Outfielder Rankings 2012 MLB

Written by Darryl DiRocco Sunday, 19 February 2012 00:00

There is always a boatload of good quality outfielders in the majors, your league probably starts at least 3 and you can always start more depending on how many utility spots your line-ups allow. My personal draft strategy usually involves drafting at least one top 10 Outfielder and then coming back to the position once I have filled some of the other key positions that are lacking in player depth.(2B,C) This is just a rule of thumb situation and if I see value being left on the board I would never be opposed to stealing that outfielder that I feel should have been drafted already; a steal is an opportunity and I am not one for turning things down, unless it’s my collar.

Tier 1

Ryan Braun-28 (Updated Feb. 23/12)

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.304	25	103	14	.866	101
2011	.332	33	111	33	.994	109
2012	.325	35	112	31	.953	103

Look who has vaulted into the top spot of the OF rankings... Ryan Braun will be starring as himself in the summer blockbuster the Braun Supremacy, look for him to make many popcorn headlines during his season that will be under a microscope. I think Braun is on the best talents in the game today and it was refreshing to see that there are players out there that can be absolutely amazing at their craft without the PED's. The Brewers are relieved to know that they will have their best player from game 1 and look for him to continue dominating the fantasy Diamonds. He is the potential MLB batting champ thsi season with a great chance to repeat his 30/30 numbers with over 100 RBI's and 100 runs. What else do you want from your number 1 pick? He is the complete player in fantasy and reality, enjoy.

Jose Bautista - 31

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.260	54	124	9	.924	109
2011	.302	43	103	9	1.056	105
2012	.303	46	117	8	.999	107

I like Joey-Bats this season as the top ranked Outfielder. He has shown round 1 value over the past two season and that deserves the recognition and a safer pick to me then Matt Kemp and his amazing 2011. He should lead the majors in home runs this season and will be a fantasy gold mine.

Matt Kemp- 27

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.249	28	89	19	.760	82
2011	.324	39	126	40	.986	115
2012	.317	31	105	35	.937	107

He showed us what he was made of last season with his amazing comeback campaign and first round production. Visions of his 2010 season still haunt me but I think Kemp has leaped to the next level and should remain a top 3 must start fantasy star.

Carlos Gonzalez-26

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.336	34	117	26	.974	111
2011	.295	26	92	20	.889	92
2012	.311	33	107	31	.911	105

I like what I have been reading about Car-Go and his off-season workout regiment and I expect him to match Kemp stat for stat in 2012. This fantasy fire-cracker is a sure fire top player and should come off the board in round 1.

Justin Upton-24

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.273	17	69	18	.799	73
2011	.289	31	88	21	.898	105
2012	.305	37	106	23	.906	108

This kid already is approaching 600 career games as a major leaguer and he is only 24 years of age. This season will be the year that Upton rises to the elite of the league and I expect him to have a monster season and statistically the best year of his young career.

Jacoby Ellsbury-28

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.192	0	5	7	.924	10
2011	.321	32	105	39	1.056	119
2012	.313	24	92	53	.999	114

Ellsbury was a “Pick of The Draft” candidate in 2011 based on his break out season and looks to show the Boston faithful that he can perform like that once gain in 2012. Everyone in the top 5 outside of Bautista have the potential to be .300 30/30 guys with high OPS and having those type of players on your squad can lock down multiple categories with their efforts in a given head to head week.

Josh Hamilton- 30

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.359	32	100	8	1.044	95
2011	.298	25	94	8	.882	80
2012	.303	32	111	8	.967	97

If Hammy can stay healthy for at least 150 games he could be poised to have another solid season. His performance is never in question since his break out in Texas; it’s his annual stints on the Disabled List that makes him a risky pick. He has top 10 upside but he is one of the riskiest plays in fantasy this season.

Tier 2

Curtis Granderson-30

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.247	24	67	12	.792	76
2011	.262	41	119	25	.916	136
2012	.264	35	90	23	.882	117

He found his stroke and his home in Yankee stadium last season and will have a similar season to his 2011 campaign with a slight decline in Home Runs, a 30-20 guy is definitely in the cards for if you draft Granderson in 2012.

