Later-Round Fantasy Baseball Prospects for 2026 - Drafts Targets, Sleepers, and Stashes

March 16, 2026

Jarod looks at five fantasy baseball prospects sleepers, stashes and value picks to target in 2026 drafts. His favorite later-round MLB rookies with upside.

Rookies are a great way to build your fantasy baseball team with some exciting new talent, and there are some exciting young players ready to emerge onto the scene in 2026. Some rookies are being drafted very early in drafts, but others can bring great value late in drafts with one of your last few picks. We'll talk about five below that have a good shot at cracking their club's Opening Day roster.

Some of the biggest prospect names, like Konnor Griffin, Kevin McGonigle, and J.J. Wetherholt, have been covered in great detail in various other articles here at RotoBaller. However, for this exercise, we're going to take a look at players that should be available at pick No. 300 or later in your upcoming draft. That means these players may be going undrafted in many standard 12-team leagues. All ADP referenced is taken from NFBC drafts since February 1.

But if you're going to take a lottery ticket with your last pick, or if you play in larger-sized leagues or leagues with very deep benches, then perhaps one of these five players is worth a roster spot, rather than a player who has been in the league for several years who may not carry much upside -- they are who they are at this point. If any of these players don't end up making their team's Opening Day roster, stash them away in an NA spot, if available, until they are called up.

Dylan Beavers, OF, Baltimore Orioles

ADP: 356   RotoBaller Rank: 306

Dylan Beavers was the 33rd-overall pick in the 2022 Draft and has shown well during his time in the minors. He carried a .270 career batting average and .369 OBP into the 2025 season, then went on to best those totals at Triple-A Norfolk, hitting .304 with a superb .420 OBP thanks to a tremendous 16.3 percent walk rate.

The effort earned the left-handed hitter a late-season promotion to the big-league club, where his patient approach continued, logging a 19.0 percent walk rate in his 35-game sample.

There is plenty of pop in his bat, too, with his hardest hit ball clocking in at 111.6 mph while at Triple-A. The 6-foot-5 slugger also recorded a .515 slugging percentage there in 2025, including 18 home runs, adding four more long balls with the Orioles. Let's not forget about his speed, which registered in the 89th percentile in the majors last year and helped him to steal 23 bags at Norfolk (two more in the bigs).

Orioles outfield prospect Dylan Beavers with some hard contact and the speed for his first triple of the spring.

A sneaky Rookie of the Year candidate who’s expected to break camp with the club this season. pic.twitter.com/nUhHtzakTl

— Matt Weyrich (@ByMattWeyrich) March 5, 2026

Right now, the Orioles' second-ranked prospect is positioned for a platoon role to start the season, but if he can work himself into regular at-bats, with an ADP of 332 overall, he could easily return value for fantasy managers.

Carson Benge, OF, New York Mets

ADP: 371     RotoBaller Rank: 328

Carson Benge was drafted 19th overall in the 2024 Draft and performed well in his first taste of pro ball that year at Single-A. He began 2025 at High-A, and after a .302/.417/.480 slash line in 60 games, the former first-rounder earned a promotion, where he did not slow down. He registered a .317/.407/.571 slash in 32 games there, prompting yet another promotion to Triple-A.

Triple-A, unsurprisingly, proved a bit more challenging, but the left-handed slugger still struck out at a better-than-average rate of 18.4 percent over his 24-game stint. All in all, the Oklahoma State product produced a .281/.385/.472 slash line with 15 home runs and 22 steals in 116 games last year.

Fast forward to 2026, and the Mets' second-ranked prospect appeared primed to begin the season at Triple-A; however, with Brandon Nimmo getting traded and Juan Soto shifting to left field, a gaping hole was left in right field.

The team could deploy veteran Tyrone Taylor there, or potentially even Brett Baty, who is a third baseman by trade, and they also signed veteran Mike Tauchman to a minor league contract in February to compete for the job, but Benge was invited to big league camp this year and appears to be in the driver's seat.

MLB's No. 16 prospect Carson Benge legs out an RBI triple in the Grapefruit League!@Mets | @MetsPlayerDev pic.twitter.com/v7rwyiL2NG

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 9, 2026

The youngster has gone 9-for-23 (.391) so far this spring (eight singles and one triple), and has recorded one stolen base, so he hasn't hurt his case. It will be important to see how he performs over the rest of camp, but as long as he doesn't nosedive (and none of the other aforementioned options overachieve), he could claim the job.

Benge already has the backing from the Mets' president of baseball operations, David Stearns, who has previously stated that Benge has a real chance to make the team out of camp.

Fantasy managers who have the luxury of waiting til closer to Opening Day to draft should monitor the 23-year-old's progress, but as it stands, it seems like Benge's job to lose. Assuming he makes the Opening Day roster, his combination of contact, power, and speed could provide multi-category production from the outset, and hopefully for the entire season, making his ADP of 434 ridiculously affordable.

