2026 Fantasy baseball draft kit: Rankings, sleepers, cheat sheets, strategy and more

Ready to dominate your fantasy baseball league? Welcome to The Athletic’s 2026 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit.

We’ve assembled your ultimate arsenal for the draft: award-winning rankings, expert projections, customizable cheat sheets, sleepers and prospect discussion. Whether you are a veteran manager or a rookie, this toolkit will help you outsmart and outdraft your competition.

Check back often; this is a living document, and we’ll be dropping new analysis throughout spring training. Is there something you need but don’t see? Leave a comment below — if it can help you and others win, we’ll see what we can do before you’re on the clock.

It’s time to get to work. Play ball!

Rankings, projections and cheat sheets

2026 fantasy baseball cheat sheet: Customizable rankings and projections tool
Jake Ciely provides his customizable 2026 fantasy baseball cheat sheet and projections ahead of draft season.

2026 fantasy baseball rankings: Top 600 hitters and pitchers
Jake Ciely offers his 2026 fantasy baseball rankings, with overall rankings for hitters and pitchers, sortable by position.

Downloadable 2026 fantasy baseball draft sheet: Stats, auction values and Top 600 rankings
Jake Ciely provides his 2026 fantasy baseball draft sheet, complete with auction values.

Top 300 hitters for fantasy baseball 2026: Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt top the order
Juan Soto lands a lofty spot in Derek Van Riper’s 2026 hitter rankings, but the best fantasy bat in New York still belongs to Aaron Judge.

2026 fantasy baseball top-40 reliever rankings: From Mason Miller to Kyle Finnegan
In the ever-evolving ecosystem of MLB bullpens, Greg Jewett offers an initial ranking of his top-40 relievers for fantasy baseball 2026.

Keith Law’s prospect reports

Ranking all 30 MLB farm systems
The top tier includes the Brewers, the Mariners and … yes, the Dodgers.

MLB prospects who just missed Keith Law’s top 100 ranking: Dax Kilby, Dylan Beavers and more
These players are all significant prospects, but just missed Law’s latest top 100 prospect list for a variety of reasons.

Every MLB team’s top 20 prospects for 2026 by division
A complete index of Keith Law’s MLB top prospect rankings heading into the 2026 season.

Q&A recaps: Top-100 prospects | 2026 top MLB prospects 

Rates & Barrels: Positional previews

Eno Sarris and Derek VanRiper discuss advanced stats, strategy, prospects and more on their podcast, also available on Apple, Spotify and YouTube. From the first move of the Hot Stove season to the final pitch of the World Series, join us for year-round baseball talk.

Infield previews: Shortstop | first base | second base | third base | catcher

Insights from The Athletic’s MLB writers

The biggest offseason change for every National League team
The Mets and Braves made a flurry of moves, but is it enough to get them past the Dodgers?

The biggest offseason change for every American League team
As full-squad workouts begin, some clubs added key players, others blew it up, and for a few, the plan is a little unclear.

MLB insiders predict the players most likely to get traded in 2026 spring training. 
Will there be a good old-fashioned blockbuster deal this spring? Never say never! Our panel weighs in on the players who could get traded.