2026 Fantasy Baseball Draft Prep Catcher Tiers 3.0: Tiered rankings for a position of unprecedented surplus
The excess makes it so you almost can't go wrong in a one-catcher league
You're in the thick of the draft and can't decide between two players. The logical choice is to target the one whose position is nearest to dropping off. But where are the drop-offs? That's what these tiers denote. Players whose impact is essentially the same are bundled together, revealing at a glance how many alike choices remain. With these tiers in hand, you'll have all you need to determine in real time which position is most appropriate to draft next.
- Position Tiers (v. 3.0): C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP
- Position Strategies: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP
Below are the catcher tiers for 2026, depicting a historically weak position that's suddenly been made strong. It's so deep, in fact, that in 12-team leagues that require only one catcher, the draft will end with nearly half a dozen Fallback Options still on the board, to say nothing for the handful of Last Resorts to follow. How can you go wrong?
The Elite: Cal Raleigh
The Near-Elite: Hunter Goodman, William Contreras, Ben Rice, Shea Langeliers
The Next-Best Things: Will Smith, Agustin Ramirez, Drake Baldwin, Salvador Perez, Adley Rutschman
The Fallback Options: (Ivan Herrera), Samuel Basallo, Carter Jensen, Yainer Diaz, Gabriel Moreno, Kyle Teel, Francisco Alvarez
The Last Resorts: J.T. Realmuto, Alejandro Kirk, Austin Wells, Dillon Dingler, Logan O'Hoppe
The Leftovers: Tyler Stephenson, (Moises Ballesteros), Harry Ford, Victor Caratini, Carson Kelly, Ryan Jeffers, Edgar Quero, Sean Murphy, Miguel Amaya, Carlos Narvaez, Danny Jansen
( ): DH-only, but with some hope of becoming eligible here
