Top 25 Dynasty Baseball Players for 2027: 11 to 25, from the FanRanked Staff dynasty board. Yordan Alvarez, Kevin McGonigle, Jacob Misiorowski and the rest of the players 11 through 25, with a note on each player.
This is the second published article in the FanRanked 2027 Dynasty Series.
You can expect to see my Top 1,000 Dynasty Rankings ready to go by the time drafts start in 2027, and along the way I will be publishing articles with my analysis. If you missed the Top 10 article, check it out here:
FanRanked 2027 Dynasty Series:
This differs from my in-season rankings, which are more reactive and prone to changes on a day-to-day basis. Each player is thoughtfully placed and will be more or less static until we have more 2027 data to influence their outlook.
The whole board, every ranked player with every note, is in our dynasty baseball rankings, updated through the offseason.
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#11 Yordan Alvarez OF HOU 29.3
Air Yordan feels like the closest thing we have to Barry Bonds. If you polled every pitcher in the big leagues on the hitter they least want to face, I have to imagine he tops the list.
He just put together one of the most impressive offensive seasons of the last handful of years. He led the league in average, on-base, slugging, OPS and wRC+, drew more walks than anyone, and he did it while staying on the field for more games than he ever has in his career. I also love that he manages to do all of this with such a low K% (17.3% this year).
There is really nothing to knock from a dynasty perspective except two things. He's older than most of the players ranked above him, and the injuries that seem to pop up every year and eat into his playing time are still part of the package. We probably just watched his career year, but that doesn't mean he has to repeat it to be very valuable in 2027 and beyond.
If you can get Yordan with the last pick of the first round, I'm all over it.
#12 Kevin McGonigle 3B/SS DET 22.1
There's a lot to like about Kevin McGonigle after his first season in the big leagues.
I wish he could've ended the season with more walks than strikeouts, as that would've been an incredible achievement for a rookie in today's game. As it stood, he still walked 95 times while only striking out 100 times.
He also really found his power stroke in the second half, hitting 10 home runs across 255 AB (which equates to about a 25 HR pace over a full season) while taking a step back in OBP and walk rate compared to the first half (14.5% vs. 11.9%). That profile plays better in fantasy for sure, and I think the Tigers would like McGonigle to tap into his power stroke more often rather than being passive at the plate.
So, what is the risk here? In my opinion there are two paths he can go down.
If I had to bet, I would think he turns into Option B, and I'm willing to put all my chips in to acquire McGonigle wherever he is available.
#13 Jacob Misiorowski SP MIL 24.5
Miz is very clearly the best pitcher available in dynasty leagues. He led baseball in ERA, WHIP, strikeouts, and WAR, and he led in FIP, xFIP, and SIERA too, so there is no "wait for the regression" argument here. He is the only starter in the game averaging over 100 on the fastball. He struck out 38 percent of the hitters he faced, three points clear of anyone else, and he did it while cutting his walk rate in half from 2025. Schlittler had a great year and still trails him in every rate stat. So the question to me isn't where he ranks among pitchers. It's whether you take him in the first round of a dynasty league at all, and what a pitcher is worth compared to a hitter.
A couple of thoughts. Pitchers are far more volatile year to year than hitters, not so much from performance as from injury. With the velocity in the league now, every pitcher is one pitch away from a 12 to 18 month shutdown for major surgery. That threat just doesn't hang over hitters the same way. It makes me wonder what the number one pitcher is really worth next to the number one hitter. In this case there are 12 to 14 bats I'd take before pitching needs to come off the board. In a 12-team dynasty league, I think every first-round pick should be a hitter, and I think that's true no matter who the top pitcher is in a given year. A guy like Miz returns insane value while he's healthy. The second he gets hurt, all the capital you tied up in one player evaporates. A hitter is much less likely to get hurt, and when one does, the value doesn't erode the same way.
As for Miz himself, he has clearly separated from everyone else. Schlittler is the only arm who compares on value, but Miz is younger, has better stuff, and to my eye doesn't become marginally more hittable the way Schlittler does when his mechanics get out of sync.
If you have Miz, congratulations. Ride him while you can. Just be careful with pitching in general when it comes to dynasty leagues.
#14 CJ Abrams SS WAS 26.0
In full transparency, I originally wrote this blurb thinking I was going to rank him 11th overall. As I thought more and more about it, I just got less comfortable with his 2026 stats and how unreliable they are based on his underlying metrics.
CJ Abrams might be heading down a path where he is more valuable in fantasy than in real life, but we are totally OK with that as fantasy diehards, right?
