Way-too-early 2026 top-50 rankings

It whitethorn beryllium boring, but bully luck uncovering morganatic reasons to debar taking Los Angeles Dodgers DH/SP Shohei Ohtani and New York Yankees OF Aaron Judge with the archetypal picks successful 2026 fantasy baseball drafts.

We said this precise aforesaid happening 1 twelvemonth agone and Ohtani and Judge went Nos. 1 and 2 successful astir ESPN mean unrecorded drafts (points leagues). Well, we are saying it again. Things bash get a small spot absorbing aft that, with 30/30 options, immoderate ace starting pitchers and much Dodgers.

Here are 1 analyst's very early thoughts astir 2026 drafts, erstwhile it comes to roto/categories formats.

Way-too-early apical 50 category-based rankings for 2026

1. Shohei Ohtani, DH/SP, Dodgers: The pitching space is simply a definite differentiator implicit everyone else, but Ohtani has the violative numbers, too, averaging 54.5 location runs, 39.5 stolen bases and 140 runs implicit his 2 Dodgers seasons.

2. Aaron Judge, OF, Yankees: Judge has the borderline connected Ohtani for batting average, but helium doesn't bargain galore bases. For those acrophobic astir durability, helium has missed lone 14 games implicit the past 2 seasons.

3. Bobby Witt Jr., SS, Kansas City Royals: His 2024 play was amended than this past season, but this fantastic five-category endowment hasn't adjacent turned 26 years aged yet.

4. Jose Ramirez, 3B, Cleveland Guardians: Ramirez is 33, but helium shows nary hint of decline, averaging 34.5 location runs and 42.5 steals implicit the past 2 seasons.

5. Juan Soto, OF, New York Mets: He went from 7 stolen bases to an incredible, NL-leading 38 of them successful Year 1 (tied with Oneil Cruz) with the Mets. Even if the steals full falls again, helium remains a building-block option.

6. Corbin Carroll, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks: Like Soto, helium whitethorn ne'er contend for a batting title, but helium registered his archetypal 30/30 run and helium scores 100-plus runs each year.

7. Elly De La Cruz, SS, Cincinnati Reds: He stole 30 less bases and deed 3 less location runs than the twelvemonth prior, but galore judge helium hasn't achieved his champion phantasy seasons yet.

8. Julio Rodriguez, OF, Seattle Mariners: He has averaged 28 location runs and 29 stolen bases implicit his 4 MLB seasons.

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