Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft: Skipping Stars, Building Depth

The MLB season starts with one game on Wednesday night (on Netflix, as these sports leagues continue to gatekeep major events from their fans) then kicks off in earnest on Thursday. The final fantasy baseball drafts are taking place, putting us on the cusp of another long, arduous year.

My mock drafts usually follow a certain theme rather than just randomly picking players. I can show up and grab guys based on rankings; anyone can. By trying different things in mock drafts, I find strategies that work or don't work for what I'm looking for that season, and it might be different than last year.

Let's look at a draft I completed recently in which I was more frugal at the top and focused on grabbing a deep, full roster of good players. This was a 10-team auction draft with a $260 limit in an ESPN points league. Each player is listed with the amount I paid for him in the auction.

Use FantasySP's ADP rankings to plan your fantasy draft and get an idea on where players are rated as we enter the 2026 season!

Top Player

• 2B Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks, $41

Marte is the top second baseman in fantasy heading into the season. It's a position that is generally a little tougher to find high-value fantasy players at, so if you are going to splurge on only one player/position, as I did here, Marte is a solid investment.

He is a borderline first-round pick and had 28 homers and 28 doubles last season. Injuries are a problem, as Marte usually misses some games, but he plays in a very friendly hitter's park, making Marte a strong player to grab.

Catcher/First Base

• C/1B Ben Rice, New York Yankees, $17
• C/1B Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals, $8
• 1B Nick Kurtz, Athletics, $10

Rice is one of my favorite draft picks this season because of his dual-position ability at first base and catcher. First base is generally the easiest position at which to find fantasy production, so rather than splurging for a top guy, I like to wait, get a few multi-position players while knowing that I can find value later (both in the draft and during the season).

Drafting Rice lets you slot a guy who will produce like a first baseman into your catcher spot, a major advantage over other fantasy teams that miss out on the top few backstops. He generally won't play against left-handed starters, so having another catcher might be necessary, but that's where Perez comes in.

Perez played 158 and 155 games the past two seasons, playing first base and DH'ing when he needed a rest from catching. His dual-position eligibility bumps his value, but Perez also had 35 doubles and 30 home runs last season, giving him plenty of upside as a mid-to-late pick (his batting average did dive from .271 to .236).

Kurtz gets the benefit of playing his home games in a minor league park in Sacramento, which plays as a big-time hitter's park. He had 26 doubles and 36 homers while batting .290 in 420 at-bats; bump him up to full-time big-league status this year, and he might push 40/40 territory.

After the draft, I noticed that skipping Kurtz might have been more prudent, as guys like Pete Alonso, Bryce Harper, and Freddie Freeman were had for less (the latter two significantly less).

Third Base

• 3B Maikel Garcia, Kansas City Royals, $17
• 2B/3B Jazz Chisholm Jr., New York Yankees, $14

Garcia surprised me when I went through the positions and hit third base. In 20 more at-bats in 2025 than 2024, Garcia added 37 hits, 12 doubles, nine home runs, and 20 walks to his numbers while cutting 19 strikeouts. He also lost 14 stolen bases, but Garcia took a huge jump, and at just 26 years old this whole season, his arrow is likely pointing up.

Chisholm has been a favorite bench guy of mine for a few years now because of his dual-position eligibility, though he's expected to play mostly 2B this year, which would take that advantage away next season. Let's make use of it while we can with a guy whose left-handed swing fits perfectly in Yankee Stadium. He hit 17 of his 31 homers at home last season and batted .277 at home versus .207 on the road; Chisholm is imperfect but works well as a rotational player on your roster.

Shortstop

• SS Geraldo Perdomo, Arizona Diamondbacks, $16
• SS Corey Seager, Texas Rangers, $5

Perdomo stood out when I went through the shortstops the same way that Garcia did for third basemen. He plays in Arizona, a major hitter's park, and finished last season batting .290 in nearly 600 at-bats with 33 doubles, 20 home runs, and more walks than strikeouts. It's reasonable to expect a little regression, but Perdomo won't turn 27 until October and is another guy who is likely improving.

Seager is great when on the field, but he can't seem to stay healthy. He has reached 125 games just once in the past five years (2022) and only touched 500 at-bats in that season as well. That's a lot of risk, but for a guy with big-time power at the position, he's a worthy backup who could pay big dividends if he has a lucky health year.

Outfield

• OF Jackson Chourio, Milwaukee Brewers, $25
• OF Brent Rooker, Athletics, $26
• OF Roman Anthony, Boston Red Sox, $20
• 1B/OF Tyler Soderstrom, Athletics, $5

I spent more money on the outfield than anywhere else. There are a ton of guys eligible in the outfield, which makes finding fill-ins a little easier than some of the infield spots, but you have to fill three lineup slots, meaning more chances for your top guys to miss games. When I wasn't spending on the infield and had my plan in place, it made sense to splurge a little at OF.

Chourio and Anthony are young guys with big upside, both set to play most of the season at 22 years old. Chourio's two seasons have been very similar, with around 145 hits, 32 doubles, 21 homers, 22 stolen bases, and a .270 batting average. Expected improvement would make him a high-level fantasy asset.

Anthony only has 71 games and 257 at-bats to his name, but he has big-time upside that has him among Boston's most important players and earned him a spot on Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. You might not be able to get Anthony for anything less than $30 for a long time after this year (though there is obvious risk with a young player).

Rooker and Soderstrom will both get the benefit of playing half their games in Sacramento, making them guys I was happy to target. Rooker had 40 doubles and 30 home runs last season, while Soderstrom had 34 and 25, respectively. They both strike out a lot, but I'm happy to have both in my outfield (and Soderstrom's multi-position ability only helps, even though I'm fairly set at first base).

Staff Ace

• SP Dylan Cease, Toronto Blue Jays, $20

I generally like to wait on pitchers (and often skip relievers altogether). Injuries happen more often to pitchers than position players, and even if your guy stays healthy, he only helps less than 35 times per season (for starters). Like with the outfield, when I saw that I had money left to spend, I decided to splurge just a little on a guy with ace upside.

Cease made at least 32 starts and had at least 214 strikeouts in each of the past five seasons, and if he stays healthy, those lofty K numbers are likely again. That's the type of guy I'm OK paying a little more for.

Young/Mid-Level Pitchers

• SP Spencer Strider, Atlanta Braves, $8
• SP Jacob Misiorowski, Milwaukee Brewers, $4
• SP MacKenzie Gore, Texas Rangers, $3
• SP Chase Burns, Cincinnati Reds, $3

Speaking of strikeouts, everyone here has major K upside with associated risk. Strider missed essentially all of 2024 and returned for 23 starts last season, but he has 626 strikeouts in 455 career innings, a fantastic rate.

Gore has topped out at 166 1/3 innings in any year but has struck out more than a batter per inning in all four of his seasons.

Misiorowski and Burns both made their debuts last year and have fewer than 70 innings, but like the other two, they have major strikeout stuff. Either guy could emerge as his team's ace as early as this season, though a more realistic outcome is turning into good playoff starters with upside still to come.

Last Pitchers

• SP Gavin Williams, Cleveland Guardians, $1
• SP Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees, $1

Williams is more of a late-round flier. He strikes out a little more than a batter per inning, and he finished with an ERA just over 3.00 last season in 167 2/3 innings. Things have been working out for Cleveland pitchers recently, stretching back to when they were still called the Indians.

I love late-pick upside like Cole offers. He will miss the first few months as he keeps working back from Tommy John surgery, but he could be the best pitcher in baseball when healthy. If your league allows an IL spot, this could be a pick that eventually wins your championship.