There are two drafts slots that I like this fantasy baseball season, and they have one thing in common \u2014 they both involve picking one slot away from a turn. Yes, picks 2 and 11 are my favorite ones in a 12-team league. Let\u2019s map out each of these two spots, which will include some tips on how a smart manager can manipulate the team that is picking on the turn.<\/p>\n
Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season<\/a><\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Please note that this is a plan for a head-to-head categories league.<\/p>\n More Mock DraftsPick 2 Strategy<\/p>\n Round 1 (2nd overall): Shohei Ohtani, UTIL, LAD\u2014 This is the best slot in the draft, as there is no wrong answer between Aaron Judge and Ohtani. Starting your roster with one of those players provides a massive advantage over the competition.<\/p>\n Round 2 (23rd overall): Cristopher S\u00e1nchez, SP, PHI \u2014 If a top hitter falls unexpectedly far, I\u2019ll wait one more round on a starter and allow the manager on the turn to choose their ace. If not, I\u2019ll happily draft S\u00e1nchez, whom I prefer over Yoshinobu Yamamoto.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Round 3 (26th overall): Trea Turner, SS, PHI \u2014 With a 50-homer player on my roster, it makes sense to grab a balanced contributor who leans slightly toward the stolen bases and batting average categories.<\/p>\n Round 4 (47th overall): Cole Ragans, SP, KC \u2014 You\u2019ll start to notice a trend, as I will draft one hitter and one pitcher on most turns. In this case, Ragans stands out over the remaining hurlers, which makes him my first choice. A healthy Ragans will produce 200 strikeouts and stellar ratios.<\/p>\n Round 5 (50th overall): Maikel Garc\u00eda, 2B\/3B\/SS\/OF, KC \u2014 This may feel like a reach, but I love Garc\u00eda\u2019s skill set and position flexibility. Drafting someone who is eligible at four positions gives me plenty of flexibility in future rounds.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Round 6 (71st overall): Cade Smith, RP, CLE \u2014 The top tier of closers ends at this turn, when Smith and Jhoan Duran come off the board. Smith\u2019s skills rival those of any relievers, with his lack of experience being the only reason that he lasts this long.<\/p>\n Round 7 (74th overall): Kyle Bradish, SP, BAL \u2014 I\u2019m going to deviate from my rotation of hitters and pitchers for one turn, as I prefer to use a stars-and-scrubs pitching plan. I\u2019ll make up for it on the next turn, but I see a big drop from the starters available on this turn and those available late in Rd. 8.<\/p>\n Round 8 (95th overall): Michael Busch, 1B, CHC \u2014 Fantasy managers are sleeping on Busch, who has an excellent chance to repeat his stellar 2025 season (34 HR, 90 RBI). And after drafting Turner and Garc\u00eda, I have room for a pure slugger.<\/p>\n Round 9 (98th overall): Christian Yelich, OF, MIL \u2014 Managers aren\u2019t giving Yelich much credit for a 2025 season in which he produced 29 homers, 16 steals and 103 RBI. Having outfield eligibility in Yahoo formats (he\u2019s UT-only on some sites) makes him more desirable.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Round 10 (119th overall): Jo Adell, OF, LAA \u2014 There is a small chance that Adell leads the American League in home runs. I\u2019m not saying that will happen, but there are only four players on AL rosters who topped his total (37) last year.<\/p>\n Round 11 (122nd overall): Nathan Eovaldi, SP, TEX \u2014 On a per-inning basis, Eovaldi is the best remaining pitcher. I avoid him in deep leagues with barren waiver wires, but in Yahoo formats, I can replace the right-hander if he suffers an injury.<\/p>\n Round 12 (143rd overall): Luis Robert Jr., OF, NYM \u2014 My interest in Robert is similar to that of Eovaldi \u2014 the player is a boom-or-bust option who can be replaced from the waiver wire if that happens. Finally on a good team, Robert showed his upside when he produced 38 homers and 20 steals in 2023.