Dynasty Due Diligence: Early June 2026

Series Overview

This series aims to help readers conduct their routine due diligence in their dynasty leagues. It makes use of up-to-date OOPSY Peak projections and my own arbitrary whims to suggest free agent adds and drops as well as trade candidates and targets. Each entry will highlight a handful of players, both prospects and major leaguers, who have seen their perceived value shift recently. For each player I will offer a “verdict,” an open-ended recommendation on how I would value the player moving forward. Forgive me as these suggestions may sometimes enter the realm of “hot takes.” Most of my dynasty leagues are 14 to 20-team 5×5 roto leagues, but this series aims to be broadly relevant for all keeper and dynasty formats. Any reference to how a player projects using the FanGraphs auction calculator uses these settings with OOPSY DC (ROS) unless I say otherwise (15-team 5×5 SV 2 C). When referencing an OOPSY Peak WAR projection, I am referencing their up-to-date peak WAR projection assuming a full season of playing time: 600 PA for hitters and 198 innings pitched for arms.

MLB Players

Jackson Merrill OOPSY Peak WAR Projection: 4.6

Merrill has had an ice-cold first two months of 2026. His strikeout and walk rates are aligned with career norms but his wOBA on contact is way down. On the bright side, his bat speed is up and his barrel rate is only slightly down from career norms, so the utter lack of power is probably a mirage. He’s also running more than ever, with 10 stolen bases already. Strong center field defense helps ensure his job is safe.

Verdict: Merrill is a good player to target in your dynasty leagues. He doesn’t look like a future first rounder, but he’s only 23 and has one of the highest floors in dynasty baseball. You could try to move an older bat for him, like Randy Arozarena or Ozzie Albies.

Spencer Horwitz. OOPSY Peak WAR Projection: 1.8

Horwitz is up to a 140 wRC+ in 2026, with more walks than strikeouts. He has mostly been platooned throughout his MLB career, but he’s hitting so well that he’s even started playing against lefties lately. Projections generally believe in him, although Steamer (123 wRC+ ROS) and ZiPS (124 wRC+) are more devout than OOPSY (113 wRC+) and THE BAT X (112 wRC+). He’ll likely need to continue proving the Steamer and ZiPS projections right if he’s to avoid a platoon for long. Now that Ryan O’Hearn is back, Horwitz could also use a Marcell Ozuna DFA to solidify his everyday status.

Verdict: Horwitz is a useful bat, particularly in daily leagues, but projections see him as likely to come back to earth a good bit, and playing time against lefties is far from assured. I’d be willing to flip him for a bat with better per PA projections and a safer playing time outlook. Horwitz, Nolan Arenado, and Ethan Holliday for Manny Machado would work for me, for instance.

Miguel Vargas. OOPSY Peak WAR Projection: 3.1

Miguel Vargas is one of the biggest breakouts of 2026 so far. He currently ranks 12th according to year-to-date 2026 performance on the FanGraphs auction calculator. His projections are way up compared to in the preseason, with each of ZiPS, Steamer, and OOPSY, giving him about a 10-point bump in wRC+,  and THE BAT X giving him a whopping 17-point bump. He is posting career bests by a wide margin in virtually every metric. His fast-swing rate has increased from 12% in 2025 to 44% in 2026. His average bat speed has increased by three miles per hour as well.

Verdict: Vargas has emerged as a legitimate core building block for the White Sox and your dynasty team alike. The BAT X, the most bullish projection system, has him projected as 58th best hitter the rest of the way. In dynasty, I’d value him as a backend top 50 bat to be safe. Aim high if shopping him. For instance, I’d be willing to move Vargas and Charlie Condon for Roman Anthony.

 Jacob Misiorowski. OOPSY Peak WAR Projection: 5.1

Misiorowski’s year-to-date performance has made him fantasy baseball’s top pitcher so far this year. The projection systems are all essentially buying it, with each of the four standalone systems viewing him as a top 10 arm for the rest of 2026. His dynasty outlook is even better given his youth (24).

Verdict: Listening to projections typically means buying low and selling high. This is not the case for Misiorowski, where holding seems more appropriate. OOPSY Peak now views Misiorowski as baseball’s best pitcher under 25 after Paul Skenes. His recent string of dominance has pushed his projection ahead of the also elite Chase Burns. The only ding against Misiorowski is that he’s a pitcher and pitchers often get hurt. Accordingly, I’d probably only be tempted to move him if it was for a first-round dynasty bat, e.g., Misiorowski and Spencer Steer for Ronald Acuña Jr. would work for me.

