at last year’s pace will have a significant impact on their fantasy values. Perhaps an even more intriguing question is who might be the next formerly slow-footed slugger to join the club. Alex Bregman, anyone?
Star-driven league
Another major rule change will be implemented this season with the introduction of the Automatic Balls and Strikes (ABS) system.
There’s an interesting strategic element regarding the use of those precious challenges:
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Unless the game is hanging in the balance, it’s really only worth challenging a ball/strike call if the batter is good enough to potentially change the game during that at-bat.
If great hitters, especially those with impeccable command of the strike zone (think Soto, Kyle Schwarber or Aaron Judge) could get some called strikes flipped to balls, it can only make them even more dangerous.
And if the less-accomplished hitters aren’t going to have as many opportunities to challenge (or get called balls challenged by the pitcher or catcher), they’re likely to perform worse.
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Could this be the reason so many industry experts are flirting with (or outright embracing) the “stars-and-scrubs” drafting strategy? It might not be a conscious reaction to ABS, but some correlation does seem possible.
An $8 pitching staff?
Finally, if there’s one piece of advice I’d like to offer for the new season, it’s this: Try something different.
Baseball HQ and Tout Wars founder Ron Shandler has a new book out titled, “Fantasy Reconstructed.” in which he offers dozens of different variations and rule changes that can make not only fantasy baseball, but other fantasy sports more enjoyable.
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Even if you don’t alter the basic rules of your league (and goodness knows many longstanding leagues resist even the smallest tweaks), you can still throw a wrinkle in your own strategy.
This year’s LABR Mixed auction offers a great example of thinking outside the box.
Justin Mason, one of the hosts of Fangraphs’ “The Sleeper and the Bust” podcast, pulled off one of the most extreme draft strategies in fantasy history by going all-in on offense. Literally.
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Mason started the auction by rostering the first player nominated, Aaron Judge, for $49. He followed that up with an identical winning bid for Shohei Ohtani.
By the end of the draft, Mason had all $1 pitchers, with Ohtani in the ninth pitching slot. It’s a strategy that dates back three decades and was named for its creator, Larry Labadini – who drafted nine $1 pitchers in NL LABR and nearly won the league.
Like Labadini, Justin will need to make some major trades to make his “Mason Singlet” strategy pay off. But we already know it can be done.
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You can bet he’ll have a tremendous amount of fun trying. Which is exactly the point.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fantasy baseball tips, trends, strategies to help you win your league