Happy New Year, everyone, and welcome to the first installment of the Top 400 Dynasty Players for 2026. Over the next two weeks I will take two giant bites out of the countdown as I rank the players from 400-301 this week and then 300-201. After that will come bite sized looks of the final 200 players.
When it comes to these rankings, I know some of you will shake your head when it comes to certain players.
I have my biases and a system in how I evaluate fantasy players - and have done so for decades - and you have your biases. That is what makes rankings so interesting and why you will likely look at a host of rankings as a way to gauge how you view a certain player and how others view a certain player.
So here is a quick rundown about these rankings.
Format = Position Player | Age on 4/1/2026 | Highest Level Played | Estimated Time of Arrival
1. OF Nelson Rada | 20 | AAA | 2026
The plusses here are obvious: a legitimate center fielder with solid plate skills from the left side, Rada swiped 54 bases in 135 games across Double-A and Triple-A in 2025, slashing .292/.398/.360 and making huge plate-skills gains when he reached Triple-A. He walked 30 times against 35 strikeouts in his 42 games with Salt Lake, slashing .323/.433/.416 in the cozy hitting environment. He’s always been extremely young for the level – 7.8 years younger than average in Triple-A – and that tends to work out in the aggregate, especially if a teenager like Rada arrives to camp some spring wearing new muscle after a Rocky IV type winter. Rada actually filled out a little bit last offseason and could be quite the fantasy sleeper this year with just a touch more man-strength.
Emmet Sheehan came back from Tommy John last year, almost exactly 13 months from the surgery, and went 2.82 ERA, 0.97 WHIP with 10.9 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 in 73 1/3 IP. Um, how is he a sleeper? He’s an ace. Is he not an ace? Please, blog, may I have some more?
So, I’m not sure if Chase Burns is a sleeper, a rookie, both or something in-between we haven’t discovered yet. Maybe we’re discovering it on our own right now. We’re a bunch of fantasy baseball Magellans. Look at me, I’m wearing a puffy hat like Magellan and I’m in a ship with a handheld telescope. Please, blog, may I have some more?
The front offices of Boston and St. Louis have been on the phone with each other (or texting back and forth) all offseason, culminating in two big trades so far.
Around Thanksgiving, the teams agreed to swap RHP Sonny Gray (36) along with $20 million for RHP Richard Fitts (26) and LHP Brandon Clarke (22, A+).
Gray should play as a known quantity, and it sounds like he’s eager to pitch in the AL East again. “It’s easy to go to a place where it’s easy to hate the Yankees,” he said at this introductory press conference, instantly endearing himself to a new fanbase. He also restructured his contract to turn a guaranteed year into a mutual option that Boston can refuse for a $10 million payout. With the Cardinals covering $20 million, Gray will cost $11 million for the Red Sox in 2026. If he’s good for them, Boston can bring him back next year for $30 million at a $25 million luxury tax hit.
Went back and searched my posts for every mention of the word “sleeper” until the All-Star Break. So, if I said, “(player’s name) was going to be a 2026 fantasy baseball sleeper,” I made note of it with a slash. By the time I was done, if you put the Dominic Canzone slashes on a tree, it would’ve looked like Tom Hanks in Cast Away if a coconut fell out of a tree, concussed him on the first day and killed him. Please, blog, may I have some more?
In our 121st episode, Mike Couillard and Jeremy Brewer cover a handful of MLB transactions, including a three-team deal, before selecting cards to place in the pod PC for the 2025 MLB Awards winners.
You can find us on bluesky at @cardscategories.bsky.social Please, blog, may I have some more?
Twas the Night Before Razzmas
Twas the night before Razzmas, at Razzball HQ
Not a creature did stir, frozen Jays were still Blue.
Entranced by the fireplace, thinking back on the year
How’d the season shake out, and just how’d we get here? Please, blog, may I have some more?
Look at position eligibility like this, you have a toolbox filled with different positions, and you need a certain position for a certain hole in your lineup, or a screw for a certain hole to secure a latch. If you use the wrong screw, then the latch will be loose and you’ll need to translate Swedish to English to figure out how this Ikea cabinet’s door stays on the hinges, when it’s clearly not flush no matter how many times you unscrew it and re-screw it back in. Please, blog, may I have some more?
Rays traded Shane Baz to the O’s. He was originally the player to be named later in the trade of Tyler Glasnow and Austin Meadows for Chris Archer. Rays turned Chris Archer into:
Tyler Glasnow
Austin Meadows
Shane Baz
Isaac Paredes
Ryan Pepiot
Jonny DeLuca
Ty Johnson
Hunter Bigge
Christopher Morel
Caden Bodine
Slater De Brun
Michael Foret
Austin Overn
Comp A Pick
To put it to you more poetically, Chris Archer is the acorn to sprout a forest of prospect teases. Please, blog, may I have some more?
It’s Christmas week, and the yule stove is warm, so let’s gather around the fire of teams making transactions and poke at the coals.
When Baltimore made the Grayson Rodriguez for Taylor Ward swap, we anticipated another move to clear the outfield logjam. That’s not exactly what happened next, but they did clear out a bunch of pieces and add a pitcher in sending several prospects to Tampa in exchange for Shane Baz. One thing makes this trade unique is that it’s basically three first-round picks and two prospects for Baz. I don’t think I’ve seen a trade in this shape. OF Slater de Brun and C Caden Bodine were first-rounders this year, and they added in the 33rd overall selection in next year’s draft along with RHP Michael Forret and OF Austin Overn. Bodine has played 11 games in Low-A, and de Brun hasn’t played yet in the pros.
There’s this thing that happens with fantasy baseballers (<–my mom’s term). They get crazy excited about a prospect being called up. A rookie gets their goose-willies pumping through their chest. Prospects with pedigree who have never had a moment of MLB play? Please, blog, may I have some more?