He finished the season with 33 home runs and 34 stolen bases, making him one of the 3 players to hit 30/30, along with PCA and Elly. (There were actually 7 last year, which was a record I didn't realize was broken until I was doing research.) He's done that despite a relatively pedestrian underlying Statcast profile and horrible defense (1st percentile in both fielding run value and outs above average).
When I see a profile like this, it makes me wonder how long he can perform at the elite level. It was also concerning that the Nationals were shopping him around at the trade deadline, which seems to suggest that maybe teams don't see as much real-life value as his fantasy profile would suggest. I can see an argument for selling high on him right now and maybe trading for a Kevin McGonigle or Sal Stewart type, based on their youth and well-rounded profiles.
#15 Jackson Merrill OF SD 23.5
This might be an ultra-aggressive ranking that blows up in my face, or I could be a pioneer who sees reality before everyone else.
Here is what I see in Merrill:
He is similar in age to prospects like Sorota, Baez, Condon, and Tibbs while having 3 seasons in the big leagues under his belt. If any of those guys put together a rookie season with Merrill's stats, how nuts would people be going for them in 2027 drafts?
Ask yourself this question: if Konnor Griffin put up these 3 seasons of performance from 2026 to 2028, would you consider it a success? How excited would you be by Griffin heading into his age-23 season with this performance to start his career? Because I see no reason to rank a player who is still effectively a "prospect" above someone like Merrill who just put up a near 30/30 season at 23 years old. (For reference, Griffin is 16 in the expert consensus while Merrill is 52(!))
Is Merrill a perfect player? Not at all; he is far from it. He doesn't take enough walks and strikes out more than I would like for someone with his exit velocities. But he barrels the ball a ton, has an ideal launch angle, and is just now starting to enter the age where most players hit their prime.
Merrill could be a sneaky 40 HR candidate next year, and if he continues to run like he did this year (27 SB) and manages his K rate, you have all of the makings of a top 5 player for 2027. But sure, keep taking the 20-year-old prospect in this spot because he might turn into Merrill one day.
#16 Ben Rice 1B/C NYY 27.6
Ben Rice had the season I expected him to have after the 2025 season, but not in the way I expected him to do it.
He went from a Statcast monster last year to just a Statcast enjoyer, with a notable decrease in his bat speed and exit velocity:
He had the 34th-largest bat speed decline of any player from last year to this year, and I think there are basically two ways to interpret it. Either you think that he is starting to regress and this is a trend that you will continue to see until he no longer is the Statcast enjoyer that he is today, or you think that he found his comfort zone and took a bit off to prioritize the right kind of contact instead of bat speed being the priority at the expense of the ideal outcome.
As a Ben Rice truther, I actually think it's the latter. One of the frustrations with Rice last year was that the numbers didn't match the expected stats, and I think slightly changing his approach this year really helped him put up a career year.
At the end of the day, he's a left-handed hitter in Yankee Stadium in his prime, hitting directly in front of Aaron Judge a majority of the time. He's going to be incredibly valuable for the next couple of years and I wouldn't rule out him continuing to perform at a high level into his mid-30s.
#17 Sal Stewart 1B/3B CIN 22.8
I'm really trying to hold my nose and ignore the weak September that Sal Stewart put up to end the season. He only had one home run while slashing .247/.287/.280, and I'm willing to chalk that up to him being beaten down by a full season of games, as well as a team that wasn't really competing for the playoffs at the end of the year.
When he's on, you have a middle-of-the-order threat with a lot of power, manageable K rates, and no noticeable platoon deficiencies. The fact that he was doing this all as a 22-year-old makes it even more impressive.
This ranking may be a tad aggressive, but I think September was an aberration for him. He is going to be a high-performing dynasty asset for a long time, and he should only continue to improve as he starts to enter his prime.
#18 Corbin Carroll OF ARI 26.1
As I said earlier this year, I am and always will be a Corbin Carroll denier, so take my analysis with a grain of salt.
It's surprising to me that someone with his profile maintains such a low batting average from year to year. When someone's game is so speed-driven while still hitting the ball hard, you would think they'd be able to hit for a decent average, but he hasn't eclipsed .259 since 2023.
Additionally, he seems to be stealing fewer bases despite still clocking a 97th-percentile sprint speed. So what does that leave you with? Well, if you're in a triples league, he's definitely getting moved up because he has been top 5 in triples every year for the past 4 years. But if you're in a standard 5x5 league, you're getting a 20/20 floor with lots of runs but no batting average assistance and meager RBI totals. He feels like a solid player on your team, but I think he's a borderline top-20 guy at best. If he shows that he wants to run more often next year and he gets closer to 40 stolen bases, then a borderline top-10 ranking makes sense.
