Dynasty: Chase Burns. The FanRanked staff dynasty board has Burns ahead, Burns #28 and Williams #41, and the expert consensus agrees (#24 and #60). The community agrees too, FRV 69.4 to 61.1.
JD on Chase Burns (Oct 20, 2026): It was a shame to see Chase Burns be such a league winner right up until the fantasy playoffs started for most people, at which point he got shut down and lost all of his value. When you're in a dynasty league and young guys click like this, it's a shame that you are punished in the playoffs when players on non-contending teams don't finish the end of the season. Chase Burns himself is very elite and you should be happy with him leading your rotation if you roster him. It's also really impressive that he has managed to do this with effectively two pitches, since he features his changeup only 5% of the time (with a -9 run value). He's got the classic heat maps that you'd want to see from a pitcher with his velocity: fastballs at the top of the zone and sliders down and away to righties. The slider alone accumulated +18 runs and contributed to a -1.05 reduction in ERA vs. the league average, making it one of the best in baseball. With a slider that good he can afford to be a two-pitch pitcher for a long time. I would like to see him develop a third pitch eventually to take him to the next level but he's so good that he doesn't have to. Let's just hope next season he doesn't get shut down in September and he gives everyone 30+ elite starts.
JD on Gavin Williams (Oct 20, 2026): Every start for Gavin feels like a ride on Mr. Bones' Wild Ride. If you don't know that incredibly niche piece of internet culture, here you go. It's incredible how dominant he can look and how hard it can be for him to find the zone sometimes. In his Game 5 start against the White Sox in the Division Series, he goes out there and absolutely mows down guys for five innings and 12 Ks and then loses the strike zone and can't make it out of the sixth. The crazy part is it's not like his walk rate was obscenely high like it was in previous seasons at an 8.2% BB rate, but it's the fact that he can still get all these Ks while making so many uncompetitive pitches when his command disappears. I think Gavin is one of the highest-upside arms in baseball right now and if anyone outside of the top five was going to challenge for the #1 ranked SP next year I think he is the safest bet. However, it's a pretty high-variance play because he also is the most likely to regress with his command and post a mid-4 ERA with bad walk rates. His floor will always be somewhat stable because of the absurd Ks that he will give you, but be prepared to take the good with the bad.
Data as of . Consensus boards refresh daily; the staff board moves when it is republished.
| Metric | Chase Burns | Gavin Williams |
|---|---|---|
| Team | CIN | CLE |
| Position | SP | SP |
| Age | 23 | 27 |
| Staff Dynasty Rank | #28 | #41 |
| Dynasty Consensus Rank | #24 | #60 |
| Redraft Consensus Rank | - | #104 |
| FRV (FanRanked Value) | 69.4 | 61.1 |
| Expert Sources | 9 | 11 |
| Dynasty Rank Range | #13–#45 | #30–#128 |
| Rest-of-Season Value | - | - |
| $ Earned Year to Date | - | - |
| ROS Rank (Top 300) | - | - |
| 30-Day Consensus Move | No move | Up 10 spots |
| Stat | Chase Burns | Gavin Williams |
|---|---|---|
| IP | 154.1 | 184.1 |
| W | 15 | 14 |
| SV | 0 | 0 |
| ERA | 2.86 | 3.76 |
| WHIP | 1.17 | 1.11 |
| K | 185 | 248 |
| K/9 | 10.8 | 12.1 |
Price a Chase Burns-for-Gavin Williams trade in the Dynasty Trade Calculator · compare their rest-of-season dollars in the Roto & Redraft Trade Analyzer