Three down. One to go.
Fantasy baseball season is off and running with the last of four Leagues of Alternative Baseball Reality (LABR) on the way this weekend.
Twelve fantasy experts will gather in a virtual draft room on Saturday, March 7, for the LABR Mixed auction. The proceedings will be part of Baseball HQ’s annual First Pitch Online forum, which runs from Friday to Sunday (and includes panel discussions on the just-completed LABR AL and LABR NL auctions).
First Pitch attendees can even watch a livestream of the LABR Mixed auction.
In addition to seeing how some of the sharpest minds in the industry build their teams, fantasy managers will also get an idea of the relative player values to take to their own mixed-league drafts.
What is LABR?
The League of Alternative Baseball Reality is the original fantasy baseball experts league. LABR began in 1994, when Sports Weekly (then Baseball Weekly) fantasy editor John Hunt recruited 12 industry titans to draft and play in AL- and NL-only auction leagues.
LABR has since expanded to a Mixed league draft (in 2012) and a Mixed auction league (in 2020).
The Mixed league auction is comprised of 12 teams with 23-player active rosters (14 hitters, 9 pitchers) and six reserves. The leagues use 5×5 Rotisserie scoring (BA, R, HR, RBI, SB for hitters; W, ERA, WHIP, K, SV for pitchers).
Who is in the 2026 LABR Mixed auction?
The 2026 LABR Mixed auction, hosted by RTSports.com, will be held on Saturday, March 7, starting at 7:45 p.m. ET.
LIVE DRAFT GRID: https://www.rtsports.com/labr-mixed-auction
The list of LABR Mixed participants, in order of 2025 finish:
- Ray Murphy, Baseball HQ (2023, 2025 champion)
- Doug Anderson, Fantrax
- Matt Martingale, Elias Sports
- Shelly Verougstraete, Fantasy Feud podcast
- Ariel Cohen, Beat the Shift podcast/ATC projections
- Grey Albright, Razzball (2024 champion)
- Carlos Marcano, Baseball Prospectus
- Jeff Zimmerman, Fangraphs (2020, 2022 champion)
- Eric Cross, Rotoballer/FTN
- Ryan Hallam, Fantasy Alarm
- Justin Mason, Friends With Fantasy Benefits
- *Howard Bender, Fantasy Alarm/SiriusXM
* -Moving to LABR Mixed Auction from LABR NL
LABR 2026 draft schedule
LABR traditionally holds its drafts in early spring as a way to ‘set the bar’ for fantasy managers in their home leagues. The different formats offer insights on draft strategy, roster construction and player pool depth that are comparable to the most popular fantasy league options.
Here is the 2026 LABR lineup:
- LABR Mixed draft: Monday, Feb. 23
- LABR AL auction: Saturday, Feb. 28
- LABR NL auction: Sunday, March 1
- LABR Mixed auction: Saturday, March 7
