2026 Fantasy Baseball Top 300 Rankings: Judge and Ohtani at the top; Skenes and Skubal in Top 10

Moving on from the “way too early” rankings, this is the first official edition of the top 300 for 2026. Players are ranked for 5x5 mixed leagues using a one-catcher format. I include the mixed-league disclaimer because I do reward upside, particularly past the top 200 or so.

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2026 Fantasy Baseball Top 300 overall ranks

**Updated Feb. 12**

Feb. 12 Notes

- Falling off: Reese Olson (237th), Anthony Santander (270th), Ryan Mountcastle (272nd), Romy Gonzalez (283rd)

- It's been a week full of bad news, with Spencer Schwellenbach, Shane Bieber, Josh Hader and the hamate trio of Corbin Carroll, Francisco Lindor and Jackson Holliday all tumbling in the rankings as a result. Schwellenbach's setback especially hurts, though it wasn't particularly surprising from someone who fractured his elbow while pitching. I had Schwellenbach projected with the eighth lowest ERA among starting pitchers and ranked him 19th previously despite the injury risk. He's 48th now after landing on the 60-day IL.

- Signing with the Tigers moved Framber Valdez from 21st to 15th among starters. I don't think Detroit's offense will be quite as successful as it was last year, but that's still a nice defense and a strong bullpen, making it a better-than-average situation for pitchers. And perhaps there's still a chance they'll trade from their young pitching depth to upgrade somewhere. Wenceel Pérez should not be an obstacle.

- Nick Martinez was my No. 101 SP as a free agent, but he's up to No. 65 now after signing with the Rays. The return to the Trop makes all of Tampa Bay's pitchers better bets, and Martinez in particular will appreciate the Rays' dedication to defense. As a probable asset when it comes to WHIP, he's a sneaky pick in deeper leagues.

- With Mark Leiter joining the rankings, we're up to 27 relievers representing 25 teams in the top 300 (the Astros and Brewers both have two). Here are the teams not represented and where I have their No. 1 reliever placed in my rankings.

D-backs: Kevin Ginkel - No. 33
Rangers: Robert García - No. 34
Nationals: Clayton Beeter - No. 41
Twins: Cole Sands - No. 43
Rockies: Victor Vodnik - No. 48

- While the Yankees certainly suggested that Ben Rice was going to get a chance to play every day, it's hard to blame them for bringing back Paul Goldschmidt after all of his success against lefties last season. I was optimistic enough about Rice this year that I actually had him projected closer to Cal Raleigh than to my No. 3 catcher William Contreras, but while he's still No. 2 now, he has tumbled 23 spots in the rankings. It's a positive that the Yankees are talking about letting him do some catching against lefties, though that does increase his injury risk.

- Eugenio Suárez landed in the absolutely perfect spot for his fantasy value and climbed 90 spots as result, and since he'll occupy the cleanup spot in the Reds lineup, he's one of seven hitters I have projected to finish with 100 RBI. Still, as a two-category liability, he's a tad outside of the top 100 here.

- I came away more impressed with Caleb Durbin's rookie season than I thought I would after digging in for his projection and had him ranked 16th among third baseman before the trade to Boston. It's a move than came with an obvious ballpark upgrade, and he'll probably hit a little higher in the Red Sox lineup than he was going to in Milwaukee. Really, he ought to hit second for the Red Sox, but Trevor Story figures to get that assignment initially (as a result, he also moves up the rankings some). Durbin will likely hit sixth, and he's up to 12th in the third base rankings now.

Jan. 28 Notes

- Falling off: Grant Taylor (234th), Christian Moore (289th), Troy Johnston (296th)

- Just a little update here, and it's mostly because I wanted to make my new feelings known about MacKenzie Gore after last week's trade. Gore was my No. 85 SP before getting sent to the Rangers, leaving him about 10 spots off the original top 300, but that was largely because I have the Nationals as the second worst situation for pitchers in the league. Dealing with poor defense and especially poor catching, Nationals pitchers have had ERA far in excess of their FIPs the last two years (4.72 FIP, 5.35 ERA season), and their bullpen figures to be especially poor this year.

I'm not quite as sure what to make about the situation in Texas, largely because Globe Life Field has been all over the map; it had one of the best park factors for hitters in 2023, only to play as a significant pitchers' park in 2024 and an extreme one in 2025. It's been especially tough on right-handed power the last two years. Maybe that won't keep up, but if it does, it's especially great for a left-handed flyball pitcher like Gore. As a result, I have Gore all of the way up to 35th among SPs now, and he checks in at No. 135 overall here.

- The other significant change is Seranthony Domínguez going from 26th to 21st among RPs after signing on to close for the White Sox. Grant Taylor fell from 23rd to 28th, leaving him just off the list. I wasn't projecting him for many saves in the first place, but this does take away some of his upside. I still think he'll be fantastic in a multi-inning setup role.

- Moore and Johnston lost some playing time in my projections with the Angels re-signing Yoán Moncada and the Rockies acquiring Edouard Julien. Julien could play second for Colorado, but he's a liability there. I have him slightly outhitting Johnston, though his limited home run and steal potential keeps him off the list.

- Harrison Bader didn't make the top 300 while he was still a free agent, and though he'll obviously be a regular in San Francisco, he's further away now after joining the Giants.

Jan. 22 Notes

- Having Michael Harris II ranked 30th overall isn’t something I saw coming when I started doing my projections. I’ve been just as disappointed by his lack of progress as everyone else; his OPS has gone from .853 in his rookie season to .808, .722 and .678 the last three years. And yet I found so much more to be encouraged about than I thought I would, enough to think that he’s quite a bit more likely to duplicate his second half of 2025 (.299/.315/.430, 14 HR) than his first half (.210/.234/.317). He scores this highly for me even though, because I have him batting seventh, he’s projected for the second fewest plate appearances of anyone in my top 50 hitters (only Jazz Chisholm Jr. has fewer). If he gets off to a nice start and finds himself moving up the Braves lineup, I think the potential is there for him to be the steal of the year.

- Sal Stewart’s placement here at No. 57 is another one that’ll raise eyebrows. I’m actually rather disappointed the Reds traded Gavin Lux, since that should help Stewart’s ADP some. Really, though, I wasn’t worried about Lux or anyone else being in Stewart’s way, no matter how hesitant Terry Francona was to use him last September. Stewart just hammers the baseball in a way that separates him from everyone else on the Reds roster, save Elly De La Cruz. He’ll bat lower in the order initially, but he could quickly settle into the cleanup spot. There’s no reason he can’t make a run at 100 RBI, and his value would only increase if the Reds get him some extra position eligibility by playing him at third or second.

- Luis Robert Jr. moved up about 15 spots to No. 74 with Tuesday's trade to the Mets. Citi Field is a little bit of an upgrade for him in the ballpark department, and he's certainly in a better lineup now, even if the trade means he's more likely to spend most of the year batting in the bottom half of the order. On the plus side, that will free him up to continue stealing bases.

- Neither the Robert addition nor the Bo Bichette signing did anything for one of my favorite picks this year, Brett Baty. Still, I'm keeping the faith. Baty is athletic enough to handle left field, and even if Carson Benge emerges there, I'd still take Baty over Mark Vientos as a DH against right-handers. Baty showed 25-homer power last season, and his contract rates are a little better than his strikeout percentages suggest. If he can get the ball into the air with a little more frequency this year, he should bust out.

- On the White Sox side of things, Lenyn Sosa (No. 219) and Brooks Baldwin (no. 268) both moved up with Robert out of the mix. Luisangel Acuña seems poised for a shot to replace Robert in center, but while he could steal 40 bags as an everyday guy, I think his bat will probably force him into a utility role. Sosa isn't necessarily a good regular for a major league team, either, given his middling defense and atrocious walk rate, but he hit 22 homers last season and managed a solid .264 average in the process. He ought to be the White Sox's primary DH. Baldwin seems like an unexciting, jack-of-all-trades sort, but his EV numbers took a nice jump last year and he's gone 9-for-9 stealing bases in 136 big-league games. He could be a sneaky 15 HR/15 SB guy if he's in the lineup most of the time.

- I was already lower than most on Freddy Peralta for this season, and the trade to the Mets didn't help, dropping him from 27th to 35th among starting pitchers. Still, it would have been considerably worse if the Mets hadn't upgraded their defense this winter. The Brewers are just so strong there and, aided by their ballpark, make their hurlers appear better than they actually are; their pitchers have a league-low .274 BABIP over the last three years, with Peralta himself coming in at .265.

- There are still only 27 relievers in the top 300, though that number will swell as closing situations start to clear up a little this spring. The unrepresented teams are the Athletics, Diamondbacks, Nationals, Rangers, Rockies and Twins, while the Brewers and Astros each have two relievers on the list. Also present is free agent Serathony Domínguez, who I suspect will wind up closing for one of those unrepresented teams (or maybe the White Sox). The relievers on those clubs closest to making the list were Arizona's Kevin Ginkel (34th among RPs), the Athletics' Mark Leiter Jr. (37th), the Twins' Cole Sands (42nd) and the Rockies' Victor Vodnik (47th).