#19 Cam Schlittler SP NYY 25.7
I racked my brain trying to come up with a way to rank Schlittler over Misiorowski and have the contrarian take, but it's clear that Schlittler is a very strong #2 to Miz.
There is so much to like about Schlittler, but I think my favorite part about him is that he is going to win the AL Cy Young Award without a true wipeout breaking ball or elite changeup. He effectively dominated the AL all year with three variations of a fastball and only needed to feature his CB 10% of the time. This gives me hope that he can age more gracefully than a pitcher who doesn't have anywhere to go with their arsenal as their velocity declines. Just imagine 29-year-old Schlittler with a wipeout split.
If you wanted to find some cons in his game, his 1.95 ERA had nearly a one-run gap from his 2.85 xERA, which is the 10th-biggest gap for pitchers with a full-season workload. He also didn't do a great job the third time through the order (.315 wOBA allowed), where he looked more like a league-average pitcher compared to an elite arm. I heard this argument from Blue Jays fans arguing Dylan Cease should win the Cy Young, treating Schlit as a stats merchant rather than a true horse. I looked into it, and Cease was actually worse the third time through the order in 24 fewer innings, so I'm not sure where that came from.
Schlittler will be entering his age-26 season in 2027 and should be a betting favorite to win back-to-back Cy Youngs. If you can get your hands on him, I have no doubt he will treat you well over the next couple of years.
#20 Yoshinobu Yamamoto SP LAD 28.1
I will always have the utmost respect for Yamamoto for coming in on zero days' rest in Game 7 last year and throwing 2 2/3 scoreless innings to get the win and lock down the World Series. It's the same respect I have for Nathan Eovaldi covering 6 innings in extras out of the bullpen in the 2018 WS for the Red Sox after throwing an inning in relief in the previous two games. Seriously, take a moment to watch this highlight video (and especially key in on the dugout after he gave up the walk-off HR in the 18th).
But I digress; Yamamoto is one of the most bankable guys in the big leagues right now, and I think he is the safest ace you could have on your team. There's really no weak part in his game except the team he is on, as the Dodgers frequently use a 6-man rotation and will never need to push at the end of the regular season with how dominant their roster is, and that makes Yamamoto not as reliable in the fantasy playoffs. If you're in a roto format as opposed to a head-to-head, he's probably more valuable to you because you can bank his stats early.
Don't be afraid to sell Yoshi at your league's trade deadline next year if the Dodgers are doing their thing; you will probably get a haul back and you won't risk his potential rest interfering with your fantasy championship.
#21 Oneil Cruz OF PIT 28.0
This is my favorite ranking in the whole top 25, and I'm fully ready for it to blow up in my face.
In terms of raw talent, there may not be a player in baseball outside of Elly who has tools as loud as Oneil Cruz. He absolutely demolishes the ball (94.1 average EV last year) and has hit both the hardest-hit ball of the Statcast era (122.9 mph, in 2025) and the second-hardest (122.4 mph). Why is everyone not salivating over him? Is it maybe that he struck out checks notes 33.2% of the time last year? But the exit velos!
Being realistic, Oneil Cruz is a high-risk asset and there's going to be a lot of pain associated with holding him. I do think that a lot of his performance has to do with his team dynamic, as the Pirates were garbage last year and you could tell he wasn't in it mentally. 2026 was a lot different as the Pirates put a fun, competitive team on the field and he was dominant and healthy, putting up a 20/30 season in only 368 at-bats.
If you had to pick one player outside of the top 20 to bet on being the number one fantasy player next year, I think Oneil Cruz is your best bet. He's also a good bet to hit below .200 and start getting benched halfway through the season. Cruz is your guy if you're a risk-taker; if you'd rather have a predictable player, he's not for you.
#22 Brice Turang 2B MIL 26.9
If Oneil Cruz is the most volatile player in the top 25, Brice Turang might just be the safest.
He's gone from a glove-and-speed archetype when he came up in 2023 to a 20/20 threat in 2026 while generally improving every year that he has been in the big leagues.
I still think there's another gear in there, and he can turn some of these doubles into more home runs. There is a very real chance Turang will continue to mature and his prime will look more like a 30 HR middle-of-the-order type player. He also gets the benefit of playing for one of the best teams in baseball, which should help his counting stats greatly regardless of whether the power manifests or not.
I'm excited for the Brewers to make a deep run this year and potentially put a guy like Turang onto the national stage and give him a chance to show how good of a player he really is. Even if the Brewers disappoint and they get bounced in the division series, I'm still bullish on his prospects long term in dynasty leagues. I think the days of him being overlooked from a fantasy perspective are over.
