Imaginary Brick Wall

The Sneak Peeks keep coming on the Patreon with A Top 75 Sneak Peek of the 2027 Top 1,000 Dynasty Baseball Rankings. Full analysis, 2027 Projections, and Prime Projections for every player. Top 16 free here on the Brick Wall. The Deep Positional Rankings have already kicked off with the Top 81 Catchers (1B coming next week). 11 Dynasty Team Reports are completed. And we are just getting started with so much more coming. Here is A Top 75 Sneak Peek of the 2027 Top 1,000 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon)

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THESE RANKS & TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
-A TOP 75 SNEAK PEEK OF THE 2027 TOP 1,000 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS
–TOP 36 2027 FYPD RANKS (full Top 130+ coming later this off-season)
-A TOP 17 SNEAK PEEK OF THE 2027 TOP 500 PROSPECTS RANKS
-2027 DEEP POSITIONAL RANKINGS: Top 81 Catchers
-DYNASTY TEAM REPORTS (TOP 10 PROSPECTS/INTERESTING MLB GUYS/STRATEGY SECTION)
-POSITION BY POSITION TARGET ARTICLES (Upcoming)
-PREDICTING FUTURE PROSPECT LISTS (Upcoming)
-SPREADSHEETS
-AND SO MUCH MORE

Previous Dynasty Team Reports on Patreon

Baltimore Orioles—Chicago White Sox—Kansas City Royals—Milwaukee Brewers (free)—Minnesota Twins (free)—New York Mets (free)—Philadelphia Phillies—Pittsburgh Pirates—Sacramento Athletics—Tampa Bay Rays—Washington Nationals

1) Pete Crow-Armstrong – CHC, OF, 25.0 – Like you didn’t already know Pete Crow was going to be my new #1 Dynasty Baseball Asset 😉 … Don’t act surprised … the Vegas odds on Halp having PCA #1 was -9000. The fingers are well rested, the brain is in a free flow state, and PCA’s ascension to the #1 dynasty player in game has me shot out of a cannon to kick off the 2027 Top 1,000 Dynasty Baseball Rankings. And it’s not just me playing favorites. The cold hard analysis backs me up fully. He majorly improved his biggest weakness with his Chase% going from 41.7% to 34.2%, leading to his walk rate skyrocketing to 11.4%. His whiff% took a big step forward (28.9% to 26.3%). His raw power took a big step forward with a 48.6% Hard Hit%. He remained a lift/pull god. He remained a base stealing demon. He remained an elite CF. And it all led to the insane season I knew he had in him, going 45/41 with a .290 BA. Every other contender for this top spot is either older, and/or doesn’t run as much, and/or doesn’t lift/pull as much. I have been hyping PCA so hard as a Target since the day he was drafted and every year since then. I didn’t get scared off by his down 2025 2nd half at all, ranking him 21st overall and writing, “I’m betting on the plate approach improving as he matures. Pete Crow has already paid off majorly if you’ve taken my advice over his career, and I’ll be happy to keep buying if people are scared off by the 2nd half.” … He led my 18 team league to a championship season, along with a core of James Wood, Ben Rice, Chase Burns, Andy Pages, and Konnor Griffin (all past Targets/favorites of mine, showing I put my money where my mouth is). Damn it feels great when a rebuild pays off. So yea, PCA is a favorite of mine, as you well know, but that isn’t the reason he sits #1. It’s because he deserves it. – 2027 Projection: 111/36/106/.265/.348/.521/36

2) Elly De La Cruz – CIN, SS, 25.3 – The only place Elly really falls short of Pete Crow is in lift/pull. The 9.9 degree launch and 12.1% Air Pull% just puts some kind of cap on the homer upside. Elly’s raw power exploded to such elite levels (94.7 MPH EV with a 53.7% Hard Hit%) that he did just fine, jacking out a career high 30 homers in 143 games, but when you are picking nits amongst the most talented players in the game, it’s a factor. You just have to look at Vlad Guerrero Jr. to see that it matters, unfortunately. But comparison is the thief of joy, so Elly’s breakout/leveling up in 2026 deserves it’s time to shine. The hit tool is really completely out of the danger zone now that he lowered his whiff% to a not bad at all 28.1%. The 25.1% Chase% was a career best as well. The lift/pull may cap the homer upside a bit, but it does wonders for his BA with a .283 BA and .281 xBA. I remember when Elly was a young lad in Single-A with a 31.0/4.0 K%/BB% and people were wondering if he was ever going to hit enough. Now he’s a grown man, true talent .280 hitter. If anyone tells you you can’t do something, just look at Elly, and say, if an elite athlete with the best coaching in the world can do it, so can I 😉 … The only even small blemish is that his sprint tanked from 29.1 ft/sec to 28.4 ft/sec, and it’s in a 4 year decline. Maybe you can blame a couple leg injuries from this year, and he still stole 30 bags, so I’m not concerned, but it’s worth mentioning. If Elly actually can start lifting/pulling more, my goodness, but he doesn’t have to to have a real argument for #1 overall. – 2027 Projection: 110/30/93/.271/.354/.493/32

3) Juan Soto – NYM, OF, 28.6 – Man, Juan Soto is 28 years old already. A damn near old man in dynasty baseball years. Time flies when you’re having fun I guess, because it felt like yesterday when he was a young phenom. Now he’s an old phenom. Or more accurately, a prime age phenom who is coming off his 9th straight season of dominance. His .411 xwOBA was 2nd in all of baseball behind only Yordan Alvarez. The days of even being worried a little bit about low launches are over as his 16 degree launch was a career high by far. His 19.3% Air Pull% was a career high as well. And he did that while also putting up a career best 13.5% K%. The bat is simply on another plane, even compared to the guys ranked above him on this list. The only question is steals. The 38 steals from 2025 dropped off a cliff, but at least some of that could be blamed on two separate calf strains, the first of which was in April. We can’t expect big steal totals, especially as he gets older, but I wouldn’t rule out him pushing 20 again in a healthy season. Soto remains a Tier 1 elite dynasty asset and still has a case to be #1 overall, especially in leagues that devalue steals (points, 6+ cat leagues). – 2027 Projection: 110/39/100/.278/.397/.530/15

