Ben Rice, in dynasty and redraft. The FanRanked staff dynasty board has Rice ahead, Rice #16 and Cruz #21, and the expert consensus agrees (#24 and #50). The community agrees too, FRV 77.1 to 66.6. For 2026 redraft, the consensus has Rice ahead, #10 to #30.
JD on Ben Rice (Oct 2, 2026): 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: 2025: 73.4 mph / 93.3 Avg EV 2026: 72.6 mph / 91.9 Avg EV 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 monster 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.
JD on Oneil Cruz (Oct 2, 2026): This is my favorite ranking in all the 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 as loud of tools as Oneil Cruz. He absolutely demolishes the ball (94.1 average EV last year), has hit the hardest recorded ball in MLB history (122.9 mph) in 2025, and the second-hardest-hit ball in MLB history (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 like a more predictable player, he's not for you.
Data as of . Consensus boards refresh daily; the staff board moves when it is republished.
| Metric | Ben Rice | Oneil Cruz |
|---|---|---|
| Team | NYY | PIT |
| Position | 1B | OF |
| Age | 27 | 27 |
| Staff Dynasty Rank | #16 | #21 |
| Dynasty Consensus Rank | #24 | #50 |
| Redraft Consensus Rank | #10 | #30 |
| FRV (FanRanked Value) | 77.1 | 66.6 |
| Expert Sources | 9 | 9 |
| Dynasty Rank Range | #19–#43 | #29–#117 |
| Rest-of-Season Value | - | - |
| $ Earned Year to Date | - | - |
| ROS Rank (Top 300) | - | - |
| 30-Day Consensus Move | Up 4 spots | Down 1 spot |
| Stat | Ben Rice | Oneil Cruz |
|---|---|---|
| PA | 667 | 419 |
| HR | 41 | 20 |
| R | 105 | 65 |
| RBI | 97 | 67 |
| SB | 3 | 30 |
| AVG | .264 | .280 |
| OBP | .363 | .368 |
| SLG | .534 | .486 |
| OPS | .897 | .854 |
| wOBA | .384 | .371 |
| xwOBA | .378 | .352 |
Price a Ben Rice-for-Oneil Cruz trade in the Dynasty Trade Calculator · compare their rest-of-season dollars in the Roto & Redraft Trade Analyzer