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It's all cyclical. In these State of the Position pieces, I've talked about where each one stands at the end of the 2025 season and heading into the offseason, but the truth is … we don't really know what it's going to look like when the games start. 

Look at catcher. Last offseason, I scoffed at the idea that catcher was suddenly going to be a position of strength for Fantasy, because I had heard that story just about every year for the 14 years I've been writing about Fantasy Baseball professionally. There was no real reason to believe the position would suddenly see a big influx of young talent who actually lived up to expectations … until it happened. Catcher is suddenly in better shape than it has been in years, but we need to remember that can change with a few underperformances in the span of a year.

But you can look at outfield to see how a one-year change can become an actual trend, too. A few years ago, outfield looked like a relative wasteland for Fantasy, but it's absolutely going to be one of the strongest positions in Fantasy for 2026. In large part, that's because of the emergence of young stars like Pete Crow-Armstrong, James Wood, Riley Greene, and Jackson Chourio over the past few seasons. But in 2025, we were also helped by the re-emergence of names like Christian Yelich, George Springer, and Cody Bellinger, all of whom were top-12 options at the position in 2025. 

We do have to deal with some losses here, of course. Kyle Schwarber won't enter 2026 with outfield eligibility, and neither will Yelich, Jazz Chisholm, or Maikel Garcia, among other impact bats from 2025. Even without them, outfield looks like it's in great shape, and with most of the top options at the position still in their 20s, it would be a surprise if the position took a big step back next season. But it wouldn't be unthinkable.

2025 Shortstop Review

  1. Aaron Judge, NYY: .331 - 137 - 53 - 114 - 12
  2. Juan Soto, NYM: .263 - 120 - 43 - 105 - 38
  3. Kyle Schwarber, PHI*: .240 - 111 - 56 - 132 - 10
  4. Julio Rodriguez, SEA: .267 - 106 - 32 - 95 - 30
  5. George Springer, TOR: .309 - 106 - 32 - 84 - 18
  6. Corbin Carroll, ARI: .259 - 107 - 31 - 84 - 32
  7. Pete Crow-Armstrong, CHC: .247 - 91 - 31 - 95 - 35
  8. Byron Buxton, MIN: .264 - 97 - 35 - 83 - 24
  9. Fernando Tatis Jr., SD: .268 - 111 - 25 - 71 - 32
  10. Christian Yelich, MIL*: .264 - 88 - 29 - 103 - 16
  11. Cody Bellinger, NYY: .272 - 89 - 29 - 98 - 13
  12. Jazz Chisholm, NYY*: .242 - 75 - 31 - 80 - 31
  13. Randy Arozarena, SEA: .238 - 95 - 27 - 76 - 31
  14. James Wood, WAS: .256 - 87 - 31 - 94 - 15
  15. Riley Greene, DET: .258 - 84 - 36 - 111 - 2
  16. Kyle Tucker, CHC: .266 - 91 - 22 - 73 - 25
  17. Jackson Chourio, MIL: .270 - 88 - 21 - 78 - 21
  18. Brent Rooker, ATH: .262 - 92 - 30 - 89 - 6
  19. Andy Pages, LAD: .272 - 74 - 27 - 86 - 14
  20. Maikel Garcia, KC*: .286 - 81 - 16 - 74 - 23
  21. Brandon Nimmo, NYM: .262 - 81 - 25 - 92 - 13
  22. Taylor Ward, LAA: .228 - 86 - 36 - 103 - 4
  23. Jarren Duran, BOS: .257 - 86 - 16 - 84 - 24
  24. Tyler Soderstrom, ATH: .276 - 75 - 25 - 93 - 8

*Won't be OF-eligible in 2026 

Biggest Breakout from 2025

George Springer, Blue Jays

Who saw this coming? Springer's .309 batting average was his best in a single season ever, while his 32 homers and 84 RBI were his most since 2019; his 106 runs were his most since 2017! The 36-year-old managed all that with underlying numbers that were, if anything, even better than his actual production, if you'd believe it. He saw an uptick in average swing rate from 71.9 mph to 73.8, and he did that while lowering his chase rate. That increased bat speed came along with a bat path more conducive to hitting the ball in the air to the pull side, and it really seems like he managed to improve basically across the board without any negative side effects. 

