As we continue our prep into the fresh fantasy baseball season, it’s time to figure out where the gold is buried. Which teams offer the most fantasy utility? Which teams are more challenging?
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We’ll start at the bottom and work to No. 1, just like Casey Kasem used to do it. And the hits don’t stop ‘til we get to the top.
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30. Chicago White Sox
This group has lost 324 games in three years and things don’t look much better for 2026. There’s a lot of swing-and-miss in Colson Montgomery’s game, but he did conk 21 home runs in just 255 at-bats. Not bad for an ADP around 160. Manager Will Venable spreads the saves around; nobody in this bullpen got past seven handshakes last year.
29. Colorado Rockies
Colorado can often be a difficult fantasy sell because the entire pitching staff — or everyone but the closer — is usually off limits. Unfortunately, the Colorado offense of recent seasons has also been a mess. Catcher Hunter Goodman and outfielder Brenton Doyle are the only Rockies commanding top 200 picks. Perhaps newcomer Willi Castro can secure everyday time, perhaps at third base; he can be a value.
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28. Los Angeles Angels
There’s one sure thing on this roster: emerging star Zach Neto. Everyone else is a wishing well. We hope Jo Adell’s breakthrough last year was signal, not noise. We hope Mike Trout can stay healthy. We hope Logan O’Hoppe can figure out why his swing went south midway through 2025. The Angels amazingly never had a winning record in the Trout and Ohtani days, and things are more stark today.
27. Miami Marlins
It’s not as barren as you might think, with seven Miami players carrying a global ADP inside the top 200. Otto Lopez is a sleeper target, a contact-heavy bat who offers some pop and speed.
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26. Washington Nationals
James Wood is a star at 23 and still can climb a level if the contact improves. CJ Abrams is a good bet to rebound from an inconsistent 2025. Staff ace MacKenzie Gore was shipped to Texas and a cast of thousands will compete for the closer chair.
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25. St. Louis Cardinals
It’s probably going to be a top-heavy lineup, so make sure you’re investing in the upper half. Brendan Donovan covers three positions and can be found around Yahoo ADP 196. The market likes Riley O’Brien to beat JoJo Romero for the closer role.
24. Pittsburgh Pirates
Paul Skenes has done the rarest thing in sports: he’s exceeded the hype. He might have a running mate in emerging Bubba Chandler, and Dennis Santana was a quality closer last year. But too many down years sunk the offense — Pittsburgh scored just 583 runs last year, worst in the majors.
23. Cleveland Guardians
It was a nifty trick to steal the AL Central despite being outscored (and Cleveland was 28th in runs as well). The pitching told the story — 10th in starter ERA, third in bullpen ERA — but Gavin Williams was the only fantasy hit in the rotation. José Ramírez hangs in the first round and closer Cade Smith should be a decent pick, but everyone else looks like a depth play.
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22. Tampa Bay Rays
Junior Caminero became a star overnight, but everyone else is the type of player you talk yourself into when the light hits them right. The Rays are always the eat-your-veggies roster, a team built on subtle skills, market inefficiencies and affordable contracts (they also stole 194 bases last year, 30 ahead of the pack). Sometimes all of that isn’t enough — this club has quietly been under .500 for two straight years.
21. The Athletics
MLB’s Team Nomad has a fun offense (12th in runs) swinging in a hitter-friendly park. Four Athletics carry global ADPs in the top 100, and six are in the top 170. There’s no established closer yet and every starting pitcher will open the year on the waiver wire in a standard mixed league.
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20. Minnesota Twins
I was shocked to see their starting pitching fall apart — Minnesota had a 4.51 ERA from their starters, 23rd in baseball. The offense was also 23rd in runs, which is how you explain a lousy 70-92 season. I’ll still audit this pitching staff closely and make some proactive picks, because everyone is priced as a value now. Byron Buxton was a superstar with five healthy months, but it’s just the second time he’s made it to 126 games.
19. Detroit Tigers
Two playoff seasons in a row have been a treat, but the Tigers stand at the fork in the road with pending free agent, Tarik Skubal. If they get off to a bad season, they might tear it down. Spencer Torkelson’s comeback season was fun, but he’s still a strikeout guy who won’t bat for a useful average.
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18. Kansas City Royals
They offer six players who command a top-100 ticket in global ADP, then the roof caves in. Bobby Witt Jr. still has a level to climb, and Maikel García was one of the most improved players in baseball last year.
17. Cincinnati Reds
Sneaking into the playoffs was a nifty trick given that just three of their offensive players were above league average. We’ll draft Elly De La Cruz and Hunter Greene aggressively, and I’m more optimistic on Andrew Abbott (fly-ball pitchers are often misunderstood) than the market is.
