Are you playing ESPN's fantasy baseball game for the first time? Perhaps you're simply seeking a refresher on how players quality at certain positions? Our rules for players' position eligibility changed at the start of the 2024 season -- with no changes since -- so let's get you caught up after your winter's rest.
Using the most recent year's games played, a player must meet the following criteria in order to gain eligibility at a position to begin a new season:
For hitters, playing at least 20 games at the position the previous season OR
Playing at least 25% of their games at the position the previous season (minimum of five games at that position)
For starting pitchers, making at least five starts the previous season
For relief pitchers, making at least eight relief appearances the previous season
For the purpose of determining eligibility, designated hitter (DH) does count as a position, and it is possible for a player to qualify at DH only based on the above criteria. Players can also qualify at DH as a secondary position.
Among the most fantasy-relevant players with unusual eligibility for 2026 are a pair of left-handed sluggers, Ben Rice of the New York Yankees and Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros. Using ESPN's criteria as outlined above, Rice begins the season eligible at first base, DH and catcher, while Alvarez can be used at DH and outfield -- specifically left field, if your league designates specific outfield positions.
Rice played 50 of his 138 total games in 2025 at first base, 48 at DH and 36 at catcher, all three meeting the minimum of 20 to qualify.
Alvarez played 32 of his 48 total games at DH, and another 15 in left field. He met the 20-game minimum at DH, but those 15 games in left field represent 31% of his total games while also meeting the five-game minimum, earning himself eligibility there too.
Adding new eligibility in-season
Hitters can add new eligibility at a position once they appear there in at least 10 games, while pitchers gain new eligibility with five starts (starting pitchers) or eight relief appearances (relief pitchers), during the 2026 season.
The New York Mets are expected to utilize a pair of infielders at different positions from those at which they qualified last year. Bo Bichette, a shortstop for all seven of his MLB seasons to date, is projected to start at third base, while Jorge Polanco, typically a second baseman, is set to start at first base.
However, Bichette begins 2026 eligible at shortstop only, after playing 132 of his 139 total games last season at the position (the other seven were at DH, though he did also pinch-hit twice before remaining in the game at shortstop). Polanco starts out as a DH and second baseman, after playing 87 of his 138 total games at DH and another 38 at second base (he also played five games at third base, one at first base and 11 as a pinch-hitter).
Bichette will add third base, and Polanco first base, beginning the day after they make their 10th appearances respectively at either position, assuming that they actually end up making those appearances at all. Plans can change, which is why we only award extra eligibility after it's been earned.
Where rookies and prospects qualify
Rookies tend to be popular in fantasy baseball leagues, with such names as Kevin McGonigle of the Detroit Tigers and Trey Yesavage of the Toronto Blue Jays likely to be among this season's most impactful rookie eligibles. McGonigle, however, didn't meet the five-game MLB minimum at any field position, nor did Yesavage reach the five-start minimum, in 2025.
McGonigle played exclusively in the minor leagues, while Yesavage did play in MLB but failed to meet any of the above criteria. In both of these cases, then, the combined major league and minor league games played by position are used, following the same rules: either 20 games played or 25% of all games played (minimum five games) at a position for hitters, and either five starts for starting pitchers or eight relief appearances for relievers.
McGonigle played 70 of his 88 minor league games at shortstop, earning him eligibility there alone. Yesavage started 25 of his 28 combined games between the major leagues and minor leagues, earning him eligibility at starting pitcher alone.
What about players who didn't play in 2025?
The final category of players pertains to injured players, such as Gerrit Cole of the Yankees or Joe Musgrove of the San Diego Padres, and those who played only in foreign leagues, such as Cody Ponce of the Blue Jays or Tatsuya Imai of the Astros.
If a player does not play in either the major leagues or minor leagues during a season, such as a player who misses the entire year due to injury, then the previous season in which he has at least five games played at one position (at either MLB or a minor league level) will be used to determine his eligibility. If a player appeared in only a foreign league, then he'll be eligible at the position he played the most in his most recent season there.
This is designed to specifically grant logical positions to potentially significant players, such as Roki Sasaki entering last season or, for this season, Ponce, Imai, Munetaka Murakami, Kazuma Okamoto and Drew Anderson.
Sasaki was one of the more popular 2025 preseason picks, going 94th overall and 30th among starting pitchers, but he had played entirely in Japan up until that point of his career. His eligibility therefore was decided by accounting for his usage in the Nippon Professional Baseball league.
Cole and Musgrove will be starting pitcher-eligible to begin 2026, as both of them made exactly 20 starts, among their 20 appearances, in that fashion in 2024.
Ponce, Imai and Anderson were all starting pitchers overseas in 2025, Ponce and Anderson appearing exclusively as starters in the Korea Baseball Organization and Imai exclusively as a starter in Japan. Murakami and Okamoto both played more games at third base than at any other position in Japan, so they begin their U.S. career eligible only at third base.