4) Bobby Witt Jr. – KCR, SS, 27.10 – Make that 2 years in a row with subpar homer totals, and this year it got even worse with Witt hitting only 18 homers. But this year in particular it just doesn’t add up. The 50.3% Hard Hit% was a career high. The 16.4 degree launch and 16.3% Air Pull% are both up from 2025. The .378 xwOBA was much better than the .345 wOBA. I’m just not buying at all that these depressed homer totals are now who he is. You can’t even blame the ballpark anymore as Kauffman Field is now a better than average homerun park, and he hit 13 at home vs only 5 on the road. There is no way this is anything else but an aberration, and once that aberration corrects itself, the elite speed (45 steals) and high BA (career .288 BA with a .302 xBA in 2026) are going to bring him right back up to the top of the player rater. Even with the terrible power numbers, he still finished 29th overall on the Razzball Player Rater. I’m still going to rank this man like the elite dynasty asset that he is. – 2027 Projection: 101/26/89/.288/.352/.489/40

5) Junior Caminero – TBR, 3B, 23.9 – So much for the fear that Caminero was the product of a minor league ballpark in 2025. Not that I bought into that at all, ranking him 12th overall last year already, but his insane 2026 puts an end to even the smallest amount of lingering doubt. He felt right at home at the Trop with a .934 OPS and 22 homers (42 homers on the season). He also showed major maturation at the plate with his BB% spiking 5 percentage points to 11.3%. His swing is geared for both power and average, the bat speed is elite, he smashes the ball, he pulls it in the air, and he makes loads of contact. The only thing he doesn’t do is steal. As good as his season was (.885 OPS), it really seems like there are even higher levels to unlock here.  – 2027 Projection: 98/38/107/.282/.364/.535/5

6) James Wood – WSH, OF, 24.6 – Wood made every single improvement we wanted to see him make, and he even made improvements to things he was already excellent at. The K% dropped 3.4 points to 28.7%, the whiff% dropped 2.8 points to 30.1%, the launch increased 2.2 degrees to 8.5 degrees, and the stolen base success rate improved majorly (21 for 25 on the bases). And he did all that while also improving his EV (95.4 MPH), Hard Hit% (58.9%), BB% (16.4%), and Chase% (21.3%). That whiff% isn’t even really in the danger zone anymore, and if we don’t have to worry about hit tool issues, along with all the other improvements he made, the restrictor plates should be completely off when ranking him for dynasty. The only blemish is that he once again had a down 2nd half, and as a James Wood owner (because I’ve been hyping this man since his draft year), while you can maybe blame the oblique injury, it sure felt like the down 2nd half was starting even before the injury. This is a really big dude (6’6”, 234), so I can’t rule out that he’s having an issue with tiring down the stretch. That is just a nitpick and something to think about, because other than that, it is clear that this man is about to have some truly monster seasons as he enters his prime. – 2027 Projection: 111/33/92/.260/.368/.515/20

7) Jackson Chourio – MIL, OF, 23.1 – I wrote in Chourio’s 2026 Top 1,000 blurb, “Once you add the context that those were his 20 year old and 21 year old seasons, I don’t know how you can’t still be all in on this kid. If 20/20 is the floor, 25/25, or 30/30 still feels inevitable in his peak seasons.” … and that inevitability came to pass already in just his 22 year old season. Chourio went .291/.25/23 in only 127 games. He did it on the back of hitting the ball much harder, and of course he was going to hit much harder from when he was just 20/21. The EV jumped up 2.3 MPH to 91.6 MPH and the Hard Hit jumped 4.7 points to 47%. Both of those numbers would be more than enough for him to go 25/25+ for the rest of his career, but considering he still hasn’t even reached his peak man muscle years, that might just be the start. The launch improved, the walk rate improved, the stolen base skills improved … it was just an all around big step forward for Chourio in every way, and he’s now risen to his rightful place in the Top 10 of dynasty baseball rankings. I wouldn’t even argue with you if you went Top 5. – 2027 Projection: 103/27/84/.281/.345/.485/28

8) Shohei Ohtani – LAD, RHP/DH, 32.9 – The playoffs scared the crap out of me. He looked so bad (.192 BA, .630 OPS, 31.3% K%), that it was actually becoming reasonable to talk about benching him. I was already starting to move Ohtani down my rankings slightly after the regular season, and that post-season has me scared enough where I’m giving him another drop. He’ll turn 33 during the 2027 season, and he’s coming off a season where his body prevented him from truly being unleashed as both a hitter and pitcher. He was shut down from pitching in July due to knee and arm injuries, and he had a pedestrian season by his standards on offense with 30 homers, 11 steals, and a .889 OPS in 139 games. Crazy to say a .889 OPS with a 1.79 ERA in 85.2 IP is showing signs of maybe taking his age into account more, but it gave the first glimpses into the Dodgers being willing to wrap him in bubble wrap in order to keep him healthy for the long term. And then the playoffs happened. They are paying this man until he’s literally 50 years old! They have to keep him healthy. He’s going to make 68 million dollars in 2043!!!! Rest that arm big man! I don’t want to overreact in the other direction either because he’s far from ancient and his upside is unmatched with the potential for elite offense and pitching. I don’t want to get so numb to the insanely amazing two way ability that I forget to keep betting on the literal GOAT deep into his 30’s. So I am moving him down a bit, but I can’t go lower than this. – 2027 Projection: 108/40/97/.279/.384/.541/13 // 10/3.05/1.05/144 in 125 IP

