I can’t remember a time when the fantasy catching position was as deep as it will be entering the 2026 season. The position isn’t just deep and talented — it’s young, which means even more excitement and higher draft values. The obvious standouts like Cal Raleigh and William Contreras jump off the page, but there are a solid 10 to 15 catchers who could reasonably finish as top-five players at the position.
Players like Ben Rice, with his impressive Statcast profile, will be harder to land under the radar, and the Drake Baldwin types — with 19 home runs and 80 RBIs — can no longer be called sleepers. So, to find real value, we need to dig deeper. Fortunately for New York fans, we don’t have to look further than our own backyard.
Francisco Alvarez was once the talk of baseball as a top prospect, but his injury-shortened season seems to have made some forget just how high his ceiling truly is. Alvarez's pedigree shows legitimate top-five upside — as soon as this upcoming season.
After being optioned to Triple-A in late June following a rough stretch, Alvarez returned and quietly became one of the best-hitting catchers in baseball. In the second half, he posted a .921 OPS, showing the kind of elite production few catchers can offer. If his surgically repaired thumb is fully healed by spring, Alvarez could easily return to form and exceed expectations.
At just 23 years old, Alvarez should remain a long-term fixture behind the plate for the Mets. For fantasy managers who prefer to wait on drafting a catcher, Alvarez is the perfect target — a player capable of delivering elite production at a discounted price. He may not enter 2026 as a consensus top-10 option, but by season’s end, he could easily be among the league’s best.