Prospect News: Top 25 For 2026 Dynasty Fantasy Baseball

Team Position Player | Age on 4/1/2026 | Level | ETA 

1. Brewers SS Jesus Made | 18 | AA | 2026

A 6’1” 187 pound switch-hitter with power and plate skills beyond his years, Made is the top prospect for our game in my opinion and a consensus top-five prospect for any purpose no matter who’s sorting the list. In 115 across three levels, Made slashed .285/.379/.413 with six home runs and 47 stolen bases. He was 2.4 years young for the level in Low-A, 4.2 years young for the level in High-A, and 5.7 years younger than the average age at the level during his five-game debut with Double-A Biloxi to close out the season. He was slow to get settled into full-season pro ball after skipping the complex league but was dominant in High-A, slashing .343/.415/.500 in 27 games, and I suspect we’ll see a lot of that moving forward.

 

2. Pirates SS Konnor Griffin | 19 | AA | 2026

Straight from the Department of This Is What They Look Like, Griffin checks in 6’4” 225 pounds with double-plus speed and power. In his senior year of high school, he was the Gatorade National High School Player of the Year after winning his third straight title for Jackson Prep in Mississippi. It’s no exaggeration to say he might steal 100 bases in a minor league season considering he stole 87 in 88 attempts in his final high school season. Somewhat shockingly for a player his size and age, he’s a promising defensive shortstop already and has the arm and speed to become an elite defender if his hands keep coming along. On talent alone, I think he’s the best prospect in baseball. In the context of his organization and ballpark, I have concerns: concerns that can look pretty silly in the light of his real-world outcomes: a slash line of .333/.415/.527 with 21 home runs and 65 stolen bases in 122 games across three levels in his pro debut season.

 

3. Cardinals SS JJ Wetherholt | 23 | AAA | 2026

A left-handed hitter at 5’10” 190 pounds, Wetherholt features double-plus contact skills along with plus power and speed. He topped the stash list several times down the stretch last year as I thought he’d earned a big league debut by slashing .306/.421/.510 with 17 home runs and 23 stolen bases in 109 games across Double and Triple-A. He also drew 72 walks against 73 strikeouts. Should break spring training with an every day role in St. Louis and make a run at rookie of the year.  

 

4. Athletics SS Leo De Vries | 19 | AA | 2027

We don’t often see a prospect like De Vries get traded before his 20th birthday, if at all, so it was kind of shocking to see him moved for a reliever, even one as dominant as Mason Miller. Sacramento pushed the switch hitter to Double-A at age 18, where he slashed .281/.359/.551 with five home runs and two stolen bases in 21 games. He even showed plus plate skills: 9.7% walks against 19.4% strikeouts. It’ll be interesting to see how they time this out because he’s got a legitimate case to open the season in Triple-A at 19, an age he’ll stay until October 11th this year. Seems probably we’ll see him in the majors before he turns 20, and that’s a pretty consistent predictor of sustained stardom. Incredible work on the trade market by Sacramento in my opinion. 

 

5. Rangers SS Sebastian Walcott | 19 | AA | 2026

Walcott signed for $3.2 million in 2023 out of the Bahamas and climbed swiftly through the system until 2025 when he got a full season to settle in at Double-A, where he slashed .255/.355/.386 with 13 home runs and 32 stolen bases in 124 games. The line might not leap off the page, but he was ten percent better than league average playing against guys who were 4.9 years older than him, on average. That’s future superstar stuff from a kid who’s already 6’4” and 190 pounds with double plus raw power and easy speed alongside smooth actions on the infield. 

 

6. Tigers SS Kevin McGonigle | 21 | AA | 2026

The 37th overall pick in the 2023 draft, McGonigle has great hands on both sides of the ball along with plus speed and burgeoning power. A left-handed hitter with a quick swing, he broke out in 2025, slashing .305/.408/.583 with 19 home runs and just 46 strikeouts against 59 walks in 88 games across three levels. McGonigle has one of my favorite prospect traits in that hitting is the easy part for him. Detroit’s not an easy park for lefty power, but the pitching in that division is soft, so maybe it all comes out in the wash. 

 

7. Orioles C 1B Samuel Basallo | 21 | MLB | 2025

Click here to read Grey’s 2026 Fantasy Outlook for Basallo. 

In the article, Grey is frustrated by Baltimore’s service-time machinations. Those same concerns caused me to dread writing this list for a few days. I’m not sure why. I used to have little trouble cruising through even the organizations I didn’t love following, but I start feeling like a liar at some point when I’m telling you about a Rockies or Orioles prospect like he’s going to matter someday soon. Then again, they do sneak through sometimes, and Basallo could give you a Hunter Goodman sized boost in the power categories if Baltimore lets him learn on the job. He’s not going to catch everyday with Adley in town, but who knows how much longer Adley will be in town? His production and health are both in downward spirals, and Basallo slugged .589 with 23 home runs in just 76 Triple-A games in 2025. Dang. Managed 27 bombs in 107 games on the year if you combine his minor league dominance with his 31-game big league sample. He’s the rare case where I’ll look past the org setting and cross my fingers he’ll get enough playing time to impact redraft leagues. 

 

8. Mets RHP Nolan McLean | 24 | MLB | 2025

McLean might actually be a little closer to Lincecum than Tong in terms of stuff and approach to the game. His is more or less a “let’s see if you can hit this” style of pitching, featuring nasty stuff that moves all over the zone. He throws six different pitches at least nine percent of the time, and his sweeper is the only one that’s gotten hit this season. He’s throwing it 26 percent of the time even though batters are hitting .361 with a .528 slugging percentage against it. If he can back off on that pitch and maintain the results from the others, he’s going to be a monster for a long time. At 6’2” 212 pounds with another life as a position player, he’s got a lot of upside that the Mets are quickly unearthing. To even call it upside feels ludicrous looking at his 2.08 ERA through 48 major league innings. Reading these last few sentences back to myself made me bump McLean ahead of Tong, for what that’s worth.

 

9. Twins OF Walker Jenkins | 21 | AAA | 2026

The sixth overall pick in the stacked 2023 class, Jenkins is a left-handed hitter with power and plate skills listed at 6’3” 210 pounds, but as I say all the time around here, those measurements look a little out of date. He’s dealt with some injuries that have cost him reps but steadily climbed the organization ladder nonetheless, closing out 2025 with 23 games in Triple-A. In 84 games across four levels, he slashed .286/.399/.451 with ten home runs and 17 stolen bases. It’s tough to predict how the team will handle his timeline. They seem to go back and forth on trading Joe Ryan every other day. If they keep him, Jenkins could be up early. If they move him this winter, I’d bet they’ll slow-play their season in general. Here’s a link to Grey’s 2026 Fantasy Outlook for Walker Jenkins.

 

10. Reds RHP Chase Burns | 22 | MLB | 2025 

With 43.1 MLB innings pitched in 2025, Burns remains eligible for the list after posting a 2.65 FIP with 67 strikeouts against 16 walks against major league hitters. It’s hard to imagine he’ll do anything other than strike guys out and improve his ratios across time. He only threw the changeup six percent of the time, but you could put an 80 on the fastball and the slider and nobody would blink. 

 

11. Giants 1B Bryce Eldridge | 21 | MLB | 2025

Here’s something Grey said the other day in his 2026 Fantasy Outlook for Bryce Eldridge: 

“I’m going to go out on a sturdy limb — like this dude’s arms — and say he’s out-homering Pete Alonso by 2028. His average exit velocity in Triple-A as a 20-year-old was 95.7 MPH. At 20! Sorry to keep repeating his age, but if a 25-year-old is doing this, it’s whatever. A 20-year-old? It’s ludicrous. He was basically the top average exit velocity guy as a 20-year-old. “As a 20-year-old” repeat seventy-five times. Eldridge is unreal. 90th% EV? 108.6 MPH! Max EV? 114.6! Barrel%? 16.3! Hard Hit%? 64.5! If these numbers mean nothing to you, take my word for it. They’re nuts. Kyle Schwarber led the majors in Hard Hit%, it was 59.6! Ohtani was 58.4%. Look again at Bryce Eldridge’s — 64.5%!”

These numbers look ludicrous no matter how you slice them, but when you throw in the fact that Eldridge was a two-way prospect out of high school and that he’s 6’7” 240 pounds and still getting accustomed to his meta-human frame, the mind boggles at the possibilities. I wish he were in just about any other ballpark, but the Giants have a good lineup that should provide protection and opportunities for the young slugger who just turned 21 on October 20th. 

 

12. Phillies OF Justin Crawford | 22 | AAA | 2026

I’ve been comparatively high on Crawford for a long time because I struggle to imagine a scenario where this guy fails to be valuable in our game. A left-handed hitter at 6’2” 188 pounds, he hasn’t elevated the ball much yet in his career, but that’s coming, and in the meantime he’s hitting well over .300 at every rung of the organizational ladder. In his final 52 games of the season, Crawford slashed .340/.418/.492 with six home runs, 20 stolen bases and a 16.7 percent strikeout rate. The math I’m trying to silence in my brain is of course not how baseball works, but if you multiply that by three, you get a glimpse at Crawford’s potential across 156 games.

