2026 MBWBA Rule 6 Draft Preview

[udlb58]

There is no getting around the fact that 2026 is a down year for the Rule 6 Draft. There aren't any big difference makers available this year, but there are a number of guys that could fill out MBBA rosters for the right price. Here's a look at six players who I believe could make a difference in the States.



#1 - OF Marceau Dubois, Amsterdam: The Frenchman was the 2025 EBA MVP and was one of the top offensive players from 2024-25, but a step back in production has to worry any potential suitors. Well, that and the way Victor Talboom has had his share of troubles hitting MBBA pitching. Dubois is basically a more patient version of Talboom, which isn't the highest praise. Might be able to hit .220/.340/.430 in a good year. If you play him in a corner OF spot and get him for a reasonable price, he could be a respectable starter for an MBBA club.


#2 - SP Arend Glas, London: A righty with a solid fastball, an excellent changeup, and a mediocre slider. He won't wow you, but could be a solid back end starter and would be a positive clubhouse presence. He could also be a very good reliever, with that fastball/curve combo, if moved to the bullpen. Again, he is a good signing if you can get him for a #4/middle relief price.


#3 - 3B Manny Silva, Amsterdam: Plus-plus arm, plus defense, 25 HR power, .260 hitting ability. Silva would be better than a handful of guys who are currently full-time starters at 3B and would be an excellent backup/platoon player.


#4 - P Alfredo Martínez, Paris: The 26 year old pitcher turned heads last year when he struck out 20 against Brussels. He has had his share of struggles, but can simply dominate a hitter from time to time. If he finds a home in the right ballpark, he could be a very good reliever.


#5 - RF Raffaello Altabani, Paris: He was passed over a year ago, and then went on to have a phenomenal 2026 season. Maybe he is just one of those guys who fits perfectly for the EBA and will never be a viable option in the MBBA, but it is hard to overlook one of the top EBA hitters this year and in the 2nd half of 2025. The biggest knocks are his swing and miss rates and his low work ethic. He is a solid defender with 20-25 HR power and a solid eye. Would probably be best served in a reserve/platoon role, but would be a good option if you can get him for a good price.


#6 - P Bob Latrobe, Amsterdam: The 37 year old lefty would not be your typical Rule 6 pick, that's for sure. Latrobe was banished to Europe back in 2020 and has consistently been one of the top 10 pitchers in the EBA each of his 5+ seasons. His skills haven't diminished one bit since his 17-9, 3.59 ERA season back in 2018 and I think he could fit right in as a #5 starter or lefty reliever. Again, age is a big concern, so you'd be looking at a low salary and limited number of years.

[trmmilwwi]

Nice article.... Latrobe, ha! That dude's still playing?!!

[Lane]

Nice article.... Latrobe, ha! That dude's still playing?!!

Hell yeah! That guy just keeps on ticking. Loved him in AMS


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Lane]

I like the write-up, thanks. Definitely looks like a weak class.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ae37jr]

Silva and Glas are the only 2 sure fire picks IMO. Neither will be a star in the MBBA, though neither should be a bust. Silva, besides having a borderline starter scouting report, is just 24 and has nearly a perfect personality report. Just about any team in the league should see him a an asset at the right price. Glas should only be viewed as a bullpen option/emergency starter.

Since we're only allowed to make one pick, I'll throw out one of my sleeper picks. Brieuc Becker is a 28 year old super sub type. He is rated 9 or better at 4 positions and should easily pick up RF and/or 1B with spring training reps. His lack of power and eye will turn off a lot of OPS guys. But his contact should play enough to be a useful 27th man on the roster.

[udlb58]

Silva and Glas are the only 2 sure fire picks IMO. Neither will be a star in the MBBA, though neither should be a bust. Silva, besides having a borderline starter scouting report, is just 24 and has nearly a perfect personality report. Just about any team in the league should see him a an asset at the right price. Glas should only be viewed as a bullpen option/emergency starter.

Since we're only allowed to make one pick, I'll throw out one of my sleeper picks. Brieuc Becker is a 28 year old super sub type. He is rated 9 or better at 4 positions and should easily pick up RF and/or 1B with spring training reps. His lack of power and eye will turn off a lot of OPS guys. But his contact should play enough to be a useful 27th man on the roster.

That's a pretty good one there. Becker isn't great, but definitely an option for a team that has a crappy middle infield. I think Dubois has value over the other low contact, high power guys that have been taken in recent years thanks to his eye and position flexibility. That's a damn good defensive corner OF, a guy that can get you out of a game or a SIM as a center fielder, and someone who could become a very good defensive 1B too if needed.

[Lane]

Silva and Glas are the only 2 sure fire picks IMO. Neither will be a star in the MBBA, though neither should be a bust. Silva, besides having a borderline starter scouting report, is just 24 and has nearly a perfect personality report. Just about any team in the league should see him a an asset at the right price. Glas should only be viewed as a bullpen option/emergency starter.

Since we're only allowed to make one pick, I'll throw out one of my sleeper picks. Brieuc Becker is a 28 year old super sub type. He is rated 9 or better at 4 positions and should easily pick up RF and/or 1B with spring training reps. His lack of power and eye will turn off a lot of OPS guys. But his contact should play enough to be a useful 27th man on the roster.