And he's remained a force in the postseason, punctuated by his game-winning homer in Game 7 of the ALCS. Given his age and recent track record, skepticism is a reasonable response to Springer's big season. But he doesn't have to be a top-five outfielder again to be worth drafting, and I suspect the skepticism around him will be strong enough to keep the price reasonable. 

Honorable Mention: Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs

At the All-Star break, Crow-Armstrong was the obvious choice. And then his poor plate discipline caught up to him, and he regressed to … a 31-homer, 35-steal season and a top-10 finish among outfielders in Roto leagues. Yes, he was awful in the second half of the season, but it's worth noting that that wasn't enough to undo all the good he did in the first half. And you're usually better off just taking a full season's worth of playing time to establish your expectations moving forward than trying to figure out which split is the "real" one.

In Crow-Armstrong's case, I do think his elite first half and horrible second half to point to some inherent volatility in his skill set, mostly tied to his poor swing decisions, contact issues, and especially his struggles against lefties. He has enough ways to impact the game besides his bat that I think his playing time should be assured, but there is some risk that he just becomes absolutely unplayable against lefties – he had 55 strikeouts to just five walks, with an 83.9 mph average exit velocity against lefties, after all. But his swing is geared to make the most out of his raw power, and his athleticism should continue to lead to plenty of steals. Crow-Armstrong feels like a fade if his price pushes up toward the second round in a 15-team league, but once the third round hits and the other picks get a little less certain, someone is going to take the flier on him. I think the floor is still something like 15 homers and 25 steals here; it's unlikely he's ever not at least useful for Roto. In points leagues, he's probably pretty fringe-y, so keep that in mind. 

Biggest Bust from 2025

Yordan Alvarez, Astros*

Alvarez isn't outfield eligible for 2026, but he still qualifies for this discussion, since he was outfield eligible in 2025. And there's no getting around it: He was a bust. He hit .210/.306/.340 through the start of May, then went on the IL with what turned out to be a fractured hand – another injury the Astros misdiagnosed on a star player – and was basically a total non-factor for Fantasy until the end of August. He did enough in August and September to convince me that he's still an elite caliber bat, and I'm likely to end up drafting him an awful lot in 2026 at what should be a bargain basement price. I still think he's one of just a handful of hitters capable of both 50-plus homers and a .300 average, and I just don't hold his injury from 2025 against him too much. If Alvarez makes it to the fourth round in any draft I'm in, he'll be on my team; if he makes it to the third, he'll still be on a lot of my teams. 

Honorable Mention: Oneil Cruz, Pirates

The physical tools remain incredible. And Cruz's growth as a base stealer and emergence as a legitimate center fielder last season point to his ability to learn new skills and implement them into his game. Which is a good reason not to just give up on him … but I'm pretty close to doing just that.

The problem is, we've just seen no growth as a hitter since Cruz first burst on the scene in 2022. He's as physically gifted as any hitter in baseball, but he just isn't optimized to get the most out of that yet. He still makes bad swing decisions and still has huge contact issues, and he still hits the ball on the ground too often to fully take advantage of his top-of-the-scale power. And he still isn't playable against lefties, managing just a .400 OPS and 35% strikeout rate against them next season. 

Sure, you'll still take 20 homers and 38 steals, but at what cost? Both in drafts, where he is likely to be taken much earlier than someone with similar upside and downside outcomes like Luis Robert, and in the actual cost to your team by rostering such a huge batting average liability. It's not like Cruz is young, either – at 27, he's more likely to just be a finished product at this point. And there is real playing time risk here, given his massive platoon issues. 