9) Corbin Carroll – ARI, OF, 26.7 – If there is even the tiniest sliver of a buy window for Carroll after his mediocre/down-ish season, I’m jumping all over it. The most important thing for me to see was that his raw power gains from 2025 carried over into 2026, and they mostly did with a 91.7 MPH EV and 47.6% Hard Hit%. 22 homers is definitely not his true talent level when you combine that hard hit with his strong plate skills and tons of lift/pull. You can’t point directly to the hamate surgery he underwent right before the season because he actually hit more homers in the 1st half than the 2nd half, but getting surgery like that right before the season always tends to throw things off a bit. He had to take extra precautions/adjustments for the hand and maybe it caught up to him down the stretch. I’m also not worried about the down steal season either as the dude is still elite with a 29.7 ft/sec sprint and a 21 for 24 success rate. He was very likely just picking his spots more with the surgery. This profile still screams 30/30 potential, and that is how I would still value him going into 2027. – 2027 Projection: 105/27/82/.252/.339/.479/29

10) Yordan Alvarez – HOU, OF, 29.9 – I didn’t budge last year on Alvarez’ dynasty value, ranking him 26th overall and writing, “Alvarez is the easiest buy low call in the history of buy low calls.” And in a completely unsurprising turn of events, he did indeed go right back to being one of the greatest hitters of his generation. His .442 xwOBA led all of baseball by a country mile. The 42 homers were a career high which he did on the back of a career high 158 games played. You can make an argument that the bad knees and general injury issues could lead to a quicker physical decline, and that argument would be backed up by a career low by far 25.4 ft/sec sprint, but you aren’t paying this man to run, you are paying him to hit, and at a still prime 29 years old, it’s a little early to really start pricing in a decline too much. I’ll take his elite bat for the next several seasons. – 2027 Projection: 95/35/95/.294/.390/.571/1

11) Fernando Tatis Jr. – SDP, OF/2B, 28.3 – All’s well that ends well … but tell that to my 30 team league roster who Tatis tanked for the first 2/3rd’s of the season, basically giving me no real shot at making a run. Sure I put a scare into the first place team after undeservedly sneaking in the playoffs due to winning my division, but maybe I could have made a real run if Tatis wasn’t so horrific before the trade deadline. All of that say, maybe all’s isn’t well that ends well when it comes to fantasy baseball players who are so bad in the first half that their owners have no choice but to throw in the towel. And while that has nothing to do with ranking for the future, the reason for the first half power outage does, which is that his launch is becoming concerningly low. It sat at a career low 5.3 for the season, and even in that great second half run, it only sat at 7 degrees. He smashes the ball with a 53.9% Hard Hit%, so as we saw in the 2nd half, he can make it work, but it definitely adds some risk to the game power. Just look at Vlad this year. Or better yet, don’t look if you don’t want to get depressed. Of course, Tatis’ career 9.2 degree launch is much better, and his double plus speed (38 steals) will buoy his fantasy value even in seasons where the homer totals might be light, so there is little doubt that Tatis should be a fantasy beast heading into his age 28 year old season. There is definitely a bad taste in my mouth, but not bad enough to stop valuing him as an extremely valuable dynasty player. – 2027 Projection: 98/26/84/.279/.355/.480/32

12) Nick Kurtz – SAC, 1B, 24.1 – Can we just take a second to acknowledge how cool it is that baseball stats on Fangraphs go back to 1871. Like, some dudes that fought in the Civil War have a fucking Fangraphs page hah. Am I the only one blown away by that? In 1871, the league strikeout rate was 1.6%. That was how real men played baseball. Not these modern day pansies like Nick Kurtz who struck out 32.5% of the time. He whiffed 36.9% of the time. Robert E. Lee would be appalled at these strikeouts rates. Ulysses S. Grant is rolling over in his grave. But the year is 2026, and no matter how many people bemoan the state of the strikeout or homer game, that is how it is. Even with all that swing and miss, Kurtz has a .275 career BA in 923 PA (.256 this year), and if you don’t buy into that, his .244 xBA really isn’t that bad with how many dingers he’s going to hit you. He smashes the ball so damn hard with a 57.3% Hard Hit%, and the 18.2% BB% definitely mitigates a large chunk of that swing and miss. He also chipped in with 7 steals in 99 games which is not too shabby. He’s just so damn fun that I can’t bring myself to fade him because of the concerning whiff rates, but obviously if the BA does tank, the big red flag was waving right in our faces. – 2027 Projection: 100/37/105/.252/.370/.533/8

13) CJ Abrams – WSH, SS, 26.6 – While many were starting to get a bit lukewarm on Abrams, I kept ranking him high and ringing the buy bell, writing, “Entering his 25 year old season, I still have to believe more raw power is coming, giving him some very real upside in his prime man muscle seasons. His ascent to elite dynasty asset might have just been delayed by one year.” … and that ascent came with him blasting 33 homers with 34 steals, finishing 6th on the Razzball Player Rater. His 94.2 MPH FB/LD EV was a career high and 2.1 MPH higher that 2025. His 89.6 MPH EV was also a career high. Not only did he hit the ball harder, but he lifted and pulled more than ever too with career highs in both launch (18 degrees) and Pull Air% (25.3%)%. The one thing sticking in my craw is that the 40.5% Hard Hit% didn’t really budge (and neither did his 110.8 MPH Max EV), and while the average EV’s rose, they aren’t eye popping or anything. It’s hard for me to say he’s now a locked in true talent 30+ home run hitter, but I was waiting patiently for this uptick in power, and even if all of it doesn’t stick, this is still a nearly elite dynasty asset. – 2027 Projection: 91/25/86/.258/.330/.469/32