Daaaaang that defense is nice


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Chey]

I was a little surprised at the lack of love for Altabani. Sure he's not a star, but a switch-hitting power guy with reasonably strong D in both corner outfield spots? Surely he's more than a borderline pick.

[agrudez]

You can't just call him a 'switch-hitting power guy' without at least mentioning his splits. Also, I'm no lover of the AVK rating, but when a guy has that low of a CON+AVK (9) I've seen enough evidence that he'll probably struggle to hit above the Mendoza line as an - ostensibly - RHB.

[udlb58]

You can't just call him a 'switch-hitting power guy' without at least mentioning his splits. Also, I'm no lover of the AVK rating, but when a guy has that low of a CON+AVK (9) I've seen enough evidence that he'll probably struggle to hit above the Mendoza line as an - ostensibly - RHB.

Yeah, I loved Altabani as an EBA player and might have considered taking him to by my platoon with Oh if his AvoidK were a point or two higher against LHP.

[RonCo]

It's interesting that Altabani's BABIP has been relatively high vs. league average, though.

[udlb58]

It's interesting that Altabani's BABIP has been relatively high vs. league average, though.

That actually makes sense to me when you look at his average. He has to have an abnormally high BABIP to hit .300 and strikeout 140 times

[agrudez]

It's interesting that Altabani's BABIP has been relatively high vs. league average, though.

There is an internal BABIP rating hidden in the player editor unless you have commish access that has an inverse relationship with AVK relative to your CON (the combination of the two actually calculates your CON... which makes really little sense to me why they even show CON instead of just showing both components of it - particularly since they already show one). So, if a player has an 8 CON and 4 AVK, he will have an internal BABIP well north of .300 to compensate. If he has a 4 CON and 8 AVK, vice versa. I've never done a study to correlate internal BABIP to actual statistical BABIP, but I presume the logic conforms in such a way to correlate the two.

[RonCo]

I am quite aware of the internal workings of the babip rating. [WINKING FACE]

[RonCo]

It's interesting that Altabani's BABIP has been relatively high vs. league average, though.

There is an internal BABIP rating hidden in the player editor unless you have commish access that has an inverse relationship with AVK relative to your CON (the combination of the two actually calculates your CON... which makes really little sense to me why they even show CON instead of just showing both components of it - particularly since they already show one). So, if a player has an 8 CON and 4 AVK, he will have an internal BABIP well north of .300 to compensate. If he has a 4 CON and 8 AVK, vice versa. I've never done a study to correlate internal BABIP to actual statistical BABIP, but I presume the logic conforms in such a way to correlate the two.

Markus shows CON because back when we changed the algorithm from the old V5 HITS/DOUBLES/HR/BB/K model to the one we have now, he wanted to keep showing a rating that indicated batting average. So we cobbled together an algorithm that did that, and now he uses it. It's more complex than just AVK and the hidden BABIP. There are more ratings involved, which is what makes me scratch my head on Altabani's performance. Purely scanning the ratings, I would expect his internal BABIP rating is on the low side. Yet his BABIP performance is above average.

So, either I'm a little skewed in my read (which happens) or the EBA's league-wide BABIP rating is quite low (which is probably true, too).

[Chey]

Without doing any research or thinking about it for more than a minute, I'd wager that the drop in offence from MBBA to EBA is drastically more than the drop in fielding ability, which would suggest lower BABIPs in the EBA.

[udlb58]

It's interesting that Altabani's BABIP has been relatively high vs. league average, though.

There is an internal BABIP rating hidden in the player editor unless you have commish access that has an inverse relationship with AVK relative to your CON (the combination of the two actually calculates your CON... which makes really little sense to me why they even show CON instead of just showing both components of it - particularly since they already show one). So, if a player has an 8 CON and 4 AVK, he will have an internal BABIP well north of .300 to compensate. If he has a 4 CON and 8 AVK, vice versa. I've never done a study to correlate internal BABIP to actual statistical BABIP, but I presume the logic conforms in such a way to correlate the two.

Markus shows CON because back when we changed the algorithm from the old V5 HITS/DOUBLES/HR/BB/K model to the one we have now, he wanted to keep showing a rating that indicated batting average. So we cobbled together an algorithm that did that, and now he uses it. It's more complex than just AVK and the hidden BABIP. There are more ratings involved, which is what makes me scratch my head on Altabani's performance. Purely scanning the ratings, I would expect his internal BABIP rating is on the low side. Yet his BABIP performance is above average.

So, either I'm a little skewed in my read (which happens) or the EBA's league-wide BABIP rating is quite low (which is probably true, too).

Right, power also influences contact (more HR = more balls hit that don't equal an out)

[RonCo]

So with high power, and low Avoid K (but not devastatingly low), I would expect a low Contact rating to indicate a poorish BABIP rating--certainly not any better than "average." But his performance suggests a better BABIP rating than the rest of those ratings do. And his performance is consistent. So, there's something going on down in the guts of the equivalencies that is making that performance what it is.