Biggest rankings movers from 2025 to 2026

Up: Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs; Roman Anthony, Red Sox; Kyle Stowers, Marlins; Byron Buxton, Twins

Anthony jumps up now that he's a fully established major-leaguer. He figures to be drafted as a top-20 outfielder, and there's top-10 upside if he figures out how to elevate the ball more consistently and tap into his obvious plus power. You won't get much speed from him, but he has the upside to be a legitimate four-category superstar, ala a Freddie Freeman or Yordan Alvarez. 

It's a real bummer Stowers didn't get to finish his season, because it would have been nice to have more evidence to back up his breakout. Before an oblique strain cost him the final six months, Stowers was simply one of the best hitters in baseball, and it didn't really look like a fluke – his .386 wOBA was backed up by a .387 xwOBA. There are some concerns about his ability to make consistent contact and to hit lefties, but his .318 expected wOBA against lefties should be good enough to avoid becoming a full-time platoon bat. If what he did last season was for real. I'm skeptical enough to keep him outside of the top-20 at outfield, but I'm not fading him entirely, either. 

It's going to be fascinating to see where Buxton ends up in ADP. He's coming off arguably his best season ever, but I also feel like we didn't actually learn anything new about him. His OPS was 19 points higher than it was in 2024, but he was much more effective overall, in large part because he got nearly 160 more plate appearances. However, he also did steal 24 bases, his most since 2017, a sign that Buxton was truly healthy for the first time in a while. How much are drafters going to be willing to overlook Buxton's long injury history? I'll admit, I'm surprised to see Scott White ranking Buxton as a top-12 outfielder in Roto – I have him 24th in my early rankings. I may not be drafting any Buxton in 2026. 

Down: Luis Robert, White Sox; Brenton Doyle, Rockies; Lawrence Butler, Athletics; Dylan Crews, Nationals

Robert got the benefit of the doubt for a tough 2024 and was still a top-90 pick on average in 2025; I think his price might fall 100 picks after he rewarded that faith with another miserable season as a hitter. He did pick up the pace on steals to make up for it somewhere, but with two sub-.700 OPS seasons in a row now, it's a lot harder to believe Robert is going to be a difference maker again. 

Doyle showed signs of life after the All-Star break, hitting .282/.307/.462 with a 20-20 pace, and his defense should still keep him in the lineup for 2026. Which is to say that, while I think his price should drop for 2026, I'm open to him as a late-round sleeper and bounce-back candidate. And it's potentially worth noting that Doyle suffered a family tragedy early in the season; these are humans, and you never know how off-field stuff impacts them, but it's reasonable to assume that he might not have been fully dialed in for much of the season while dealing with that. 

We learned after the season that Butler was dealing with injuries to both knees, one of which required surgery. That could explain his disappointing season – it would certainly seem to explain why his sprint speed fell from the 58th percentile to 36th. I was skeptical of Butler coming into the season, but I do think giving him some benefit of the doubt here makes sense. He shouldn't be drafted as high as in 2025, when he was often a top-60 pick. But he's still a super-talented player who went 20-20 despite the injuries, and he's still going to be playing in arguably the best hitter's park in baseball, so betting on something of a bounceback isn't the worst idea. 

I still have some hope for Crews, though 2025 was clearly a step back. The surface-level numbers look very similar for Crews, but his swing decisions were worse across the board, and he also made less contact without a notable increase in the quality of the contact he was making. And hey, in just about half a season, we still got 10 homers and 17 steals out of him, so it's not like he's totally useless as a Fantasy option. But he's a .211 hitter in 116 career MLB games, and until he improves that, he's just a late-round flier type. 

Offseason preview

Who needs an upgrade most? 

According to FanGraphs, the Royals received -1.1 WAR from their outfielders in 2025, while the Pirates and Guardians each combined for less than 1.0 WAR from their three outfield spots. All three seemingly have designs on competing in 2026, so those seem to be the easiest spots for any team to upgrade this offseason. Of course, whether all three of these notoriously frugal teams actually try to fill those holes is a different question – if they were more aggressive about spending, they wouldn't have had those holes to begin with, you know? 

