Sleepers at first base don’t always look flashy. They rarely come with first-round upside or viral hype. Instead, they’re the players whose prices lag behind their skills, roles, or changing environments. That was a recurring theme in the FantasyPros Ultimate First Base Guide. While managers debate Nick Kurtz and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at the top, the real edge may come from scooping value several rounds later.
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Fantasy Baseball Sleepers to Draft
These four first basemen stood out in the podcast as legitimate sleeper targets for 2026, each offering something the market isn’t fully accounting for yet.
Alec Burleson (1B/OF – STL)
Burleson is the kind of sleeper fantasy managers overlook because nothing about his profile screams upside. That’s also why he keeps outperforming expectations.
Last season, Burleson made real, measurable improvements. His batting average jumped near .290, his on-base percentage climbed, and his barrel rate increased meaningfully. He chased less, swung and missed less, and looked far more comfortable attacking pitches he could drive. This wasn’t a lucky stretch. It was skill growth.
What really helps his fantasy case is flexibility. Burleson carries both first base and outfield eligibility, which quietly adds roster value over a long season. He’s not going to steal 20 bases or hit 40 homers, but he also won’t drag you down in any category.
In deeper leagues or as a corner infield option, Burleson fits perfectly as a stabilizer who still offers double-digit power and strong batting average support.
Andrew Vaughn (1B – MIL)
Vaughn’s post-trade revival with Milwaukee was one of the most interesting developments discussed on the show. After looking completely lost with the White Sox, he landed with the Brewers and immediately looked like a different hitter.
The surface stats popped, but the underlying changes matter more. Vaughn posted career-best marks in barrel rate and average exit velocity, cut down his strikeouts, and consistently drove the ball in the air. The pull-side power returned, and the approach looked intentional rather than reactive.
Context matters too. Milwaukee has a habit of getting more out of hitters than expected, and Vaughn now finds himself in a lineup that can actually turn quality contact into RBI opportunities. At his current draft cost, you’re paying for a fringe roster bat and getting a player who could realistically deliver 22 to 25 homers with solid run production.
That’s sleeper territory.
Willson Contreras (1B – BOS)
Contreras is a sleeper almost entirely because of perception. Moving off catcher has stripped away his premium positional value in the eyes of many drafters, but the bat itself hasn’t declined.
In fact, last season featured some of the best quality-of-contact numbers of his career. He barreled the ball at a career-high rate, hit it hard consistently, and posted strong run and RBI totals despite playing in a weaker lineup. Now he heads to Boston and Fenway Park, one of the friendliest hitting environments in baseball.
The market is treating Contreras like a boring corner infielder. That’s a mistake. If he settles into the heart of the Red Sox order, a 22 to 25 homer season with strong counting stats is well within reach. At his current ADP, that kind of output is a clear win.
Jac Caglianone (1B – KC)
Caglianone is the upside swing of the group, and the podcast made a strong case for why the ugly surface numbers shouldn’t scare you off.
Yes, the batting average was brutal. But nearly everything underneath it points toward positive regression. He showed elite bat speed, a double-digit barrel rate, and a surprisingly manageable strikeout percentage for a rookie with this kind of raw power. His BABIP was catastrophically low, far below anything sustainable.
The most encouraging sign is that he didn’t look overmatched. He hit the ball hard, handled fastballs better than his results showed, and produced expected stats that far outpaced what actually landed in the box score.
Caglianone is not a safe pick, but he’s the rare late-round first baseman with true 30-homer upside. In leagues where you can afford to take a swing, he’s exactly the type of gamble that can flip a season.
How to Use These Sleepers in Fantasy Baseball Drafts
The podcast’s broader point about first base applies perfectly here. You don’t need to reach early, but you also don’t want to drift too far into uncertainty.
Burleson and Vaughn work best as corner infield or utility plays who stabilize a roster. Contreras is a bet on environment and lineup context. Caglianone is a pure upside play who pairs best with a safer first baseman already locked in.
Drafting sleepers is about pairing risk correctly, not stacking it blindly.
Fantasy Baseball Takeaways
- Alec Burleson offers batting average stability, quiet power, and multi-position flexibility.
- Andrew Vaughn‘s Milwaukee resurgence is backed by real skill changes, not luck.
- Willson Contreras is undervalued due to position bias, not declining performance.
- Jac Caglianone is a high-risk, high-reward power swing with massive upside.
- First base sleepers work best when balanced with a stable early pick or strong category foundation.
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