Oneil Cruz, in dynasty and redraft. The FanRanked staff dynasty board has Cruz ahead, Cruz #21 and Caglianone #36, and the expert consensus agrees (#64 and #51). The community disagrees, leaning Caglianone, FRV 70.0 to 66.6. For 2026 redraft, the consensus has Cruz ahead, #29 to #62.
JD on Jac Caglianone (Oct 21, 2026): Cags took a major leap forward in the second half of 2026 and may have gone under the radar because the Royals didn't have much else to watch this year. He slashed .337/.373/.549 with 8 home runs and 4 stolen bases, all while limiting his Ks to a very manageable 20.6% K rate. The underlying metrics back it up too with a 93.8(!) Average EV and xwOBA of .363, which wasn't far off from his full-season xwOBA of .359. The only thing in the profile that really screams regression is the .361 BABIP, however his expected batting average was .283 because the quality of his contact is so strong. I wouldn't expect as much batting average regression as you would typically expect to see from someone who ran a BABIP this high. The last piece of the puzzle that I'd really like to see from someone with as much power as he has is an improved launch angle. If he can get his 7.7° launch angle up to even 10° he's going to hit so many more home runs with how hard he hits the ball. From there, his only real deficit is his poor walk rate. But if it doesn't lead to an alarming amount of strikeouts, a la Joey Gallo, I'm not sure we necessarily need to concern ourselves with it from a fantasy perspective. I think he will be a very valuable dynasty asset if he makes that one tweak, and don't be afraid to make a big move early in 2027 if you see positive launch angle progress in April.
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 | Jac Caglianone | Oneil Cruz |
|---|---|---|
| Team | KC | PIT |
| Position | OF/1B | OF |
| Age | 23 | 27 |
| Staff Dynasty Rank | #36 | #21 |
| Dynasty Consensus Rank | #64 | #51 |
| Redraft Consensus Rank | #62 | #29 |
| FRV (FanRanked Value) | 70.0 | 66.6 |
| Expert Sources | 9 | 9 |
| Dynasty Rank Range | #40–#97 | #30–#117 |
| Rest-of-Season Value | $1 | - |
| $ Earned Year to Date | $16 | - |
| ROS Rank (Top 300) | #159 | - |
| 30-Day Consensus Move | Up 5 spots | Down 9 spots |
| Stat | Jac Caglianone | Oneil Cruz |
|---|---|---|
| PA | 553 | 419 |
| HR | 23 | 20 |
| R | 72 | 65 |
| RBI | 75 | 67 |
| SB | 7 | 30 |
| AVG | .289 | .280 |
| OBP | .340 | .368 |
| SLG | .494 | .486 |
| OPS | .834 | .854 |
| wOBA | .360 | .371 |
| xwOBA | .357 | .352 |
Price a Jac Caglianone-for-Oneil Cruz trade in the Dynasty Trade Calculator · compare their rest-of-season dollars in the Roto & Redraft Trade Analyzer