Matt Holliday-32

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.312	28	103	9	.922	95
2011	.296	22	75	2	.911	83
2012	.302	26	91	7	.912	91

The Cards addressed the Pujols void with Carlos Beltran and there is great potential from the middle of their batting order once again this year. This is Holliday’s team now that Pujols is gone and he will need to perform like a top 10 Outfielder for the Cards offense to have success in 2012 . I like the Cardinals still to win their division this year and Holliday will be a big part of them achieving this goal, he is a safe and solid pick.

Hunter Pence- 28

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.282	25	91	18	.786	93
2011	.314	22	97	8	.871	84
2012	.294	27	88	14	.837	89

The Phillies are going to need Pence to provide power early in the season while slugger Ryan Howard recovers from his off-season surgery. I expect the big righty to perform like the 10 million dollar player he has become, arbitration numbers do not lie.

Michael Morse-29

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.289	15	41	0	.870	36
2011	.303	31	95	2	.910	73
2012	.285	30	99	2	.906	77

The Nats missed the boat on Prince Fielder which would have helped Morse’s numbers but they are still solid in the middle of the order and I expect Morse to have a similar campaign to his 2011 season.

Mike Stanton-22

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.259	22	59	5	.833	45
2011	.262	34	87	6	.893	79
2012	.268	36	103	6	.904	83

There were big things happening in the Miami off-season and adding Jose Reyes to the line-up is only going to help Stanton’s production opportunities in 2012. He will contend for the National League Home Run title this season, he is still young but has a large ceiling that we have only seen glimpses of during his first 2 seasons in the bigs.

Tier 3

Andrew McCutchen-25

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.286	16	56	33	.814	94
2011	.259	23	89	23	.820	87
2012	.281	24	87	30	.840	91

The Pirates Center fielder is a 20/20 guy that has the potential to catapult into that elusive .300 30/30 club. He has a big upside but he is capped in the Pirates line-up and he isn’t surrounded by big talents so it is difficult for him to put up true elite production.

Jay Bruce-24

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.281	25	70	5	.846	84
2011	.256	32	97	8	.814	80
2012	.273	33	101	8	.831	86

Bruce has over 500 games in the Bigs and this year could be the year that he finally puts everything together for the entire season. I have projected him up in average and OPS but if he can smash expectations he will be a candidate for the top Outfielder and a very solid steal in your upcoming draft.

Nelson Cruz-31

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.318	22	78	17	.950	60
2011	.263	29	87	9	.821	64
2012	.270	28	89	10	.817	69

Cruz is another solid power hitter that has trouble staying healthy for an entire season and he comes with a risk on draft day if you invest a pick in him. If you are drafting him make sure that he isn’t the first OF you draft, 2 stints on the DL is probably a minimum requisite for his 2012 season.

Lance Berkman-35

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.248	14	58	3	.781	48
2011	.301	31	94	2	.959	90
2012	.281	25	86	2	.839	77

Big Puma is back and he is locked and loaded in the middle of the Cards line-up. I still like him for production this year but temper your expectations from his monster season last year. His numbers will come down but probably not to where they were in 2010, the big fella is 35 years old and time is no longer on his side.

Tier 4

Desmond Jennings -25

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.195	0	2	2	.625	5
2011	.259	10	25	20	.805	44
2012	.272	19	67	49	.808	89

I like this kid a lot, and I think he is going to have a nice breakout campaign in his first full major league season. If you are in a keeper or Dynasty league you can bump this kid up above Cruz and Berkman seeing that he is still just 25 years old.

Michael Bourn-29

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.265	2	38	52	.686	84
2011	.294	2	61	61	.734	94
2012	.75	2	55	55	.712	87

He had a solid year in 2011 and he will be an everyday fixture at the top of the Braves batting order. If you are looking for some speed on your team Bourn is a good bet to swipe you 50 bags, don’t expect much power as that isn’t his game.

Carlos Beltran-34

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.255	7	27	3	.768	21
2011	.300	22	84	4	.910	78
2012	.281	24	87	5	.803	73

He was signed as a stop gap to ease some of the pain from losing Pujols in the off-season. Beltran will be solid if he can stay healthy and he has Puma and Holliday to share the middle portion of the Cards line-up. He isn’t Pujols but he does have some pop left in his stick.

