Mason’s Musings – 2026 Full Disclosure

I heard someone say, “$30…” as I pressed the phone closer to my ear as if that would make it easier to hear. 

“$31,” I responded

“36!” someone yelled in the background. 

I was sweating, not because the bidding on Alex Rodriguez was getting over $35, but because on one of the hottest days at Ft. Meade, Maryland, in 2004, I was sitting in a glass phone booth trying to draft my home AL-Only auction league team. The temperature outside the booth was 85 degrees but the reflection of the sun made it feel 25 degrees warmer inside of that booth. 

I could have been thinking about the guard duty I had later that night and that I wouldn’t be sleeping until the next night because of it. I could have been thinking about the friends of mine that had already deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and what it might be like if I joined them there. However, the only thing I was thinking about at that moment was the fact that A-Rod just went for $46 and there was no way he was worth that. 

Spoiler Alert: He was. 

Fantasy baseball has been a part of my life for the last 25 years and even though it has been a long time since I played in just one league, it’s the moments like this where I probably lost ten pounds of water weight drafting from a telephone booth in Maryland that are among my favorite memories. I didn’t win that league in 2004, but I will never forget that draft. I did stumble away from the phone booth with a $1 Alex Rios which was a nice consolation prize for 2005. 

Fast forward a decade and I began playing in multiple fantasy baseball leagues in 2014, branching out from my home league a little. By the time I entered the fantasy baseball industry the following year, I was playing in five leagues. This number would reach its high water mark 2022 when I played in 29 leagues. 

The thing I began to discover as I played in more and more leagues was how often I ended up with a lot of the same guys. I also discovered that while I love drafting a ton of teams, I became a real jerk by the end of the season because of the in-season workload I was having to manage. I had some good years and some terrible ones, but even in my best years, by the time August or September rolled around, I was unbearable to be around because my stress level was through the roof. This year, I decided to cut back on leagues. 

For the first time in about a decade, I am playing in just 10 redraft leagues and four of those are bestball leagues where there is no in-season management. I also decided to not play in any high stakes leagues this year just to give myself a bit of a break. Did I miss the enormous amount of drafts I would normally do this offseason? Absolutely! However, fantasy baseball is supposed to be fun and while the drafts are a ton of fun, the management of all of those leagues come summer wasn’t as fun the last few years so it made sense to take a step back. 

That being said, when I did my ten drafts, there were a few names that stuck out to me and kept popping up on my rosters. In this article I will discuss my most rostered players for 2026. 

Ryne Nelson, SP, ARI (70% rostered) – If there was one pitcher I had circled on my draft sheets every time I sat down at the draft table, it was Ryne Nelson. After years of bouncing between the bullpen and the rotation, he is entering 2026 fully cemented in the Diamondbacks rotation for the first time. I have been a fan of his for years and believed that at some point his stuff would start to get more swings and misses. We saw it begin to happen this spring with the further development of his breaking stuff. Though his price rose towards the end of spring, his ADP most of draft season was around pick 250 and that was too easy of a price to not go all in on for me. 

Corey Seager, SS, TEX (60% rostered) – If you followed my writing or listened to my podcasts the last few years, this one may be a bit shocking for you. I have been a Corey Seager hater for years, but that was mostly due to the price attached to drafting him. Seager is elite when he is on the field, but health has been elusive throughout his career. He only has one season since 2018 where he reached 600+ plate appearances and he routinely goes in the top 60 picks. However, this year his price dropped significantly. His ADP in the NFBC Online Championship was 96.4 and he would often fall outside the top 100. This was too good of a price for me to pass up, especially in leagues where I would miss out on the elite shortstops early in a draft or auction. I am not going to project him for 600+ plate appearances this year, but if he can return 500-550 PAs at his normal production, it will be well worth the gamble. 

Taylor Rogers, RP, MIN (60% rostered) – The prices this year on closers were insane. Especially if you were in competitive leagues, if you missed out on the top 5-8 closers you were likely going to regret it and everyone felt that pressure to make sure they walked away from the first 4-5 rounds with one of those guys. I ended up trying to get one of those guys myself, but when I missed out on them, I would often target Taylor Rogers late. Rogers is one of the few relief pitchers in Minnesota with the “closing experience” that managers tend to covet. With a new manager for the Twins, I thought there was a chance they would just go with the “proven guy” for the ninth inning. He never got expensive in drafts either so he will be an easy drop if it becomes clear he isn’t the closer or if they move towards a committee in Minnesota. 

Andrew Vaughn, 1B, MIL (50% rostered) – Vaughn looked like a failed prospect with the White Sox, but after getting called up by the Brewers last season, he hit nine home runs with a .308/.375/.493 triple slash in 254 plate appearances. I still do not understand why he was going around pick 277 in leagues this season. This is a former top tier prospect that many loved when he was coming up. He is just 28-years-old and there is still plenty of upside available in the bat. 

Max Muncy, 3B, LAD (50% rostered) – Muncy really struggled at the start of the 2025 season, hitting .194/.309/.301 with one home run. However, he was diagnosed with an astigmatism in his right eye and got glasses. After getting the glasses, he hit .262/.403/.541 with 18 home runs in just 278 plate appearances. He struggled with injuries, missing a month in the summer with a knee injury, but the glasses let him cut his strikeout rate to 17%. He is healthy to start the season and was fantastic in spring. His price was too good to pass up in drafts going at pick 237 in the NFBC Online Championship. 

Nasim Nuñez, SS, WAS (50% rostered) – If you read my Bold Predictions article you already knew I was a massive fan of Nuñez. Last season, he stole 45 bases in just 324 plate appearances between Triple-A and the Majors. He doesn’t have the best hit tool, but he was able to walk at a double-digit rate throughout the minor leagues and maintained a good contact rate in his small sample in the Majors. Most importantly, he is a great defender and the Nationals have made a choice to improve their defense up the middle with Nuñez, moving Luis Garcia Jr. to first base. He should play every day and rack up a lot of stolen bases. 

Royce Lewis, 3B, MIN (50% rostered) – Sometimes in fantasy baseball we are like Charlie Brown kicking a football and falling on our butt over and over again with certain players. For me, it’s with Royce Lewis. Lewis is an elite talent. A former top prospect, Lewis has the ability to hit for power and steal bases, but he just cannot stay healthy. He has yet to register more than 403 plate appearances in a Major League season. I am dreaming of a year where he will put it all together and stay on the field, but I am likely just wishcasting. 

Here is the full list of all the players I drafted this season: