Went over the catchers, 1st basemen, 2nd basemen and shortstops and top 20 3rd basemen for 2013 fantasy baseball. Guess what’s next! No, not pitchers. Read the title, man. In 2010, there were only 5 outfielders that hit 30 homers, in 2011 there were 9, 14 in 2012 and this year: 3. Someone find a bleached Sammy Sosa so he can stick a needle in some motherf**kers! We are only a few years away from someone leading the league with 25 homers. Steals were still around, though they fell off a bit too. There were 14 outfielders who stole 30 bases in 2012 and this year there were 10. As before, these rankings are from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater with my comments. Anyway, here’s the top 20 outfielders for 2013 fantasy baseball and how they compare to where I originally ranked them:
1. Chris Davis – Went over him in the top 20 1st basemen post.
2. Mike Trout – Well, now we’ve established Trout is no fluke. High five self! Or as they say in sushi restaurants, we have no more hirame today, konichiwa. You know when I say F-Her has a better season some years even when his ERA is up? It’s a running thing of mine. I was gonna register that in the trademark office but the government was shut down. Well, even if you don’t remember, it’s not important. Trout had a better pure baseball season this year than his breakout year. His K-rate was down, his walk rate was up and he did this in almost hundred more ABs. You’re witnessing one of the best that’s ever played the game before he’s hit his prime. That’s right, he’s 22 years old, guys and four girls. With Miggy over 30 and playing in less games this year due to injuries, a case could made that Trout is the number one draft pick in 2014, and I think I’m going to make that case. Preseason Rank #3, 2013 Projections: 108/19/102/.326/48, Final Numbers: 109/27/97/.323/33
3. Adam Jones – Last January, I ranked Jones in the 2nd round overall and a commenter came on and said that ESPN had him down in the 5th or 6th round. They didn’t understand how I was the only one that saw 30+ HRs and 15-steal speed as 2nd round numbers. Was I really that smart? That much of a, how do you say it, genius? They were right about me being right. I was equally confused what everyone else was missing. 30 HRs and 15 steals without killing you in average and being in the heart of a lineup for counting stats is 2nd round numbers. May not have always been, but it is now. By the by, my projections for Adam Jones and his end-of-the-season numbers are eerily prescient. I’m prescient, y’all! Preseason Rank #7, 2013 Projections: 90/34/100/.284/15, Final Numbers: 100/33/108/.285/14
4. Andrew McCutchen – The Dread Pirate was way off in power and not terrific in counting stats, but still put together a solid season and he’s in his prime. Oh! I didn’t hear you come in. I was just talking through my reasoning for McCutchen 3rd overall next year and not Goldschmidt. Oh, who am I kidding? I’m gonna go with Au Shizz…Or am I? Shoot, I’m supposed to make this about last year, not next. The Dread Pirate’s 2013 was about as neutral as you could have. That is exactly his baseline. I should’ve put him down for around 22 homers in his projections. 30 homers was overshooting my beau. What? Pirate pun? Argh! Preseason Rank #2, 2013 Projections: 102/30/107/.295/27, Final Numbers: 97/21/84/.317/27
5. Hunter Pence – At thirty years old, Pence notched a career high in steals by five, and the Giants already signed him for buku bucks, before I even got to write an overrated post for him. In their defense, Pence is a better real world player than a fantasy one most years. 2013 wasn’t most years, which is the inverse of the Tiger Beat magazine cover I have from the 70’s titled, “This Was Most Years” with a picture of Ralph Malph. Preseason Rank #25, 2013 Projections: 2013 Projections: 81/24/95/.284/7, Final Numbers: 91/27/99/.283/22
6. Carlos Gomez – I swear to you if the season were an extra month long, Gomez would’ve slumped and ended the year with a .240-ish average. I have an idea for someone who wants extra credit on their Razzball exam. Put together next year a team of 27 year olds. My guess is if you don’t research anything else and only draft 27 year olds, you’ll have a leg up on the competition. Preseason Rank #51, 2013 Projections: 79/15/52/.243/25, Final Numbers: 80/24/73/.284/40
7. Alex Rios – Conspiracy Theory Alert! Alex Rios is the Grand Leader of the Universe and he wants to be a top ten outfielder. Rather than get any better, he’s made everyone else worse. Just a theory, but if I ever see Alex Rios stumping for Freemasons, I’ll have my answer. Preseason Rank #26, 2013 Projections: 88/19/70/.281/18, Final Numbers: 83/18/81/.278/42
8. Alfonso Soriano – He led the league in homers by an outfielder who didn’t have 1st base eligibility too. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Sorry, I lost control of my senses there for a second. What were we talking about again? Oh, yeah, Soriano had the most homers by an outfielder. That’s totally normal. Nothing weird at all. He’s 54 years old and he had a solid year. Totally, completely normal. Preseason Rank #66, 2013 Projections: , Final Numbers: 84/34/101/.255/18
9. Jacoby Ellsbury – Saberhagenmetricians have a whole seminar dedicated to Ellsbury. Every other year he rises like a Phoenix that got its online law degree and takes over the world. Preseason Rank #19, 2013 Projections: 89/14/64/.286/35, Final Numbers: 92/9/53/.298/52
