2026 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft, No. 2 Pick: Analysis, key takeaways and full roster

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

[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. 2 overall pick.

Note: We’re using Yahoo’s default points league settings for these mock drafts.

Full Roster

C: William Contreras, Brewers
1B: Willson Contreras, Red Sox
2B: Luke Keaschall, Twins
SS: Trea Turner, Phillies
3B: Junior Caminero, Rays
OF: Aaron Judge, Yankees
OF: Yordan Alvarez, Astros
OF: Byron Buxton, Twins
UTIL: Colson Montgomery, White Sox
UTIL: Alec Burleson, Cardinals
SP: George Kirby, Mariners
SP: Framber Valdez, Tigers
RP: Jeff Hoffman, Blue Jays
RP: Abner Uribe, Brewers
P: Nolan McLean, Mets
P: Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers
P: Sandy Alcantara, Marlins
P: Edward Cabrera, Cubs
Bench: JJ Wetherholt, Cardinals
Bench: Giancarlo Stanton, Yankees
Bench: Andres Gimenez, Blue Jays
Bench: Samuel Basallo, Orioles
Bench: Brayan Bello, Red Sox

Roster Analysis

All Rise! … Again: We went with Judge with the No. 1 pick in the first instant mock, but Yahoo’s Draft Scout tool (another benefit of Fantasy+) projects Shohei Ohtani as the top overall player. So with Ohtani going No. 1 this time around, we’re still feeling great about taking Judge second. You can read a bit more about my debate when I picked first in the previous mock.

Building blocks: At the turn with picks 2-3, we had Caminero drop down to us. I’m not sure this will happen often, but this is the great thing about draft simulations with the Instant Mock tool. You can repeatedly practice and get a range of outcomes, so you’re ready as different things happen during your real draft. The move back to Tropicana Field this season for the Rays could nerf some offensive stats; Caminero had 45 HRs and 110 RBI last season, though he had pretty even home vs. road splits. Projections believe he’ll regress a bit but if he doesn’t, Caminero has the potential to be a league-winner. When it comes to Turner, he gives us a reliable pick with good speed.

Betting on a comeback: I decided to wait on starting pitching and lean into offense. The next pick I pulled from an idea about recency bias from Yahoo analyst Fred Zinkie, who offers a lot of great draft strategies here. Many drafters may shy away from taking a chance on Astros OF/DH Yordan Alvarez after being burned last season. He only played 48 games in 2025 as one of the bigger busts in fantasy baseball. Alvarez appears healthy and made his spring debut this week. Prior to last season, Alvarez had at least 31 HRs and 86 RBI in each of the previous four seasons. If we can get back to that type of production in 2026, Alvarez will be one of the steals of your draft.

[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league for the 2026 MLB season]

Turning to the mound: My strategy at starting pitcher was to grab a few steady options. Kirby missed some starts last season but has made at least 23 in all four of his MLB campaigns. He’s also on what should be a very good Mariners club. Same goes for Valdez, who was signed by the Tigers after eight seasons in Houston. He has started at least 28 games in each of the past four seasons. After those two, things get a little wild …

We leaned into some young, high-upside starters in McLean and Misiorowski. Both have a ton of potential but could end up blowing up in my face. If nothing else, Miz should be a great source of strikeouts and should get to double-digit wins. McLean is a little less proven with just 48 IP last season. But he also has top-of-the-rotation stuff and is on a Mets team that should provide a ton of run support.

Youth movement continues: Both Basallo and Wetherholt are top-10 prospects who are expected to crack into the majors in 2026. The O’s gave Basallo a look late last season and he’s hit well so far in spring training. He only has catcher eligibility to start out but could get 1B and 3B if Baltimore moves him around. Wetherholt, a WVU product (like myself), already has tri-eligibility, which is always a plus. He should get plenty of ABs atop a St. Louis lineup that desperately needs something to get excited about. Wetherholt hit .306 with 17 HRs and a .931 OPS in over 100 minor-league games last season.

Takeaways with drafting No. 2: This exercise didn’t feel all that different from drafting No. 1 overall as you’ll need to still reach in some spots to get players you really like being close to the turn. It does feel like leaning into offense vs. pitching early in the draft in this slot makes a lot of sense. With Judge, Caminero and Turner up top, if some of my riskier picks later in the draft pay off, I should be competitive all season.