Baseball - Position Rankings

What can we say about outfielders in Fantasy Baseball? Well I for one will say it is a tough position to draft. A very tough position indeed.

When looking at the projection lists of the players listed below the top 10 are all close to the same. The top 5 are even closer. Looking over the list reminds me a lot of the scene in the movie "Forest Gump" when Bubba is telling Forest of all the different types of shrimp there are. We got hard hitters, we got fast runners, we got slow runners, we got smart hitters, we got dumb hitters and we even have old and young hitters....you get the point right?

Great. During your draft you should not worry about getting a terrible outfielder till pick 20. The only problems you may have are in the first couple picks. Here's why; You may be faced with a hard decision of either picking a Carlos Gonzalez or a Carl Crawford(who I have as my number 1 outfielder for 2011) You will have to decide if CarGo will produce the numbers and get the batting titles again OR if Crawford who just joined a new hot team is going to rip the numbers up and come out as top dog. It's a hard life isn't it? I highly suggest that you take a glance at the projections and get a good feel for the names and their numbers so you will be ahead of the game come draft day for your league. Another thing I suggest you think about is if you are hard set on picking someone, but when your turn comes up and that someone is still left, but another hottness is still available stick with your first choice.

Also remember the pool of good outfielders goes pretty far down the water hole, so you'll be safe grabbing a late round player to get your team to the champion! Enjoy

Tier 1

Carl Crawford-29-LF

Crawford has joined yet another dangerous offense in the Boston Red Sox. Being in a protected line-up with batting in front Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkills, and Adrian Gonzalez he should be able to cut down his strike outs against left hander’s.

Carlos Gonzalez-25-LF

In 2010 CarGo had a breakout season with having 34 home runs and a career high .336 average. Though with his great batting season he did have his downfalls of having way more strikeouts than he needed to have. Not many people think he can repeat his ’10 season, which you can’t blame them. Another concern with CarGo could be that 26 of his 35 HRs came while at home.

Ryan Braun-27-LF

Though Brauns stats dropped a few numbers in the last year he still maintained an average over .300 and he had a career high of 43 doubles. You should still expect him to be a big run producer this year as well.

Matt Holliday-31-LF

Holliday ended his season on a high note with going 34 for 90 (.378) in over 26 games in September. As long as he bats with Albert Pujols any pitcher will have to pick their poison, and not to mention the possible 100 RBI season he could have is going to make him a gem  for anyone to have.

Tier 2

Matt Kemp-26-CF

Kemps 2010 season was disappointing compared to his ’09 season. Though he still had a career high of 28 HRs and still had a high amount of RBI. Though Don Mattingly being the Dodgers new Manager, and with Joe Torre gone Kemp should be able to get his stats up again. Kemp is still a good top 10 outfielder.

Josh Hamilton-29-LF

If Hamilton could stay healthier he would probably pushed higher. Though in his injury prone state he lowered his strike out rate from 24% to 18%. With Adrian Beltre joining the line up, you should see great numbers from Hamilton.

Nelson Cruz-30-LF

Coming in to 2011 Cruz will probably top the list of the most sought after players. He has power and speed, but the key for Cruz is…DING will he stay healthy? If he does, he will be a fun player to watch in the hitter friendly park in Texas.

Ichiro Suzuki-37-RF

Suzuki is one of the few players in the game who has had a consistent batting average above .300. There is something to be said about that. Ichiro won’t give you power, but he will get on base and steal them just as quick. The only smudge for Suzuki is the rest of the terrible offense on Seattle just cannot drive him in.

Shinn-Shoo Choo-28-RF

Choo was a hidden gem for the last couple of years, but not anymore. Some camps are predicting that he will be drafted in the same round as a Ryan Braun. Keep your eyes open for him.

Jose Bautista-30-LF

With having dual-eligibly in 2011 for 3B and OF that may add more value to him, but don’t get caught in thinking he is going to have a repeat season. Though he does have power, and a high walk rate I don’t see him drafted till after the 2^nd round.

