2026 Fantasy Baseball: Drafting at the Turn

Snake drafts are still the most widely popular and acceptable format for fantasy baseball leagues. There’s no accounting for good taste, I suppose. But until I am formally named Grand High Exalted Mystic Ruler of Fantasy Sports, I too will participate in this exercise. That means that I, like you, will be at the mercy of the draft order gods and goddesses. While some will hit the Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge sweepstakes, most will be picking towards the middle of each round. Then, of course, we have those who will draft at the turn. This can be a daunting task for fantasy baseball managers to navigate. But not all hope is lost for those in this position. Here are some general tips and tricks to consider if you are at the turn in fantasy baseball drafts.

What is the Turn?

Drafting at the turn generally means you are drafting at the very back end of the first round. In a 10-team league, you have the 10th pick. In a 12-team league, you have the 12th pick, and so on. There are challenges with finding yourself in this position. The top four players according to our latest ADP are Ohtani, Judge, Juan Soto, and Bobby Witt Jr. It is virtually impossible for any of these players to fall to you at pick 10, much less pick 12. The good news is that while you have the last pick in each odd-numbered round, you have the first pick in each even-numbered round. That means you can create some positional scarcity advantages and put other managers on the defensive in certain situations.

You are also technically drafting at the turn if you have the first pick. In this scenario, you have the last pick in every even-numbered round and the first pick in every odd-numbered round. The strategies I discuss below remain applicable for the most part, outside of Round 1. Having said that, the ability to have your pick of the litter at the top of the draft is quite different than sitting with the last pick in the first round. So, for this discussion, I will focus more on those situations where you are drafting at the end of Round 1.

Tips for Drafting at the Turn

Have Rankings and Projections

Regardless of where you are drafting, you should always have a trusted set of tiered rankings and projections handy. This will help identify areas where factors such as positional scarcity and categorical scarcity are relevant. Are you taking Freddie Freeman at the 5/6 turn because he is the best player available and can account for 150 combined runs and RBI in his sleep? Or are you taking Brice Turang because he plays at a weak position and you believe his 2025 season was legitimate? These types of scenarios are going to play out multiple times throughout the draft. Making confident decisions can prevent you from scrambling later when some of the choices may be less appealing.

Ignore ADP

Even in normal drafting conditions, ADP (Average Draft Position) should be used as more of a general guide than anything else. Considering ADP as a de facto ranking system often does more harm than good. As much as we like to “beat” ADP, I have yet to find the league where the prize money went to the manager who outdrafted ADP by the largest margin. The goal has always been and will always be to draft the best players. Drafting at the turn usually means you are going to have to draft many players (gasp!) ahead of their ADP. Let’s say you are drafting at the turn of a 12-team league. The first 11 picks go exactly according to ADP. That means that after the first four players mentioned above, picks 5 through 11 look like this:

Jose Ramirez
Corbin Carroll
Tarik Skubal
Ronald Acuna
Garrett Crochet
Paul Skenes
Julio Rodriguez

I don’t think many people would knock you if you selected Elly De La Cruz at pick 12. He is the next highest player based on ADP, and I also have him as the highest on my personal rankings. But shortstop is a relatively deep position, and you may want to give yourself an advantage elsewhere. Cal Raleigh and Jazz Chisholm are the consensus top picks at their respective positions. Chisholm also has multi-positional eligibility, which is a plus. His current ADP is 22, which means he may be considered a reach at pick 12 or 13. However, you must consider how long it will be until your next pick. Chisholm is probably not going to be on the board when your next picks (35 and 36 overall) come around.

The point is to get your guys. This does not mean you have to select Raleigh or Chisholm. Your guy could be Nick Kurtz or Vladimir Guerrero Jr. It could be Junior Caminero or Jackson Chourio. It could be Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Cristopher Sanchez. Whoever your targets are, do not be afraid to reach for them, especially considering that those players will likely not be available two rounds from now. Keep in mind that ADP can also vary greatly by site. Rafael Devers has an ADP of 33 on Fantrax and 74 on ESPN. If you were solely drafting off ADP, Devers could be a target at the 3/4 turn on Fantrax and the 6/7 turn on ESPN. That is a wild swing for a player that high on the board.

Positional Scarcity and Runs

Positional runs are a real thing in drafts and can be quite difficult to navigate, especially when drafting at the turn. In a 12-team league, you are going 22 picks without making a single selection. That means you should not be afraid to start a positional run of your own. For example, I have Mason Miller, Edwin Diaz, Andres Munoz, and Jhoan Duran in a tier of closers. A bit later, I have David Bednar, Josh Hader, and Aroldis Chapman bunched together. I could grab multiple closers from the first group a bit earlier than ADP to prevent missing out on the entire group. Or, if I miss out on the top group, I may want to ensure I get multiple options from the second group.

In two-catcher leagues, there are often mid-round runs on backstops. Only one team is drafting Raleigh, and the choices available in a league where managers must start 24 catchers every week can get a bit dicey. After the top 10 or 12 catchers have been drafted, we are just hoping for a decent combination of production and playing time. Managers drafting at the turn who miss out on a top-five catcher could look to draft multiple catchers towards the middle of the draft to avoid some of the less desirable players out there. I wouldn’t go out of my way to double-tap (picking two players at the same position with consecutive picks) consistently, but doing so at specific points in the draft can be a fruitful endeavor.

At the same time, do not panic if you miss out on a positional run or two. This is probably going to happen at some point if you are drafting at the turn. Every team in the draft is going to have areas of relative strength and weakness. Fantasy baseball drafts in Fantrax leagues are 30 rounds long. Starting rosters consist of 22 players at 10 different positions. You are not going to have the best player at each position. You are not even going to have a top-five player at each position. And while that notion may be a bit nerve-wracking, it is completely fine. As I said earlier, as long as you have your cheat sheets handy, you can know when to swim with the tide and when you have to zig while others zag.

Mick Says Mock

I must admit that I am not the biggest fan of Mock Drafts. Most of the time, managers are testing theories and trying out different strategies that they end up not actually employing when real money and pressure are on the line. That means that much of the intel gathered in mocks goes by the wayside. However, I do believe participating in a mock draft, or two, is helpful if you are drafting at the turn. You can gauge how you manage in scenarios where a positional run takes place. Or you can see what happens if you are too passive or reliant on ADP when making your draft picks. This exercise can be helpful when preparing for the real thing. Jump into a mock draft today and feel confident when drafting at the turn on Draft Day.

For more of the great fantasy baseball rankings and analysis you’ve come to expect from FantraxHQ, check out our full 2026 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit! We’re here for you all the way up until Opening Day and then on into your championship run.