I’ve been looking forward to this post for a while.
The shut down threw the content-creation world one hell of a curveball. Many outlets have been using the dead time to catch up on unfinished 2020 organizational prospect rankings, but I completed Razzball’s back in January, so I moved on to another large project I didn’t have the winter minutes to complete but spun it forward to next season, ranking just about everyone across each position from a long-term perspective.
Got some push back early. “So we’re just skipping to next season? smdh”
But I kept riding through the Wild West of dynasty baseball’s future, mapping middle-aged aces alongside yet-to-be-drafted youngsters. This led to wonderful conversations with Razzball’s brilliant readers, who helped me build a set of rankings I hope we can all use to find fantasy fun and glory in the seasons to come.
I’m proud of this project, thrilled to be working with so many smart fantasy players, and eager to distill the past few months of work into this one post. Can’t wait to keep chatting and building with you all! Happy scrolling!
CATCHER
Easy enough to keep pace behind the plate on late draft picks and hustle in the framing era, but winds of change seem imminent as the robots creep. No matter who or what is calling balls and strikes, catchers seem unlikely to steal bases or play huge game slates. We’re probably safe to continue fading the position.
FIRST BASE
Rank | Player | Age | Team |
1 | Cody Bellinger | 24 | LAD |
2 | Pete Alonso | 25 | NYM |
3 | Freddie Freeman | 30 | ATL |
4 | Matt Olson | 25 | OAK |
5 | Josh Bell | 27 | PIT |
6 | Andrew Vaughn | 21 | CHW |
7 | Miguel Sano | 26 | MIN |
8 | Spencer Torkelson | 20 | ?? |
9 | Anthony Rizzo | 30 | CHC |
10 | Max Muncy | 29 | LAD |
11 | Paul Goldschmidt | 32 | STL |
12 | Jose Abreu | 33 | CHW |
13 | Carlos Santana | 33 | CLE |
14 | Rhys Hoskins | 27 | PHI |
15 | Evan White | 23 | SEA |
16 | Trey Mancini | 28 | BAL |
17 | Alex Kirilloff | 22 | MIN |
18 | Luke Voit | 29 | NYY |
19 | Lewin Diaz | 23 | MIA |
20 | Christian Walker | 29 | ARI |
21 | Joc Pederson | 27 | LAD |
22 | Edwin Encarnacion | 37 | CHW |
23 | Kevin Cron | 27 | ARI |
24 | Eric Hosmer | 30 | SD |
25 | C.J. Cron | 30 | DET |
26 | Triston Casas | 20 | BOS |
27 | Yuli Gurriel | 35 | HOU |
28 | Renato Nunez | 25 | BAL |
29 | Ryan Mountcastle | 23 | BAL |
30 | Nate Lowe | 24 | TB |
31 | Bryce Ball | 21 | ATL |
32 | Ryan McMahon | 25 | COL |
33 | Michael Chavis | 24 | BOS |
34 | Rowdy Tellez | 25 | TOR |
35 | Jesus Aguilar | 29 | MIA |
36 | Seth Beer | 23 | ARI |
37 | Aaron Sabato | 20 | ?? |
38 | Michael Toglia | 21 | COL |
39 | Mason Martin | 20 | PIT |
40 | Edwin Rios | 26 | LAD |
41 | Justin Smoak | 33 | MIL |
42 | Eric Thames | 33 | WSH |
43 | Brandon Belt | 32 | SF |
44 | Dom Smith | 24 | NYM |
45 | Dan Vogelbach | 27 | SEA |
46 | Miguel Cabrera | 37 | DET |
47 | Ryan O’Hearn | 26 | KC |
48 | Josh Naylor | 22 | SD |
49 | Pavin Smith | 24 | ARI |
50 | Travis Shaw | 30 | TOR |
51 | Garrett Cooper | 29 | MIA |
52 | Alfonso Rivas | 23 | CHC |
53 | Leandro Emiliani | 20 | WSH |
54 | Ryan McBroom | 28 | KC |
55 | Victor Bericoto | 18 | SF |
56 | Blaze Jordan | 17 | ?? |
57 | Jhokensy Noel | 18 | CLE |
58 | Will Craig | 25 | PIT |
59 | Joey Votto | 36 | CIN |
60 | Alex Toral | 21 | ?? |
61 | Baron Radcliff | 21 | ?? |
62 | Daniel Murphy | 34 | COL |
63 | Mitch Moreland | 34 | BOS |
64 | Todd Frazier | 34 | TEX |
65 | Tyler Nevin | 22 | COL |
66 | Nick Pratto | 21 | KC |
67 | Taylor Jones | 26 | HOU |
68 | Caden Grice | 18 | ?? |
69 | Albert Pujols | ~40 | LAA |
70 | Logan Morrison | 32 | MLW? |
First base seems wide open to me. Some are paying a premium for perceived safety in a landscape that can look barren from a desert-at-sunset angle. I tend to just tread water in whatever low-rent oasis I can find. For example, I traded for Edwin Encarnacion and Joc Pederson in separate leagues this winter. It’s not a great example. The Pederson deal happened in a 30-team, orphan scenario. Orphan means I took over an abandoned team. Zero humans were left parent-less in the process.
