Way-Too-Early 2026 Fantasy Baseball Top 300 Rankings

Here’s the second offseason update for my 2006 fantasy baseball top 300 for 5×5 leagues. I just finished up my first go at the pitching projections, so most of the significant changes from the initial update last month will be to the starters and relievers.

Since I’m only now about to get started on hitting projections, those rankings are still very preliminary and will undergo sweeping changes in the next update, which will hopefully take place not long after the winter meetings.

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Early 2026 Fantasy Baseball Top 300 overall ranks

**Updated Nov. 19**

Nov. 19 Notes

– The biggest moves at the top of my pitching rankings were Blake Snell dropping from fifth to 10th and Max Fried jumping from 15th to eighth. I just couldn’t justify projecting Snell with enough innings to place him that highly, and even on a per-inning basis, Cristopher Sánchez and Yoshinobu Yamamoto ended up edging him out. As it turned out, Sánchez was the very clear No. 5 for me; he’s a bit closer to Garrett Crochet in the third spot than he is to anyone below him.

– There isn’t much separating my No. 7 through No. 18 starters, so there will surely be some movement up and down there in the coming weeks. The drop off after No. 18 Framber Valdez is somewhat significant now, but Spencer Schwellenbach and Zack Wheeler could move up a tier if things are looking good at the start of spring training and Dylan Cease will probably rise or tumble based on where he signs.

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– I have Mason Miller as my No. 25 SP, putting him at 96th overall. That’s probably about 30 spots lower than he’d be as the possible No. 1 reliever. On a per-inning basis, he’d be right around 15th among starters. Of course, his role is still to be determined as of this writing.

– Not currently making the cut is Tatsuya Imai, even though it sounds like he’s going to get at least No. 2-starter money after being posted by the Seibu Lions. I’m not really sure his command is going to hold up, and year one in the U.S. has been difficult for many Japanese hurlers. If he lands in a nice situation, he’ll jump into the 250-300 range, but I’ll probably be more interested in him in 2027.

– The biggest change on the hitting side of things is the addition of Pirates prospect Konnor Griffin at No. 199. I’m not especially confident he’ll get the chance to open up in the majors, but it’s fun that the Pirates are considering it. They definitely don’t want a repeat of 2023, when they waited to promote Paul Skenes and then had him get a full year of service time anyway because of his Rookie of the Year placement.

– Much of the rest of the movement there was injury related. Anthony Volpe will miss the start of the season after shoulder surgery, dropping him 75 spots. Isaac Paredes, Tommy Edman and Lars Nootbaar also fell some because their status for Opening Day is in question.

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– One exception: Trent Grisham jumped about 70 spots with the news that he’d stay with the Yankees. I also decided to drop Jasson Domínguez some, since even though I still believe in his fantasy potential, I doubt the Yankees will be content to pencil in both he and Grisham as regulars. They’re still going to want to add Kyle Tucker or bring back Cody Bellinger.

– The Taylor Ward-for-Grayson Rodriguez trade was pretty stunning, but it didn’t have a huge effect here. Before the deal, I had moved up Ward some from the October list initially, but now I’ve slid him back down a bit since he’s off to a tougher ballpark and will probably hit lower in the lineup. Rodriguez was my No. 93 SP prior to the deal, so he didn’t make the cut here. He surely would have moved up some if healthy in the spring, but he’d seem to have considerably less upside now.

I did drop Tyler O’Neill a fair amount as a result of the deal, and Colton Cowser, who was No. 299, fell off the list. I’m still hopeful Dylan Beavers is a regular for the Orioles, but that’s become a crowded outfield all of a sudden.

Oct. 6 Notes

– Just like last year, it’s Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani and Bobby Witt Jr. at the top, with only the order in question. I went Witt, Ohtani and then Judge last offseason. For now, I’m sticking with the same order that I’ve had since May, aside from when Judge was on the IL.

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– I assume most will be listing Juan Soto no lower than fourth, but I’m sliding Ronald Acuña Jr. in there ahead of him. Maybe Soto will be inspired to run again, but it’s a hard thing to count on, and any sort of injury could shut that down in a hurry. Acuña curbed his basestealing in his return from a torn ACL, but he’ll probably be a little busier there next year, and he looked like his usual self offensively in his 95 games this year. I would think the Braves lineup is in line for a nice rebound.

