Top 25 Prospects for Re-Draft Leagues

  • By Anthony Kates

    It used to be that managers in re-draft leagues didn’t have to know more than three or four prospects every season. These were usually high level performers who had proven themselves at Triple-A, had a cup of coffee the previous September and looked good or come out and had an extremely loud, extremely productive Spring Training.

    Nowadays, though, it behooves re-draft managers to have a somewhat extensive knowledge of prospects that could impact the upcoming season. There are more incentives than ever for major league teams to call up prospects earlier in the season, to have them on the Opening Day roster and have them on the roster longer than they would have in the past.

    Last season, if re-draft managers knew the names of guys like Nick Kurtz, Jacob Wilson, Drake Baldwin or Agustin Ramirez, they were able to draft a top-10 (or better) player at their position far later than a player of that production would ever normally be available.

    I have put together a list of the Top 25 prospects that re-draft managers need to know for 2026 drafts. I will update the list every month of the regular season, dropping players from the list that start the season on the big league roster, that get called up throughout the year or who suffer any long-term injuries.

    It’s not enough to know three or four top prospects. Having a breadth of prospect knowledge will go a long way towards finding value in both the draft and, during the season, on the waiver wire and will help lead you to winning your leagues.

    **ADP based on 12-team Rotowire Online Championship ADP from February 1-21**

    1. Nolan McLean – SP – Mets – ADP 90
    MLB stats: 8GS, 48IP, 5W, 4QS, 57K, 10.69 K/9, 3.00 BB/9, 10.9% SwStr

    McLean is the highest drafted prospect this year and also had the largest impact on the 2025 season. He enters the 2026 season as the Mets de facto #2 starter, behind newly acquired Freddy Peralta and will assuredly leave this list in the May update. In eight big leagues starts last season, he allowed more than two earned runs just one time and struck out at least a batter per inning in six of the eight starts. He has two plus-plus pitches (slider, curve), a plus-fastball and two above-average pitches (changeup, cutter). He has strikeout stuff, limits home runs and doesn’t walk too many batters. He has the opportunity to produce top-20 fantasy starter value this season.

    2. Samuel Basallo – C – Baltimore – ADP 171
    MLB stats: 31G, 118PA, 10-4-15-0-.165, .559 OPS, 55 wRC+, 8.9% Brl, 43% HH

    Basallo is locked into a pretty safe role with the Orioles: sharing time both behind the plate and at designated hitter with Adley Rutschman. He will start the season on the big league roster and should be a season-long fantasy contributor. With his power and what is expected to be a top-10 offense in Baltimore, Basallo has a chance to put up a season relative to the one that Ben Rice and Salvador Perez had in 2025: 25-plus home runs, 135-plus combined runs and RBI and a batting average of .255 or lower. He is the 13th catcher drafted, on average, currently and he is one of just two or three drafted outside of the top 10 that could realistically put together a top-7 season at the position.

    3. Trey Yesavage – SP – Blue Jays – 142
    MLB stats: 3GS, 14IP, 1W, 16K, 10.29 K/9, 4.50 BB/9, 15.5% SwStr

    Yesavage followed up three decent starts in September with one hell of a playoff run: six games, five starts, 27.2 innings, 39 strikeouts, 11 walks, four home runs allowed, three wins and one hold, including a 5.1-inning, 11-strikeout, no-hit, no-run domination of the Yankees in game two of the American League Divisional Series and a 7-inning, 12-strikeout, 3-hit, 1-run performance against the Dodgers in the World Series. He has one of the best splitters on the planet, two additional plus-pitches (fastball, slider) and is looking to add a curveball to his arsenal this season. The only thing that could hold Yesavage back from a dominant rookie year is his struggles with his command, which has resulted in not-so-great walk rates against stiffer competition (29 walks in 59 innings between Triple-A and the big leagues). He has elite strikeout stuff, pitches for one of the best teams in baseball and should be the frontrunner for the American League Rookie of the Year award.

    4. Bubba Chandler – SP – Pirates – ADP 148
    MLB stats: 7G, 4GS, 31.1IP, 4W, 1QS, 31K, 8.90 K/9, 1.15 BB/9, 13.4% SwStr

    Fantasy managers waited far longer into the 2025 season than expected for Chandler to make his big league debut, but once he was placed into the big league rotation, he proved he was worth the wait. Aside from some a poor-luck fueled 5.12 ERA as a starter (1.48 FIP, 2.92 xFIP, .314 BABIP, 45% strand rate), Chandler was dominant over his four starts: 19.1 innings, 22 strikeouts, three walks, no home runs allowed. More than 50% of his batted balls were grounders, he had a minimal 13.7% line drive rate and a hard-hit rate under 40%. Control was a sore spot for him in Triple-A last year (and throughout much of his minor league career), but even if he regresses to, say, an 8% walk rate, it shouldn’t be that much of a problem for a player who has never had a strikeout rate below 25%. The Pirates have invested in their team for the first time in what feels like forever, with an improved offense (and an elite hitting talent on the way that we will talk about a little further down the list) that should help boost the value of their staff, boosting their win totals compared to previous seasons.

    5. Carter Jensen – C – Royals
    MLB stats: 20G, 69 PA, 12-3-13-0-.300, .941 OPS, 159 wRC+, 20.8% Brl, 58.3% HH

    I have to admit, I am over the moon with Jensen. He has been a productive hitter at every single stop along his professional career, posting a wRC+ of 115 or higher every single season. His 2025 sample is relatively small at the big league level, but the numbers made a lot of noise. He had an average exit velocity of 95.4 miles per hour, elite barrel and hard hit rates, with above-average contact rates, a not-terrible-at-all 10.7% swinging strike rate and a chase rate under 22%. He has real, top-end power, above-average speed for a catcher and will make enough contact that he could be a regular .250 hitter. He has all the tools to be a top 5 to 8 fantasy catcher, but the big hang up will be playing time. He is backing up one of the most reliable catchers in the league, Salvador Perez, who has caught at least 738.1 innings in 10 of the last 11 full seasons, and will spend some time at designated hitter, but he is not guaranteed to receive 400 to 500 plate appearances. If the Royals come out and guarantee that, though, you can move him up to number two on this list.


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    February 23, 2026, 11:30 am