SECOND BASE
Luiz Arraez.
Not a typo. I really wanted to just leave it like that. But this position is loaded. The days of taking whatever Lemke you can find are long gone. Get speed here or go the way of the Lemmer.
THIRD BASE
I might have Jose Ramirez too low. I might have Austin Martin too low. Tommy Edman, too. And Jeff McNeil. Third base feels weird to me. I got lambasted for my Alex Bregman ranking. Might deserve it if they ever play baseball again, especially now that he seems unlikely to be the face of baseball evil in a world that’s just happy to have baseball. I wonder if Manfred would actually drop the hammer on anyone caught cheating after this current brush with existence? Sorry, drifting. Third base. Very deep. A lot of corner infielders will come from first base, which makes this perhaps the easiest position to competitively fill in even the deepest leagues.
SHORTSTOP
Rank | Player | Age | Team |
1 | Fernando Tatis Jr. | 21 | SD |
2 | Trea Turner | 26 | WAS |
3 | Trevor Story | 27 | COL |
4 | Francisco Lindor | 26 | CLE |
5 | Wander Franco | 19 | TB |
6 | Adalberto Mondesi | 24 | KC |
7 | Gleyber Torres | 23 | NYY |
8 | Xander Bogaerts | 27 | BOS |
9 | Javy Baez | 27 | CHC |
10 | Bo Bichette | 22 | TOR |
11 | CJ Abrams | 19 | SD |
12 | Tim Anderson | 26 | CHW |
13 | Amed Rosario | 24 | NYM |
14 | Carlos Correa | 25 | HOU |
15 | Marco Luciano | 18 | SF |
16 | Marcus Semien | 29 | OAK |
17 | Corey Seager | 25 | LAD |
18 | Jorge Polanco | 26 | MIN |
19 | Royce Lewis | 20 | MIN |
20 | Oneil Cruz | 21 | PIT |
21 | Bobby Witt Jr. | 19 | KC |
22 | Dansby Swanson | 26 | ATL |
23 | Jeter Downs | 21 | BOS |
24 | Noelvi Marte | 18 | SEA |
25 | Austin Martin | 21 | ?? |
26 | Carlos Colmenarez | 16 | ?? |
27 | Cristian Hernandez | 16 | ?? |
28 | Paul Dejong | 26 | STL |
29 | Didi Gregorius | 30 | NYY |
30 | Jazz Chisholm | 22 | ARI |
31 | Luis Angel Acuña | 18 | TEX |
32 | Maximo Acosta | 17 | TEX |
33 | Mauricio Dubon | 25 | SF |
34 | Willy Adames | 24 | TB |
35 | Nico Hoerner | 22 | CHC |
36 | Elvis Andrus | 31 | TEX |
37 | Jose Garcia | 22 | CIN |
38 | Robert Puason | 17 | OAK |
39 | Geraldo Perdomo | 20 | ARI |
40 | Greg Jones | 22 | TB |
41 | Casey Martin | 21 | ?? |
42 | Jon Berti | 30 | MIA |
43 | Ronny Mauricio | 19 | NYM |
44 | Orelvis Martinez | 18 | TOR |
45 | Myles Straw | 25 | HOU |
46 | Ed Howard | 18 | ?? |
47 | Luis Urias | 22 | MIL |
48 | Tyler Freeman | 20 | CLE |
49 | Jorge Mateo | 24 | OAK |
50 | Ji-Hwan Bae | 20 | PIT |
51 | Wilman Diaz | 16 | ?? |
52 | Nick Ahmed | 30 | ARI |
53 | Ha-Seong Kim | 24 | ?? |
54 | Andrelton Simmons | 30 | ATL |
