Fantasy Baseball: Predicting the first two rounds of 2027 drafts; find out where Pete Crow-Armstrong ranks
Find out also how much leeway is given to 2026 disappointments like Aaron Judge, Ronald Acuna and Jose Ramirez
• 10 min read
With the 2026 season drawing to a close, we can marvel over how terrible it was for early-round talent.
And we have to because the time to rank them for 2027 is fast approaching. In fact, that process begins for me today with this look at the first two rounds.
How much leeway should I give to aging players like Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor? How confident am I in a bounceback for Ronald Acuna, Julio Rodriguez and Corbin Carroll? What do I make of Vladimir Guerrero, Gunnar Henderson and Kyle Tucker?
You'll notice I've included some of those players here, but not all. Narrowing down the names was challenging enough, but the real head-scratcher was where to put them. The difficulty, after the kind of seasons they've had, is that it's largely a matter of faith rather than pure data. I suspect this will lead to more debates over who belongs in the first two rounds, at least in these early stages, but the internet being what it is, groupthink seems all but inevitable.
Fortunately, I can be one of the first to weigh in.
Note that these rankings are for traditional Rotisserie leagues (i.e., 5x5 scoring). I address Head-to-Head points leagues further below.
Round 1
| 1 |  Shohei Ohtani Los Angeles Dodgers DH |
| Ohtani seemed like he was on his way to a fourth straight 1.000-OPS season until a knee issue in June led to a cascade of other injuries that brought his numbers down to size and ultimately landed him on the IL. Provided an offseason of rest is enough to cure what ails him, you won't find a more bankable stud bat. | |
| 2 |  Pete Crow-Armstrong Chicago Cubs CF |
| The top player in 2026 has improved his approach at the plate enough to ward off any bust concerns, but a repeat of a 40/40 season is a big ask and would, in fact, be unprecedented. | |
| 3 |  Aaron Judge New York Yankees RF |
| My first inclination was to rank Judge ahead of Crow-Armstrong, and I'd still call him the higher-upside player of the two. But he'll turn 35 next April, and after an injury-plagued season in which his strikeout rate has jumped more than 5 percentage points, I don't know that I could call him the higher-floor player anymore. | |
| 4 |  Yordan Alvarez Houston Astros DH |
| Alvarez has proven he can stay healthy for a full season and has played enough outfield to remain eligible there for 2027. He may be the best pure hitter in the game right now -- a monster by every measure but stolen bases -- and his underlying data isn't so far off from Judge in his prime. | |
| 5 |  Juan Soto New York Mets LF |
| Soto couldn't follow up on his outlier 38-steal season, but he likely would have had a third straight 40-homer season if not for troublesome calves that landed him on the IL He's a rock-solid, worry-free choice in Round 1, and his elite power combined with his unmatched plate discipline makes him a counting stats monster. | |
| 6 |  Bobby Witt Kansas City Royals SS |
| Some will default to ranking Witt third or fourth, hoping he can relive his glorious 2023 and 2024 seasons, but he's now fallen short of 25 homers in consecutive seasons and has had some RBI troubles in the Royals lineup as well. He should be great for batting average and stolen bases, though. | |
| 7 |  James Wood Washington Nationals RF |
| Wood was in the running with Crow-Armstrong for player-of-the-year honors when he suffered an oblique injury that cost him a month. While it may seem like nitpicking, his strikeout and launch angle issues are still cause for pause, and it's not clear that base-stealing will be a reliable part of his game moving forward. | |
| 8 |  Fernando Tatis Jr. San Diego Padres RF |
| An ill-advised mechanical change robbed Tatis of his power early on, but his final four months have been the best work we've seen from him since his 42-homer, 25-steal 2021. He'll only be 28 next year and has renewed momentum as a five-category threat who is now eligible at second base. | |
| 9 |  Elly De La Cruz Cincinnati Reds SS |
| As De La Cruz improves as a hitter, he seems to forfeit something as a base-stealer, and between his repeated quad injuries and the looming presence of manager Terry Francona, I wonder if he's losing his taste for it. Presuming not, the main thing separating De La Cruz from Witt at this point is that Witt is more likely to max out his batting average due to a superior strikeout rate. | |
| 10 |  Junior Caminero Tampa Bay Rays 3B |
| Caminero has been just as good as during his breakout 2025 season, even improving as an on-base threat. He won't be drafted with the same hesitation as in 2026 and will be the most sought-after player at the scarce third base position even if he adds nothing as a base-stealer. | |
| 11 |  Jacob Misiorowski Milwaukee Brewers SP |
| Misiorowski's historically dominant 2026 will surely make him the most desirable starting pitcher in 2027, but you know how that goes. The chance for breakage is high following a big workload increase, and doubly so with his unprecedented velocities, so he's about as big of a risk/reward play as is possible in Round 1. | |
| 12 |  Cam Schlittler New York Yankees SP |
| Misiorowski hasn't exceeded Schlittler by much in 2026, and I might give the latter the slight edge for durability, to the degree anyone can predict such things. He's a fine consolation prize if building around pitching is your thing, and it probably should be at this stage of the draft given that the remaining caliber of hitter isn't as grand. | |
Round 2
| 13 |  Tarik Skubal Los Angeles Dodgers SP |