Tier 3

Justin Upton-23-RF

Upton had a struggling season last year. Granted he was nursing a shoulder injury, which he has decided not to get worked on. His 31% strike-out rate could possibly  worry most, though Diamondbacks Manager has stated that Upton will get more playing time which could make Upton a 20-20 guy.

Andrew McCutchen-24-CF

Deciding when and if to pick up McCutchen deserves a little bit of thinking here. Granted his ’10 season stats look pretty good for his second year in the league. Much discussion about McCutchen has been on the topic if he is playing to his full potential. If you feel he is going to rise up then he is probably worth picking after the third round, but if you are having reservations then take your time and see who is left.

Alex Rios-29-CF

Rios is a decent player on paper, but what most people don’t know or forget is he plays great the first half of the season and goes down hill slowly…like being behind an old lady on the road.

Jayson Werth-31-RF

With Werths transition from being in a hitters park to a pitchers park he has struggled a little, though he ended with good numbers, he will only get slightly better. Being in the middle of the line up is worth giving him a third round looking.

B.J Upton-26-CF

Though Upton had a low batting performance last season I expect he will come into his prime as he enters the new season at 26. Anyone who can get double digit HRs and 40 stole bases is a for sure threat.

Hunter Pence-28-RF

Being that he hasn’t been able to get more than 25 HRs and has hit that many the last three years he should probably get some sort of a reward. With his average not really making any movement up, he won’t make the first couple rounds.

Jay Bruce-23-RF

Bruce finally had a breakout season. Not only did he have a good season, but also the REDs hooked him up with a six year $51 million contract extension. Not to mention he is only 23 and he could possibly have more than 30. Consider him early in deeper leagues.

Andre Ethier-27-RF

After Ethiers broken pinkie incident early last year he struggled to find a groove. Assuming he wont break another pinkie in the beginning of the season he is a safe bet for your team.

Tier 4

Jason Heyward-21-RF

There is so much to say about Jason Heyward. He was the runner up in Rookie of the Year, he had a phenomenal season with the bat, and in my opinion he is one of the smartest young hitters in the game. Getting placed fourth in walks will get you noticed as well. If he can stay healthy all season he should be picked up very quickly.

Delmon Young-25-LF

Young was a great pickup for anyone’s fantasy team last year. Although his stolen bases have dropped which could provide concern for his speed dropping. Young is for sure coming into his prime and will provide your team with great numbers. Definitely a top 30 Fantasy outfielder.

Shane Victorino-29-CF

The buzz around this guy are his stolen base numbers won’t be as good as ’10 because of his first base coach leaving and going to LA. The only reason his numbers may go down is because he is getting older. He should go in the middle rounds on draft day.

Curtis Granderson-29-CF

Take a glance at Granderson during the middle rounds on draft day. Granderson had made an effort to work on his hitting mechanics which ended up helping him in the post season.

Chris B. Young-27-CF

Young finally went above .250. Though his average was and probably will be low his other numbers will be pretty decent. If you’re fine with the low average and a 20-20 he is a valuable pick.

Mike Stanton-21-RF

Stanton had a wonderful rookie season with only playing 100 games. If he cuts his strikeouts down he will have an even better season. Consider him mid draft.

Tier 5

Corey Hart-28-RF

Being that Hart is playing for a contract one would think that he would play a fantastic year. With that said his bat was no consistent last year, and being protected by Ryan Braun and Fielder you’d think he would have a much better performance. Anything can happen here, but I don’t expect him to go till after the 7^th round.

Jacoby Ellsbury-27-CF

Ellsbury comes with some reservation being that he only play 18 games last season and sat out with a rib injury. If he works hard during training and shakes the rust off I think he could get his SBs back to a high number again and maintain a high average.

Colby Rasmus-24-CF

Rasmus had a pretty good season last year with hitting 23 HRs. He will only get better, though he will need to improve his power against left-handed pitchers.

Ben Zorbist-29(upside)

A couple things need to be noted about Zorbist. He will be 30 in late June, he is getting moved around way tooo much, which could be to your advantage, and he is at the point where he almost needs to show up and be motivated to the ceiling to get great numbers. He could be a top 10 with his versatility, but until he gets better and puts the ’10 to bed he will remain here.

