The 2026 MLB season is almost here and that means you’re likely prepping for your fantasy baseball draft. One of the best ways to prepare is to do as many mock drafts as possible. Of course, sometimes it’s tough to find an accurate representation of your league settings by using the public mock draft lobby.
Not to fear! If you’re a Yahoo Fantasy+ subscriber, you have access to the Instant Mock Draft tool, allowing you to practice your draft in seconds. You can test different strategies, pick from various draft slots and experiment with roster construction as many times as you want, anytime, instantly. Now is a great time to subscribe to Yahoo Fantasy+, so you can use the wealth of tools for your draft prep
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[Yahoo Fantasy+ unlocks premium draft tools, player projections and more]
In this series, we’re going to be using the Instant Mock Draft tool to pick from each of the 12 slots in a 12-team fantasy baseball league. Up next is drafting from the No. 4 overall pick.
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Note: We’re using Yahoo’s default points league settings for these mock drafts.
Full Roster
C: Agustín Ramírez, Marlins
1B: Nick Kurtz, Athletics
2B: Brice Turang, Brewers
SS: Bobby Witt Jr., Royals
3B: Manny Machado, Padres
OF: James Wood, Nationals
OF: Cody Bellinger, Yankees
OF: Byron Buxton, Twins
UTIL: Mike Trout, Angels
UTIL: Luis Robert Jr., Mets
SP: Luis Castillo, Mariners
SP: Tyler Glasnow, Dodgers
RP: Carlos Estévez, Royals
RP: Abner Uribe, Brewers
P: Nick Lodolo, Reds
P: Trevor Rogers, Orioles
P: Luis Gil, Yankees
P: Kris Bubic, Royals
Bench: Jorge Polanco, Mets
Bench: Kyle Teel, White Sox
Bench: Colt Keith, Tigers
Bench: Bryan Abreu, Astros
Bench: Mark Vientos, Mets
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Real quick: The projections favored Juan Soto over Bobby Witt Jr., so that’s who we were left with in the No. 4 slot. I opted to go with the Royals SS over players like SP Tarik Skubal and 3B José Ramírez based on upside. Kansas City is moving the fences in and Witt is still just 25 years old and has been an AL MVP candidate in back-to-back seasons.
[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league for the 2026 MLB season]
Hitter heavy: As you can see, we punted on starting pitching and at catcher in this draft, focusing on filling out my bats for the most part before addressing those positions. That gave us a nice core of Witt-Kurtz-Machado-Wood to carry most of our offensive categories.
I’d been wanting to land Kurtz in one of these drafts. The A’s first baseman feels like a great value toward the end of the second and early third given his potential. Same goes for Wood, who really just needs to improve his strikeout rate to take the next step.
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Zero SP: Okay, let’s break down the pitching. I waited until the eighth round to take my first starter — Mariners’ Luis Castillo. He’s described as one of the safer picks toward the back-end of your draft by analyst Fred Zinkie, so I made Castillo a priority. He’s started at least 30 games in three straight seasons and has a career ERA of 3.55. If his K’s bounce back this season, he should outperform his draft slot.
Glasnow and Gil are pitchers looking for redemption on great teams. Rogers and Lodolo offer upside with each coming off a career year in 2025. Waiting on SP feels like a strong play in points formats. Worst case, you can explore trade options given your depth on offense. Best case, some of your late-round gems shine and you can shore things up off the waiver wire.
THIS SEASON WE SPELL REDEMPTION M-I-K-E: Many have spelled the downfall of Mike Trout. These people are cowards!
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Just kidding. Trout isn’t going to return to his MVP form, perhaps ever. But if you wanna buy into foolish spring training narratives, Trout did hit 29.9 mph running the basepaths recently. Legs are pretty important at the plate, so if Trout is feeling fresh and healthy, he could (at least) bounce back a bit in 2026. That could mean 30+ homers, and who knows, maybe the future Hall of Famer has another great season left in him.
Draft the Mets: I don’t like talking about the Mets as a Yankees fan, but we’re going to suck it up here. I ended up grabbing three bats in that lineup and none of them are the big names (Soto, Lindor, Bichette). But remember, it’s important to target batters in good offensive environments.
Perhaps in a lesser role, Vientos can look more like his 2024 version, when he had 27 HRs and an .837 OPS. Robert feels like a great late-round sleeper who could bounce back; Scott Pianowski is thinking about it. Polanco should bat in the heart of a deep lineup, giving him plenty of opportunities to drive in runs. Team stacking is more of a DFS strategy and is much more risky in season-long, but can pay off if you limit said risk by targeting low-cost players.
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That’s a Relief: In terms of projections, RPs are the least valuable players in points leagues. But you have to play two of them. Saves are always going to be the most valuable, but you can also stream saves off the waiver wire. Instead of grabbing two traditional closers, I picked up Estévez to carry me in saves and then took Uribe, who rarely allowed a run last season and racks up Ks. He’s also one of the premier setup men in MLB, a few slip-ups or injury away from becoming Milwaukee’s closer.
Takeaways with drafting No. 4: I think this was my favorite draft through the first four. There’s not really a hole in my lineup and every bat has some pop, which I like a lot. It’s also a nice mix of veterans and young players who could improve. I’ve also been spoiled up to this point, being able to select between the likely MVP candidates in both the NL and AL. We’ll see what the middle and later picks have in store.
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