14) Konnor Griffin – PIT, SS, 20.11 – I can’t imagine there is a single Konnor Griffin owner who is budging even the slightest bit on his value. You don’t need me to tell you to not dare sell Griffin any lower than you would have last off-season. There really isn’t any groundbreaking analysis to do here. Nothing in his underlying numbers were too great but nothing was too concerning either. It was just an uber talented 19/20 year old, who was literally one year removed from being in high school, getting his feet wet in the majors. And putting up a dead average .316 xwOBA and above average .320 wOBA is not a bad debut at all in 80 games. If not for the finger injury in early July, my bet was that his 2nd half numbers would have looked better than his 1st half numbers anyway, but now we’ll have to wait until 2027 for that leveling up. We just have to look at Jackson Chourio to see what his rise could look like in the next couple seasons. He’ll just improve accros the board every season until you look up and he’s going 30/40 for the next decade. My bet is that we see this man as the #1 dynasty asset in baseball in the not too distant future. Hold on for dear life, not that you needed me to tell you that, but a reminder can never hurt. – 2027 Projection: 91/22/79/.276/.338/.440/38 Prime Projection:  112/31/106/.283/.361/.521/44

Shadow14) Shohei Ohtani – LAD, DH only/Weekly Leagues, 32.9 – This is where I would rank Ohtani in weekly lineup leagues or as a hitter only. As I wrote above, I don’t know how that post-season can’t scare you at least a little. At minimum, it seems reasonable that he could stop running to take as much strain off his body as possible as he gets deeper into his 30’s. 33 years old is also when dynasty owners can really start to get cold feet about giving up too much in a trade for a player, even superstars like Ohtani. And even if he can dominate deep into his 30’s, we are still talking about maybe 5+ years while the younger studs could go for a decade+. Without the pitching stats to give him that extra boost, I’m just not trading a locked in young 20’s stud for any 32/33 year old. – 2027 Projection: 108/40/97/.279/.384/.541/13

15) Jacob Misiorowski – MIL, RHP, 25.0 – Being the #1 dynasty pitcher in the game is the kiss of death. In 2021, the top pitcher was Shane Bieber, and after 2022, his ace days were already over. In 2023, the top pitcher was Corbin Burnes (Burnes was also #1 in 2022) with Shane McClanahan a close 2nd, and just a few short years later they are beaten, bruised, and not even close to that lofty ranking. In 2024, the top pitcher was Spencer Strider, writing, “he’s in a tier of his own as the easy #1 overall pitcher in dynasty.” Looking back, not so easy. In 2025, it was Paul Skenes, writing, “He’s the easiest #1 dynasty pitcher in the game ranking I’ve ever made since  … 2024. Spencer Strider was a damn easy call last off-season, and he’s a perfect example of the only thing that can go wrong, injuries. Pitchers break, and pitchers who throw upper 90’s seem to break even more.” In 2026, I anointed Garrett Crochet #1, and well, the only crocheting he did was in the dugout as he nursed a shoulder injury. Even if you went with the consensus of Skenes at #1, his 2026 was mighty mediocre. So it brings me no great joy to announce the new #1 dynasty pitcher in the game is  … Jacob Misiorowski. Sorry man, but you deserve it. He made one of the most insane control/command jumps that I can remember by bringing his BB% down from 11.4% to 6.6%. Actually, I can remember a similar jump, because I gave Misiorwoski the Tyler Glasnow comp a few years ago, and Glasnow went from a 11.3% BB% in his age 24 year old season to a 6.1% BB% in his age 25 year old. My bad, sorry to bring up Glasnow in this blurb now too. The 37.9% K%, 1.80 ERA and 100.6 MPH fastball are inhuman. And the cherry on top is that he won me my +6500 ($16 to win $1,056) bet on him leading the league in strikeouts, which he won on the final day with 252 K. There is no doubt that this is the new #1 dynasty pitcher in the game … and I say that while smiling and shaking my head. Please let this time be different. – 2027 Projection: 17/2.55/0.93/257 in 185 IP

16) Cam Schlittler – NYY, RHP, 26.2 – While Misiorowski’s season overshadowed everyone, Schlittler would have had a case for #1 overall himself in a normal year. His improved control/command was nearly as impressive as Misiorowski’s, going from a 10.2% BB% to a 6.4% BB%. His 98 MPH fastball was nearly as impressive as Miz’s. His 1.95 ERA was nearly as impressive. His 31.4% K% was nearly as impressive. You get the point, nearly, but not quite as impressive, putting him in my clear #2 spot. No shame in that game. – 2027 Projection: 16/2.72/0.98/233 in 190 IP

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THESE RANKS & TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
-A TOP 75 SNEAK PEEK OF THE 2027 TOP 1,000 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS
–TOP 36 2027 FYPD RANKS (full Top 130+ coming later this off-season)
-A TOP 17 SNEAK PEEK OF THE 2027 TOP 500 PROSPECTS RANKS
-2027 DEEP POSITIONAL RANKINGS: Top 81 Catchers
-DYNASTY TEAM REPORTS (TOP 10 PROSPECTS/INTERESTING MLB GUYS/STRATEGY SECTION)
-POSITION BY POSITION TARGET ARTICLES (Upcoming)
-PREDICTING FUTURE PROSPECT LISTS (Upcoming)
-SPREADSHEETS
-AND SO MUCH MORE

Previous Dynasty Team Reports on Patreon

Baltimore Orioles—Chicago White Sox—Kansas City Royals—Milwaukee Brewers (free)—Minnesota Twins (free)—New York Mets (free)—Philadelphia Phillies—Pittsburgh Pirates—Sacramento Athletics—Tampa Bay Rays—Washington Nationals

