2026 Fantasy Baseball AL-Only Auction: Building Around Hunter Brown & Nick Kurtz

I’ve been playing in high-stakes auction leagues for well over 20 seasons. My NFBC AL-Only league on Monday night was the wildest I’ve been in ever. Game managers were spending the money early and often, while overpaying for anything with a pulse. By the end of the first round (12 player calls), these players were off the market:

Bobby Witt ($53)
Aaron Judge ($52)
Julio Rodriguez ($45)
Tarik Skubal ($45)
Gunnar Henderson ($41)
Jose Rameriz ($40)

AL-Only Auction Strategy, Targets & Overpriced Assets

When doing my pre-auction prep and pricing, I didn’t see enough talent on offense to support each team averaging $180 of spending. With the 2026 draft season continuing to have a theme of catchers and closers, auction players were finding ways to blow their bankroll.

Cal Raleigh ($30)
Ben Rice ($27)
Shea Langeliers ($27)
Cade Smith ($26)
Andres Munoz ($25)
David Bednar ($23)
Aroldis Chapman ($20).

Hunter Brown Anchors My Pitching Staff

I expected to build around SS Gunnar Henderson for about $35, with a tentative plan of switching to OF Julio Rodríguez if my timing was off, along with the pricing. My once-stars and scrubs approach was getting outgunned at all fronts. I believe I was the last person to buy a player (Hunter Brown for $30). Three other aces went for the same price (Bryan Woo, Logan Gilbert, and Cole Ragans).

Fighting For Trevor Story & Nick Kurtz

Building a balanced offense was tricky in the American League due to limited key players with steals, making it easier to get out of line, and with no trading Hail Mary to save the franchise. With the top shortstops off the board and Zach Neto ($28) a little banged up, I invested in Trevor Story ($22) for my first bat. He fits the skill set I was looking for at shortstop at a fair price.

2026 Fantasy Baseball Value Pick: Trevor Story, Boston Red So — Boston Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story (10) looks on before the game against the Toronto Blue Jays at JetBlue Park at Fenway South. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

I knew that I was going to fight for Nick Kurtz ($37), and he came out after Pete Alonso ($32) and Vladmir Guererro ($37), leading to me spending more than expected. At this point, I’m trying to find the right combination of bats to hit my speed target while still being competitive on the pitching side. I had thoughts of Jarren Duran ($30) or making a run at Cody Bellinger ($28), but they went higher than expected.

Finding A Second Ace & Fading Top-Tier Closers

After securing a second ace (Jacob deGrom – $25), I took a low-dollar flier on Kirby Yates ($8) for saves. I shut down my pitching spending with an eye for only one other good arm (Trey Yesavage), who I picked up for $12.

Building A Balanced Offense

Over the next two hours, I worked on piecing a balanced offense together, starting with players that qualified in the outfield, along with another position – Tyler Soderstrom ($23) and Ceddanne Rafaela ($19). This flexibility allowed me to take multiple middle infield fliers later in the auction.

Andres Gimenez ($8)
Kristian Campbell ($4)
Cole Young ($1)

Each player had a speed component to their game. I chose at-bats and lineup opportunity with the addition of Adley Rutschman ($14) and bought the dip in Kyle Teel ($7).

I wanted to roster Miguel Vargas ($12) at third base, and he was fairly priced.

Sleepers & Late-Round Values

After big spending early, teams lowered their bids in the middle rounds, creating some surprising bargains. Shortly thereafter, power assets were going full price or for a premium. This rhythm made it challenging to figure out when to hold your money for late leverage or pick away at the player pool when a player had a favorable price within a team plan.

2026 Fantasy Baseball Breakout: Jac Caglianone, Kansas City Royal — Kansas City Royals right fielder Jac Caglianone (14) rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the seventh inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Kauffman Stadium. | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

I decided to shove on Jac Caglianone ($19) when I had $44 left, and a big stack game manager let one of the poor kids steal a potential difference-maker from him. I then pushed another gear for Evan Carter ($10), leaving me with $14 left for nine players. I spent $1 on six players and won Taj Bradley ($2) with one of my topper bids.

1B Triston Casas ($1)
2B Cole Young ($1)
OF CJ Kayfus ($1)
SP Slade Cecconi ($1)
SP Luis Morales ($1)
RP Liam Hendriks ($1)

Casas was my last buy, giving me a flier at some power if he returns at some point in May or June. Young was a good deal, while Cecconi and Morales were players I was ok rostering if I heard crickets when calling them out. Hendriks was a flier for saves in the Twins’ bullpen. When doing my research, I like what I saw in Kayfus, but he may not make the team after the Guardians signed Rhys Hoskins.

The Reserve Rounds

In the reserve rounds, I took three shots at starting pitchers (Lance McCullers, Alek Manoah, and Emerson Hancock). I covered Kirby Yates with Jordan Romano. Angel Martinez was a good pair with Kayfus. In the final round, I covered Casas with Jeimer Candelario, who is trying to earn at-bats with the Angels.

Not my best auction as far as executing a game plan. I don’t see a great team, but I have enough in all areas if I can work the waiver wire and stay healthy. My quick math gives me about 210 home runs and 110 steals, which suggests I have work to do on the waiver wire.