#23 Tarik Skubal SP LAD 29.9
I love writing these blurbs about hitters, because I feel like you can judge dynasty value based on potential performance without having to make an injury caveat in every paragraph.
When it comes to pitchers, it's just so hard for me to separate out the injury risk from the performance, and I have to balance the weights of these risks in my head when ranking pitchers. I think this is why I'm lower on pitchers on an absolute basis compared to a lot of other ranking sources, so keep that in mind when comparing lists.
Skubal is very clearly a high-end arm that really only entered his peak in 2024 (from a usage perspective, he was dominant in 2023 in a limited sample size), which means he hasn't incurred as much mileage as you'd expect for someone his age. However, he's been ridden hard since 2024, accruing the fourth-most innings of anyone in baseball, only behind Cristopher Sánchez, Logan Webb, and Kevin Gausman. He's also managed to do that without throwing over 200 innings in a single season, which would have been unheard of 10 years ago.
There's so much to like about his profile, but one of my favorite parts about him is that he just doesn't walk guys, averaging only a 4.4% walk rate over the last four years while striking out over 30% of the hitters faced every year. That's led to WHIPs under 1.00 since 2023, and should result in one of the largest contracts ever signed by a pitcher this offseason (if not the largest).
I guess if a major league team is willing to throw $250+ million at him, you should be willing to ride him in your dynasty league and throw caution to the wind with injuries.
#24 Miguel Vargas 1B/3B CWS 26.9
I think Miguel Vargas is the first post-hype breakout player on this list. He absolutely put it all together this year with an .837 OPS, .378 xwOBA, and a 14.3% BB rate versus only a 17.9% K rate. The underlying metrics on his Savant page are glowing red, and his expected stats say he was actually marginally unlucky this year.
I definitely think this breakout is sustainable because he's always shown flashes of this exact profile in limited sample sizes; however, he's never put it together for a full season like this. After the All-Star break in 2025, he had a very similar profile, slashing .267/.354/.436 with comparable plate discipline data. He has more or less put up this type of performance for 1.5 years now, and really tapped into his power in 2026 without sacrificing his contact rates.
With the White Sox looking to make a run in the playoffs and all-around putting a great team on the field, Vargas could be a sneaky top-10 candidate next year if he builds on his strong 2026.
#25 Riley Greene OF DET 26.0
There are a couple of notable guys that you may notice are missing from the top 25 and I'll get to them in the next article. But for me, Riley Greene is more attractive than them because he's actually performing and seemingly has been doing it under the radar.
Nothing about his profile screams elite (89.9 Avg EV, 26.5% K rate), but when you put it all together he puts up elite performance (.369 xwOBA). He has arguably done this for three straight years now, but I think this year was his strongest showing despite the step back in home runs from 2025 (36 HR vs. 21 HR in 2026).
He also took a major step forward against lefties this year with an OPS of .806 in 156 at-bats versus .620 in 2025. This is a major signal for me that everything is coming together as he enters his prime.
Don't be surprised when Riley Greene puts together a career year next year. I would not be shocked if he combined his power from 2025 and his batted ball profile from 2026 to put together a .900 OPS season with 35+ home runs. My only nitpick is that he should be able to steal more than a couple of bases a year with his above-average sprint speed, but I'd rather he focus on being healthy and performing with his bat than chipping in a couple of extra stolen bases.
Updated October 2, 2026. The board moves all season, so see the full dynasty baseball rankings for the current order and every player's note.
| # | Player | Team | Pos | Age |
|---|--------|------|-----|-----|
| 11 | Yordan Alvarez | HOU | OF | 29.3 |
| 12 | Kevin McGonigle | DET | 3B/SS | 22.1 |
| 13 | Jacob Misiorowski | MIL | SP | 24.5 |
| 14 | CJ Abrams | WAS | SS | 26.0 |
| 15 | Jackson Merrill | SD | OF | 23.5 |
| 16 | Ben Rice | NYY | 1B/C | 27.6 |
| 17 | Sal Stewart | CIN | 1B/3B | 22.8 |
| 18 | Corbin Carroll | ARI | OF | 26.1 |
| 19 | Cam Schlittler | NYY | SP | 25.7 |
| 20 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | LAD | SP | 28.1 |
| 21 | Oneil Cruz | PIT | OF | 28.0 |
| 22 | Brice Turang | MIL | 2B | 26.9 |
| 23 | Tarik Skubal | LAD | SP | 29.9 |
| 24 | Miguel Vargas | CWS | 1B/3B | 26.9 |
| 25 | Riley Greene | DET | OF | 26.0 |