 

13. Phillies SS Aidan Miller | 21 | AAA | 2026

The 27th overall pick in 2023, Miller broke out in the second half of 2025, slashing .357/.489/.601 with six home runs, 22 stolen bases and a 17 percent strikeout rate over his last 38 games, the final eight of those happening in Triple-A, where he’ll likely open the 2026 season barring a remarkable spring. He hit 14 home runs and stole 59 bases in 74 attempts across 116 games on the year. 

 

14. Mets OF Carson Benge | 23 | AAA | 2026

The 19th overall pick in the 2024 draft, the 6’1” 184 pound Benge employs a quick left-handed swing that generates plus power and contact to all fields. He enjoyed a big season in 2025, playing at three levels and slashing .281/.385/.472 with 15 home runs and 22 stolen bases. The numbers got dampened a bit by a rough final month in Triple-A, where he should be ready to roll at the beginning of 2026, assuming he doesn’t make the team out of spring training.

 

15. Mets RHP Jonah Tong | 22 | MLB | 2025

Tong’s four-seam fastball has been knocked around by major league hitters, who are slugging .600 across 213 pitches. Some of this is just location, but it’s not what happened with Tim Lincecum, whatever that’s worth. His heater had incredible life and dominated from the get go. I’ve always thought those comparisons were more aesthetic than anything, and the early returns are hinting in that direction. I still think Tong is an excellent prospect. Ranked him ninth on the recent top 100 list. But he gets his outs a little differently, with more finesse than power, featuring impressive command of a plus change-up and curveball. He might age a little better than Lincecum for this reason, and the Mets have shown they help a guy shape his fastball to maximum effect. Tong has a 1.77 WHIP through his first five starts, but that’s being dropped into a high-pressure playoff run after speeding through the minor leagues. He’ll be a buy for me in redraft leagues next season.

 

16. Tigers OF Max Clark | 21 | AA | 2026

The third overall pick out of high school in 2023, Clark’s a six-foot, 205-pound lefty who slashed .271/.403/.432 with 14 homers and 19 steals in 111 games between High-A and Double-A. The numbers don’t leap off the page, and he hit .251 in those 43 Double-A games, but he’s always been above league average against older competition, frequently flashing the power-speed topside that makes the rotisserie world go round. 

 

17. Guardians OF Chase DeLauter | 23 | MLB | 2025 

Here’s what Grey had to say the other day in his 2026 Fantasy Outlook for DeLauter: 

“He’s a monster lefty bat who takes a ton of walks. That’s who he is. It’s who he’s been for a few years. He went 7/1/.264 with a 15.8 walk and strikeout rate. Yes, 15.8% for both. He’s a .380 OBP guy with power. In my rookie outlook post for him last year, I said, “So, he’s old. Not like dinosaur old, but Chase DeLauter is 23 and played less than 40 games last year in the minors. Does he have proclivity for injuries? By the way, you can’t say proclivity aloud without sounding like Dr. Evil.”

Great take. You don’t even have to say it aloud. Once you put “proclivity” in your head with Dr. Evil’s voice, that’s the way it stays. And it’s fun. I kinda can’t stop doing it. Anyway, I think DeLauter is the front-runner for rookie of the year. Unless Cleveland sends him back to Triple-A again, where he would almost certainly get injured riding a bus or sleeping on a couch or picking a fight with a mascot who hits the gym a lot. 

PS: I’ve been watching TENET off and on today, and I feel like there’s a connection to DeLauter’s development path. I mean he just POOF appeared out of nowhere in the playoff lineup. Perhaps his timeline has been inverted. 

 

18. Dodgers OF Josue De Paula | 20 | AA | 2027

Listed at 6’3” 185 pounds, De Paula appears to be bigger than that to the naked eye–not that I’m walking around with inappropriate eyewear looking at teenage athletes. A left-handed hitter with impressive contact skills for a guy his size, De Paula has yet to really lift the ball in regular season play, topping out at 12 home runs in 98 High-A games in 2025, slashing .263/.406/.421 with 86 strikeouts, 81 walks, and 32 steals in 40 attempts. He was 2.2 years younger than the average age in the Midwest League, so we have a lot of reasons to believe the power will come sooner than later. He closed out the season with a week in Double-A, where he will likely open 2026 as one of the youngest players at that level.

