Went over the catchers, 1st basemen, 2nd basemen and shortstops and top 20 3rd basemen for 2016 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, in 2013 there were 3, a small bounce back with 6 in 2014 and last year there were eight. This year: less than you likely think. The infield had a ton of homers. Outfield was decent, solid, thesaurus word. Was it the best home run count since 2010? No, actually, it wasn’t. It was the 2nd best. 11 outfielders hit 30 homers. If you were to include outfielders that hit 29 homers, that shoots up to 15. Also, there were 35 outfielders who hit 20 homers; last year, there was 24. As for steals, there were 14 outfielders who stole 30 bases in 2012, 10 in 2013, 11 in 2014, and only five outfielders who stole 30 bases (only seven players total) last year. This year: seven outfielders stole 30 and 14 overall. Hello, offense, my old friend. As before, these rankings are from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater with my comments. Anyway, here’s the top 20 outfielders for 2016 fantasy baseball and how they compare to where I originally ranked them:
1. Mookie Betts – Didn’t just have the honor of being the best outfielder, but he won AL MVP during our live simulcast of the Razzballies coming from Reno, Nevada, and Betts also had the honor of being the number one player on the Player Rater. Guys and five girls, you don’t get to the mountaintop and then fall without a serious injury. Mookie Best because he is. He had the 2nd most runs in the majors, 5th most RBIs, 7th best average, 27th best homers, 17th best steals, the most ABs and 2nd most hits. Betts the Don’t Pass Line, because everyone can get behind him. Preseason Rank #6, 2016 Projections: 105/24/67/.307/22, Final Numbers: 122/31/113/.318/26
2. Mike Trout – If you have the number one pick in a draft and you don’t take Trout, it’s because you don’t understand you don’t just want the best player, but you also want the most reliable. Trout has been ranked number one for four years; he’s returned top 10 value every year. May not be the best, or the Betts, but he’s the safest of the best. Preseason Rank #1, 2016 Projections: 108/40/101/.303/16, Final Numbers: 123/29/100/.315/30
3. Kris Bryant – Went over him in the top 20 3rd basemen.
4. Charlie Blackmon – A bit baked into my preseason projections for Chazz Noir, and might be again next year, is I was worried he was going to get traded at some point in the middle of the season. I will say that if I think a Rockies hitter is going to stay on the team all year and play 140+ games, I should bump up their runs and RBIs 20%. Every Rockies hitter I projected has this low counting stat problem. If he’s on the Rockies, he’s going to get 20% more runs and RBIs, Chazz Noir or noir-t. Preseason Rank #13, 2016 Projections: 96/19/64/.285/35, Final Numbers: 111/29/82/.324/17
5. Wil Myers – Went over him in the top 20 1st basemen.
6. Nelson Cruz – Him hitting 40 homers is like a 40-year-old being confused by Snapchat, you just know it’s going to happen. But — and this is a Serena Williams well-defined but — Cruz hit under 30 HRs for three years in a row prior to his last three 40 homer seasons, so what gives? Which sounds like a self-help book. “‘So What Gives?’ helped me conquer my greatest fears.” Preseason Rank #19, 2016 Projections: 85/35/98/.270/4, Final Numbers: 96/43/105/.287/2
7. Ian Desmond – Went over him in the top 20 shortstops.
8. Mark Trumbo – Went over him in the top 20 1st basemen.
9. Ryan Braun – Of course, JB took Braun in our 2017 fantasy baseball mock draft. You expecting different makes you look dopey. With that said, Braun sure can’t stay on the field, huh? He’s now played 135 games in two of the past three seasons and the third season was only 140 games. He’s like the King of Nagging Injuries. Did I just coin a nickname? No, not really. Now if I said Nag King, that would be something. Preseason Rank #15, 2016 Projections: 90/25/98/.280/14, Final Numbers: 80/30/91/.305/16
