Giving you a big picture, generalization here: The top 80 outfielders are the end of the outfielders you’re looking at in your 12-team mixed leagues. The last tier in this top 80 outfielders goes to the next ranking post, so we’re at the beginning of the end of the hitter rankings in the 2024 fantasy baseball rankings. But as you know, a generalization makes a general out of I and Zation. Hmm, sounded better in my head. Here’s Steamer’s 2024 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Hitters and 2024 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Pitchers.
Subscriptions are up and running, and you can already get Rudy’s Draft War Room. Anyway, here’s the top 80 outfielders for 2024 fantasy baseball:
NOTE: All my rankings are currently available on Patreon for the price of a Starbucks coffee, if you get one of those extra grande frappuccino jobbers. Don’t wait for the rankings to come out over the next month, and get them all now.
NOTE II: Free agents are listed as just that and not yet projected. Once a guy signs, I will write out their blurb and add in projections, or remove them, if they sign in an unfavorable place. They are ranked currently where I think they might be if they sign on for a full-time job.
NOTE III: BDon and I discuss each and every outfielder:
CLICK BACK TO THE TOP 60 OUTFIELDERS
61. Willi Castro – This tier started in the top 60 outfielders for 2024 fantasy baseball. This tier goes until Siri. I called this tier, “Let’s have some un!”
As for Castro, already went over him in the 2nd basemen rankings.
62. Ceddanne Rafaela – Already went over him in the shortstops rankings.
63. Max Kepler – I almost wrote a sleeper post for Kepler. Now, you might be leaning over to your work buddy and saying, “Hey, Grey hit his head and likes Kepler. Wait, wait, before you laugh, he almost wrote a sleeper post for him! Kepler! Yes, the Twins guy who no one cares about in fantasy! Ah, well, Grey’s a poor misguided soul, perhaps, but he’s my favorite fantasy baseball writer and his brain will be displayed in the Smithsonian one day, because of all the smart things that comes out of it. Yes, that same Grey!” So, Kepler will be a platoon guy, but I’m not sure a few of the guys above aren’t, as well, and many guys after him. Not facing lefties for most lefties is not a bad thing. As mentioned previously, Baldelli platoons everyone. Even guys who should not be platooned. Kepler hits everything hard; doesn’t strike out a ton and hits a good amount of fly balls. Hubert H. Homerfree Dome stinks, but to give you an idea of his power, he is neutral, 30-homer .275 hitter. Basically what you dream you’re going to get from Eloy Jimenez. 2024 Projections: 64/25/71/.253/3 in 418 ABs
64. Jarred Kelenic – Here’s what I said this offseason, “Traded to the Braves. Ya know what’s kinda funny in a not-so-funny way? Kelenic has disappointed every year, but stays in the same spot year after year in drafts, even slightly moving up from last year. Not because Kelenic gets better, but the worthwhile outfielders to draft gets worse and worse. Kelenic was not good last year (11/13/.253), but Starling Marte was not good in a much worse way! Very well done, Kelenic, you disappoint but only slightly compared to the massive disappointments around you. Kelenic’s numbers get so much worse if you looks at his April as “just one hot month” and see the rest of the year, where he hit four homers and zero homers in the 2nd half. That people are excited about that? Well, this dude cannot abide. Now on the Braves? Fine, a little excitement for one main reason, Snitker sets his lineup in April then takes a six-month siesta. It’s funny that so-called quote-unquote smart managers platoon players, because the Braves win a lot of games and platoon no one. Maybe they’ll finally do a platoon this year with Kelenic.” And that’s me quoting me! 2024 Projections: 50/19/55/.238/12 in 403 ABs
65. Jose Siri –
“Siri, what if a guy has 30-homer power, 20-steal speed, is on a team that platoons everyone, and swings and misses more than every third pitch they’re thrown?”
“Grey, there’s one outfielder in your area and he has the best last name in Major League Baseball.”
“Thanks, Siri!” 2024 Projections: 55/23/57/.209/15 in 351 ABs
66. Bryan De La Cruz – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Rooker. I call this tier, “A lady in the streets.” This tier is not a freak in the sheets. The tier above was me having some un? That tier might’ve been a freak in the sheets. The next tier could be a freak in the sheets. This tier is a prim and proper dame wearing a bonnet and chewing her food with her mouth closed. A real classy broad. Also, very boring.
