Anthony’s 2026 Fantasy Baseball Bold Predictions

  • By Anthony Kates

    Last Updated on March 25, 2026 3:39 pm by Anthony Kates | Published: March 25, 2026

    The World Baseball Classic is over (congrats again to Team Venezuela on an incredible run). There is not an international series to start the 2026 season. Spring training is in full bloom. And Opening Day is almost here.

    That means it is time for my favorite annual fantasy baseball tradition: Bold Predictions.

    After going essentially Oh-for-10 last year (I was foiled by injuries, in my defense), let’s see if I can just raise that batting average up to a respectable Mendoza Line.

    Bobby Witt Jr. has a 40/40 season

    I guess the only bold part of this prediction is the homers, but he’s never hit more than 32 in a big league season and saw that number drop to 23 last season.

    So, why the big swing to 40 or more homers? Easy. The new outfield dimensions. Besides straight away center, which will stay at 410 feet, most of the rest of the outfield fence will be moved in nine to ten feet. And the wall height is being lowered from ten feet high to eight-and-a-half feet high. Taking a quick glance at his spray chart over the past couple of seasons, he probably would have had a handful more home runs with these new dimensions, making a 40 homer prediction less bold.

    Also, the drop to just 23 last year was a but out of nowhere. He posted new career bests in average exit velocity (93.3 MPH), max exit velocity (117.5 MPH), maintained an ideal launch angle and had another great hard hit rate.

    My Witt for MVP prediction didn’t come true last season, but if he does indeed hit the 40/40 mark, it may well be this season instead.

    Yankees trade Jasson Dominguez to the Marlins for Sandy Alcantara

    Have I got your attention now?

    Why would the Yankees do this? Carlos Rodon is without a timeline to return, Clarke Schmidt will miss the rest of the season, Gerrit Cole is coming off of Tommy John surgery and isn’t expected to make his 2026 debut until the end of May at the earliest, Luis Gil walks more people than the entire Seattle rotation combined and Ryan Weathers fails to reach 100 innings pitched…again.

    So why trade away the Martian? Well, currently he has no starting spot in their outfield, Giancarlo Stanton penciled into the designated hitter spot when healthy, they signed Randal Grichuk in February and he will probably start the season in Triple-A. And, they just might like Spencer Jones more.

    So why not move him for the second best available starter on the market and one I expect to bounce back from a poor first season post-Tommy John in Alcantara? Though he had a terrible 5.36 ERA, his FIP and xFIP were both a full run lower and he had some incredibly bad strand rate luck (61.9%; league average is around 70%). Plus, they can beat the Orioles to the move (which, if they don’t move one of their plethora of “top” hitting prospects for a more reliable starter this season, what are they doing), strengthening themselves and making it tougher for the Orioles to improve on the trade market.

    And I want to see someone give Dominguez a guaranteed starting role and the runway to fail at the big league level without worrying he will lose his position or get sent to the minor leagues.

    Trevor Megill leads the…Rangers? in saves

    Yep, another bold trade prediction.

    This makes a lot of sense from both sides, though.

    The Rangers need a proven, lock down option to close out games and it is time that Abner Uribe is given the reigns in Milwaukee. Robert Garcia, Chris Martin, et al. are not the answer for a team with real playoff aspirations and they have the prospect depth to entire the Brewers into moving a reliever that has been the best or second best option for the past three seasons. Not to mention, Megill only has one more year of arbitration left and we all know they like to save money (see Peralta, Freddy), so moving him for some solid prospect depth before his most expensive team controlled season makes a ton of sense.

    Megill would still be a one of the 12 to 14 best closers in baseball, but Uribe would immediately jump into the top eight to ten.

    Carter Jensen is a Top 3 Fantasy Catcher

    Okay, I’ve been a bit conservative (in my mind at least), so far, so let’s get really bold. Plus, two Royals predictions worked out so well for me last year (just take my word for it and do not go back and read last year’s incredibly successful predictions).

    I have talked about Jensen a TON this off-season. He was the catcher I “planted” my flag on, in both my podcast with CBS Fantasy Sports’ Chris Towers and in our Plant Your Flag article. I have been in on him for the past three years now and I believe my faith in his minor league production (and 69 MLB plate appearances) will be rewarded this year.

    So, how does he end up in the top three? Well, the third best fantasy catcher last season was Shea Langeliers, who had a 73-31-72-7-.277 fantasy line. The year before that, Yainer Diaz had a 70-16-84-2-.299 line. In 561 PA between Triple-A and the bigs last year, Jensen had an 84-23-89-10-.295 line. He’s never had a wRC+ under 110 at any stop and he has always been better his second time at a level than he was the first.

    So, how does he finish behind Cal Raleigh and William Contreras (oooh, two bold predictions in one?)? How about a 75-24-85-12-.275 line? Finishes top-four in runs, RBI, stolen bases and batting average, top-six in home runs?

    Yeah, that’s bold.

    Logan Webb, National League Cy Young

    Okay, so maybe this isn’t THAT bold. He did generate the third most fWAR among National League starters in 2025 and is projected to have the third best season this year.

    But what if he finally has an elite, lucky season? You know, a .225 BABIP (career low: .293), 80% strand rate (career best: 74.7%), strikeout per inning, low homer, low walk, mid-teens win season?

    Could that beat out Paul Skenes and Cristopher Sanchez? I think so, especially once you add in his volume (four straight seasons of 192-plus innings) and all around production from those four seasons: he has the most innings pitched (820), second most wins (54), second most strikeouts (753 – including two seasons when he had a K/9 under 8), second fewest home runs allowed (56 – among starters with 500-plus innings over the past four seasons), second lowest walk rate (1.93 BB/9) and second lowest ERA (3.22).

    It’s time for Webb to get one Cy Young, before we reward Skenes with like five straight.

    Division, Playoff, World Series & Award Predictions

    AL East: Blue Jays
    AL Central: Tigers
    AL West: Mariners
    Wild Cards: Yankees, Astros, Red Sox

    Wild Card Round: Astros over Tigers, Yankees over Red Sox
    Divisional Round: Blue Jays over Astros, Mariners over Yankees
    Championship Round: Mariners over Blue Jays

    NL East: Mets
    NL Central: Cubs
    NL West: Dodgers
    Wild Cards: Braves, Phillies, Brewers

    Wild Card Round: Brewers over Cubs, Braves over Phillies
    Divisional Round: Dodgers over Braves, Mets over Brewers
    Championship Round: Dodgers over Mets

    World Series: Mariners over Dodgers (it’s gotta be bold, remember?)

    AL Cy Young: Logan Gilbert (I talked about this on the pod back on March 13)
    AL MVP: Bobby Witt Jr. (if he does what I predicted in bold prediction #1)
    AL Rookie of the Year: Tatsuya Imai (better than expected; Okamoto and Murakama fail to meet expectations but are still decent)

    NL Cy Young: Logan Webb (bold prediction above)
    NL MVP: Shohei Ohtani (any voter fatigue yet?)
    NL Rookie of the Year: Konnor Griffin (okay, so I’m going chalk here, so what)

    Fantasy Baseball leagues I win this year: Seven (out of seven; what, you thought I WOULDN’T have ANY ridiculous bold predictions?)

    Come join us at SportsEthos by filling out an application by clicking here
    Click here to join us on Discord!
    Follow us on X by clicking here
    Follow us on Bluesky by clicking here
    Follow Anthony on X at @akfantasybb

    March 25, 2026, 3:39 pm