Can You Draft Just “Peak Year” Players and Win Your League?

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  • By Anthony Kates

    You know, some drafts strategies are pretty easy to know and follow. We discussed drafting elite HR-SB producers in week one and waiting ten rounds before drafting starting pitching in week two, but these are kind of common strategies for experienced players and can of easy to sus out for newer players.

    So how about a curveball in strategy-land? Instead of focusing on ADP or production or waiting on a specific position or positions, what if we drafted nothing but players in their “peak years”?

    If you don’t know the peak years for baseball players, they are most commonly the ages between 26 and 29. You have to spend a majority of the season in between those ages to be considered for a “peak year”.

    So what if we drafted the starting roster (2C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, MI, CI, 5OF, 9P) for a 12 team, traditional 5×5 roto league, of nothing but “peak year” players?

    Let’s assume we have a mid-round pick (let’s say 6) and the only players eligible to be drafted must turn 26 no later than May 31 and must turn 30 no earlier than August 1. This means they would spend four of the six full months of the season in a “peak year” age.

    Here’s how we could build that roster (ADP from the past three weeks of NFBC Rotowire Online Championship drafts):

    Round 1
    Ronald Acuna – OF – ATL – ADP – 6 – This pick comes down to Acuna, Elly De La Cruz and Julio Rodriguez. Only one of them has a 40-70 season and an MVP award. Draft for ceiling from a peak year in the first round. There are few players with a ceiling as high as Acuna.

    Round 2
    Jazz Chisholm Jr. – 2B/3B – NYY – ADP 21 – We address third base OR second base with this pick. Chisholm has stated he wants to join Shohei Ohtani in the 50-50 club and is coming off of a 30-30 season, while being limited on the basepaths for a few months. Jackson Chourio was a consideration, but we really don’t want to go OF-OF in the first two rounds.

    Round 3
    Yordan Alvarez – DH – HOU – ADP 33 – Alright, we have our first slight reach, grabbing Alvarez a few picks earlier than he normally goes. We draft him ahead of Mason Miller, who is normally the first reliever off the board, locking in a guaranteed 31-plus home runs and 170-plus combined runs and RBI, with a .285 or higher batting average at our utility spot. Prior to missing 114 games last season, he had averaged 572 plate appearances over the past four seasons, with a wRC+ of 167 or higher in each of the previous three. If he gets to 550 plate appearances, he is a top-20 producer.

    Round 4
    Hunter Greene – SP – CIN – ADP 42 – We grab out first pitcher of the draft and our staff ace. Over the past three seasons, among starter who have thrown at least 350 innings, Greene has the third highest strikeout rate (11.02 K/9) and has produced the 24th most WAR, even though he is the only person in the top 35 pitcher WAR to throw fewer than 414 innings (he threw only 370). With health this year, Greene could produce his first double-digit win season, strikeout 200-plus batters and contend for the NL Cy Young award.

    Round 5
    William Contreras – C – MIL – ADP 54 – Coming into the 2025 season, Contreras was considered the best fantasy catcher. He had the second best wRC+ at the position (131; two points behind his brother Willson), but had 326 more plate appearances than first and the fourth most over the three seasons prior to 2025. Then Cal Raleigh had the greatest switch-hitting season of all time and Contreras played through a broken finger, producing his worst offensive season since his rookie year. Add in the huge Ben Rice debut and Shea Langeliers making a leap and Contreras is nearly forgotten as an elite offensive catcher. And others’ loss is our gain, as Contreras is projected to produce the second most WAR at catcher, behind just Raleigh.

    Round 6
    Maikel Garcia – 3B – KCR – ADP 69 – Looks like Chisholm is going to slot into our second base slot, so one of my favorite 2025 breakouts can fill the hot corner for us. Garcia took an offensive step forward in 2025 thanks to continued improvements in his walk and strikeout rates, more quality contact and elevating the ball. He raised his fly ball rate by seven full points in 2025 and his barrel rate by nearly two full points. He is projected to bat leadoff for what could a potent top-half of the lineup in Kansas City, with Bobby Witt Jr. right behind him. A career high in runs with a return to 30-plus stolen bases, on top of the double-digit home runs, 60-plus RBI and a .270 floor batting average? Wonderful.

    Round 7
    Eury Perez – SP – MIA – ADP 83 – We make a slight reach again, this time for a potentially stud starter. We passed on Vinnie Pasquantino because we have already drafted five bats and first base is not a dire need. Perez miss all of 2024 due to Tommy John and is projected to throw a career high in innings in 2026. He could surpass Sandy Alcantara as the staff ace and has the tools, potential and skills to make the leap into the top-20 starting pitcher discussion. We do now have two starters with some injury risk, but the ceiling is sky high and worth the risk.

    Round 8
    Jeremy Pena – SS – HOU – ADP 90 – Pena was the last “peak year” shortstops inside the top 100 and the next eligible player at the position is Xavier Edwards, who is drafted nearly eight rounds later, on average. He missed 37 games due to a fractured rib from an HBP in June and a left oblique strain near the end of September, yet he was still one of the five best fantasy performers at the position. Even if he doesn’t replicate that 135 wRC+, he is a solid bet for a 15-20 season, with 150 combined runs and RBI and an above league-averages batting average.

    Round 9
    Luis Robert Jr. – OF – NYM – ADP 106 – Okay, now this is where we take a risk that could really pay out. He was barely a reach, but he could pretty easily outperform this draft pick just by staying healthy. Robert could produce a 20-homer, 30-stolen base season, with 140-plus combined runs and RBI with an average above .240, with some positive BABIP regression. There’s not many players left on the board that have that kind of upside (or better) and will be in their “prime years” this season.

    Round 10
    Daniel Palencia – RP – CHC – ADP 119 – We have to pass on one of my favorite young starter, Emmet Sheehan, but the closer options for players in their “peak years” gets very thin, very fast after the top 6 to 8, and we will need saves to compete. Cubs manager Craig Counsell said that Palencia will be the closer when the season starts. From May 21, when he saved his first game last year, through the end of the season, he had the 10th best strikeout rate among closers (10.95 K/9), the ninth most saves (22), seventh best walk rate (2.19 BB/9) and the 18th best ERA (3.16). He could realistically end the year as a top-10-12 closer and he is the 16th drafted.


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    February 28, 2026, 11:30 am