The 2026 MLB season is almost here and that means you’re likely prepping for your fantasy baseball draft. One of the best ways to prepare is to do as many mock drafts as possible. Of course, sometimes it’s tough to find an accurate representation of your league settings by using the public mock draft lobby.

Not to fear! If you’re a Yahoo Fantasy+ subscriber, you have access to the Instant Mock Draft tool, allowing you to practice your draft in seconds. You can test different strategies, pick from various draft slots and experiment with roster construction as many times as you want, anytime, instantly. Now is a great time to subscribe to Yahoo Fantasy+, so you can use the wealth of tools for your draft prep.

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In this series, we’ve used the Instant Mock Draft tool to pick from each of the 12 slots in a 12-team fantasy baseball league. We’re wrapping up this series today with the No. 12 pick. If you’ve been following along for each mock, thanks! I hope these stories help you throughout your drafting process. Good luck!

More Mock DraftsFull Roster

C: Cal Raleigh, Mariners
1B: Rafael Devers, Giants
2B: Nico Hoerner, Cubs
SS: Corey Seager, Rangers
3B: Munetaka Murakami, White Sox
OF: Kyle Schwarber, Phillies
OF: Roman Anthony, Red Sox
OF: George Springer, Blue Jays
UTIL: Alec Bohm, Phillies
UTIL: Brendan Donovan, Mariners
SP: Dylan Cease, Blue Jays
SP: Luis Castillo, Mariners
RP: Carlos Estévez, Royals
RP: Trevor Megill, Brewers
P: Nick Lodolo, Reds
P: Ryan Pepiot, Rays
P: Zack Wheeler, Phillies
P: Zac Gallen, Diamondbacks
Bench: Dillon Dingler, Tigers
Bench: Mike Trout, Angels
Bench: Matt Wallner, Twins
Bench: Jack Leiter, Rangers
Bench: Willi Castro, Rockies

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The strategy here? No strategy

I didn’t go into the final mock draft with any concrete strategy. The idea for this mock was to simply take everything I learned from doing this series and put it into one mock. If you’ve been following along, there was another mock draft in which I was able to select Schwarber and Raleigh with my first two picks. I really liked that build from a ceiling perspective. Both players, to me, are being undervalued in drafts and you could make a case for each going in the first round (even first eight picks or so). I also tried to mix it up a bit while also targeting some players I view as the most polarizing during draft season.

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Cease and Anthony feel like they fit the mold of “polarizing” players. You’ll be hard-pressed to find another SP as consistent as Cease. He’s pitched at least 165 innings in each of the past five seasons. He has 214 or more strikeouts in all of those seasons. He started at least 32 games in every season. Yet, he’s being drafted as the SP19 despite going to a pretty solid situation in Toronto.

When you’re working with the 12th pick (or first pick), you have to plan ahead. I knew I wasn’t going to snag an elite pitcher at 1-2 and while I’m fine waiting on SP, I wanted to at least get an anchor for the staff. Cease feels like the safest bet of the pitchers in the 10-20 range who can jump up into the top-10 at the position.

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Circling back to the Devers pick; he was a player I hadn’t really targeted much in these mocks. I think his value took a clear hit with all the turmoil from last season, being dealt to the Giants early on and having to adjust. He struck out a ton overall but had a slightly better second half. I think if we see some positive regression settled into his new home without all the distractions, Devers has a chance to bounce back.

To stack or not to stack

Stacking isn’t something that’s talked about much in season-long fantasy baseball but can make sense. Not to say that these are big stacks, but having Schwarber and Bohm, plus Raleigh and Donovan could bring some offensive correlation. Bohm should bat cleanup behind Schwarber while Donovan could bat leadoff ahead of Raleigh. So if Schwarber gets on base at an elite rate, Bohm gets more RBI oppos. If Raleigh belts a bunch of homers, Donovan should score plenty of runs. You don’t want to go too “all-in” on a team/offense/pitching staff, but mini-stacks correlated with batting orders make sense.

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Veteran values

Wheeler probably needs to be selected earlier than the 12th round at this point. His ADP continues to climb and I think we could see him being selected inside the top-100 picks by next week before Opening Day. The latest is he’s going to miss a bit of April but should be ready at some point in the first full month of the season. If that’s the case — and Wheeler stays healthy — he’s one of the best draft values out there. Plus, you’re not risking too much if you’re getting him around the 10th-12th round. Pitchers will emerge off the waiver wire early on who you can snag.

I found myself gravitating toward Trout in the later rounds of almost all of my mock drafts. I swear I probably selected him in at least half of these write-ups. Anyway, he feels like the easiest late-round lottery ticket ever. I still think he has enough left in the tank to give us another strong season or two. And we know what the ceiling is if he can recapture some of the MVP magic. I’ll continue to target some of these forgotten veterans who are being overlooked in drafts.

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Takeaways from the 12th pick

Man, this has been some journey. If there’s one takeaway overall from this experience, it’s that you should lean on our Yahoo Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit as much as possible before and during your draft. I am nothing but a company man. If you can swing it, Yahoo Fantasy+ is a great tool before and during the baseball season. This isn’t like fantasy football where you can win or lose a league at your draft. Baseball is a grind and whoever wins that war of attrition is usually going to come out on top. Do your research, be prepared and do as many mocks as possible. The more you’re familiar with draft patterns, the easier it’s going to be when the real thing rolls around. Be confident, talk a little smack and have fun. After all, this is simply a game.