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Fantasy baseball draft season is officially underway.
A select group of 15 fantasy industry stalwarts gathered on Monday, Feb. 23, for the League of Alternative Baseball Reality's mixed league draft, providing a first look at how the 2026 MLB player pool shakes out and offering a variety of strategic options for fantasy baseball managers everywhere.
Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and Bobby Witt Jr. are the consensus top three picks in just about every mixed league. And that's exactly the order they went in Mixed LABR. All three are significant five-category contributors, and they give their fantasy teams almost unlimited options with their next few picks.
Most mixed league drafts don't really start until pick No. 4. At that spot, a case can be made for one of several top players.
After hitting 43 home runs and stealing 38 bases in 2025, Mets outfielder Juan Soto was the choice for Scott Pianowski of Yahoo Sports with the fourth pick. Then, Tim McLeod of Prospect 361 delivered a mild surprise by taking Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz at No. 5. Again, the power and speed potential is tantalizing − as is the fact that he's only 24 years old.
The most common option for the fourth overall selection, Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez, dropped into the lap of Dr. Roto, Mark Bloom, at No. 6. Ramirez offers a similar skillset as both Soto and De La Cruz, as well as a longer track record. But he's 33.
There seems to be a clear elite trio of starting pitchers in this year's pool. Sure enough, the Tigers' Tarik Skubal, the Pirates' Paul Skenes and the Red Sox's Garrett Crochet were all taken in the first round.
Skubal went seventh, Skenes two picks later at No. 9, and Crochet just before the turn at pick 13.
Notably, 18 more players would be taken before the next pitcher went off the board. That's a very clear line between first- and second-tier starters. But once defending champion Ryan Bloomfield of Baseball HQ pulled the trigger on Cristopher Sanchez with the 32nd overall selection, an avalanche of pitchers soon followed.
Eight pitchers were selected in the third round and nine more (including five closers) went in Round 4.
In addition to the early run on pitchers, a few other things stood out.
Draft spots were chosen by a random draw on RTSports.com.
*-defending 2025 champion
The League of Alternative Baseball Reality is the original fantasy baseball experts league. LABR began in 1994, when Sports Weekly (then Baseball Weekly) fantasy editor John Hunt recruited 12 industry titans to draft and play in AL- and NL-only auction leagues.
LABR has since expanded to a Mixed league draft (in 2012) and a Mixed auction league (in 2020).
LABR traditionally holds its drafts in early spring as a way to "set the bar" for fantasy managers in their home leagues. The different formats offer insights on draft strategy, roster construction and player pool depth that are comparable to the most popular fantasy league options.
Here is the 2026 LABR lineup:
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fantasy baseball 2026 draft: LABR mixed draft results, 15-team 5x5
Continue reading...
A select group of 15 fantasy industry stalwarts gathered on Monday, Feb. 23, for the League of Alternative Baseball Reality's mixed league draft, providing a first look at how the 2026 MLB player pool shakes out and offering a variety of strategic options for fantasy baseball managers everywhere.
Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and Bobby Witt Jr. are the consensus top three picks in just about every mixed league. And that's exactly the order they went in Mixed LABR. All three are significant five-category contributors, and they give their fantasy teams almost unlimited options with their next few picks.
Few surprises in Round 1
Most mixed league drafts don't really start until pick No. 4. At that spot, a case can be made for one of several top players.
After hitting 43 home runs and stealing 38 bases in 2025, Mets outfielder Juan Soto was the choice for Scott Pianowski of Yahoo Sports with the fourth pick. Then, Tim McLeod of Prospect 361 delivered a mild surprise by taking Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz at No. 5. Again, the power and speed potential is tantalizing − as is the fact that he's only 24 years old.
The most common option for the fourth overall selection, Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez, dropped into the lap of Dr. Roto, Mark Bloom, at No. 6. Ramirez offers a similar skillset as both Soto and De La Cruz, as well as a longer track record. But he's 33.
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Definite top tier emerges among pitchers
There seems to be a clear elite trio of starting pitchers in this year's pool. Sure enough, the Tigers' Tarik Skubal, the Pirates' Paul Skenes and the Red Sox's Garrett Crochet were all taken in the first round.
Skubal went seventh, Skenes two picks later at No. 9, and Crochet just before the turn at pick 13.
Notably, 18 more players would be taken before the next pitcher went off the board. That's a very clear line between first- and second-tier starters. But once defending champion Ryan Bloomfield of Baseball HQ pulled the trigger on Cristopher Sanchez with the 32nd overall selection, an avalanche of pitchers soon followed.
Eight pitchers were selected in the third round and nine more (including five closers) went in Round 4.