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)
Blue Sky: Dynasty Halp (@ImaginaryBrickWall)

The off-season festivities kicked off yesterday with A top 24 Sneak Peek of the 2027 Top 1,000 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Top 5 free on the Brick Wall), and today it’s time for the first 2027 Dynasty Team Report. Like during the regular season, I will release a freebie here on Imaginary Brick Wall a few times a month with the vast majority of the content over on the Patreon. Off-season content will include these Dynasty Team Reports, along with Deep Positional Rankings, Strategy articles, Target articles, 2027 Projections, Prime/Peak Projections, predicting future prospect lists, AFL/Winter League Updates, the Top 100+ FYPD rankings, Top 500+ Prospects Rankings, and Top 1,000+ Dynasty Rankings. Here is the New York Mets 2027 Dynasty Baseball Team Report (Top 10 Prospects/Interesting MLB guys/Strategy Talk):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF UPCOMING EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
-A TOP 24 SNEAK PEEK OF THE 2027 TOP 1,000 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS
-SNEAK PEEKS OF THE 3 MAIN LISTS (TOP 1000+ DYNASTY, TOP 500+ PROSPECT, TOP 100+ FYPD)
-DEEP POSITIONAL RANKINGS
-DYNASTY TEAM REPORTS (TOP 10 PROSPECTS/INTERESTING MLB GUYS/STRATEGY SECTION)
-POSITION BY POSITION TARGET ARTICLES
-PREDICTING FUTURE PROSPECT LISTS
-AND SO MUCH MORE

Hitters

AJ Ewing – NYM, OF, 22.8 – I’m a man of the people. So I’m going to kick off the first Dynasty Baseball Team Report of 2027 by giving the people what they want … Targets. AJ Ewing is possibly my biggest hitter Target of 2027. If you read my work last off-season, or even back in 2024 when he was drafted, you might already have him, because I’ve been all over Ewing, predicting his rise in the Predicting the 2027 Top 50 Dynasty Rankings last off-season, ranking him 9th overall and writing, “I dropped Corbin Carroll and Pete Crow Armstrong’s name when I called Ewing a major target in 2024 FYPD’s, and now we will see the Carroll/PCA like blow up. The massively underrated power will show up with 14 homers in 120 games in the upper minors. Combined with the speed, plate skills, and defense, everyone will realize this is an elite prospect in both fantasy and real life. I will victory lap him until I drop from exhaustion ;)” … Ewing ended up blowing up so fast that I’m technically incorrect because he’s not even a prospect anymore, but that power uptick I saw coming came with 13 homers between the minors and the majors. I predicted 14 (he hit 3 in 124 games in 2025). Not bad. And 11 of those homers came in just 120 games in the majors. The plate skills were excellent, especially for a 21 year old rookie, with an above average 24.6% whiff% and 26.7% Chase%. The speed was near elite with a 29.4 ft/sec sprint and 25 steals. And like I envisioned, the power was way underrated with a damn good 42.3% Hard Hit% and 89.6 MPH EV. And again, he did this at 21 years old. I think there is more power to come. The 10.8 degree launch is completely fine, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him unlock more game power by raising that in future years. This is an absolute future fantasy stud who I still believe is being treated like a nice speed first play. Stick your neck out. Buy high. Do whatever you have to do to get him if you don’t have him already. – 2027 Projection: 88/18/72/.265/.341/.429/33 Prime Projection: 103/24/84/.278/.362/.469/39

Carson Benge – NYM, OF, 24.2 – I fell in love hard over Benge’s swing last off-season, and I can’t help but lead his blurb off again with my jaw on the floor watching him hit. It’s just a filthy thing of beauty. And it’s why I already had him knocking on the door of the top 100 dynasty assets last year (#113), and it’s why I’m completely unsurprised he took the majors by storm in his rookie year. It was funny to see him just quietly having a strong rookie year until everyone looked up at the end of the season and was like oh shit, this guy just went 20/22 with a .282 BA. The contact was there (21.4% whiff%), the launch was there (12.1 degrees), the speed was there. The only thing even slightly “concerning” is the relatively weak 38.8% Hard Hit%, but again, just look at that swing. That Hard Hit% is going up, and when it does, there will be even more homer power in here. Benge vs. Stewart for NL Rookie of the Year is now a super fun debate, and while I do think it is close, Benge’s superior defense and baserunning take it for me. Offense is important, but in real life, there are other parts of the game, and Benge beats him in those other parts. Both of them are going to be fantasy studs for years to come, so who cares who wins it for our sake, but it’s fun to debate. This is a Top 50 dynasty player at the least. – 2027 Projection: 93/24/81/.274/.348/.452/24

Pitchers

Christian Scott – NYM, RHP, 27.9 – The Mets might have had a disaster uncapped downside season, but the future is still bright with so much young talent on the MLB level. And the one who might be sliding under the radar the most for fantasy is one of my biggest pitcher Targets of 2027, Christian Scott. He returned from a hybrid Tommy John/internal brace procedure that knocked out his entire 2025 season, and he looked nearly as good as new with a 3.85 ERA and 28.3/9.9 K%/BB% in 110 IP. The thing that gets me the most excited is that his 95.5 MPH fastball notched an excellent 27.6% whiff% with a .314 xwOBA. Having a bat missing, plus fastball is a foundation that I am a sucker for. The secondaries ain’t bad either with a sweeper (30.9% whiff% and .248 xwOBA) and cutter (+8 Run Value). Even as is, that is a damn good arm, and I see two areas of potential improvement for a next level breakout. First, Scott always had plus to double plus control before the surgery. He had a 6.1% BB% his first go around in the majors. I think we see that walk rate improve. Second, a fully healthy off-season can give him the time he needs to truly work on that splitter/changeup. Refining that pitch and making it a larger part of his arsenal can unlock a whole new dynamic. Scott is going to be a mighty reasonably priced arm for his combination of floor and upside, and he’s going to be an arm scooping in drafts everywhere. Major Target. – 2027 Projection: 11/3.47/1.19/166 in 150 IP

