Today, we go over the top 40 outfielders for 2013 fantasy baseball. Yesterday, we went over the top 20 outfielders for 2013 fantasy baseball. It will be a date which will live in…Well, it won’t live in infamy, so what’s the opposite of that? Famy? It will live in unfamy? That’s just ridiculous. What are you, the 7-Up guy? By the time you get to these outfielders, I’m sure you’ve drafted at least one outfielder. If you haven’t, wake from your slumber, Rip Van Schmucko, your draft is slipping away from you. There’s a lot of interesting names in this top 40. Alex Rios is one interesting name. It was even more interesting when it was Alexis Rios. All of the 2013 fantasy baseball rankings are there. If you right click that and open it in a new tab, your car will get a free smog check (it won’t). Without further delay (there really wasn’t much delay, I mean, that was a short intro compared to most)… Anyway, here’s the top 40 outfielders for 2013 fantasy baseball:
21. Austin Jackson – This tier started in the top 20 outfielders for 2013 fantasy baseball. This tier ends at Gordon. I called this tier, “You could get a number one outfielder or flop, plop, nothing.” I almost put Austin Jackson in the top 20. I was thisclose. Nay! Thisclose. Is that closer? Yeah, it is. But Jackson’s in the same tier as guys in the top 20, so it’s kinda like they’re together. Maybe they can go for drinks and talk about this. “Whaddup, Desmond Jennings? We were in the same tier on Grey’s preseason rankings!” That’s Austin greeting Jennings at the All-Star Game. The lack of walks from Jackson in previous seasons scared the bedeityofchoiceus out of me. The Ks weren’t something I liked. I had concerns about Jackson four days to Wednesday. Last year, he raised his walks, lowered his Ks and made solid contact. The steals were a bit low (12), coupled with 9 times caught stealing. That’s a concern, but he’s fast and 26 years old. Me likey. Guys and four girls, please draft Austin Jackson. 2013 Projections: 105/15/62/.288/20
22. Alex Gordon – Here’s one place I go a tad screwy. The other guys in this tier are clearly number one outfielders or obviously headed that way. There’s issues with some of them, but you see their number one-ness. Last year, Gordon hit 14 homers. Yay. Placido Polanco called and asked him if he wanted some power hitting tips. I’m looking at Gordon’s peripherals though, and I’m really liking what I’m seeing. His walks went up, line drives went up (not literally) and Ks went down. His fly balls went down (literally), but not to the point where we need to be alarmed. His doubles were insane (51 last year) and he’s going to be 28 years old, which I’m hoping means this is the year his power peaks. He needs luck here, but if he hits enough “Just enoughs” (almost stutterer!) and has another 150+ game season, he’s going to be a huge breakout for 2013. The markings are on the wall; he just needs to tag the ball. Banksy approves. 2013 Projections: 92/27/105/.290/10
23. Ben Zobrist – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Craig. I call this tier, “These guys have more value at other positions so there’s that.” I already went over Zobrist’s projections in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2013 fantasy baseball.
24. Allen Craig – Went over Craig’s projections in the top 20 1st basemen for 2013 fantasy baseball.
25. Hunter Pence – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Markakis. I call this tier, “We had some good times with these guys. Like that time when we…Uh… And that other time!” This is gonna be a long tier of players you all know more or less and who’ve you’ve gotten more and/or less from depending on their season. Each guy is six of one/half dozen of another. Everything from last year looks repeatable for Pence with a touch higher average. The problem, of course, he only hit 25 homers and stole 5 bases. If he’s not stealing 15 bases a year, like he’s a few years removed from, then his value drops to a solid number two outfielder, but not a number one. 2013 Projections: 81/24/95/.284/7
26. Alex Rios – Rios’s career reminds me of the Game song, Martians vs. Goblins. In the general sense. Not in the general sense that it’s a phenomenal song, but in the general sense that Rios looks schizophrenic from year to year, fighting with himself over what he is. B**ch, I’m a motherf**kin’ martian, I’m a goddamn goblin! So, will Rios fall back like LeBron’s hairline, sucking like with wonton soup or will his power be limitless like Blanka on Sega Genesis? I have no idea. Keep in mind, last year I told you to draft him and this year I’m weary because he’s priced much higher. 2013 Projections: 88/19/70/.281/18
27. Nelson Cruz – He’s a number one outfielder…If he doesn’t get hurt. That “if” is bigger than Tarantino’s ego. So, will Cruz rebound nicely without Hamilton or will he do Jackie Brown, some high profile karate crap and some period pieces that are wrapped in a bow by the media pretending to be more than they are, which is nice in parts, but poor as a whole? 2013 Projections: 74/25/86/.265/7
28. Carlos Beltran – You know the hot garbage you leave out overnight then decide to make a hat out of? That was Beltran in the 2nd half of last year. It was a garbage hat. His 2nd half: 33/12/32/.236/5. I just vomited in my mouth then spit it on the floor and it spelled out, “I’m vomit. What’s up?” If that 2nd half is any indication of which way this 35-year-old is headed, I’d stay away, but his 1st half was solid. I think we’ll probably get somewhere between the two for the full 2013 season, which is still a’ight. 2013 Projections: 75/23/89/.279/10