 

19. Blue Jays RHP Trey Yesavage | 22 | MLB | 2025

Yesavage became something of a household name during Toronto’s titillating post-season run despite having pitched just 13 big league innings during the regular season. Part of that was because he was amazing and so were the Blue Jays, but some of that was likely because he has a unique style that’s easy for even a casual baseball fan to recognize. I don’t know if you’ll remember Josh Collmenter. I was surprised to remember him myself, but he’s the last guy I can remember releasing at the 12’o’clock slot this way. The thing about Collmenter was he lacked velocity, sitting in the mid-80’s with his fastball and cutter (84.6 mph in his final season). Nonetheless, he had a career ERA of 3.64 and WHIP of 1.198 in 695.1 innings despite recording just 494 strikeouts. Anywho, Yesavage has a similarly deceptive release point but also has more strength and balance throughout his delivery, which helps him command a three-pitch arsenal highlighted by a dynamic splitter that tunnels well with his fastball and slider. He also throws much, much harder than Collmenter ever did, averaging 94.7 mph on the fastball, 88.7 on the slider and 84.1 on the splitter. His slowest pitch is the same speed as Collmenter’s fastest. Fun stuff. Great comp. I baseball writer. But seriously folks, I think Yesavage is going to be awesome. Heck, he already was.

 

20. Athletics RHP Luis Morales | 22 | MLB | 2025

A plus athlete at 6’3” 190 pounds, Morales features a whippy three-quarters delivery with a nasty fastball-curveball combo that can make any lineup look inept, at least the first time through. When he’s landing his changeup, there goes the second time through. Beyond that, his career’s success will come down to durability and command, both of which he should age into, given the exceptional talent level. He pitched 48.2 innings in 2025, so he’s just under the 50-inning line we use here to replicate dynasty leagues, but you won’t see Morales on many real-baseball lists because he graduated on time-served for MLB purposes. 

 

21. Marlins LHP Thomas White | 21 | AAA | 2026

At 6’5” 210 pounds, White wields the kind of stuff that would work against anybody: a mid-90’s fastball, a picturesque curve and disappearing changeup. It’s especially perilous for left-handed hitters, and as Blake Snell has proven, if you can eliminate lefties, you’re way ahead before the game begins. He dominated High-A and Double-A, and while he’s lost the strike zone a bit through two Triple-A starts, he still has 17 strikeouts in 9.1 innings against much older players. Miami is back in a familiar spot for the franchise, looking forward to the development of an extremely promising pitching staff while fielding a lineup peppered with question marks. 

 

22. Cubs C Moises Ballesteros | 21 | MLB | 2025

A left-handed hitter listed at 5’8” 215 lbs, Ballesteros puts barrel to ball with the best of them, making contact just about any time he feels like it and minimizing strikeouts every step of his climb to the precipice. In 114 Triple-A games this year, he slashed .316/.385/.473 with 13 home runs and just 67 strikeouts against 49 walks. His bat has outpaced his defensive development, so even though he’s always generated positive outcomes against much older competitors, Ballesteros might have to make a leap behind the plate or wait while the Cubs sort through other options at his position.

 

23. Reds 1B 3B Sal Stewart | 22 | MLB | 2025 

The 32nd overall pick in 2022, Stewart enjoyed a breakout season in 2025, slugging more than .500 for his first time as a professional. At 6’1” 224 lbs with plus plate skills, he’s always had latent power that could make him a force in fantasy baseball. He likes to run and stole 17 bases in 20 attempts across two minor league levels, but he’s not fast: 14th percentile sprint speed according to statcast. Don’t have to be fast to steal some bags these days, and Stewart will probably find a half-dozen or so free bases even early in his career as he did in this year’s postseason. In 138 total games across three levels, he hit 25 home runs and stole 18 bases while hitting .300 with a great strikeout-to-walk rate. Should open next season as a rookie-of-the-year frontrunner.

 

24. Red Sox SS Franklin Arias | 20 | AA | 2027

Arias signed for $525,000 as the second highest paid player in Boston’s 2023 international class. Today, that looks like money well invested. A right-handed hitter listed at 5’11” 170 lbs, Arias wasn’t as good in 2025 as he had been the year before, but he was facing much older competition and still managed a 108 wRC+ in 87 High-A games despite slashing .265/.329/.380. The plate skills were still elite: 8.2% walk rate against an 8.9% strikeout rate, so the organization waved him along to Double-A for a ten-game stretch at season’s end. He hits the ball hard enough. Just needs to add some loft and grow into some man-strength. 

 

25. Brewers SS Luis Pena | 19 | A+ | 2028

Peña was excellent right away in full-season ball despite jumping from the Dominican Summer League to Low-A, slashing .308/.375/.469 with six home runs, 41 stolen bases and just 41 strikeouts (13.3%) in 71 games to earn a quick promotion to High-A. He met his match in the High-A Midwest League, scuffling to a slash line of .168/.220/.297 with 27 strikeouts (24.8%) in 25 games. A right-handed hitter at 5’11” 185 pounds, Peña has excellent hands in the batter’s box and in the field and should be able to play wherever he’s needed and make enough contact to let his plus speed and plate skills float the profile.

Thanks for reading!