Best 2026 MLB Expert Futures & Prop Bets
The 2026 FSGA Experts Futures & Prop Bets Multi-Sport Draft featured three members of the RotoWire team competing against 15 industry experts in a format that blends betting and fantasy strategy.
Below, we focus on our MLB selections, with a mix of over/under plays and higher-odds bets aimed at building value.
Whenever we needed a quick odds check, RotoWire's Free Betting Odds Calculator & Converter came in clutch.
Full draft results can be found here.
Draft Rules & Format
- 12 Rounds
- $10,000 (imaginary) bankroll
- Minimum wager: $250 | Maximum wager: $1,750
- Snake draft format
- Eligible sports: MLB, NFL Draft, March Madness, NBA, NHL, Kentucky Derby, Indy 500, Masters, Tennis and more
Best MLB Bets: Lauren Jump
Dodgers to Win World Series (+225), $1,500
Dodgers Under 103.5 Wins (-110), $1,750
The Dodgers have the roster to become the first team since the 1998-2000 Yankees to win three straight World Series titles. Shohei Ohtani returns to the mound alongside Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Roki Sasaki, giving the Dodgers another loaded rotation, while Kyle Tucker joins an offense that already featured Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith. The Edwin Díaz acquisition slams the door with elite bullpen support.
Built for October
The World Series case is easy. The 103.5-win total is not. Los Angeles has finished under its preseason projection in each of the last two seasons, winning 98 and then 93 games while still making deep October runs. That is by design. The Dodgers have made a clear choice to manage workloads, rest veterans and treat the regular season as a setup rather than the main event.
Health is Wealth
Ohtani, Betts and Freeman are another year older, while Blake Snell and Gavin Stone enter the season working back from injuries. The Dodgers have depth, but they also have every reason to prioritize health and longevity over a 104-win pace.
✔️ Why It's a Strong Bet
These bets can both hit. No doubt the Dodgers are talented enough to claim the World Series again, but getting it done with 104+ wins is unnecessary.
Tarik Skubal, Most Wins (+750), $1,000
The back-to-back Cy Young winner posted a 2.21 ERA and MLB-best 0.89 WHIP last season, yet finished with just 13 wins, six behind Max Fried for the league lead. The numbers made one thing clear: Skubal was rarely the problem. Detroit looks much better equipped to turn more of those dominant starts into victories in 2026.
Weak AL Central
Detroit gets 52 games against an AL Central that should work in Skubal's favor. Minnesota and Chicago are both in rebuild mode, while Cleveland is coming off a division title despite hitting just .226 and finishing last in the AL in runs scored.
More Support
Detroit's offense may not top the charts, but there are enough pieces to provide sufficient run support. Spencer Torkelson's 31 homers last season cemented him as a legitimate middle-of-the-order bat, Colt Keith at 3B adds another young player with upside, and top prospect Kevin McGonigle is vying for an Opening Day role after slashing .305/.408/.583 with a 182 wRC+ across the minors in 2025. The bullpen should help finish the job, too. Veteran additions Kenley Jansen and Kyle Finnegan strengthen an already decent late-inning group, giving Skubal a better chance to see leads hold once he exits.
✔️ Why It's a Strong Bet
Skubal does not need to be better than he was last year. He simply needs a bit more help. With a soft division slate, a lineup with more scoring potential and a more experienced bullpen, Detroit is positioned to produce the winningest MLB pitcher of 2026.
Chandler Simpson, Most Stolen Bases (+400), $750
In an abbreviated sample size, the young speedster proved his chops as a rookie in 2025, swiping 44 bags in just 109 games, the second most in MLB. He did that in 53 fewer games than leader Jose Caballero, who stole 49 bases across 126 games.
A Full Season Ahead
Now a fixture in the Rays lineup and entering his first full season, Simpson is primed to lead the way in 2026. His .295 average and 9.8 percent strikeout rate as a rookie confirm he gets on base consistently enough to run.
Value Over the Favorite
His primary competition is this year's favorite, Elly De La Cruz (+300), who tumbled from 67 steals in 2024 to just 37 in 2025 while battling a quad strain. It should be a tight race if both players stay healthy, but I'm taking the juicier line.
✔️ Why It's a Strong Bet
Simpson already showed he can run, and now he gets a full season to do it. With elite speed, strong on-base skills and longer odds than the favorite, the value is on Simpson at +400.
Best MLB Bets: Sasha Yodashkin
Yankees Over 90.5 Wins (-110), $1000
Yankees to win World Series (+1000), $250
The Yankees have won at least 91 games in seven of the last eight 162-game MLB seasons and are returning 24 of the 26 players from the team's 2025 ALDS roster.
Pulverizers at the Plate
- Aaron Judge is coming off his third AL MVP Award and has played at least 148 games in four of the last five seasons
- Yankees led MLB in runs per game (5.19) and home runs (274) last season
- All seven players who hit at least 20 HRs for the Yankees in 2025 are back for 2026
Strong Starting Rotation
- 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole should be back by June after missing all of 2025 due to Tommy John Surgery
- Three-time All-Stars Max Fried and Carlos Rodon (elbow) combined for 37 wins in 2025
- Cam Schlittler allowed just two runs in 14.1 postseason innings as a rookie last year and can touch 100 mph with his fastball
✔️ Why It's a Strong Bet
Judge has shed the injury-prone label and headlines a deep and powerful lineup. Starting pitching also profiles as a strength with Cole coming back, and the bullpen is more likely to improve than regress after ranking 11th in the AL with a 4.37 ERA in 2025. The Yankees are far removed from their dominant evil empire days but still have the third-highest payroll in baseball and should reprise their spot as one of the best regular-season teams in MLB.