10. Hanley Ramirez – Went over him in the top 20 1st basemen.
11. George Springer – If his steals didn’t go Machado — or simply Machago — I would’ve nailed Springer’s projections almost perfectly. I was pretty close on his ranking too. Which brings me to my point, why does Springer not feel like a top 20 guy? 30/10 without killing you in any other category is nothing to sneeze at, unless you’re allergic to productive hitters. Preseason Rank #9, 2016 Projections: 104/31/89/.269/22, Final Numbers: 116/29/82/.261/9
12. Starling Marte – And, for all intents and porpoises, he didn’t play in September. Prior to missing September, he was a top 7 outfielder, which means, unless you owned him in a very deep league, you probably got a top seven season from his slot because you filled in for Marte when he was out unless you were trapped under a pile of phonebooks. Yes, there were two unlesses in that sentence, deal with it! With that said, Marte was straight speed, and that’s not usually his game. Gonna have to take a long look at him for next year. Such a long look I’m going to need eye drops. Preseason Rank #5, 2016 Projections: 86/20/93/.282/31, Final Numbers: 71/9/46/.311/47
13. Matt Kemp – If we’re being honest — and we are because you are my harshest critic; damn you! — I wasn’t in the realm of right on Kemp. And not simply because the only other time I’ve seen realm in a sentence is “The slogan of Germany’s Nazi Party in the 1930s was, One realm, one people, one leader.” Not only was I off by 12 spots in his ranking, but I was opposed to drafting Kemp. See Khris Davis for an example of wrong realm, but right reasoning. Preseason Rank #25, 2016 Projections: 68/22/85/.259/10, Final Numbers: 89/35/108/.268/1
14. Khris Davis – I’d like to welcome everyone from Kemp’s blurb. There’s tea and biscuits by the door. No, wait, that’s the dog biscuits! Oh well. So, as I was saying in Kemp’s blurb, I was off on Davis’ ranking, but I told everyone to draft him, and I was one of the few ‘perts not worried about him moving to Oakland. Did he still exceed my expectations? Oh, hells yeah, but I was warmer for Davis than Kemp, even if the preseason to end-of-the-season rankings are further apart. Preseason Rank #32, 2016 Projections: 67/32/79/.249/5, Final Numbers: 85/41/102/.247/1
15. Carlos Gonzalez – And just as I figured out in Chazz Noir’s blurb that I need to up every Rockies’ counting stats by 20% CarGo comes along and waves bye-bye to my new greatest shortcut. Thanks, Cargo, for…um, did you see where I put the end of this sentence? It was right there on the tip of my brain. Hmm, maybe I left it in the bathroom. Nope, nothing there. Wait, that is the end! Thanks, CarGo, for nothing! Preseason Rank #21, 2016 Projections: 81/27/88/.269/3, Final Numbers: 87/25/100/.298/2
16. Christian Yelich – All jokes aside about Yelich not having pubic hair yet, his year was exactly right, in opposite world. I get how he found some power. He’s getting old — almost legal to vote now — and his power is developing. He’s still only 24, so where’s the speed? Did Don Mattingly not want to run out of innings because he wanted Prado to get his at-bats? Because I’m trying to think of the stupidest reason Mattingly didn’t let Yelich run and that’s the best I got. Maybe Yelich was tired from his early morning paper route? Preseason Rank #34, 2016 Projections: 89/12/61/.294/23, Final Numbers: 78/21/98/.298/9
17. Bryce Harper – Such a great example of why you draft hitters early and often. Even when they’re bad compared to how they’re projected to be, are they ever that bad as long as they’re not injured? And, in Harper’s case, he was injured. Whereas the top 20 preseason SPs were a field of landmines Princess Di would’ve had a problem getting around in her heyday, and her ‘alive day.’ Preseason Rank #2, 2016 Projections: 104/36/107/.297/12, Final Numbers: 84/24/86/.243/21
18. Jackie Bradley Jr. – And you thought JBJ was only good for walking four times in a game. I pfft at you! Right after I grabbed JBJ, Prospector Ralph asked me to trade Bradley to him for Billy Hamilton. I nearly did the trade, because I liked Hamilton better, but I didn’t need steals. A few days later, PR dropped Hamilton and I ended up owning JBJ all year. It was a 12 team league where I had 600+ moves, so owning anyone all year is an accomplishment. *rips open wrapping paper* A plaque for owning someone all year after 600+ moves? Aw, guys, how’d you know?! Preseason Rank #84, 2016 Projections: 52/12/59/.244/5, Final Numbers: 94/26/87/.267/9
19. Adam Duvall – I don’t feel like doing the research, but I actually think I was higher on Duvall than most in the preseason, because if you remember, he was a bench guy, according to the Reds. Looked like he might only face lefties. Too bad, because I was between him and drafting Schebler in my Tout Wars draft, and since it’s a weekly league with no chance of me platooning, I went with the guy that was set to face righties. And that was only like my 10th worst draft move in that league! Preseason Rank #75, 2016 Projections: 48/19/56/.225/4, Final Numbers: 85/33/103/.241/6
20. Carlos Beltran – I was seriously off in projections and ranking with Beltran, but you’re lying to yourself if you don’t think there’s at least a 50% chance of him only hitting 16 homers next year. You lie to yourself enough, why do it about Beltran? Seriously, you should read, So What Gives? It’s self-help at its finest. Preseason Rank #111 2016 Projections: 46/16/57/.255/1, Final Numbers: 73/29/93/.295/1
