With the top 40 outfielders, we’ve finished all the hitter recaps. We meaning me, but I’ll include you. No, that’s not a cue to try to hold my hand. (Here’s all the final 2010 fantasy baseball rankings. They’re also to your left… your other left. And down.) The pitching recap will begin next. To recap, the end of the season rankings are based on ESPN’s Player Rater. I felt the easiest way to keep it objective would to go this course. This way when I say someone finished 30th and I ranked them 23rd in the preseason it carries more weight. Does this mean I think ESPN’s Player Rater is perfect? No. It’s just an objective third party to see how well my preseason rankings did. Anyway, here’s the top 40 outfielders for 2010 fantasy baseball and how they compare to where I originally ranked them:
21. Nelson Cruz – I’d argue, as I’m about to do, that Cruz was actually more valuable than his ranking here if you played in a shallow enough league where you were able to reasonably replace him every time he got hurt. Say Cruz and a hot couple of weeks from Coco Crisp and you were snap, crack and poppin’. Preseason Rank #17, 2010 Projections: 80/32/95/.275/15, Final Numbers: 60/22/78/.318/17
22. Delmon Young – I’m actually a bit worried about Young for next year, but I guess I’ll leave that to January. For this year, Young almost reached his potential. His numbers look like a poor man’s Holliday, which isn’t bad. He has a little bit of everything, except RBIs, where he excelled, but RBIs are really hard to count on. Preseason Rank #63, 2010 Projections: 55/17/75/.290/7, Final Numbers: 77/21/112/.298/5
23. Drew Stubbs – He had one of those top 40 outfielder seasons where he went from being a must-own to a must-bench to a must-drop. Some absolutely brutal stretches — June, 2 homers and a .230 average; April, 1 homer and a .186 average. Finally, I’m not sure where the power has come from. In his last full season at Triple-A, he hit 3 homers in 472 plate appearances. Hit 7 homers in 548 PAs in 2008. In his short time in the majors, he’s averaging 16.4% HR/FB, blowing his minor league numbers away. Preseason Rank #49, 2010 Projections: 80/7/50/.255/35, Final Numbers: 91/22/77/.255/30
24. Shane Victorino – 18 homers was very nice from a guy who can steal 35 bases. His HR/FB% was a bit high for him so it’s probably only a one year boost in power, but the amount of fly balls compared to last year makes it seem like he was going for the fences a bit more. Also explains the dip in average, along with some unluckiness. Preseason Rank #22, 2010 Projections: 75/12/85/.290/30, Final Numbers: 84/18/69/.259/34
25. Nick Swisher – Went over him in top 20 1st basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball post.
26. B.J. Upton – I’m unabashedly a fan, if unabashedly means what I think it does. Crawford ranked number 2 overall for outfielders and the only thing separating him from Upton is a lucky average year. If Upton hits .280, his Runs will go up because Buddy Holly will leave him at the top of the order. He’ll get on base more for more steals and he’ll be a top 5 outfielder. Unabashedly! Preseason Rank #10, 2010 Projections: 90/14/65/.275/40, Final Numbers: 89/18/62/.237/42
27. Michael Bourn – Bourn masturbates to pictures of Juan Pierre. Preseason Rank #40, 2010 Projections: 100/4/40/.270/55, Final Numbers: 84/2/38/.265/52
28. Scott Podsednik – Turned in a Juan Pierre, in the non-French way, season. Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 63/6/51/.297/35
29. Adam Dunn – Went over him in top 20 1st basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball post.
30. Vernon Wells – I’ll admit to staying stubborn thinking there was no way he was putting together the season he did, but after 3 straight sub-par years Color Me Surprised he did do what he did, dude. Who knew everyone on the 1927 Blue Jays would hit so many homers? Preseason Unranked, 2010 Projections: 65/17/75/.265/10, Final Numbers: 79/31/88/.273/6
31. Austin Jackson – At some point in December, MLB is going to disallow 15 of Jackson’s lucky hits and knock his average down to .275. Watch! Preseason Rank #75, 2010 Projections: 85/5/50/.275/22, Final Numbers: 103/4/41/.293/27
32. Matt Kemp – I really thought 2010 was going to be the breakout Kemp season that we’re due. Now, unfortunately, we’re overdue. In fairness — though I’m not sure why I’m being fair to this guy — Kemp had the worst season he could possibly have and still had a top 40 outfielder season. I’m warning you now, I’m going to be a sucker for a certain 30/30 potential, 26-year-old next year too. Preseason Rank #2, 2010 Projections: 100/30/110/.305/32, Final Numbers: 82/28/89/.249/19
33. Torii Hunter – I have two words for you for what Hunter is going to do next year, Carloslee Thisyear. Preseason Rank #29, 2010 Projections: 75/23/85/.275/17, Final Numbers: 76/23/90/.281/9
34. Bobby Abreu – For this piece of under-performance art, I’m going to give you 20/20 but lose the average. Next year, the power and speed will be gone. Finally, I’ll be a bench player until I retire. I call this, “The Piecemeal Collapse of Bobby Abreu.” Preseason Rank #21, 2010 Projections: 95/15/100/.300/20, Final Numbers: 88/20/78/.255/24
35. Andres Torres – I had love for Torres this year like he was Mondo from Project Runway. Was one of those guys that had no business producing as well as he did, yet his hot streak seemed to last forever until he got aufed by his appendix. Then he returned from his emergency appendectomy and produced again. Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 84/16/63/.268/26
36. Colby Rasmus – I ended 2009 with a Colby Rasmus sleeper post, then reminded everyone in the outfielders to target post in March. Finally, when I had enough, I told you to sell him mid-June. In the 3 months before the sell, 16 homers, 9 steals. 3 months after that post, 7 homers and 3 steals. Yeah, it’s like that. Preseason Rank #47, 2010 Projections: 85/17/65/.265/14, Final Numbers: 85/23/66/.276/12
37. Andre Ethier – I really think Ethier pays off someone over at the WWL to get ranked this high on their Player Rater. He had 23 homers and 2 steals. Really? Really?! Preseason Rank #15, 2010 Projections: 80/24/95/.285/7, Final Numbers: 71/23/82/.292/2
38. Jay Bruce – I gave you a little love with the Jay Bruce sleeper post and ranked him high compared to most. Not all though. Someone named Bill James predicted Bruce would get 38 homers and 10 steals. Maybe he thought he was Chris Davis. Preseason Rank #36, 2010 Projections: 85/30/100/.295/15, Final Numbers: 80/25/70/.281/5
39. Justin Upton – Not gonna lie, this was a disappointing season for Upton. There’s really not much positive to take away from it. He didn’t have any extended hot stretches to carry your team and practically abandoned your team late-June. His post-All-Star break numbers were 3 homers and 6 steals. That’s a nice week… For Mike Aviles! Now Justin finds out he’s a carrier of the Upton bad shoulder gene. Can we pretend like 2010 never happened for J-Upside? Please and thank you. Preseason Rank #7, 2010 Projections: 80/27/95/.290/20, Final Numbers: 73/17/69/.273/17
40. Jason Heyward – The mollywhopping, 1930s matinee idol surname having, Frank Thomas gams possessing, love child of Hank Aaron and a Yeti, Jason Heyward produced numbers above where I thought he’d be. Not far above, but above. And he missed time on the DL. Hello, sexy. (Here’s my Jason Heyward 2011 fantasy baseball, um, fantasy.) Preseason Rank #73, 2010 Projections: 65/12/70/.290/20, Final Numbers: 83/18/72/.277/11