Nolan McLean – NYM, RHP, 24.8 – Who needs whiffs anyway? McLean’s whiff% tanked to a below average 23.6%, but it didn’t stop him from putting up a near ace season with a 3.16 ERA and 26.0/9.4 K%/BB% in 179.2 IP. He did it on the back of a 95 MPH sinker that was the most valuable sinker in baseball and the 3rd most valuable pitch in baseball with a 27 Run Value. Only Misiorowski and Schlittler’s 4-seamers were more valuable. Those pitches put up a 40.2% and 34.8% whiff%. McLean’s sinker notched a 12.1% whiff%. The lack of whiffs were why I had McLean 3rd in the 3 headed pitching prospect monster of Burns/Yesavage/McLean last year. I was right to have Burns in a tier of his own, but as of now, I was wrong to have McLean 3rd in that group (for now). The profile clearly works with a 7 pitch mix, and while it’s interesting his famed sweeper is getting rocked in the majors, the curve picked up the slack with a 37.8% whiff% and .166 xwOBA. The 4-seamer sits 96 MPH and can miss bats. I’m not gonna lie, I’m still a sucker for whiffs. It’s why I secretly think Yesavage still might end up better than McLean, but I can’t deny the results are there. The ERA estimators aren’t as convinced either with all of them sitting around 3.60. It’s why I can’t anoint him into that rarified air of true young ace territory, but he’s in the tier right below that as a Top 50-75 Dynasty Asset. He’s a young stud to build your staff around. – 2027 Projection: 13/3.33/1.15/198 in 185 IP

Bullpen

Devin Williams – NYM, Closer, 32.7 – What other choice do the Mets have than to keep trotting Williams out there in 2027. They paid him $51 million over 3 years to close out games. I guess they could go to Senga again, but I have to think as long Williams pitches halfway decently, the job is his. And halfway decently is how he pitched in 2026 if you want to be generous with a 4.43 ERA, 3.22 xERA, and a 28.3/11.4 K%/BB% in 40.2 IP. The man had a 1.57 WHIP. This was his 2nd down year in a row. The stuff was down a bit and so were the whiffs. He missed almost 2 months towards the end of the season with a shoulder strain. At 32 years old, it sure feels like Williams is on the downside of his career. The stuff, whiffs, and xERA are good enough to think he’s far from washed up, so he should be good enough to hold the job, but I’m definitely not drafting him as one of the top closers in the game anymore. – 2027 Projection: 4/3.51/1.29/77/27 saves in 58 IP

New York Mets Top 10 Fantasy Dynasty Baseball Prospects

1) Jefferson Rojas – NYM, 3B/SS, 22.11 – Stearns might have royally screwed up the off-season, but I think he did a sneakily good job at grabbing underrated prospects at the deadline. He got back to his small market roots. And Rojas is the crown jewel of that deadline sell off. He’s had a good feel to hit with strong contact rates his entire career (17.3/8.5 K%/BB% in 2026), the righty swing is pretty damn athletic, he’s got some speed (21 steals), and then the power came in 2026 with his EV and Hard Hit way up. It resulted in 27 homers in 127 games, and he went bonkers to close out the season at Triple-A with 3 homers and a 96.8 MPH EV in 6 games. I wouldn’t expect star upside, but there is potential for him to be an impact across the board contributor in fantasy. The 2B job is wide open, and while he played a lot more 3B than 2B this year, the 3B job could open up after 2028 as well, so there is a path for Rojas to earn a full time gig if he produces when he gets his shot. – 2027 Projection: 53/12/57/.253/.308/.409/7 Prime Projection: 83/21/77/.272/.331/.445/17

2) Jonah Tong – NYM, RHP, 23.9 – Let me give some credit to the scouts out there that were able to ignore Tong’s insane 40.5% K% in 2025 and still remain lukewarm on him. I definitely got drawn in more by that gaudy number, but to my credit, I did start to get cold feet after he got rocked in the majors, writing, “It’s a small sample, and I’m not saying I don’t like Tong anymore, but I’m saying there are enough red flags from the MLB debut that I’m not flying him up the rankings wild crazy anymore.” … and then in 2026 his value got a cold splash right to the face. He put up a 4.54 ERA with a 27.0/12.6 K%/BB% in 107 IP at Triple-A. But the funny thing is, things flipped in 2026 with him actually looking better in the majors. He went out with a 9 K gem in late September and finished with a 3.82 ERA, 3.13 xERA, and a 25.4/10.4 K%/BB% in 30.2 IP. The 94.9 MPH fastball put up a damn impressive 30.6% whiff%. The killer changeup dominated with a .160 xwOBA and 32.9% whiff%. I’m the only man alive that actually doesn’t hate Tong’s curve and that pitch too put in the work with a 33.3% whiff% and .167 xwOBA. I love to see the 30.2% whiff% overall. Again, he wasn’t nearly this good at Triple-A and that was the much larger sample, but showing the stuff will play against MLB hitters is still big to see. He’s a young pitcher who was tinkering and working on stuff in the minors, so we have to keep that in mind as well when looking at those numbers. With how much his value has fallen off a cliff, I think Tong has flipped from overrated to underrated. If you own him, don’t sell low, and if you don’t owe him, I would try to grab some cheap shares if you can. – 2027 Projection: 5/4.13/1.33/122 in 120 IP Prime Projection: 11/3.73/1.28/180 in 170 IP