Kyle Harrison. OOPSY Peak WAR Projection: 3.2

Kyle Harrison has been flawless for the Brewers so far in 2026, with an ace-like FIP (2.45), xFIP (2.83), and K% minus BB% (25%). His velocity, Stuff+, and pitch mix are all similar to where they were last year, and projections see him as a borderline top 30 starting pitcher rather than an ace. This is a big step up from how they viewed him heading into 2026, when projections generally viewed him as outside of the top 100 starting pitchers.

Verdict: Harrison has taken a genuine step forward this year and can now be valued as an SP2 or SP3 for your dynasty rotation. If you can stomach moving someone coming off a 12 strikeout performance, you might be able to flip him for an even better starting pitcher. I’d be cool with the one for one challenge swap of Harrison for Logan Webb, for example.

Jack Flaherty. OOPSY Peak WAR Projection: 3.1

Flaherty is coming off a tough-luck 2025 where he posted a 4.64 ERA with a 3.69 xFIP and a 19% K% minus BB%. He has been even worse in 2026, with a 5.31 ERA, and a much weaker xFIP and K% minus BB% than last year. Steamer and OOPSY saw him as a top 40 starting pitcher this preseason. Both systems are down on him but still like him as a backend top 60 starting pitcher. His stuff has been consistent for years so I see little reason to doubt the projections here.

Verdict: don’t cut Flaherty if you roster him and if someone else cut him, scoop him up. I wouldn’t pay a ton to acquire him on the trade market, but I’d be good with moving Sean Burke or Seth Lugo for him.

MILB Players

Ryan Sloan‘s 11-strikeout performance has vaulted him into OOPSY Peak’s top 5 pitching prospects. This is a classic example of projections requiring a good sample of performance to catch up with scouting wisdom. I’d guess that Sloan is still underrated by OOPSY Peak, but, in my view, he’s still got a lot of work to do to catch up with his teammate and OOPSY Peak’s top pitching prospect, Kade Anderson. River Ryan stellar Triple-A performance has also moved him into OOPSY Peak’s top 10 piching prospects, while Gage Jump’s lights-out MLB debut has pushed him into the top five. Ty Johnson, Joseph Dzierwa, and Tyson Hardin are all among the top 25 as well and should be owned across most dynasty formats. Hardin is a good bet to make his MLB debut for the Brewers in the coming months. OOPSY Peak is excited about the early professional returns for Caden Hunter, Riley Quick, and Jackson Steensma. Each of them has excelled over a small sample of innings. Riley Quick is the most hyped of them, a “pick to click” for 2027, with a fastball that can hit 99 MPH. Steensma’s fastball sits in the 92-93 MPH range, while Caden Hunter’s sits in the mid-90s.

Franklin Arias, contender for OOPSY Peak’s future number one prospect, has continued to perform in Double-A, with four home runs and a 126 wRC+ in May. Colt Emerson‘s strong MLB debut has moved him into OOPSY Peak’s top five hitting prospects, with a peak WAR projection that has surpassed Austin Riley’s OOPSY WAR projection. Caleb Bonemer, Spencer Jones, Edwin Arroyo, and Luke Adams are among the top 30 OOPSY Peak hitting prospects as well. Adams’ poor defensive projection hurts his WAR forecast, but he has been good enough with the bat to project well overall anyway. Bonemer has elite bat speed and looks like a future slugger. Prospect fatigue and a strikeout-heavy profile has many prospectors wary of Spencer Jones but OOPSY Peak remains intrigued. He displayed a Stanton-ian 78 MPH average bat speed in a strikeout-filled, on-brand cup of coffee with the Yankees. He projects as a 20-20 player at peak with everyday playing time, but the low-walk, high-strikeout profile puts a lot of pressure on his center field defense to keep him in the lineup. Jake Munroe, Johan De Los Santos, Starlyn Caba, and Braylon Payne have each impressed OOPSY Peak enough to make themselves strong candidates for the midseason top 100 update; each is worth rostering in most dynasty formats.

Speaking of the OOPSY Peak midseason top 100 update, that should come in the next month, close to the halfway point of the 2026 season. In the meantime, if there’s anyone you’d like me to weigh in on in the next piece or in the comments, let me know!