16. San Francisco Giants
Willy Adames eventually got comfortable in his new city, but Rafael Devers is in the wrong park. Ground balls and good control push Logan Webb to useful inning totals, though occasionally you’ll suffer through him getting BABIPed to death. The San Francisco park is one of my favorites, but if you make the trip for a night game, dress for December.
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15. Arizona Diamondbacks
The top half of the offense will be fun, but all the pitchers feel like speculation plays. Geraldo Perdomo was the NL’s most improved player last year, checking in as a seven-win star.
14. Baltimore Orioles
Gunnar Henderson is too big to fail and Pete Alonso always has a high floor, but it’s frightening how many young Baltimore players underachieved last year. Adley Rutchman’s career arc is scarily similar to Matt Wieters.
13. Houston Astros
A healthy Yordan Alvarez could be the best hitter in baseball, but he has the knees of a 45-year-old. Jeremy Peña was Houston’s best position player by far last year, still underrated. Hunter Brown’s emergence was for real.
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12. Toronto Blue Jays
For a World Series team, it’s not as glorious here as you might suspect — just three top 100 global picks, and one of them is 36-year-old George Springer. The rotation will give us multiple useful options, but please don’t tax your heart by watching Jeff Hoffman navigate the ninth inning.
11. Texas Rangers
You’ll stump everyone at the bar with this one — the Rangers had the best rotation ERA in baseball last year, helped significantly by 30 Jacob deGrom starts. My heart still rides with deGrom every five days, but I don’t have the stomach to pay his top 60 ADP, especially at age 38. If this lineup stays healthy, the Rangers could steal the AL West.
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10. Atlanta Braves
They had a historically-great offense three years ago. What happened? Injuries for some, production falloffs for others. They quietly have about nine players in the top 100 for global ADP, but every one of their players has an obvious downside, too. I’m a little nervous on this team. Chris Sale’s comeback was inspiring and Raisel Iglesias overcame a rough start, but they’re both in their late 30s — I can’t draft them proactively.
9. San Diego Padres
Manny Machado probably has eight toes in the Hall of Fame already, and a healthy Fernando Tatís Jr. can get there, too. Winning 90 games last year was a nifty trick despite bad-timing injuries from Jackson Merrill and Michael King (at his best, King is David Cone 2.0).
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8. Milwaukee Brewers
They’ve turned into what the Rays used to be, a yearly playoff team that makes its dollar stretch further than everyone else’s. The dreamy infield defense makes you want to invest in their starting staff — and man, Framber Valdez would be a perfect FA target. Brice Turang had a fun breakout year but might be a bargain again because he’s good at a lot of different things; Bill James taught us that specialists are often overrated, but versatile players often underrated. Christian Yelich is settling into his Ibañez All-Star years.
7. Boston Red Sox
Something old? Aroldis Chapman was unhittable last year. Something new? Roman Anthony might be an immediate star. Something borrowed? Stealing Garrett Crochet from the White Sox was an inspired move. Something blue? The Red Sox couldn’t figure out the Alex Bregman contract and the infield is screaming for help. Boston has the outfield depth to make a significant trade before the season starts.
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6. Philadelphia Phillies
Do yourself a favor and snag Kyle Schwarber in the second round, a screaming bargain. His batting average isn’t the risk it’s made out to be, he might get a handful of steals and his run production tied to heavy volume makes him a dream. The workload has caught up to catcher J.T. Realmuto — he had a 91 OPS+ last year. Gravity always wins.
5. Chicago Cubs
They were a top-five offense last year and that’s probably the floor if people stay healthy. The lineup has it all: balanced handedness, patience, power, speed. The sum of the rotation is more fun than the individual cases — this team doesn’t have a striking frontman. But that’s an October problem; the Cubs are well-positioned to win 90-plus games again, a good fit for the six-month grind.
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4. New York Mets
Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor are signature picks and the Freddy Peralta trade made sense, even with his struggles to go deep in games. The retooled offense features a lot of intriguing but speculative bets, adding Bo Bichette, Luis Robert Jr., Jorge Polanco and Marcus Semien.
3. Seattle Mariners
You’ll want to roster as many of their pitchers as possible — the roomy park certainly helps — and of course, there are fun pieces on offense, headlined by Julio Rodríguez and Cal Raleigh. Is this the year the Mariners finally wreck the trivia question and punch a World Series ticket?
2. New York Yankees
They outscored everyone last year, in part because they had the most walks and the highest slugging percentage. The Cody Bellinger dance took a while but it’s best for all parties that he eventually re-signed; he’s a good target at Yahoo ADP 70. Right-handed fireballer Cam Schlittler looked too good to be true down the stretch.
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1. Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers won’t burn themselves out again trying to win 100 or more games, like they did earlier this decade, but there’s an absurdly high floor here. Just be mindful of some of the ages at play — Freddie Freeman steps into his age-36 season, Mookie Betts turns 33 and Max Muncy will be 35. If you draft an L.A. pitcher, remember this team can play the load management card more freely than anyone else.