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Jeremy's 6 league-winning hitters, fantasy baseball breakouts, values, studs to provide massive return on value in 2026 including Shea Langeliers, Brice Turang, Maikel Garcia, and more.
The best way to come out of your fantasy baseball draft with the best chance to win your league is by finding as many players as possible who will outperform their draft cost. While a lot of these players are going late in drafts and would be considered "sleepers", they don't necessarily have the upside to carry your team to the championship single-handedly.
That's why it's just as important to find value in the early and middle rounds, too, by identifying already great players who have the potential to take another step forward to become a fantasy superstar. My definition of a league winner is someone who can take that next step and provide elite, first or second-round fantasy upside that can help you bring home your league title. For example, heading into last year, everyone knew that Cal Raleigh and Junior Caminero would be solid options, but they broke out in a big way and are both being drafted as second-rounders this season.
Be sure to follow RotoBallerMLB on X for all of our league-winning content and me, @heistjm, for any questions! Without further ado, here are my six league winners for 2026.
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Shea Langeliers, C, Athletics
Yahoo ADP: 66
There are so many young and exciting catchers who have tons of upside in 2026, but if I had to pick one who was the most likely to be a league winner, it would be Shea Langeliers. He was regarded as a cheaper version of Cal Raleigh heading into 2025, and we all know that he went on to hit 60 home runs.
What may surprise you is that Langeliers was actually better than Raleigh in the second half of the season, and was actually the second most valuable hitter in all of fantasy over that time frame. In 57 games after the All-Star break, he slashed .328/.367/.651 with 19 home runs, 41 RBI, and 45 runs. That’s a 162-game pace of 54 home runs, and while I don’t expect him to perform like that over the course of a full season, 40 homers seems like a very reachable outcome.
Shea Langeliers - Sacramento Athletics (4)*
Shea Langeliers - Sacramento Athletics (5)*
Shea Langeliers - Sacramento Athletics (6)* pic.twitter.com/0DLJWK6wlR— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) March 15, 2026
The biggest improvement the 28-year-old showed was cutting his strikeout rate from 27.2% to 19.7%, while maintaining a 90.9 mph average exit velocity and a 11.2% barrel rate, both of which grade out as above average. The A’s will be returning to Sacramento to play in Sutter Health Park once again, which was one of the most hitter-friendly venues in the league.
That gives Langeliers a pretty solid floor to go along with his potential league-winning power upside.
Brice Turang, 2B, Milwaukee Brewers
Yahoo ADP: 53
Second base is the shallowest position in terms of high-end production, as it drops off pretty heavily after the top three. Jazz Chisholm and Ketel Marte are already being drafted as second or third-round players, but Brice Turang will have the chance to join them if he can put it all together for 2026. He had a breakout 2025, slashing .288/.359/.435 with 18 home runs and 24 steals.
While the 18 home runs were a surprise to many, it was equally as surprising to see his stolen base total get cut in half from the 50 he stole in 2024.
That makes it easy to see the league-winning upside that he possesses. If he can manage to keep his power gains from last season while running as much as he did two years ago, we could be looking at a potential 20-homer, 40-steal threat.
The power wasn’t a fluke that he just lucked into, either. The 26-year-old made significant gains across the board in his quality of contact metrics, raising his hard-hit rate from 29.7% to 47.4%, his average exit velocity from 87.0 mph to 91.1 mph, and his barrel rate from 2.4% to 7.9%. This looks like a real transformation that he’ll be able to carry over into 2026, which would make him a true five-category contributor for fantasy.
With an ADP outside of the top-50 overall, he is a great value if you miss out on the top two guys at the position.
Maikel Garcia, 3B, Kansas City Royals
Yahoo ADP: 68
Maikel Garcia also experienced a power boost that came at the price of his stolen bases in 2025, as he slashed .286/.351/.449 with a career-high 16 home runs and 23 stolen bases. The steals weren’t as prominent as 2024, when he stole 37 bags, and the league-winning upside case for Garcia is very similar to Turang’s. If he can maintain or improve on his power while getting more active again on basepaths, he could be a five-category standout.
Regarding his power, the good news is that he is getting a little bit of extra help this season. The Royals are moving their outfield walls by as much as 10 feet in right and left field, which will help guys with borderline power like Garcia. The 26-year-old achieved his power gains last season in part by increasing his Pull AIR% from 10.8% to 16.2%, and moving in the walls will make it that much easier for him to pull balls out of the ballpark.
TWO-RUN HOMER FOR MAIKEL GARCIA AND IT'S A ONE RUN GAME!
