It all comes down to this! We've reached fantasy baseball's Week 26, the final week of the 2024 MLB season,
Week 26 represents the second half of two-week championship matchups in ESPN leagues. At the conclusion of play on Sunday, Sept. 29, league champions shall be crowned across all fantasy baseball leagues, as MLB's current CBA specifies that tiebreakers (or "Game 163s") will no longer be used to decide playoff spots.
Speaking of those Sept. 29 games, MLB again has aligned the start time of every game on that date within 15 minutes of one another, in order to heighten pennant-chase drama (not to mention to keep fantasy managers frantically checking their live scoring between 3-6:30 p.m. ET). All 15 games begin between 3:05 and 3:20 p.m. ET.
For a final week, it's not one that's exceedingly busy. There are 97 total games, and only one make-up game, that being the Atlanta Braves hosting the New York Mets, which reschedules their April 10 postponement. Every team has at least one day off during Week 26, meaning a maximum of six games for all teams, while the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians are scheduled to play only five times.
As contending teams frequently clinch playoff spots -- and sometimes specific playoff seeds -- in advance of or during the season's final week, expect to see such squads begin to rest regulars and/or shuffle their pitching rotations in advance of the postseason. Eliminated teams, meanwhile, often shut down injured players, rest young pitchers with hefty innings totals or give youngsters auditions for next season. It's for that reason that the best players to use for fantasy during Week 26 are those who play for teams whose postseason fates are not yet decided.
As of publishing time, these are the teams that are within three games of a wild card spot in the standings (either leading or trailing), meaning they should be plenty motivated: Arizona Diamondbacks, Braves, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins, Mets and Seattle Mariners. Five of the six division leaders entered play on Sept. 23 with at least a five-game lead, meaning fantasy managers will want to focus on the wild card competitors wherever possible.
Good luck in your championship quest!