55 | Freddy Zamora | 21 | ?? |
56 | Niko Goodrum | 28 | DET |
57 | Braden Shewmake | 22 | ATL |
58 | Bryson Stott | 22 | PHI |
59 | Liover Peguero | 19 | PIT |
60 | Jeremy Pena | 22 | HOU |
61 | Angel Martinez | 18 | CLE |
62 | Will Wilson | 21 | SF |
63 | Taylor Walls | 23 | TB |
64 | Luis Garcia | 19 | WAS |
65 | Keoni Cavaco | 18 | MIN |
66 | Cole Tucker | 23 | PIT |
67 | Eduardo Garcia | 17 | MIL |
68 | Orlando Arcia | 25 | MIL |
69 | Luis Guillorme | 25 | NYM |
70 | Thairo Estrada | 24 | NYY |
71 | Willi Castro | 22 | DET |
72 | Reggie Preciado | 16 | SD |
73 | Jeremiah Jackson | 20 | LAA |
74 | Gabriel Arias | 20 | SD |
75 | Brice Turang | 20 | MIL |
76 | Adam Hall | 20 | BAL |
77 | JP Crawford | 25 | SEA |
78 | Oslevis Basabe | 19 | TEX |
79 | Oswald Peraza | 19 | NYY |
80 | Kyren Paris | 18 | LAA |
81 | Freddy Galvis | 30 | CIN |
82 | Rafael Morel | 18 | CHC |
83 | Kendall Simmons | 20 | PHI |
84 | Yeison Santana | 19 | SD |
85 | Alexander Vargas | 18 | NYY |
86 | Andres Gimenez | 21 | NYM |
87 | Brayan Rocchio | 19 | CLE |
88 | Estiven Machado | 17 | TOR |
89 | Alejandro Pie | 18 | TB |
90 | Gunnar Henderson | 18 | BAL |
91 | Chris Taylor | 29 | LAD |
92 | Brainer Bonaci | 17 | BOS |
93 | Carson Tucker | 18 | ?? |
94 | Miguel Rojas | 31 | MIA |
95 | Vaughn Grissom | 19 | ATL |
96 | Kevin Made | 17 | CHC |
97 | Jose Salas | 16 | MIA |
98 | Alika Williams | 21 | ?? |
99 | Yiddi Cappe | 16 | MIA |
100 | Ehire Adrianza | 30 | MIN |
101 | Nander De Sedas | 20 | ?? |
102 | Yasel Antuna | 20 | WAS |
103 | Jose Fermin | 21 | CLE |
104 | Aeverson Artaega | 17 | SF |
105 | Jack Mayfield | 29 | HOU |
106 | Eddy Diaz | 20 | COL |
107 | Jose Devers | 20 | MIA |
108 | Jose Tena | 19 | CLE |
109 | Anthony Rodriguez | 17 | SF |
110 | Adael Amador | 17 | COL |
111 | Anthony Volpe | 18 | NYY |
112 | Juan Garcia | 17 | WAS |
113 | Jose Pastrano | 17 | CLE |
114 | Richie Martin Jr. | 25 | BAL |
115 | Brandon Crawford | 33 | SF |
116 | Jordy Mercer | 33 | DET |
117 | Tim Beckham | 30 | SEA |
Your minor league squad should have lots of shortstops. Ideally shortstops with functional speed.
So should your big league squad. Money is everywhere at the six. I might rank Tatis 2nd in my overalls.
Sorry, that’s overall dynasty rankings, auction edition.
That’ll be a fun Sunday.
OUTFIELDERS
Your minor league squad should be stacked up with outfielders. I adopted one orphaned team in a league where one team had almost all of the speed/power/hit outfielders. My team didn’t have any. Supply and demand is a powerful thing, and stolen bases are not in abundant supply.