3) Mitch Voit – NYM, 2B/SS, 22.6 – Once Voit stopped trying to pull everything for a home run, his electric skillset was unleashed, and then all hell broke loose when he got the call to Double-A, slashing .347/.430/.517 with 2 homers, 9 steals, and a 17.6/10.3 K%/BB% in 29 games. The Pull% dropped from 51.1% at High-A to 42.6% at Double-A, and it resulted in fewer groundball balls and more line drives all over the field. With his hard hit ability, speed (45 steals), and plate skills, that is exactly what he should be trying to do. I see so much Tommy Pham when I watch him, and Pham was never a lift and pull guy. The 2B job is up for grabs in New York as of now, and while he’ll have competition for it, Voit at 2B and Rojas at 3B in the long term could work assuming the Mets don’t sign anyone (not a good assumption). Plus, the guy looks like he was literally chiseled by our AI overlords themselves. I’m nicknaming him AI. Voit is going to be part of the new Mets core to get fans excited, and the fantasy friendly skillset will make his fantasy owners happy too. Considering he’s not on BA’s or Pipeline’s Top 100, he makes for a pretty damn good proximity/upside target. – 2027 Projection: 31/5/23/.248/.310/.393/9 Prime Projection: 82/18/68/.264/.331/.432/28

4) Wandy Asigen – NYM, SS, 17.7 – That jump off the screen electric lefty swing that made Asigen one of the most hyped international prospects last off-season was on full display in his pro debut in the DSL. Here is he is going 106 MPH to left center for a grown man’s homer. And then here he is going lefty on lefty with a soul destroying pull side shot. This is a 16 year old kid putting up MLB level exit velocities. His talent was not overhyped, putting up a 149 wRC+ in 23 games. What was overhyped was his feel to hit as the hit tool is a genuine concern with a 28.9% K% and 38.7% whiff%. That is not good for the DSL, but I do think the 22.9% BB% mitigates it somewhat, and keep in mind it was a small sample. In his final 6 games he put up a 12.0/28.0 K%/BB%. He got a late start to the season, so everyone else was already comfortable while he was just trying to figure it out. With more time I think those contact rates would have looked better. And now you can use that hit tool risk in your favor to still get a good price on him this off-season. If you’re looking for high upside electricity in leagues where he isn’t rostered yet or in trades, Asigen makes for a great target. – ETA: 2030 Prime Projection: 92/27/86/.258/.339/.473/21

5) Elian Pena – NYM, SS, 19.5 – I’m definitely a little scared off by the very low 23.7% Hard Hit% and 84.2 MPH EV, but I really hate to fade an 18 year old in full season ball too hard for low EV’s. That is one thing that is almost sure to improve as you go from a boy to a man. I know Pena isn’t particularly projectable, but tall skinny guys aren’t the only ones to benefit from man strength. Pena is going to keep getting stronger and stronger, and thinking he will get his EV’s to an acceptable MLB level, or maybe even higher than that isn’t that hard to believe. And if/when that comes, he’s establishing a strong foundation of complementary skills. He put up a 111 wRC+ with a .271 BA, 21.4/13.9 K%/BB%, a 35.2% GB%, and 28 steals in 96 games at Single-A. He struggled in 16 games at High-A to close out the season but I would completely ignore that. The low EV’s prevent him from being a truly hyped dynasty prospect, but I would be cautious about fading him too hard in the other direction. This still looks like a potentially impact bat at peak to me. – ETA: 2029 Prime Projection: 83/22/77/.263/.334/.442/16

6) Jonathan Santucci – NYM, LHP, 24.3 – I’ve always liked Santucci because it’s not hard to be a fan when you watch him pitch. It’s why the scouts always like him too. Dude just looks the part. He’s a 6’2” lefty with an athletic delivery, good velocity, and bat missing secondaries. Even going back to college there was hope he could develop into a top of the rotation starter, and while that hasn’t happened, the potential is there for him to end up a high K, high WHIP mid rotation starter. A heavily used slider is his best pitch which racks up whiffs. The fastball sits about 94 MPH and while it got crushed at Triple-A in 34.1 IP, that was his first taste of using the MLB ball. Give him some time to adjust. And he also mixes in a curve and change which were actually his best two pitches against Triple-A hitters. All the stuff was working at Double-A with a 3.57 ERA and 32.0/12.0 K%/BB% in 90.2 IP (5.24 ERA at Triple-A). The control is below average and the fastball is more in the good but not great category for me, so my expectations are for more of a #4 type. – 2027 Projection: 3/4.28/1.36/70 in 70 IP Prime Projection: 10/3.89/1.31/174 in 165 IP

7) Jacob Reimer – NYM, 3B, 23.1 – I’ve written about this in Strategy articles in the past, but down years happen in the minors too just like the majors. Unlike the majors, where it’s easier to identify down or career years, in the minors, a down year is always seem as regression and a career year is always seen as a true breakout. But it’s still baseball, and the ebbs and flows of a player’s career are just as relevant in the minors as it is the majors. And it sure seems like Reimer just had a down season (97 wRC+ in 80 games at Double-A). The 24.9/12.9 K%/BB% isn’t bad. The 37.4% GB% and 49.8% Pull% shows he was still lifting and pulling. He already proved he could rake and put up impressive EV’s against Double-A pitching last year when he put up a 150 wRC+. The Mets Double-A Park is also an extreme pitchers park that depresses homers, so any power slump is going to get magnified there. I’m expecting a much better 2027, and while I never expected him to be a big upside fantasy bat, the potential he flashed in 2025 is still there. He could be a rock solid fantasy player at peak. – ETA: 2028 Prime Projection: 77/20/74/.251/.328/.438/8

