Each year of fantasy baseball is different and needs to be viewed on its own. Yes, we can likely assume certain things are true about this year that have been true about past years like the fact that catchers usually have the least fantasy value but are a necessary evil. But are they truly the scarcest position each year or are there other weak positions to keep an eye too? That’s why I’m now doing a new annual dive into position scarcity for the draft each year.

I had done a post like this in the early days of Mr. Cheatsheet but it faded from my usual posts over the years. I think it has a lot of value to know the position scarcity market you are operating within on draft day though. You can make intuitive assumptions about scarcity for your particular league setup if you are using my cheatsheets and looking at the Positions tab on there. In this post, I am looking at the scarcity of value at each position for a standard 5×5 roto league with a 12-team draft.

Looking at Peak Value at Each Position

I’d say the two most important things to know for position scarcity are how high the peaks are at each position and how much depth is at each position. Those two things majorly influence how you prioritize each position during the draft to ensure you are getting maximum value. To start our analysis of 2026’s position scarcity, let’s consider the peaks.

The highs of each position vary greatly as there are some positions more known for offensive prowess than others. In most years, you would assume outfielders have some the best hitters you can draft (though you typically have to draft more of them than other positions) and you would assume that catchers are going to be the worst hitters on most teams. But, this year’s peaks at each position show us a slightly new picture for 2026.

If we’re looking at the positions that provide you the least possible peak value this year, it’s actually second base that has the lowest peak. In terms of 5×5 roto value, your best 2B this year would be Ketel Marte and his 2.9 projected WERTH value (which is a stat I create to normalize roto stats z-scores). The best catcher, Cal Raleigh, would deliver a projected 3.5 WERTH value this year. These values still pale in comparison to players like Shohei Ohtani‘s 14.5 WERTH, Aaron Judge‘s 9.7 WERTH or even Vlad Guerrero Jr.‘s 7.2 WERTH. So, we can already tell there’s a unique wrinkle to this year’s positional value and we haven’t even focused on the lack of elite RP value yet!

Positional Decay During the Draft

Now, the peak values at each position tell us something but they don’t paint a full picture for us. We want to know how the value actually flows throughout the draft for each position to better understand how we need to approach each position on draft day.

Within the charts below, you can see the value for each position as it flows throughout the draft. I also highlight key moments for each position as, firstly, there are dots for when the last “elite” player is drafted at that position (3.0 WERTH or better) in a typical draft. There are also dots for when the last “above average” player is drafted at that position (0.0 WERTH or better) and when the last serviceable backup is drafted (negative 1.5 WERTH or better). This is using average draft position data and my Special Blend projections for these roto values.

Within each position chart here, you can click on the Expand button to see the position chart in a larger view. You can click on the dots within the charts to see the moment when the last player is drafted for the various key moments I mentioned above.

The odd thing to see here is that second base does not fall off in value as drastically as other positions. Despite it not having huge peak value, the value stays steady throughout the draft as you can even draft an above average player in Round 20 there. It actually seems like a position you can wait on and grab value at many points throughout the draft.

Relief pitchers have an interesting note this year where the last positive value pitcher goes off the board at around pick 90. That means it is a year where there are not only few elite closer options but there’s also just not a lot of huge value this year at all. If you need a closer in your league, it may be a year to grab at least one reliable closer before round 9.

How This Affects 2026 Draft Strategy

There are many interesting things to note about this year’s trends for positional value. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest takeaways from what I can see.

1. Grab Corner Infielders Early (both 1B and 3B)

There’s value to be had at 1B and 3B in the early rounds, but it falls off fast at both positions after that. If you don’t get one of the top two 3B (Jose Ramirez and Junior Caminero), there’s a sharp drop in value and then you only really have five options left at the position as there are only seven 3B projected as positive-value contributors this year. After those seven are gone at pick 90, you’re looking at negative-value options across the board.

At 1B, you have until about pick 60 to grab one of the top eight at the position and you want to do so as it drops off in value sharply from that point on. If you do miss one of the top eight 1B then it’s probably best to just wait though as the value just remains steady, though uninspiring, from pick 60 to pick 250.

2. Wait on Value After the Peaks at 2B and C

The peaks are low at both positions so there’s certainly value in grabbing one of the few positive-value contributors at 2B or C this year. But, if you don’t get a top player here, it’s best to just wait if you’re in a single catcher league. At 2B, you can find Luis Arraez, Luis Garcia Jr., Gleyber Torres, and Marcus Semien after the 200th pick in most leagues and the projections indicate you’d do just fine with them.

At catcher, I’d recommend still getting your catcher before the 200th pick as there’s a big drop-off after Ivan Herrera but the first 13 catchers are all in a fairly similar value range and you would likely be in decent shape with any of them as a starter in a single catcher league. For two catcher leagues, you may want to make a bigger push for two of those first 13 catchers though because the drop-off is stark after that.

3. Get Some Starting Pitching Before Pick 75

While I am a firm believer in building up a formidable pitching staff using later-round sleeper picks, this is a year where there is a bit of a stark drop-off after the top 20 pitchers. I feel it’s a year where getting one or two pitchers from the top 20 among your first six picks isn’t a bad idea. Then, you can use your middle-round picks to go for some of my sleeper pitchers to fill out your staff while paying attention to the projections to find some undervalued pitchers in my cheatsheets too.