– Mason Miller checks in at No. 82 for now. I’ll be tempted to rank him first among closers if Robert Suarez opts out of his Padres contract and Miller is tabbed for the ninth. If the Padres decide to give Miller a chance as a starter, I’ll move him down some because of the injury risk, though there’s certainly a chance he’d dominate in the rotation.

– It’s going to be fascinating to see what happens with the Red Sox lineup this winter. Do they give Alex Bregman, who is set to opt out, the long-term deal they didn’t want to last year? Does Trevor Story opt out of the $50 million he’s owed the next two years? Do they alleviate the outfield logjam by moving Jarren Duran or Wilyer Abreu? Do they give Triston Casas another chance at first? What they really need is a superstar for the middle of the order, but there’s a very good chance that giving a long-term deal to Kyle Schwarber or Pete Alonso will end badly. It might be worth it anyway.

– Sliding Jasson Domínguez back into the top 100 at No. 94 seems kind of risky, but I have to imagine the Yankees will commit to him with both Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham set to hit free agency. Domínguez wasn’t too bad in batting .257/.331/.388 at age 22, and he should be capable of finishing with 20 homers and 30 steals if the playing time is there. Of course, there is a scenario that sees Domínguez get a spot to himself, only to wind up being overtaken by Spencer Jones if he gets off to a slow start.

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– Yakult Swallows third baseman Munetaka Murakami, long one of Japan’s best players, is slated to be posted this winter and is No. 160 here. He’ll probably be a first baseman in MLB, but he should be a pretty good one right away. In spite of Japan’s deadened baseball, he hit .273/.382/.672 in 55 games this season. He has 181 homers over the last five seasons, and he’s just turning 26 in February.

– Another Japanese corner infielder, Kazuma Okamoto, and right-hander Tatsuya Imai could also show up here later.

– At the moment, there are 26 relievers on the list, six of whom are free agents and two of whom will probably opt out of their contracts (Suarez and Edwin Díaz). There are also two teams, besides the Padres, represented twice in the Brewers and Guardians. Abner Uribe was just too good to leave off, even if he starts off behind Trevor Megill on the depth chart. I also stuck Emmanuel Clase at the bottom of the list in case he’s cleared after MLB’s investigation.

That leaves 13 teams with no RPs here…

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Angels: Too many health questions with Ben Joyce and Robert Stephenson should mean they’ll again sign a closer.

Athletics: None of the internal options seems particularly intriguing.

Braves: Reynaldo López might head back to the pen after struggling to stay healthy as a starter. He was in the 300-320 range here.

Cardinals: Riley O’Brien was another guy in the mix for a spot, but even though the Cardinals are shedding payroll, they still might add a stopgap and potential deadline trade candidate.

D-backs: Justin Martinez figures to miss next season after Tommy John, and A.J. Puk is likely out until at least midseason. The Diamondbacks will probably wind up with a modestly priced free agent.

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Marlins: Ronny Henríquez was in my first draft at the bottom of the list, but it sounds like the Marlins want to spend on bullpen help this winter.

Nationals: Jose A. Ferrer was considered for a spot, but the Nationals figure to be in the market for a closer, and even if they cheap out, Cole Henry could end up overtaking Ferrer.

Orioles: Félix Bautista is probably out for the year after shoulder surgery, and after emptying out at their pen at the deadline, the Orioles will be in the market for multiple late-game options.

Rangers: The Rangers will probably have to sign someone after potential future closers Emiliano Teodo and Marc Church ended up missing most of 2025. It’ll be interesting to see if Kumar Rocker winds up in the pen at some point next year.

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Reds: Tony Santillan might be able to do the job, but the Reds will surely bring in some competition.

Rockies: With a 68/25 K/BB in 61 2/3 innings as a rookie, Juan Mejia was the most impressive of the Rockies’ young relievers this year, and he’ll be a spring sleeper if the team declines to spend.

Twins: The Twins won’t want to spend much, but they’ll probably sign someone to close. Also, one or two of their younger starters could be tried in the pen. It doesn’t seem quite right to give up on Taj Bradley as a starter just yet, but he also probably doesn’t belong in the Twins rotation right now.

White Sox: Grant Taylor was considered for a spot, but the White Sox are considering moving him back to the rotation. They might sign a cheap veteran to close anyway.