AK Dynasty 300 Rankings: Catcher

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  • By Anthony Kates

    It’s amazing what a year can do to the rankings, eh? At this time last year, sure, William Contreras was one of the top dynasty catchers, Cal Raleigh was considered a top-5 dynasty catcher and Will Smith was inside the top 10, but the rest of the guys who took up residence inside the top 10? Well, they’re on the outside looking in. Replacing them is a bevy of young, productive catchers, who have burst onto the scene in a way that rarely happens at the position. You have the reigning National League Rookie of the Year, Drake Baldwin; Shea Langeliers took another step forward, staking his claim inside the top 10; Samuel Basallo crushing Triple-A and justifying his placement among the most elite prospects; Ivan Herrera giving the Cardinals a good excuse to trade away Willson Contreras; Ben Rice putting up corner infield numbers as a catcher-eligible contributor; Carter Jensen raking across multiple levels and making his mark on the big leagues; and the Rockies enjoying the breakout of Hunter Goodman, who earned an All-Star nod in his first full season.

    Dynasty managers (and re-draft as well) have no justifiable reason to not have at least one above-average producer behind the plate in 2026. It’s not just the guys at the top either. Salvador Perez continues to produce, Yainer Diaz ranked top-10 among catchers with 400 or more plate appearances in four of the five standard fantasy categories in a “down” year, Agustin Ramirez broke onto the big league scene with 21 home runs and 16 stolen bases and we should get full seasons out of guys like Kyle Teel, Miguel Amaya and maybe even Harry Ford.

    So let’s take a look at the top 30 dynasty catchers for 2026.

    Stats are from 2025; Age is the player’s age on opening day

    1. William Contreras – 28 – Milwaukee
    PA R HR RBI SB AVG K% BB% Barrel % Hard Hit %
    659 89 17 76 6 .260 18.2 12.7 6.4 48.5

    Controversial take, I am sure, but he has been the most consistent fantasy catcher over the last four years and finished as the #4 fantasy catcher in 2025 despite playing through a fracture left middle finger for most of the season. His walk rate has improved in each of the past two seasons, his strikeout rate has dropped every year he has been in the big leagues and he posted his highest contact rate of his MLB career last year. He has hit 17 to 23 home runs each of the last four seasons, has at least 86 runs and 76 RBI in all three years he has been in Milwaukee and had been one of the safest batting average bets at the position until 2025. This is no shade to our number two catcher (and who many will probably have number one), but I trust Contreras to maintain his consistent production well into the future.

    2. Cal Raleigh – 29 – Seattle
    PA R HR RBI SB AVG K% BB% Barrel % Hard Hit %
    705 110 60 125 14 .247 26.7 13.8 19.5 49.6

    I get it, it feels like I am punishing Raleigh even though he is coming off of the single greatest catching and switch-hitting offensive season of all time. I’m not. I just don’t think he will come anywhere close to the season he had in 2025 again in the future. Could he hit 40 or more home runs? Sure. But hit nearly .250 and steal double-digit bases? That’s nowhere in the profile. Score 110 runs again? Doubtful. The only players to score 110 or more runs in multiple seasons over the past four years is a small list: Judge. Ohtani. Schwarber. Soto. Freeman. Betts. Corbin Carroll. That’s a tough list to join. Those with multiple 120 or more RBI seasons? Pete Alonso. That’s it. Drop that down to 115? Alonso and Jose Ramirez. So almost guaranteed regression knocks Raleigh down to the two spot. Which is an improvement. He was fourth last year

    3. Drake Baldwin – 24 – Atlanta
    PA R HR RBI SB AVG K% BB% Barrel % Hard Hit %
    446 56 19 80 0 .274 15.2 8.5 11.0 49.6

    Baldwin had the ninth highest rookie catcher wRC+ in major league history in 2025 (minimum 350 at-bats), with the seventh most RBI and nineteenth most home runs by a rookie catcher. He finished the year as the eighth best fantasy catcher, with the tenth most run scored, fourth most RBI, tied-for ninth most home runs and sixth best batting average, generating the fifth highest wRC+ in the process. And he did that in a season when the Braves had just the fifteenth best offense in all of baseball. I expect the Braves’ overall offensive output to improve, with a fully healthy Ronald Acuna, a full year out of Jurickson Profar, a healthy Austin Riley, plus Matt Olson, Michael Harris, Ozzie Albies and Sean Murphy. Baldwin spent most of the season hitting in the top four spots of the Braves lineup and should spend the entirety of the 2026 season there. With his great eye at the plate, impressive swing decisions, well above-average statcast data and the tools to backup a wonderful 2025 season, the sky is the limit for the youngest starting catcher in the league.

    4. Shea Langeliers – 28 – Athletics
    PA R HR RBI SB AVG K% BB% Barrel % Hard Hit %
    523 73 31 72 7 .277 19.7 6.9 11.0 44.6

    All Langeliers has done since his call up in 2022 is improve at the plate, getting on base more, striking out less and producing more power, year over year. 2025 was his best season yet, as he topped 30 home runs for the first time, dropped his strikeout rate below 20%, made more contact that ever before while swinging more than he has since his rookie season and dropped his whiff rate to the lowest it has ever been. He has displayed a solid consistency when making contact with the ball, with barrel rates of 11% or higher and hard hit rates of at least 44% in all three of his full big league seasons. He has been a pull heavy, fly ball hitter since day one, with both pull and fly ball rates north of 43%. Both his contact rate and his whiff rate have improved each of the last three seasons, up to 77.1% and down to 11.9%, respectively, in 2025. Langeliers has a “safe” floor, with 25 home runs and 135 runs plus RBI a virtual guarantee, though his ultimate ceiling  will be determined by his ability to maintain his positive growth and how well the A’s offense performs around him.

    5. Samuel Basallo – 21 – Baltimore (stats from Triple-A)
    PA R HR RBI SB AVG K% BB% Barrel % Hard Hit %
    321 49 23 67 0 .270 23.7 13.7 N/A 56.9

    There we go, now we’re awake. Maybe you expect Hunter Goodman, Adley Rutschman, Will Smith or maybe even Agustin Ramirez here? Well, not so fast. These are dynasty rankings after all. And we have to get the hyper talented, full of power, just turned 21 in August future first baseman on the list early. Obviously, his power is his calling card, something that has been on display at virtually every stop he has made in his professional career. He had just 118 plate appearances in the big leagues in 2025, but managed to hit six doubles and four home runs, though his overall line was a bit disappointing. What wasn’t disappointing was his strikeout rate, which was surprisingly solid for such a young hitter. He was the second youngest hitter in the majors (Bryce Eldridge is two months younger) and is the only catcher under the age of 22 that is above Double-A. He should maintain catcher eligibility past the 2026 season, but his long term outlook depends on how long Adley Rutschman stays behind the plate (or on the roster) for the Orioles and how often they have Basallo relieve him. His power output at the position is only rivaled by that of Cal Raleigh and he should be one of the most impactful fantasy catchers in 2025, especially after the Orioles added Taylor Ward and Pete Alonso to the lineup.


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    February 16, 2026, 10:00 am