10. Matt Carpenter – Went over him in the top 20 1st basemen post.
11. Jay Bruce – In 2012, Bruce hit 34 homers after hitting 32 in 2011. I thought that was a sign of escalating power, but actually that was the ceiling and he settled in at 30 homers this year. Now he seems like a 30-35 homer hitter, rather than a 32-37 homer hitter. Tomato-tomahto, mostly, but it helps better illustrate Bruce. Now, with that said (reversal time!), Bruce will be 27 years old next year, and I could see ranking him higher than he’s ever been. Preseason Rank #13, 2013 Projections: 95/35/105/.259/7, Final Numbers: 89/30/109/.262/7
12. Matt Holliday – This year Bruce and Holliday were two passing ships in the night like a cheesy love song. They started the year ranked Holliday then Bruce and ended it reversed and I could see Bruce moving further forward as Holliday moves the opposite way. The sad story of a fantasy siren. Weep silently, I’m hungover. Preseason Rank #12, 2013 Projections: 92/26/100/.304/5, Final Numbers: 103/22/94/.300/6
13. Jayson Werth – For s’s and g’s, I went back to the top 20 outfielders for 2010, and I happened to find Jayson Werth ending the year as the 11th ranked outfielder. His stats that year: 106/27/85/.296/13. Honestly, that’s not that different than this year. However, the outfielders went a lot deeper that year. The 20th ranked outfielder there was Aubrey Huff and his stats were: 100/26/86/.290/7. That beats this year’s 20th ranked outfielder by quite a bit. On a related note, there were a bunch of guys there that are still top 20 outfielders: Choo, Gonzalez, aforementioned Werth, Rios, Pence, McCutchen and Holliday. On an unrelated note, you should watch Masters of Sex on Showtime. It’s good shizz. Preseason Rank #52, 2013 Projections: 87/19/70/.259/12, Final Numbers: 84/25/82/.318/10
14. Carlos Gonzalez – Member when I said he’d hit the DL before hitting his 27th homer, and then you laughed and I laughed and then I punched you in the mouth? We had a lot of good times until that sucker punch. Oh well, live and learn is what I say. Also, live and learn that CarGo can never stay healthy. Preseason Rank #6, 2013 Projections: 100/28/102/.307/19, Final Numbers: 72/26/70/.302/21
15. Shin-Soo Choo – I loved Choo in the preseason, then backed off him slightly when Rudy kept whispering in my ear about his splits. It’s true, Choo (almost stutterer!) is bad vs. same-sided pitchers. It’s also kinda amazing how meticulous he is about getting nearly the same stats every year while not hitting lefties. He hit zero homers and .215 vs. lefties this year. The year before he hit 2 homers and .199. This only seems to be a problem if someone gets smart and benches him vs. lefties because then his counting stats would go out the window. Don’t worry, no one’s getting smart, Dusty is managing– Wait a second, someone might get smart after all. Preseason Rank #14, 2013 Projections: 108/23/79/.296/20, Final Numbers: 107/21/54/.285/20
16. Michael Cuddyer – Went over him in the top 20 1st basemen post.
17. Mark Trumbo – Went over him in the top 20 1st basemen post.
18. Coco Crisp – Career high fly ball rate, career high homers per fly ball and career low in ground ball rate for Coco this year, which is, brucely, odd. He started swinging for the fences in a home ballpark that’s not conducive to that. More like Loco Crisp! See what I did there? I’m sure we’re going to look back on 2013 for Crisp and see it as an anomaly that can be summarized by Michael Lewis in 45,000 words. Preseason Rank #61, 2013 Projections: 68/8/44/.272/35, Final Numbers: 93/22/66/.261/21
19. Justin Upton – If you traded for Upton on or after May 1st, you had a whole different experience owning him. Overall, I can’t say he was miserable. Whether he was hot or not was all over the map like a blind cartographer (“Um, Francoise, that’s not your lobster bib. That’s your shirt.” That’s the blind cartographer’s assistant.). Mostly, he contained his stat-producing to months that started with the letter A. In April and August combined, he had 20 homers and 4 steals. I’m sure the Braves were hoping for a better Actober. Preseason Rank #5, 2013 Projections: 100/28/104/.284/19, Final Numbers: 94/27/70/.263/8
20. Torii Hunter – If you would’ve showed me Hunter’s year-end stats in March, I would’ve said that’s a solid year for a fantasy number three outfielder. Offense is in dire straits and I have a blister on my little finger and my thumb from typing that so many times. Preseason Rank #35, 2013 Projections: 87/20/78/.260/8, Final Numbers: 90/17/84/.304/3
