The 2026 MLB season is almost here and that means you\u2019re 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\u2019s tough to find an accurate representation of your league settings by using the public mock draft lobby.<\/p>\n
Not to fear! If you\u2019re a Yahoo Fantasy+ subscriber<\/a>, 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+<\/a>, so you can use the wealth of tools for your draft prep.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n [Yahoo Fantasy+ unlocks premium draft tools, player projections and more<\/a>]<\/p>\n In this series, we\u2019re going to be using the Instant Mock Draft tool\u00a0to pick from each of the 12 slots in a 12-team fantasy baseball league. In this piece, we\u2019ll be drafting from the No. 9 overall pick. We went with a balanced approach in this draft, alternating between selecting two batters and two pitchers.<\/p>\n More Mock Drafts<\/p>\n Note: We\u2019re using Yahoo\u2019s default points league settings for these mock drafts.<\/p>\n Full Roster<\/p>\n C: Ben Rice, Yankees Advertisement<\/p>\n Strategy overview: The idea here was balance and I like how things turned out. We also prioritized utility with how the roster is constructed. Four players have dual-position eligibility and two players have tri-eligibility. This isn\u2019t something you should worry too much about while you\u2019re drafting, but if the opportunity presents itself, it\u2019ll make some roster decisions easier and serves as a nice tiebreaker when you\u2019re debating who to take. It also helps if injuries pop up (which they will) and if players struggle at a certain position (which they also will).<\/p>\n Bats are best: Unless I can corner the market on elite starting pitchers and snag both Paul Skenes and Garrett Crochet at the back-end of the first and early-second, I\u2019m going to almost always prioritize a bat in the first round. Acu\u00f1a possesses the highest ceiling of players who are falling to the back-half of the first, so we opted to go that route (even though one of my other mocks has me reaching on him a bit). The Acu\u00f1a-Schwarber stack gives me two NL MVP candidates who solidify the outfield position.<\/p>\n [Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season<\/a>]<\/p>\n
1B: Salvador P\u00e9rez, Royals
2B: Brice Turang, Brewers
SS: Jacob Wilson, Athletics
3B: Matt Chapman, Giants
OF: Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr., Braves
OF: Kyle Schwarber, Phillies
OF: Dylan Crews, Nationals
UTIL: Brendan Donovan, Mariners
UTIL: Luis Arr\u00e1ez, Giants
SP: Bryan Woo, Mariners
SP: Logan Webb, Giants
RP: David Bednar, Yankees
RP: Aroldis Chapman, Red Sox
P: Emmet Sheehan, Dodgers
P: MacKenzie Gore, Rangers
P: Matthew Boyd, Cubs
P: Aaron Nola, Phillies
Bench: Shane Smith, White Sox
Bench: Noah Cameron, Royals
Bench: Willi Castro, Rockies
Bench: Andr\u00e9s Gim\u00e9nez, Blue Jays
Bench: Reid Detmers, Angels<\/p>\n