STARTING PITCHERS
You can’t just fade all pitching prospects and win, but also, you absolutely can. Almost. Nothing’s as simple as the overarching principle. TINSTAAP is not a mandate. It’s just a reminder that pitching is a craft, so while prospects do gain value when they succeed, they’re up against a league full of world-class athletes who are just one or two skill-gains or slight tweaks away from being elite. It’s good to keep in mind something like There’s No Such Thing As A Pitching Prospect because it reminds us that pedigree or velocity do not determine the ultimate score at this position, which means reading and watching and researching and believing our findings can reward us as fantasy players in pretty extreme ways. Gotta hustle and take leaps of faith like you wouldn’t anywhere else. One example is trading pitching that creates a momentary weakness because you’re trusting you’ll find more.
RELIEF PITCHERS
I’m not sure what the right number of relief pitcher add/drops in a standard roto dynasty leagues, but I know it’s a lot. It matters who the players are of course, but it matters more that we keep spots open for relief pitcher speculation plays. Closers come from crazy places.
Thanks for reading!
Stay safe out there.
I’m @theprospectitch on Twitter and reddit.
Damn, got to read this super late…, you’re NOT high on Dylan Cease…, I think he stumbles into some fastball command and becomes a top 25 pitcher…., You Rock Dude!!!, you’re the least Annoying ITCH EVER!!!!
could not find Kiriloff on OF list. Is this an oversight or are you that low on him?
Hi, jt!
I like Kiriloff–just ranked him at 1B only because it seems the Twins have committed to that.
Very impressive with incredible depth. I’ll look for players I like to see how high they’re ranked as an semi-endorsement, if that makes sense. Tatis Jr. is a good example because you have him as top dog at SS, and I love him enough now to spend a late 1st or 2nd round pick on him this year. So before I grab a cold beer and dive in…just wanted to say thanks buddy! Well done
Thanks, Smitty!!
I think that’s a super useful way to read the lists.
I’ve been relatively shocked at how easy it is to buy Tatis in redrafts. He was better than Acuna in his debut and feels a lot like that sophomore shot at 40/40 to me.
Or I should say he did in a full season. Maybe he’ll just prorate to that if we get games.
Itch this is great! I was trying to urge Ralph to do something similar a couple years ago. This was no doubt a massive undertaking, I’m excited to see it evolve. Will you do a dynasty top(#?) overall? Love it and love the direction you’re taking prospects at Razzball.
Can’t knock King Ralph. He put together a great list a few years back: Top 150 prospects. For someone who had very little fantasy baseball experience, it was my bible to get acclimatized to who’s out there. Plus it got me my first taste of the Razzball site.
Here’s a link to the 101-151 from that list.
https://razzball.com/top-150-fantasy-baseball-prospects/
And a link to the top 100 is included in it. Even now, it’s fun to look back at the hits/misses/currently still developing.
As for Itch, his posts have been so good, he’s tempted me to drop $5.99 on the site, just so I can hear what he said on the podcast with Grey last week.
That 2018 Top 100 is fire. A testament to Ralph’s process.
Totally get why this doesn’t come together very often. I wanted to do a full positional layout right away when I started here, but I think maybe the regular calendar just doesn’t really have room for it.
And thanks so much for the kind words and conversation, Jolt in Flow! It’s what makes the job worth doing.
PS: recording that episode is in the running for funniest hour I’ve lived during the time of the Rona. AND we talked a lot of baseball!!
You sold me. I’ll be dropping the money tomorrow, Itch.
Can’t wait to listen to it and for your future posts.
Thanks again.
Do it!!!
Agree with you, Flow. I still follow Ralph and his new stuff.
Thanks, Dougie!!
Hit me in the feels at the end there. Deeply appreciated.
I might come up for air with a HOLY SHIT Bowman pricing piece or two (Jasson Dominguez is running the sports card game already) but then, yeah, that’s the general blueprint: Overall rankings, perhaps with super-quick blurbs w some prospect history, coming next.
Itch!!!!
I just want to commend you for one hell of a job well done. Wow. I’m buying the first round if we ever bump into each other at a bar. Great work friend!
Thanks, friend!
I’ll get the second round! And some apps if it’s a restaurant/bar situation!!
Great job!
Thanks, Player X!!
Itch just a couple things I noticed, you have Realmuto on MIA and Grandal on LAD. Either way, this is list unreal. So good job.
Thanks, Dong Show!
Good lookin out! Wow have I made a variation on this mistake over and over again. I put Andrelton Simmons on the Braves, among other weird ones. Feels like Andrelton’s been an Angel forever.