Bryce Eldridge, 1B, San Francisco Giants

ADP: 444     RotoBaller Rank: 370

If you're looking for a home run contributor at the end of your draft, then Bryce Eldridge could be your guy. The 6-foot-7 slugger has 70-grade power per MLB Pipeline, and it was on full display last season, belting 18 home runs at Triple-A in just 66 games, and 25 in all if you include the 34 games he played at Double-A.

That production earned him a major league debut at the end of the year, although he wasn't able to do much during his short 10-game stint (.107/.297/.179). Now, he's set to take over DH duties for the Giants, and perhaps spell Rafael Devers at first base from time to time.

So far this spring, the former first-rounder is 6-for-25 (.240), has one home run under his belt, and has drawn five walks to produce a better-than-average 16.1 percent walk rate.

The drawback with so much power sometimes, though, is a lot of swing-and-miss. Eldridge struck out at a 30.8 percent rate at Triple-A in 2025, but carries a 27.1 percent strikeout rate for his minor league career, so it's not like there was a big spike when the left-handed hitter got there; it's just always been high.

With 10 strikeouts in 31 Cactus League plate appearances, that equates to a 32.3 percent K%. So if you're going to draft Eldridge for his power potential, just know that it could come at the expense of batting average.

Still, if your team can handle that, he's got a good shot at being a 20-homer guy this season, with 30-homer upside if he can stay in the lineup for the entire year, and he'll only cost you the 461st pick overall. Continue to monitor roster cuts, though, as Giants manager Tony Vitello made a recent comment about Eldridge's need for development, which could mean he needs more seasoning at Triple-A to begin the year.

Moises Ballesteros, C/1B/DH, Chicago Cubs

ADP: 482    RotoBaller Rank: 446

Moises Ballesteros joined the Cubs organization in 2021, but was just 17 years old back then. He's produced better-than-average strikeout and walk rates all along the way and has impressed against competition that was typically much older than he was.

In particular, in 182 games at Triple-A between 2024 and 2025, the youngster slashed .303/.369/.466 with 23 home runs and a superb 16.0 percent strikeout rate and 9.1 percent walk rate.

The Venezuelan backstop debuted with the Cubs in May of last year, but it wasn't until mid-September that he was recalled and received regular at-bats. Down the stretch, he went 13-for-39 (.333) with a double, a triple, and a pair of home runs, while recording an 11:7 K:BB in the final 14 games.

The Cubs' top prospect has one of the highest-rated hit tools in the minors right now, registering at 60 per MLB Pipeline. With both Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya holding down the catching duties in Chicago, Ballesteros is set to be the team's designated hitter versus right-handed pitching.

extend the lead, moisés. pic.twitter.com/ygAemiiu1L

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) March 8, 2026

Right now, the left-handed slugger is only eligible at the catcher position on most formats, but with the ability to play first base, he should gain eligibility there as well at some point during the season.

With the potential for 15-plus home runs or more with regular at-bats, along with what should be a solid batting average, the 22-year-old is worth a flier at the end of drafts, especially in deeper formats. He's currently going around pick 476, although RotoBaller has him ranked 30 spots higher.

Owen Caissie, OF, Miami Marlins

ADP: 466     RotoBaller Rank: 361

Owen Caissie's trademark tool is his power, which, like Eldridge's, comes with a lot of swing-and-miss. In 2023, the left-handed hitter belted 22 home runs at Double-A, 19 more at Triple-A in 2024, and an additional 22 last season at Triple-A. During that time, he also registered a 29.2 percent strikeout rate.

Still, despite the high strikeout rate, he was able to produce a .284 batting average over that span, and if you isolate his stats from July 3 last season through the end of the year, the 6-foot-4 slugger produced a fantastic .341/.418/.659 slash line in 33 games, which featured a better-than-average 20.5 percent strikeout rate.

So, perhaps as he's matured, and maybe he's figured some things out that could sustain both power and a half-decent batting average in the big leagues. Factor in one other constant throughout his minor league career -- a strong walk rate -- and you have the building blocks for a solid fantasy player.

The former second-round draft pick owned a 12.9 percent walk rate at Triple-A over the last two seasons, which is something that should translate to the majors once he gains regular playing time. At a minimum, semi-regular playing time appears to be in the cards this season as the strong-side platoon option in right field for the Marlins.

The Marlins' third-ranked prospect debuted with the Cubs in August of 2025, but it likely would have happened sooner, perhaps even in 2024, had Chicago not had a plethora of quality big league outfielders. Now Caissie will get his chance with a new organization, and with the Marlins not likely to contend, they should give the 23-year-old a long leash to allow him to show them what he's made of.

There are double-digit home runs in his bat, and 20 home runs is not out of the question, so long as he can continue to hit and stay in the lineup for the majority of the season. As it stands, he's projected to hit toward the bottom of the lineup, which doesn't help his fantasy case, but at pick No. 486, the upside is worth the risk.

More Fantasy Baseball Advice