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Top 500 Fantasy Prospects For 2026
Plus: 30 exciting stateside debuts, WBC rosters, a beginner's guide to Topps & more.
Preseason Top 500 Fantasy Prospects
After three months of fantasy baseball rankings updates, the final step of the offseason process arrives with Baseball America’s Top 500 Fantasy Baseball Prospects for 2026. Built specifically with dynasty leagues in mind, these rankings aim to blend upside with proximity to big league production.
The foundation for this list was laid early in the offseason, as Baseball America’s prospect team gathered extensive reporting during the annual Prospect Handbook process. That work, which runs through late December, provides a wealth of insight for every ranking across the site.
At its core, this list especially weights hitters’ hit tools, power and speed. For pitchers, BA grades, risk and Stuff+ scores help frame how each arm stacks up.
The goal is to build a road map for your offseason dynasty drafts. It’s important to read this list with the context of your league, team construction and scoring format. Players are in general tiers, which expand in size the further down the board you move. Applying team, league and scoring context might impact whether you prefer a player ranked a few spots behind another. These rankings are more map than gospel.
Good luck and happy drafting!
COMPELLING STATESIDE DEBUTS
30 Exciting Prospects Set To Make Stateside Debuts In 2026
For international prospects, coming stateside is the first significant checkpoint in their pro careers. It’s a chance for new travel, routines and, most importantly, a chance to face better competition. This week, Jesús Cano examined 30 recent international signings who we expect to come stateside this year who have a mixture of tools and production to make an impact. The exercise ranges from highly-regarded prospects like Kevin Defrank (Marlins) and Kevin Alvarez (Astros) to those flying more under the radar who could level up in 2026.
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WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC ROSTERS
Every MLB Player On 2026 World Baseball Classic Rosters
We can’t wait for the 2026 World Baseball Classic, so Thursday night represented a significant milestone with the release of all 20 rosters. While there will be plenty of players spread across rosters who will be unfamiliar to casual baseball fans, there will also be plenty of higher-profile MLB talent taking the field when the WBC kicks off in March.
Below, here’s the initial list of all 306 affiliated players on World Baseball Classic rosters. The Mets lead the way with 17 players, followed by the Mariners (16), Phillies (15), Red Sox (14), Royals (14), Pirates (14) and Brewers (14).
You can also dive deeper into every team, complete with the best players and prospects on every roster. Plus, check out why the data supports this is Team USA’s best team ever.
TOPPS BASEBALL CARDS EXPLAINED
Here’s A Beginner’s Guide To Every Major Topps Product & Format
For newer collectors especially, the myriad products offered by sports card heavyweight Topps can be overwhelming. A product name like “Topps Chrome Update Sapphire” might be second nature to those in the know, but with so many different offerings, how is a beginner in the hobby supposed to know the difference between all the major releases?
Fortunately, Baseball America is here to help. Consider this your entry-level class into the different formats, releases and branding that Topps puts out over the course of year.
BA PODCASTS
Get Caught Up On The Latest BA Podcasts
Looking for something to listen to this weekend? Baseball America has you covered with a rundown of new podcast episodes:
Future Projection: Analyzing BA’s Farm System Rankings
College Podcast: Breaking Down Our Preseason All-Americans
Prospect Deep Dives: J.J. Cooper and Carlos Collazo On The Guardians
Want even more BA podcasts? sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Player FM to make sure you never miss an episode.
TRENDING NOW AT BASEBALL AMERICA
👀 Jacob Rudner is previewing every major college conference ahead of the 2026 season. Check out his first batch of installments:
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