Torii Hunter-35-CF

Here’s the action with Hunter. He will be turning 36 this year and you won’t see him leading the boards on hitting stats anymore. He is getting thrown out more times than being successful. Though the plus side is Kendry Morales will return from injury which will provide Hunter with lineup protection.

Grady Sizemore-28-CF

Unfortunately this guy’s season ended early with a left knee injury. Word on the street is that he will be ready to play this season with a healthy knee. I expect him to play with full force being that he left the season in may and has had plenty of time to prepare and train for this season. ’09 was his best season with a 30-30 I am not sure he can do that again but may come close.

Michael Bourn-28-CF

With the young core of players that are around Bourn in Houston you can expect another year of high steals and high runs scored.

Juan Pierre-33-LF

Juan’s numbers in stolen bases is PHENOMINAL! Don’t expect him to go yard that much, but if he stays healthy expect those stolen bag numbers to be very high.

Drew Stubbs-26-CF

Last year Stubbs tied Alex Rios in having over 20 HRs and 30 steals with in all out fielders. Stubbs gets little to no respect in the baseball community. Though he has low averages he can still produce good numbers for your team

Bobby Abreu-37-RF

Here are some major concerns about Abreu. He will be 37 before the start of the season this year. He came 22 RBIs short of maintaining his 100+ RBI streak and had his lowest average in the last couple of seasons. Still..dont be afraid to draft him between rounds 25-30.

Nick Markakis-27-RF

The arrival of Mark Reynolds is a great help for Markakis. He did not have an impressive last season, but hopefully that will turn around with the protection from Reynolds.

Tier 6

Carlos Lee-34-LF

Last season Lee was terrible. His average was at an all low of .246 and didn’t reach 100 RBIs which is a first since ’05. Lee voiced that he is working harder on getting better and is moving on from a terrible season. Maybe a bounce back year for this old man could be seen.

Brett Gardner-27-CF

Gardner has one of the best eyes in the game. Though he has a strike out rate of 21.2% he still gets on base very often, which increases the odds of him stealing a bag. Though I feel he has flown under the radar for sometime, you could probably pick him up sooner than later.

Travis Snider-24-LF

Snider only being 24 still has a lot to learn about the majors. Picking Snider is like playing a hand of craps…not sure whats going to happen. Though I am very confident that he will play a full season and get over 15 HRs.

Adam Jones-25-CF

April and May were really the only productive months for Jones last year. If he could cut out the inconsistencies then his talent would soar.

Nick Swisher-30-RF

The last two seasons Swishers numbers were pretty close to each other. I don’t expect his numbers to move much more and I expect his average to drop a few this year.

Vernon Wells-32-CF

The nice thing about Wells is that he doesn’t miss a lot of games. Between the last two seasons he has only missed 9 games. With that said he still does have his inconsistencies that he needs to deal will if he wants to move up on the charts.

Jason Bay-33-LF

Unfortunately Bay was out early last year due to a concussion. He may have actually mirrored his ’09 season with 36 HRs. If he stays healthy he is good for a 20-20 and a middle round pick.

Tier 7

Denard Span-26-CF

Outside of having a few stolen bases and possibly being protected by Joe Mower who bats behind Span..there really isn’t much to be impressed by him.

Michael Cuddyer-31-RF

Here are a few things about Cuddyer. He is getting arthroscopic knee surgery on his right knee. He isn’t getting any younger with turning 32 in a month. Though he may be able to play three positions (1b,OF,3b) I still don’t expect that he will see a season like he did in ’09.

Angel Pagan-29-CF

This could be a great year for Pagan. He will be playing for the right to continue to play as a starter. If there are signs that he is going to fight to start then look at him for middle rounds..if not then just wait.

Andres Torres-32-RF

Torres had a pretty good season in ’10. Helped his team with the Championship as well. Don’t let his average fool you either. If you are in a roto league then pick him up between rounds 10-15

Tier 8

Desmond Jennings

Garrett Jones

David Dejesus

Ryan Ludwick

Jose Tabata

Raul Ibanez