29. Mark Trumbo – Went over Trumbo’s projections in the top 20 1st basemen for 2013 fantasy baseball.
30. Josh Willingham – What can I say about Willingham that hasn’t been said before? He has four superfluous nipples. I could say that. I could also say that whenever he took off his shirt in the high school gym locker room, they called him Milkingham. Of course, I’m not sure if any of that is accurate, but I could say it. 2013 Projections: 78/29/89/.257/3
31. Curtis Granderson – He hit a career high for homers last year (43), his worst average (.232) and has a strikeout rate that is rapidly getting out of his control. My hypothesis as to what’s going down is what a lot of lefties could be susceptible to when they see the Pesci Pole in Yankee Stadium only about 175 feet away. He’s trying to hit everything out. He’s going to be 32 years old this year and if he loses even a hair off his average and power, he’s going to be tough to own. UPDATE: Grandy had the curtis-y (hehe) to get injured before most drafts happened. He’s going to be out for 10 weeks with a fracture in his forearm. If my math is right, he has a three-arm and a one-arm and should have a forearm again by May. 2013 Projections: 71/24/82/.242/11
32. Shane Victorino – Here’s what I said this offseason, “Reached a deal with the Red Sox, so they didn’t have to go to battle with Daniel Nava in right field. You know what they call Daniel’s sister? Nava-ho. Hey, blame her promiscuousness. Great landing spot for Victorino’s fantasy value. In 18 plate appearances in Fenway, he has a .143 average, but that’s the small sample size talking, as I said in my college production of the Puppetry of the Penis. I could see Victorino slapping balls against the wall all day long, as I said in the same production. With Fenway boosting his BABIP and him returning to his pre-Dodger Stadium power, he could be good for a return to 15/30/.270.” And that’s me quoting me! 2013 Projections: 92/14/66/.272/29
33. Ichiro Suzuki – On one hand, I think the entire Yankee team can collapse under old age. On the other hand, I think everyone on the Yankees can collapse under old age, except Ichiro and he can still have a good year. On a third hand that is actually Genesis’s Invisible Touch album cover, maybe Ichiro stays healthy and still doesn’t do much. I tend to trust my second hand. It’s been with me for as long as I can remember. 2013 Projections: 88/12/62/.289/22
34. Michael Bourn – His nine homers last year are make believe. Anyone actually see any of his homers? Raise your hand. You don’t count, sorry. Anyone else? See? No one saw them. They don’t exist. He hit 5 homers in one month, when he was obviously hitting from the 2nd base bag, then four over the course of the rest of the season. I’d hope for five homers from him for the year and expect two. Of course, steals are there in bucketloads. SAGNOF! Oh, and it didn’t matter where he signed. He decided he didn’t want to throw out all his racist Native American dinner plates, so he went from the Braves to the Indians. 2013 Projections: 97/3/49/.269/40
35. Torii Hunter – When he signed with the Tigers, I didn’t write about him. What’s up with that, yo? I’m not sure. His homers went into the dumper last year (16) due to a huge drop off in fly balls (2011 FB rate 33.3% to 25.4 last year). You didn’t really see much of a fall off on the bottom line because his line drive rate went up a tick and his BABIP was ridiculous. Basically, every grounder went through. At one point, he could’ve hit a slow roller to the 2nd baseman and have it caught by a squirrel and said squirrel would run around with the ball until Torii was safe at first. Looking for a veteran that could completely disappoint? Look no further. 2013 Projections: 87/20/78/.260/8
36. Andre Ethier – Don’t worry, this tier ends soon. I promise. 2013: Projections: 83/23/87/.285/3
37. Nick Markakis – You ask yourself, what does Markakis have to do to finally move down the preseason rankings? Good question, you. The O’s have to move him out of the heart of the lineup. To make that happen, write a letter to the Orioles’ front office. As long as he’s in there, he’ll get counting stats. 2013 Projections: 82/17/85/.293/5
38. Josh Reddick – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Fowler. I call this tier, “Take last year at worst, get more than last year at best.” There’s some hope in this tier for upside. Hope for upside is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. I will be hoping that this familiar fantasy baseball axiom finds you, and finds you well. Reddick looks like the crazy-nippled Milkingham with a handful of steals and a worse average. Reddick only hit 14% of fly balls for homers, which isn’t a huge number for a 32-homer guy. That’s because he didn’t hit anything besides fly balls. He was second in the majors for fly ball rate and hit a large number of infield flies. Gonna make it hard for him to hit a dignified average (or a decent average if you don’t overuse a thesaurus). There’s a chance he hits a few more line drives like in 2011 when he hit .280. As Jeff Buckley would’ve said, “Upside… Halleluiah… Upside… Halleluiah… Upside… Halleluiah…” 2013 Projections: 83/27/90/.255/7
39. Norichika Aoki – He reminds me of Yoenis. Norichika’s numbers make sense in context of one year, but that sample size is smaller than you after taking a dip in an ice cold pool. His 6.6 on the Bill James Speed Score has him ranked by De Aza, Maybin and Ichiro for speed, so he should be able to steal some bases. His 7.9% HR/FB rate doesn’t seen preposterous. He doesn’t strikeout at all. He ranked 6th for tops in strikeout rate. He even walks a bit (9.4%), which is comparative to, say, Pedroia. I’m honestly flying by the seat of my pants with what to expect because of his lack of a track record, but I think we can get a comparable season to last year with a couple more homers. One word of caution: Don’t Google Noribukkake A-okay. You people are sick! 2013 Projections: 85/12/54/.295/27
40. Dexter Fowler – Unlike the previous two in this tier, I’m going further out on a limb with Fowler. What, I’m not chicken. He has 40 steal speed. Granted, he’s all thumbs when it comes to actually stealing bases. Literally, he runs on his hands. It’s pretty cool. Last year, he was caught five times in 17 attempts. That’s progress. The year before it was 12 steals in 21 attempts. Ha! Davey Lopes just threw a bag of poop at Fowler’s house. With a step forward, he could steal more. Hey, that’s punny. Continue into the top 60 outfielders for 2013 fantasy baseball. 2013 Projections: 92/9/50/.269/27