As for De La Cruz, meany, meany, meany meany say what? Meany, meany, meany meany say what? Meany, meany, meany meany mean’s definition is average and De La Cruz is the most averagest outfielder. Meany, meany, meany meany means he’s the mean. Or, De La Cruz is very meany. The meanest. Call him De La Snooze. 2024 Projections: 66/18/71/.263/4 in 565 ABs
67. Tommy Pham – FREE AGENT 2024 Projections:
68. Austin Hays – There are a crapton of outfielders (4-ish) who could play every day and hit between 12 and 18 homers and steal between three and six bags. Trade Hays to the Red Sox so they can have a whole outfield of that type of outfielder, then call the move to Massachusetts the Hays’s Rebellion. 2024 Projections: 73/16/64/.259/5 in 532 ABs
69. Brent Rooker – He hit 30 homers last year with 61 runs. From primarily the three hole! That has to be some kind of record that no one keeps. I’d ask my contacts at Elias Sports Bureau but after sending them an email asking, “What’s the record for the dumbest bell that David Bell’s ever rung?” They stopped returning my emails. 2024 Projections: 58/26/64/.228/3 in 487 ABs
70. Parker Meadows – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Davis. I call this tier, “A freak in the sheets.” You looking for a little pleasure without the business? You having a scotch at lunch and whistling at the waiter for another? You leaving your key at the receptionist desk saying, “Turn down service starts in ten minutes and lasts for two minutes after that?” Great! More than likely you’re going to be renting a ‘movie’ on the PPV service in the room and you’re drinking alone. This is your last chance for upside in 12-team leagues, and a risky backend outfielder for deeper leagues. As I’ve said before, the deeper the league, the more you need solid bets. Those will come along in the next set of outfielders.
As for Meadows, without much of a tightrope in October, I write up the rookies who I think will make an impact in redraft leagues. Sometimes, guys slip through the cracks. Parker Meadows? He had a little slippage. I didn’t know then what his playing time would be, and, honestly, I still don’t really know. My guess is he’s up from the jump, and he might spend 75% or more at-bats at leadoff. That immediately has value. It’s very hard for an everyday leadoff hitter to not be worthwhile in all leagues. Also, he had a .302 BABIP and hit .232, and suffers from Mullins Disease, the rare ailment that causes me to frown on guy who hits fly balls. It is a complication associated with excessive runs. 2024 Projections: 63/10/55/.239/21 in 487 ABs
71. Matt Wallner – Almost wrote a sleeper post for him, because he had 14 HRs in less than half of games and had fantastic exit velocity, max and otherwise, and exceptional peripherals, then I tackled Mr. Prorater as he was leaving my head and told him, “Wallner had 213 at-bats! He’s not getting a sleeper post!” As Mr. Prorater skedaddled from my brain, he did mention how quickly exit velocity stabilizes. Thankfully, entering my brain already was Mr. Take-Those-Stats-With-A-Grain-Of-Salt. Yum, sodium! 2024 Projections: 51/23/54/.231/4 in 402 ABs
72. Harrison Bader – Here’s what I said this offseason, “Signed with the Mets. Something I’m not totally clear on is why Bader is largely forgotten in early drafts. We’re talking an ADP of 600 overall. He makes more sense at the leadoff spot than Nimmo, and way more than McNeil, and, even if he’s batting at the bottom of the order, he hit 12 homers and stole 37 bags combined in his last 600-ish ABs. Will he ever stay on the field for 600 ABs? No, but he’s decent when he is healthy.” And that’s me quoting me! 2024 Projections: 53/10/51/.256/18 in 366 ABs
73. Johan Rojas – This is deep (no dur) and anyone with 30+ steal speed is interesting. ACKSUALLY Rojas has some power too. And he made great contact in the minors. My guess is there’s a reason why everyone is ignoring Rojas. Turned off by all the different vikings series on Netflix and anyone with the last name Red is an automatic no-go? Maybe, I don’t know. Maybe people think he’s going to be replaced in the lineup. Okay, maybe that too, but he’s like the only Phils player who can field, besides Cristian Pache, who just straight sucks. 2024 Projections: 52/8/58/.271/27 in 412 ABs