Top impending free agents

Tucker is going to get dinged in some folks' minds for his injury woes over the past two seasons, but I really don't hold it against him – in both 2024 and 2025, he had fractures that were seemingly misdiagnosed, limiting him to 78 games in 2024 and precipitating a deep slump in 2025. Even with those injuries, Tucker has hit .274/.388/.507 with a 34-homer, 27-steal pace. He's going to get a massive contract and is a good bet to put together his best season since 2023 with just a bit of better luck.  

Bellinger is kind of like a poor-man's Tucker – maybe a tad more valuable on defense, though that edge seems to be declining in his 30s. He'll probably wait for Tucker to sign before landing somewhere, though I don't think he'll have to wait nearly as long as he did a couple of offseasons ago now that we have a multi-year track record of him playing at this level. 

Schwarber is the other big name here, though he isn't actually outfield eligible for 2026, nor is he likely to play there much wherever he signs. It would be interesting to see if he landed somewhere that needs help at first base, a position he dabbled in back in 2021. Getting him eligible somewhere would be nice. However, coming off a 56-homer season, Schwarber is going to be an early-round pick in all Fantasy formats, no matter where he is eligible. Paying full price coming off a 50-homer season might not be the best idea, though. 

Trade candidates Jarren Duran

The Red Sox have a glut in the outfield, and Duran came back down to earth enough in 2025 that moving him ahead of his age-29 season probably makes a lot of sense for them. He's a good player, to be sure, but probably not a foundational piece at this point. A move to the Pirates would make a lot of sense if the Pirates ever decide to actually try to win games, and the Royals could also really use him in any one of three outfield spots. And either landing spot could be pretty nice for Duran, with their large outfields giving him plenty of room to rack up XBH. 

Robert has a team option for around $20 million, which the White Sox are almost certainly going to pick up in the hopes of trading him. Of course, it's fair to wonder what, if any, trade value Robert has left after two absolutely miserable seasons. It's one thing to deal with the headache of all that missed time when he plays like a superstar when he's on the field, but Robert has hit just .223/.288/.372 combined over the past two seasons. I still think he can be a good player, and a change of scenery probably wouldn't hurt. But for Fantasy, Robert has to come at a steep discount to be worth the trouble, no matter where he's playing. 

I'll just mention Caissie and Alcantara here, because if the Cubs opt to re-sign Kyle Tucker (no sure thing), either of them would seemingly be a candidate to be moved this offseason for some pitching help. And if Tucker doesn't re-sign (or they decide to shed some salary by moving either Seiya Suzuki or Ian Happ), then Caissie would seemingly have an Opening Day job waiting for him. 