8) Ryan Clifford – NYM, 1B/OF, 23.8 – I get writing Clifford off or at least tanking him down the rankings even further than this after his disastrous season. He hit .180 with a 63 wRC+ and a 37% K% at Triple-A. The hit tool was always a risk and it tanked in 2026. But I still see a guy who basically has the same profile as he’s always had. The 34.4% whiff% isn’t good, but it doesn’t look as bad as the K%. He had a 24.6% K% in 34 games at Triple-A last year, so we’ve already seen him do much better. I definitely think there was a lot of bad luck/just a down season happening here. And of course the power was still there with a 91.8 MPH EV, 49.6% Hard Hit% and 18.8 degree launch. He’s a low BA slugger. He was a low BA slugger before this year. And he’s a low BA slugger after this year. When he gets to the bigs, the guy is going to hit dingers and take his walks. Might the batting average be brutal enough to keep him as a part time player? Definitely possibly, so he’s surely moving way down the rankings. I’m just saying I’m not ready to completely forget about him. – 2027 Projection: 9/3/14/.201/.288/.411/1 Prime Projection: 61/20/66/.228/.316/.461/4

9) Sammy Stafura – NYM, SS/2B, 22.5 – If you listened to my trade deadline Podcast back in 2025, you know how much I hated that Ke’Bryan Hayes trade at the time of the trade. I went full Mike and the Mad Dog sports talk radio, losing my mind that Cincinnati was willing to take on Hayes contract even if they didn’t have to give up anything in return. But they did have to give something in return too, and that something was Sammy Stafura, who just experienced a huge power breakout to go along with his plus speed and solid SS glove. Hayes is coming off a season with a 13 wRC+ in 94 games. That is not typo. I was beside myself at the time that Cincy was willing to do that, and as hard as it is to believe, it looks even worse now. But back to Stafura who jacked out 22 homers in 81 games at mostly High-A after hitting just 6 homers in 119 games in 2025. The Hard Hit ability and EV’s took a huge jump to back up the power gains. He also nabbed 22 bags and put up a 127 wRC+. The downside to the power gains are that the contact took a step back with a 33.4% whiff% and 28.6% K%, but he wasn’t even that great of a contact hitter before, so the tradeoff was well worth it. A fantasy friendly part time player whose glove will get him on the field is still the most likely outcome, but if he can improve his hit tool, there is real upside in here. – ETA: 2028 Prime Projection: 66/15/61/.238/.312/.429/22

10) Jack Wenninger – NYM, RHP, 25.1 – Wenninger had the big breakout in 2025, and there was hope he would ride that wave in 2026 for the hype to really start hitting, but he pulled back a bit at Triple-A with a 4.54 ERA and 24.1/13.3 K%/BB% in 115 IP. I talked about it a ton last year, but Triple-A is effing hard, and you often see guys actually put up better numbers in the majors than they do at Triple-A. Just look at Tong’s season. Santucci struggled a lot at Triple-A too. Point being, I don’t want to crush these guys for struggling at Triple-A when the stuff is still good, and Wenninger’s stuff is still good. The splitter is his devastating money maker and it did it’s job with a 47% whiff% and .213 xwOBA. The slider isn’t as good but it missed bats with a 35% whiff%. The fastball sat 93.8 MPH and can be a solid offering. He’ll also mix in a sinker and curve. At 6’4” with a wipeout secondary, solid fastball and diverse pitch mix, it’s not hard to see him carving out a good MLB career, although I’m not quite as excited for fantasy. – 2027 Projection: 2/4.33/1.35/45 in 50 IP Prime Projection: 10/3.98/1.30/158 in 165 IP

Just Missed

11) Aiden Robbins – NYM, OF, 22.3

12) Carson Wiggins – NYM, RHP, 21.10

13) Emelian Pitre – NYM, 2B, 24.6 

14) Bruin Agbayani – NYM, SS/2B, 20.0

15) Cleiner Ramirez – NYM, OF, 18.4

Dynasty Baseball Thought/Strategy of the Day (which may or may not be related to the team I’m covering that day)

The Lockout. It’s the huge pink elephant in the room that is going to be impossible to ignore all off-season when talking fantasy (or baseball in general). I’m not going to pretend that I have any idea how it is going to play out, but I can tell you how I’m going to strategize around it, and my answer is that I’m not going to. I’m going to operate as if there will be some sort of 2027 season happening. I predicted last off-season that the lockout will go into April, pushing the start of games into May after the players cave on a salary cap. It’s going to be a death match, and both sides are so dug in on the salary cap issue that I envision both sides willing to push things to the absolute brink. But I still find it hard to believe that the entire season is going to get wiped out, so I’m not getting cute when it comes to making moves in dynasty. If you are more scared of a totally missed season than I am, by all means plan around it, but I’m not even 100% certain what you could do to take advantage of it. Sell veterans I guess because they will be one year older when play returns? That doesn’t even really seem like a particularly great advantage. Maybe I’m missing other things you can do, but for me, I’m not even going down that route. It’s going to get messy, there will be threats, there very likely will be some kind of shortened season, but my plan is to just keep it business as usual for my dynasty teams.

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By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
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Blue Sky: Dynasty Halp (@ImaginaryBrickWall)

Hey guys, I thought the one month break would be enough but I’m going to need a longer hiatus. Everything is okay, but I’ve been doing this for over 10 years and the Patreon for over 5 years with no breaks and I just need a more extended period off. I will be back for the off-season content at latest and maybe before. I put the Patreon on pause this weekend already, so nobody will be charged while I’m off. Love you all. You guys are truly the best. And I hope you understand.

-Halp