74. Wilyer Abreu – So, I wrote a rookie post for Abreu, but ended up never publishing it. Maybe I’ll post it when I go over last-minute sleepers in March if Wilyer still seems to have a starting job. Wilyer takes a walk — 10.6% walk rate in 76 major league at-bats, 16.3% walk rate in 299 ABs in Triple-A, and his walk rate was 21.4% in Double-A. That’s absurd. I love that. You don’t have to be in OBP leagues to love it either. Though, his contact might leave a little to be desired (27.1% in short stint in majors, looks like 26-29% strikeout rate guy). He’s not a three true outcome guy. He’s more like a five outcome guy. He does everything: Homer, walk, strikeout, steal and a fifth outcome that I haven’t figured out yet. He doesn’t look fast. The eye test is not wrong, according to Statcast. He was way below average in sprint speed. Somehow he stole three bags in only 28 major league games, and 31 steals in 2022, and eight steals in Triple-A with one caught stealing. Think he’s a benefactor of new “Anyone can steal 10 bags if they want to steal. Okay, maybe not Daniel Vogelbach” rules. Wilyer has a great arm, and can take a walk, so he’s going to face at least righties and see the majority of the time in left, barring an offseason acquisition. (He’s much more likely to play now that Verdugo is Verdugone.) 2024 Projections: 51/19/58/.221/9 in 414 ABs
75. Giancarlo Stanton – It is funny to me to think Giancarlo is now in a tier of outfielders that can be best be described as “late flyers for upside, and young rambunctious hooting and hollerings.” If Giancarlo were to hoot and/or holler, he’d pull a rib cage muscle and miss 50 games. It’s also very predictable I put Giancarlo in the freak in the sheets tier. Above the bed in my master, I have Giancarlo painted on the ceiling in a toga watching as Cougs and I sleep. I love Ceiling Giancarlo. He sends me. So, Stanton is not some young spry cobra about to snap on the show, Snapped, because someone said he can’t do it anymore. He’s gassed. That’s clear. But he could still hit 30 bombs and luck into a half decent average. It’s not great, but this is very deep. 2024 Projections: 56/28/66/.216 in 384 ABs
76. Will Benson – One of the sickest jokes baseball ever played on fantasy baseballers was when they put a bunch of solid hitters on the Reds, who have great speed and power, but their playing time was up to the discretion of Dumb Bell. Could Benson be good? Have you never enjoyed the hilarity of Robert Guillaume? Yeah, Benson could be solid, but he’s got the misfortune of being a lefty, and there’s a strain of dumb running through clubhouses affecting the dumbest of the dumbs, including Dumb Bell, that has him thinking, “If I platoon out all lefty bats, people will never realize I’m a bumbling idiot.” 2024 Projections: 58/15/49/.241/16 in 379 ABs
77. Jake Fraley – Also has the misfortune of being born as a lefty, fo’ really? No, F. Raley. There’s no way of knowing if Fraley, Benson, or Freidl will be the most valuable in the Reds’ outfield of lefties. Friedl seems locked in because he hit lefties very well last year, but, even with him, if he struggles for a few weeks in April vs. lefties and Fraley succeeds, well, they don’t call him Dumb Bell for no reason. He contains multitudes of dumb. I’d put my confidence level for playing time at 70/15/15 for Friedl/Benson/Fraley. So, 15/15 Fraley and Benson, which is appropriate when you see his: 2024 Projections: 52/16/51/.248/15 in 331 ABs
78. Luke Raley – Already went over him in the 1st basemen rankings.
79. TJ Friedl – He was a top 25 outfielder last year, he’s 28 with 20/20/.280 type projections, where would I rank him? Oh, and 20/20 seems a bit low for him, if he were to build on last year–or even just repeat it! His 16.2% K% was outstanding, and he is legitimately fast. I’m setting myself up to roster the entire Reds’ lineup this year (except Elly), and I’m sure that’ll look stupid in retrospect, but it’s a great park. It’s Great American Smallpark! And Friedl has steals. UPDATE: Non-displaced wrist fracture. Docked him seven weeks, but that might even be optimistic. He is now a last round in 12-team league flyer for an IL slot. 2024 Projections: 44/7/41/.270/20 in 364 ABs
80. Henry Davis – A guy is a top prospect and comes up and fails in his first taste of the majors, he’s written off. Y’all would’ve wrote off Mike Trout. I’m guilty of this as much as anyone. Davis has easy 30-homer power; he’s being projected for barely 20. The upside is still there, but it’s kinda the old adage that’s not really an adage that says, “Show me something first, then I will draft you.” 2024 Projections: 52/22/66/.232/9 in 485 ABs
CONTINUE TO THE TOP 100 OUTFIELDERS