Top rookies to know for 2026

  • Chase DeLauter, Guardians – DeLauter made his MLB debut in the playoffs and seems all but assured of being in the Opening Day lineup … if he can get through a few weeks of Spring Training healthy. The talent has never been in doubt; it's the "get through a week in a row without getting hurt" part that has tripped him up so far. There's the potential for a Max Muncy-esque offensive profile if he stays upright. 
  • Max Clark, Tigers – Clark more than held his own as a 20-year-old in Double, hitting .251/.360/.439 in 43 games this season. You'd like to see more speed from a pure leadoff type (19 steals in 111 games in 2025), but there is probably 30-plus steal potential with double-digit homers and a good OBP if everything comes together. Think a Nico Hoerner type, perhaps? 
  • Walker Jenkins, Twins – Jenkins has an advanced eye at the plate, but we're still waiting on the power to come along. He's also missed a lot of time and has pretty marginal speed, so the power needs to develop before we project him as an impact Fantasy player. Right now, a Brandon Nimmo comp makes sense, and that's fine. Just not an impact bat. 
  • Carson Benge, Mets – The key for Benge in the immediate future might be whether he can handle center field well enough. He scuffled a bit with a late-season promotion to Triple-A, but still makes a lot of contact, draws walks, and has a generally well-rounded skill set that draws comparisons to future teammate Brandon Nimmo. Benge will probably have to prove himself at Triple-A, and he'll likely share the outfield with Jett Williams at Syracuse, another top-50 prospect who needs to be on our radars. Benge might end up the better player in the long run, but Williams' skill set could be more well-suited for Fantasy, at least in Roto formats. 
  • Lazaro Montes, Mariners – The Mariners are going to need some internal improvements to replicate their deep playoff run, and Montes making the leap to the majors could be one source of such an improvement. He struggled to make contact as a 20-year-old in Double-A this season, so don't expect him to skip Tacoma entirely. But he also hit 14 homers in just 64 games while being young for that level, which highlights the upside here. It could be a Riley Greene with more walks kind of profile if he makes it, and I suspect we'll see him in 2026. 
  • Braden Montgomery, White Sox – Montgomery had a fine first professional season, where he didn't really answer the biggest questions about him as a prospect. He has big skills and some concerns about his approach, though a 25.1% strikeout rate while reaching Double-A isn't terribly alarming. Given the organization he plays for, the opportunity should present itself as soon as he is ready. 
  • Owen Caissie, Cubs – I suspect there is some fatigue with Caissie, who has seemingly been on the cusp of the majors since he had 22 homers as a 20-year-old in Double-A in 2023. Despite that, he is still just 23 and hasn't done much to hurt his standing, even if he hasn't necessarily made the leap to "can't-miss" status. He'll hit for a lot of power and strike out a decent amount, and if the Cubs don't re-sign Kyle Tucker, he should have a spot in the middle of a good lineup waiting for him on Opening Day. Kevin Alcantara is also here and did surprisingly jump ahead of Caissie when an opportunity presented itself late in 2025, but I still think Caissie is the better prospect and better bet for an Opening Day role. 
  • Justin Crawford, Phillies – The top-line numbers certainly jump out at you: Crawford hit .334/.411/.452 with 46 steals as a 21-year-old at Triple-A. And he actually hits the ball reasonably hard 110.6 mph max exit velo, 89.8 mph average), though he also runs extreme ground ball rates that make it hard to project much power. If he could be a 15-homer guy, it's easy to get really excited about what the upside could look like for Crawford, but even if he's just a Nico Hoerner type, that's exciting enough. He'll be added to the 40-man roster this offseason and has a chance to force his way onto the Opening Day roster, and seems like a decent bet to be the team's starting center fielder in 2026. 
  • Emmanuel Rodriguez, Twins – Rodriguez does so much well. He's an excellent athlete with potential plus power and tons of patience at the plate, and he's already held his own at Triple-A as a 22-year-old. He has also played just 112 games over the past two seasons and has a strikeout rate north of 30% in those two seasons, so there's a lot of ways things could go wrong. But if he's healthy and making noise this spring, the Twins should throw caution to the wind and get him up while he's upright. There's no guarantee that lasts. 
  • Ryan Waldschmidt, Diamondbacks – Waldschmidt had a nice first season as a pro, hitting 18 homers and stealing 29 bases in 13 games while getting to Double-A and thriving there. He seems likely to see some time at Triple-A before getting the call, but Waldschmidt could fill a Lourdes Gurriel-shaped hole in the Diamondbacks' corner outfield spot opposite Corbin Carroll fairly early on next season. 
  • Josue De Paula, Dodgers – The Dodgers have an absolutely absurd amount of enticing corner outfield bats. De Paula has a chance to be the best of them, though the power here remains mostly theoretical still. If he can turn the plus raw power into action in games more consistently, he has the tools to be a big-time contributor in any Fantasy format, though the Dodgers' depth and willingness to be patient with top prospects means it's unlikely we see De Paula in 2026. 
  • Zyhir Hope, Dodgers – And the same is probably true of Hope, as well as Mike Sirota and Eduardo Quintero, all of whom look like top-100 prospects (at least). Sirota and Quintero haven't reached Double-A yet, while Hope has only played six games there, so patience will be needed. But Hope has big tools (including potential plus-plus power), and enough athleticism to steal 27 bases this season in the minors. He's still raw enough, without contact questions, that the Dodgers seem likely to let him marinate for a while in the minors. But he could be the long-term Teoscar Hernandez replacement.