Adam Jones-26

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.284	19	69	7	.767	76
2011	.280	25	83	12	.785	68
2012	.290	25	89	9	.796	74

He has quietly become the most consistent core player in the Orioles line-up and he should have another solid season for the Orioles.

Tier 5

Andre Ethier-29

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.292	23	82	2	.857	71
2011	.292	11	62	0	.789	67
2012	.293	21	82	4	.802	72

It looks like his knee problems are finally behind him and there is reason to believe that his power stroke will return in 2012. He only smacked 11 bombs last year and was a fantasy disappointment.

Shane Victorino-31

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.259	18	69	34	.756	84
2011	.279	17	61	19	.847	95
2012	.272	18	64	24	.778	92

He is a combo OF that has good power and better than average speed. He has the potential to be a 20/20 guy and you can always use a couple of guys like that on your roster.

Alex Gordon-27

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.215	20	20	1	.671	34
2011	.303	23	87	17	.879	101
2012	.287	22	71	13	.808	96

He finally broke out last year and lived up to the hype he received coming up from the minor leagues. He was starting to look like a permanent bust but his season in 2011 was very encouraging. I like him to have similar production to last season but I have brought his average down slightly seeing that .300 is an amazing feat.

B.J Upton- 27

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.237	18	62	42	.745	89
2011	.243	23	81	36	.759	82
2012	.251	20	71	37	.746	80

BJ is becoming the “Other Upton” in fantasy circles but he is still a solid ball player that will land you 20/30. He has some pop and obviously has the speed but his average has hovered around .240 for the last few seasons and that can be frustrating to owners.

Corey Hart-29

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.283	31	102	7	.865	91
2011	.285	26	63	7	.866	80
2012	.274	27	85	5	.840	77

I wear my sun glasses at night so I can..nope, wrong Corey Hart but the Brewers are going to need a big season out of him with the loss of Fielder and the impending suspension of Braun. He will probably bat clean-up and protect Braun when he is finally eligible to return to game play.

Tier 6

Logan Morrison-24

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.283	2	18	0	.836	43
2011	.247	23	72	1	.797	54
2012	.265	27	81	1	.822	76

LoMo was mistreated last year because of his addiction to social media (the dude loves to tweet) and I feel that he will mature enough this year to have a true break out season. He was on everyone’s radar last year but failed to jump to the next level. The signing of Reyes adds another weapon to their line up and more RBI chances for LoMo.

Carl Crawford-30

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.307	19	90	47	.851	110
2011	.255	11	56	18	.694	65
2012	.264	11	61	32	.725	78

He was a huge off-season signing for the BoSox last year and was the fantasy bust of the year in most leagues. He was drafted as high as round 1 in some leagues and boy did he disappoint. He had some off-season surgery this year and I don’t expect him to slump like he did in 11’ but I also don’t expect a huge season from him, personally I will be staying away on draft day.

Ben Zobrist-30

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.238	10	75	24	.699	77
2011	.269	20	91	19	.822	99
2012	.271	18	77	18	.831	75

He is a solid player in the Rays line-up and he usually comes with multiple position eligibility which makes him more valuable than the other OF’s with similar production who only posses 1 position availability. He should have a solid 2012 for the Rays hitting somewhere near Evan Longoria and I think his slump in 2010 is completely in the rear view, Zobrist is a solid play.

Melky Cabrera-27

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.255	4	42	7	.671	50
2011	.305	18	87	20	.809	102
2012	.285	17	80	17	.770	88

He will be an everyday starter in San Francisco and his numbers from last season were his coming out party. I expect his average to come back down to the .280-.290 range but he also possesses some power and speed and contributes across the board in fantasy categories.

Nick Markakis-28

Year	.AVG	HR	RBI	SB	.OPS	R
2010	.297	12	60	7	.805	79
2011	.302	15	73	12	.756	72
2012	.303	17	78	11	.802	74

He had abdominal surgery in the winter and he should be healed and good to go by spring training. He is a solid outfielder but he doesn’t overly excel in any facet of the game, from a fantasy perspective. I personally like him as my 4^th outfielder because of the boring average production we are growing accustom to with Markakis.

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