| The revolutionary new procedure used to remove loose bodies from Skubal's elbow in May was a smashing success, costing him only six weeks, and he's come back so strong that it feels kind of wrong to make him only the SP3 when he's been such a bankable SP1. Such is the extent of Misiorowski's and Schlittler's 2026 dominance, though. | |
| 14 |  C.J. Abrams Washington Nationals SS |
| For much of 2026, it looked like C.J. Abrams would need to rank even higher than this, but his usual second-half slump has brought his batting average down to size, probably closer to where it should have been all along. Still, he's a potential 30/30 man that's expected to regain second base eligibility early in 2027. | |
| 15 |  Jackson Chourio Milwaukee Brewers LF |
| After two years of near identical production, Chourio's batting average and slugging percentage have improved this year in a way that's backed up by the data, namely the 2 mph increase in average exit velocity. You can chalk it up as genuine growth for a guy who's only now 22, and it makes Chourio a candidate for 30 homers next year. His low walk rate still holds him back in certain formats. | |
| 16 |  Ronald Acuna Jr. Atlanta Braves RF |
| The tools remain loud for Acuna, but consistency has become a real issue. That's mostly due to injuries and the mechanical quagmire that often accompanies them, but even so, in only one of the past four seasons has he actually lived up to his draft cost (it was arguably the best Fantasy season ever, which is why hope springs eternal). He's at least ending 2026 on a high note. | |
| 17 |  Julio Rodriguez Seattle Mariners CF |
| Though it feels like Rodriguez's 2026 was disappointing from the jump, his first half was right in line with his career splits. He just didn't deliver the massive second half we're used to, and it may have something to do with the concussion that sidelined him for nearly three weeks right before. Seeing as he's still only 25 and is sporting basically the same underlying data set as always, I'm inclined to give him a pass. | |
| 18 |  Corbin Carroll Arizona Diamondbacks RF |
| Back issues have plagued Carroll from as far back as April, and those have been known to wreck entire seasons. That he's still mustered a 20/20 campaign with an .800 OPS is to his credit, and as with Rodriguez, nothing about his Statcast readings suggests we should think any less of him today. Discounting him by a round for a misstep of a season seems fair. | |
| 19 |  Yoshinobu Yamamoto Los Angeles Dodgers SP |
| With the 2027 draft pool feeling a little light on aces, the steady-as-he-goes Yamamoto claims a spot in Round 2, perhaps coming in a little light on strikeouts but strong on everything else (and the strikeout shortfall isn't a given seeing as a still has a career K/9 rate near 10). His placement here denotes another drop-off within the hitter ranks. | |
| 20 |  Cristopher Sanchez Philadelphia Phillies SP |
| Everything I just said about Yamamoto also applies to Sanchez except that WHIP is the sore spot rather than strikeouts. And like Yamamoto, he's had stronger showings in that area previously. Sanchez has become a top bat-misser to go with his elite control and ground ball skills, making him about as bankable of an ace as you'll find. | |
| 21 |  Jordan Walker St. Louis Cardinals RF |
| Walker's breakthrough was, on the one hand, long overdue and, on the other, a bit perplexing since it's not clear what's changed for him other than the results themselves. That he's scuffled in the second half raises my guard a bit, costing him a few spots in these rankings, but the likeliest answer is that a tooled-up talent finally smoothed out the rough edges at age 24. | |
| 22 |  Ben Rice New York Yankees DH |
| Losing catcher eligibility might seem like a blow to Rice's Fantasy value, but his numbers grade out to make him the top first baseman as well -- or to put him in the mix, at least. I'm ranking him atop the position because I think he's actually left some meat on the bone, delivering lower strikeout and pulled-air rates than a year ago while enduring a midseason slump without partner in crime Aaron Judge. | |
| 23 |  Nick Kurtz Athletics 1B |
| Tough call between Rice and Kurtz for the top spot at first base, with the latter having more overall upside but also some major contact issues that could introduce more variability over time. Though Kurtz's 2026 was considered a strong follow-up to his Rookie of the Year-winning 2025, his batting average was in free fall at the time of his season-ending thumb strain. | |
| 24 |  Oneil Cruz Pittsburgh Pirates CF |
| Cruz figured out how to hit left-handers, and suddenly it didn't matter anymore that he was striking out 33 percent of the time. He's come back from a two-month absence for a broken hand looking just as formidable as he did before it, giving the breakthrough more legitimacy, and as such, this ranking undersells his upside. It was only about a year ago, however, that his Fantasy stock about bottomed out, which justifies a more cautious approach. | |
Why not ____________?
For H2H points
Round 1
1. Shohei Ohtani, DH/SP, LAD
2. Aaron Judge, OF, NYY
3. Yordan Alvarez, OF, HOU
4. Juan Soto, OF, NYM
5. Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF, CHC
6. James Wood, OF, WAS
7. Fernando Tatis, 2B/SS, SD
8. Jacob Misiorowski, SP, MIL
9. Cam Schlittler, SP, NYY
10. Tarik Skubal, SP, free agent
11. Bobby Witt, SS, KC
12. Elly De La Cruz, SS, CIN
Round 2
13. Junior Caminero, 3B, TB
14. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, SP, LAD
15. Cristopher Sanchez, SP, PHI
16. Ronald Acuna, OF, ATL
17. Corbin Carroll, OF, ARI
18. Jose Ramirez, 3B, CLE
19. Ben Rice, 1B, NYY
20. Miguel Vargas, 1B/3B, CHW
21. Sal Stewart, 1B/3B, CIN
22. Brice Turang, 2B, MIL
23. C.J.Abrams, SS, WAS
24. Jackson Chourio, OF, MIL
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