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Round 13 (146th overall): Emmet Sheehan, SP, LAD \u2014 The sky is the limit for Sheehan, who finally has a secure rotation spot and produced a 2.82 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 10.9 K\/9 rate last year.<\/p>\n Round 14 (167th overall): Kazuma Okamoto, 1B\/3B, TOR \u2014 I\u2019m excited about Okamoto\u2019s rookie season and expect him to soon hit in the heart of Toronto\u2019s lineup. He should be a balanced fantasy contributor.<\/p>\n Round 15 (170th overall): JJ Wetherholt, 2B\/3B\/SS, STL \u2014 Still chasing upside, I\u2019ll go with a talented rookie who seems set to make the Opening Day roster and has 20-20 potential.<\/p>\n Round 16 (191st overall): Ryan Walker, RP, SF \u2014 There is little competition for saves on the Giants, and Walker has looked good this spring.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Round 17 (194th overall): Drew Rasmussen, SP, TB \u2014 After taking two hitters on the previous turn, it\u2019s time to double-up on pitchers. Sure, Rasmussen won\u2019t lead the league in innings, but his 150 frames will be great ones.<\/p>\n Round 18 (215th overall): Carter Jensen, C, KC \u2014 There are plenty of late-round catcher sleepers. I\u2019ll narrowly choose Jansen over Samuel Basallo and Francisco Alvarez.<\/p>\n Full Roster for No. 2 pick team<\/p>\n Now it\u2019s time to work my magic with pick 11, which will require a little more creativity.<\/p>\n Pick 11 Strategy:<\/p>\n Round 1 (11th overall): Garrett Crochet, SP, BOS \u2014 I can control whether I grab one of the Big 3 starters (Tarik Skubal, Paul Skenes and Crochet) or leave them for the manager who picks on the turn. If Skenes and Crochet are both available, I\u2019ll start my draft with a hitter. In this mock, we will assume that Skenes is gone, which makes Crochet an easy choice. The manager with the 12th pick is now locked into drafting two hitters.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Round 2 (14th overall): Gunnar Henderson, SS, BAL \u2014 There are plenty of quality hitters on the Rd. 1-2 turn. At 24 years old, Henderson is an easy bounce-back candidate from a disappointing season.<\/p>\n Round 3 (35th overall): Yordan Alvarez, OF, HOU \u2014 With a career .961 OPS, Alvarez is one of baseball\u2019s five best pure hitters. I\u2019ll take the discount that follows an injury-plagued season. Since there are a few pitchers on this turn that I like, I can take the hitter first and allow the other manager to choose their preferred hurler.<\/p>\n Round 4 (38th overall): Logan Gilbert, SP, SEA \u2014 With outstanding career ratios (3.58 ERA, 1.06 WHIP) and a K\/9 rate that jumped to 11.9 last year, Gilbert is being undervalued as a potential top-five starter.<\/p>\n Round 5 (59th overall): Shea Langeliers, C, ATH \u2014 After hitting .328 with 19 homers and 41 RBI in 57 games in the second half of 2025, Langeliers has the best chance of any catcher to surpass Cal Raleigh.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Round 6 (62nd overall): George Kirby, SP, SEA \u2014 T-Mobile Park helps the Mariners starters have a high floor. I expect a bounce-back year from Kirby, who still has stellar ratios (3.58 ERA, 1.11 WHIP) after four seasons.<\/p>\n Round 7 (83rd overall): Michael Harris II, OF, ATL \u2014 Harris didn\u2019t play well last season and was still a 20-20 player. That\u2019s the floor for someone who is still just 25 years old and can turn around a multi-year decline.<\/p>\n Round 8 (86th overall): David Bednar, RP, NYY \u2014 The closer options drop down a tier after Bednar, which means that I\u2019ll grab him on the front-end of this turn, rather than giving the pick-12 manager the option.<\/p>\n Round 9 (107th overall): Michael Busch, 1B, CHC \u2014 In the middle rounds, opinions on players become a bigger factor than ADP, which means that you\u2019ll see more picks from this point forward that match my selections from the No. 2 pick mock.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n