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/B3h6O9P0RV
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 15, 2026
He was also one of the best at making contact in the league last year, posting a 12.6% strikeout rate, 15.0% whiff rate, and 20.8% chase rate, all of which ranked in the top 10% of the league. Good batting averages are especially hard to come by later in drafts, so taking Garcia early would help shore up that category, no matter what he ends up doing with his power and speed.
Konnor Griffin, SS, Pittsburgh Pirates
Yahoo ADP: 185
Konnor Griffin has been one of the most hyped up prospects this spring, and possibly in years. The ninth overall pick in the MLB draft dominated in his first year of pro ball, slashing .333/.415/.527 with 21 home runs, 94 RBI, 117 runs, and 65 stolen bases in 122 games between Single-A, High-A, and Double-A. If the 19-year-old does make the opening day roster, he would be the first teenager to do so since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1989.
He has the makings of a true five-category superstar, and the only question remaining is when he will make his major league debut. Usually, we’d expect the Pirates to wait as long as possible to secure an extra year of team control, but it at least seems that Pittsburgh is making more of an attempt to win than usual this year.
They added Brandon Lowe, Ryan O'Hearn, and Marcell Ozuna to their lineup this offseason and have an exciting young pitching staff in Paul Skenes, Bubba Chandler, and Braxton Ashcraft. Adding Griffin into the mix could make this team one of the most exciting squads to watch this year.
No. 1 Prospect Konnor Griffin hits his first #SpringTraining home run! 💪 pic.twitter.com/YllOJIHZLw
— MLB (@MLB) February 24, 2026
However, even if Griffin doesn’t make the Opening Day roster, he is still worth drafting and stashing in fantasy until his debut. This is a potentially generational prospect who we could easily be discussing in first-round territory for fantasy in 2027. He has drawn many comparisons to Bobby Witt Jr. as he rose through the minors, and you could draft Griffin at a huge value if your league mates aren’t as knowledgeable about upcoming prospects.
Byron Buxton, OF, Minnesota Twins
Yahoo ADP: 90
Many potential league-winners also come with some risk, and that’s more true for Byron Buxton than anyone else. The injury-prone star played 126 games in 2025, which was the most he played in a season since 2017 and only the second time he topped 100 games in that span. For most players, 126 games would be viewed as a disappointment, but for Buxton, it was a best-case scenario.
The good news for Buxton’s fantasy managers is that he put up elite full-season numbers in that limited time frame, slashing .264/.327/.551 with 35 home runs, 83 RBI, 97 runs, and 24 stolen bases. Those are league-winning numbers themselves, especially considering the low cost Buxton had on draft day.
The 32-year-old’s ADP has risen to 90 in 2026, which is still not at all representative of his 2025 production. Not only is he one of the fastest players in the majors with a 30.2 feet per second sprint speed, but he also posted a 53.8% hard-hit rate (96th percentile) and 92.5 mph average exit velocity (92nd percentile).
His value all comes down to how many games he plays this season, which is nearly impossible to predict.
He’s essentially guaranteed to outperform his ADP on a per-game basis whenever he’s on the field, so it’s easy to see how he can be a league winner with a fully healthy season. However, even a repeat of last year in the 120-140 game range would make him a good value at his current cost if he continues to produce at last year's level.
In shallow leagues with plenty of options on the waiver wire, Buxton makes for a great pick, since the downside of losing him to injury wouldn’t hurt nearly as much as in a 15-team five-outfielder league where you’d be picking up scraps to try to replace him.
Yordan Alvarez, UT, Houston Astros
Yahoo ADP: 31
Yordan Alvarez is another hitter who has always been elite when healthy, but has just struggled to stay on the field. This injury-prone label has dropped his ADP outside of the top 30, but it’s not nearly on the level of someone lIke Buxton. Alvarez missed most of last season, playing only 48 games due to a fractured hand and a sprained ankle, but in his four previous years, he played 147, 114, 135, and 144 games.
This seems like more recency bias than anything, and the ADP discount gives him a chance to be a league winner in 2026.
He was still as good as ever at impacting the ball last season, posting a .393 xwOBA, a 94.7 mph average exit velocity, and a 52.9% hard-hit rate, all of which ranked among the best in the league. The 28-year-old also walked at a 14.1% clip, and there’s really no weakness in his game at all at the plate.
For reference, in his healthy 2024 season, he slashed .308/.392/.567 with 35 home runs. Even with him providing no stolen bases, those are first-round caliber numbers for fantasy.
The slugger’s fractured hand and sprained ankle stand out as isolated injuries, rather than something soft tissue-related that could be recurring. It’s an absolute steal to get one of the best hitters in baseball in the third or fourth round, even if he is DH only and doesn’t steal any bases. Especially for those of you in points leagues where stolen bases aren’t as important, Alvarez could carry you to the championship.
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