Other LABR Mixed draft takeaways
In addition to the early run on pitchers, a few other things stood out.
- Battery-powered: In one of the most unusual draft openings you'll ever see, Fred Zinkie of Fangraphs and Rotowire took three pitchers and two catchers with his first five picks. It's hard to argue with Crochet as a late first-rounder and Cal Raleigh of the Mariners is coming off a historic 60-homer season. But to follow that up with Seattle's Bryan Woo, Padres closer Mason Miller and then Rockies backstop Hunter Goodman is almost unprecedented.
- But don't laugh too hard. Zinkie's team is projected to finish in first place by Fantasy Pros' Draft Wizard.
- Unafraid to double up: Zinkie wasn't the only one to take multiple players at the same position in the first few rounds. Dr. Roto also claimed a pair of catchers with Ben Rice in the fourth and Salvador Perez in the seventh. The Athletic's Derek VanRiper grabbed two shortstops (Geraldo Perdomo and Jeremy Peña) in the fifth and seventh. And Fangraphs' Paul Sporer nabbed two of the top three second basemen in Rounds 2 and 3 with Jazz Chisholm and Brice Turang (although Chisholm is also eligible at third base).
- Patience with pitching: Ray Flowers of Fantasy Guru somehow managed to resist temptation as pitchers flew off the board in Rounds 3 and 4. He started his roster with five consecutive hitters: OF Ronald Acuña Jr., 2B Ketel Marte, SS CJ Abrams, 3B Maikel Garcia and 1B Freddie Freeman. Flowers did come back with several high-upside pitchers in the following rounds, including the Braves' Spencer Strider in Round 8.
- Closer tiers: The first closer in the draft wasn't taken until the third pick in Round 4, when Zinkie selected the Padres' Miller. Four others (Edwin Diaz, Cade Smith, Andres Muñoz and Jhoan Duran) also went in that round. Devin Williams, Aroldis Chapman and David Bednar were fifth-round picks. Ryan Helsley, Rafael Iglesias and Jeff Hoffman were taken in the sixth. After that, it took until the middle of Round 8 before another closer (Pete Fairbanks) went off the board.
- Injury uncertainty: Health concerns are always a factor, especially in early drafts when we don't really know how quickly players will recover and be ready for game action. Here are some of the players with the biggest injury questions and where they were drafted:
- SS Francisco Lindor (hamate surgery): Round 2, pick 6.
- OF Corbin Carroll (hamate surgery): Round 2, pick 7.
- SP Joe Ryan (back inflammation): Round 4, pick 15.
- SP Zack Wheeler (thoracic outlet surgery): Round 8, pick 1.
- RP Josh Hader (biceps inflammation): Round 11, pick 12.
- 2B Jackson Holliday (hamate surgery): Round 13, pick 5.
- SP Blake Snell (shoulder inflammation): Round 13, pick 7.
- 3B Jordan Westburg (UCL tear): Round 17, pick 13.
LABR Mixed draft order
Draft spots were chosen by a random draw on RTSports.com.
*-defending 2025 champion
- Rudy Gamble – Razzball
- *Ryan Bloomfield – Baseball HQ
- Alan Harrison - TheFantasyFix
- Scott Pianowski – Yahoo Sports
- Tim McLeod – Prospect 361
- Mark Bloom – Dr. Roto
- Derek VanRiper – The Athletic
- Ray Flowers – Fantasy Guru
- Mike Gianella – Baseball Prospectus
- Mike Podhorzer – Fangraphs
- Jeff Erickson – Rotowire
- Zach Steinhorn – Steinhorn's Universe
- Fred Zinkie – @FredZinkieMLB
- Paul Sporer – The Sleeper & the Bust podcast
- Jenny Butler – FTN Fantasy
What is LABR?
The League of Alternative Baseball Reality is the original fantasy baseball experts league. LABR began in 1994, when Sports Weekly (then Baseball Weekly) fantasy editor John Hunt recruited 12 industry titans to draft and play in AL- and NL-only auction leagues.
LABR has since expanded to a Mixed league draft (in 2012) and a Mixed auction league (in 2020).
LABR 2026 draft schedule
LABR traditionally holds its drafts in early spring as a way to "set the bar" for fantasy managers in their home leagues. The different formats offer insights on draft strategy, roster construction and player pool depth that are comparable to the most popular fantasy league options.
Here is the 2026 LABR lineup:
- LABR Mixed draft: Monday, Feb. 23
- LABR AL auction: Saturday, Feb. 28
- LABR NL auction: Sunday, March 1
- LABR Mixed auction: Saturday, March 7
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fantasy baseball 2026 draft: LABR mixed draft results, 15-team 5x5
Continue reading...