Breaking the second-longest World Series drought in franchise history is a long shot, but +1000 odds were hard to pass up with the final $250 of my Futures & Prop Bets Multi-Sport Draft bankroll. The Yankees have come close to winning a few times in recent years, reaching the 2024 World Series and recording three other ALCS appearances dating back to 2017.
Paul Skenes, Most Strikeouts (+400), $500
Skenes tied for fourth in MLB with 216 strikeouts across 187.2 innings in a 2025 campaign during which he was the unanimous NL Cy Young Award winner. His 29.5% strikeout rate in 2025 also ranked fourth, while Skenes' 33.1% mark across 133.0 major-league innings from his rookie 2024 season would have led MLB if he had thrown enough innings to qualify.
Following Familiar Footsteps
Skenes turns just 24 years old in May, so the 2023 first overall pick's best baseball could still be ahead of him. Looking at previous young studs on the mound, Stephen Strasburg led MLB in strikeouts in his age-25 season and Justin Verlander first did it in his age-26 campaign.
More Innings, More Strikeout Opportunities
Skenes threw 85.2 innings at Air Force in 2022 and 122.2 innings at LSU in 2023, setting the single-season SEC record with 209 strikeouts. He ramped up to 160.1 innings between Triple-A Indianapolis and the Pirates in 2024, then expanded his workload to 187.2 MLB innings in 2025. Garrett Crochet's league-leading strikeout total in 2025 was aided by him ranking second in MLB with 205.1 innings pitched, and Skenes could be among the league leaders in innings pitched for 2026 if the latter's workload continues to climb.
No Pressure in Pittsburgh
Skenes can continue to prioritize personal accolades while pitching for a Pirates team that isn't expected to contend in 2026. Pittsburgh went just 71-91 despite Skenes' success last season, and the Pirates' over/under was set at 78.5 wins for this year during the FSGA Experts Futures & Prop Bets Multi-Sport Draft.
✔️ Why It's a Strong Bet
Skenes is arguably the best pitcher in baseball already, and recent trends suggest the 2023 first overall pick could still unlock a higher level of both workload and effectiveness. The Pirates may not make much noise in 2026, but Skenes certainly has the stuff to add a strikeout title to his growing list of accolades, making the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner a nice value at +400 odds to lead the league after posting the fourth-most strikeouts last season.
Best MLB Bets: Steve Bulanda
Dodgers to Win NL Pennant (+125), $1,000
See Lauren's analysis above. Los Angeles has an All-Star team and the depth to keep the lineup fresh for another deep playoff run.
✔️ Why It's a Strong Bet
In addition to having an All-Star level roster, Los Angeles has a top 3 farm system! While other teams could be doomed by an injury to a star player, the Dodgers have the assets to make any trade deadline deals needed to address any weakness.
Brewers Over 84.5 Wins, $1750
Is there any team that's more consistently underrated than the Milwaukee Brewers? They've topped their win total in eight of the past nine full seasons and return in 2026 with a team worthy of a max bet.
Potent Lineup
Jackson Chourio has MVP-level tools, while 2018 NL MVP Christian Yelich is coming off arguably his best offensive season since 2019.
William Contreras, Brice Turang, Andrew Vaughn and Sal Frelick return to the top of the everyday lineup that finished with the second most runs in the NL in 2025.
Balanced Pitching Staff
Even after sending ace Freddy Peralta to the Mets this offseason, the Brewers come in with a top 10 pitching staff. Brandon Woodruff, Quinn Priester and Jacob Misiorowski form a strong top of the rotation, while Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill are both capable of maintaining leads late in games.
Always Ready to Reload
The Brewers farm system has been regularly ranked among the best in the league for years, and this season is no different with six prospects among the top 71 in RotoWire Lead Prospect Analyst James Anderson's rankings.
In other words, they can let stars like Peralta walk, and help will be on the way. Whether that's a call-up or a trade deadline move, they have the assets to boost the big league roster.
✔️ Why It's a Strong Bet
Last year, Milwaukee's win line was set at 83.5, and they finished with the best run differential in the league on their way to an MLB-best 97 wins.
Excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season, they've exceeded 85 wins every year since 2016. It's an organization that is a playoff contender annually despite a small-market budget that seems to push at least one star out the door every offseason. Out with the expensive, in with more prospects. It's a formula that should be good for 85 to 90 wins in 2026, and it helps when you have the back-to-back NL Manager of the Year leading the way.
Sal Stewart NL Rookie of the Year (+800), $350
We got a glimpse of what Stewart is capable of in 18 major league games last season, as he displayed high-end hit tools that could unlock above-average or better power.
Elite Advanced Power Stats
What do Judge, Ohtani, Kyle Schwarber and Stewart have in common? All of them were top-11 in average exit velocity in 2025, which is a key indicator of future power numbers. Not saying that Stewart will hit over 50 homeruns, as Judge, Ohtani and Schwarber did, but don't be shocked if he tops 30.
Opportunity
Early projections have the 22-year-old batting cleanup on an everyday basis with De La Cruz in front of him and Eugenio Suarez behind him. Other rookie hitters like Konnor Griffin, JJ Wetherholt and Carson Benge might have higher individual upside but none are in a better position to fill the box score from Opening Day forward.
Sneaky Stolen Base Potential
Stewart didn't have any stolen bases at the major league level last season, but he flashed the ability in the minors. Now through 19 Spring Training games he has four steals.
✔️ Why It's a Strong Bet
The way I see it, no other rookie hitter has a better combination of tools and opportunity than Stewart. He'll have to outperform pitcher Nolan McLean, who is the favorite (+250 at DraftKings) to win the NL Rookie of the Year award, but the value that a bet on Stewart offers is undeniable. The past four hitters to win the award have averaged about 20 home runs and 70 RBI, while batting .280, all of which are attainable stats for Stewart.
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