Fantasy Baseball Player Notes

Cal Raleigh had the year of his life in 2025, smacking 60 home runs while batting .247, far and away his best batting average ever. He drove in 125 and scored 110 times for a Seattle Mariners team that came very close to the World Series. Catcher is such a thin position that it is tempting to spend an early-round pick on Raleigh to be able to set-and-forget the position. His 2026 projections again place him among the position's home run leaders, with playing time security supporting strong counting stats, but we aren't going to see a repeat of his career year, and that is the current draft cost for the Big Dumper. Do you still want to spend a second-round pick on him if he's "only" getting you 40 homers with a .230 batting average? If so, he's easily the best catcher on the board. If not, wait three or four rounds to pick from the second tier.

Let's start with the important part: Josh Naylor will not steal 30 bases again in 2026. With a previous high of 10, the 30 was a gift to managers who drafted him and will most likely be the outlier of his career. Naylor did sacrifice power in his time between Arizona and Seattle, hitting only 20 home runs after smacking 31 the year before. The .295 average helped offset this to some degree, but as a career .269 hitter, this is also suspect to continue. Even though he will only be 29 this season, the return to Seattle limits the upside we can expect. He's more of an avoid, unless he falls in drafts.