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| Photo Courtesy of espn.go.com |
- Mike Trout OF Quite simply the best player in baseball. He was named the American League Most Valuable Player last year. Just to show how good Mike Trout is, he has a better career OPS+ going into his age 23 season than the following players at a similar stage of their career, Frank Robinson, Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr. and Mickey Mantle.
- Clayton Kershaw SP As Trout is the best player in baseball, Kershaw is unanimously regarded as the best pitcher in baseball. He has already taken home three Cy Young awards (3 of the last 4 and finishing 2nd the one year he didn't win it), and was voted the National League Most Valuable Player last year. Pitching is an asset that can be the deciding factor between winning and losing teams. Kershaw is as good of a bet as anyone to lead a winning staff.
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| Photo Credit to cbs.com |
3. Andrew McCutchen OF He has been one of the main reasons for the reinvigoration of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise, and has consistently been perhaps the best player in the National League for quite some time. Due to being able to count on him to stay healthy (The guy missed a only few weeks with a broken rib), he gets the edge over Stanton, and his longevity of being on top puts him over Goldschmidt. In a sense, McCutchen has quietly been the same player as Trout, so he is more than a consolation prize. McCutchen is arguably another player who in most other generations, would be the consensus #1 overall pick in each years fantasy draft.
4. Paul Goldschmidt 1B Goldschmidt was on track for a second consecutive MVP caliber season before breaking his hand via. Hit by Pitch in August. Goldschmidt can be counted on for providing stats accords the board and can help owners by providing a good chunk of Home runs and RBIs for point-based leagues, as well as a good average and even steals for owners in category based leagues. The cherry on top is the fact that he plays half of his games in Chase Field, a hitters haven.
5. Giancarlo Stanton OF Stanton was well on his way to having one of the better hitting seasons in recent memory before, well, this happened. It will be a major question mark heading into Spring Training whether Stanton will be able to step up to the box and maintain his way of hitting. Honestly though, I wouldn't be too concerned about it. The only concern I have with Stanton is that he has only a recent history of being healthy. Still, the power in his bat is incredibly hard to pass up if he's still available at your turn. He alone can be what helps you win in the home run category in stat based leagues.
6. Miguel Cabrera 1B Oh how the mighty have fallen? Well, not exactly, as Miggy still made 25 round trips and still hit over .300 with an OPS of .895 (all with no lower half, mind you). The thing that drops Cabrera four spots is that he now loses Third base eligibility. Although, Third base isn't a shallow position anymore. Counting Miggy out though would be a fatal mistake, because even when he isn't fully 100% can still produce 1st round worthy numbers.
7. Carlos Gomez OF It is certainly interesting to see the former Met climb his way from obscurity to now being one of the top players in baseball, and also a consensus fantasy first rounder. Despite his volatile personality, Gomez is essentially a lock for a 20/20 season (perhaps a 30/30?) Gomez also showed major improvement as a hitter, as he posted a walk rate of 7.3% and saw his flyable rate rise to 40.9%, better than his 39.5% rate. He could still be seen as risky by some, but with the park he plays in, followed by the protection his lineup gives him? Gomez will certainly help give any owner an outstanding foundation by being able to provide in any stat.
8. Jose Abreu 1B/DH I remember picking Abreu in the 10th round of last years draft and figured I would take a chance on him. Boy, was my confidence rewarded. My confidence may have been rewarded last year, but will the same be said for those who likely take him in the first round? From what I've seen, Abreu has been selected as early as the 6th pick, and as late as the 22nd pick (mid to late second round, depending on the number of teams). Abreu is no longer a flier, but he is still unproven. I believe statistics stabilize after the second year, so we will see if Abreu's good hitting is for real. What we do know about him though, is his prodigious power will certainly stay with him, even if the average doesn't.
9. Felix Hernandez SP Remember when fantasy experts used to proclaim pitchers shouldn't be taken until the third round the earliest? With pitching at it's best since before the mound had to be lowered, fantasy owners have adapted and are starting to prioritize pitching. Among the pitchers to prioritize (especially among American League starters), who is a better candidate than King Felix? This is due to his consistency, dominance, and also his ability to be an innings eater. Essentially, if an owner is looking for the prototypical ace pitcher, then Felix Hernandez is your guy.
10. Adam Jones OF Adam Jones is known as a player that is as consistent as they come. In fact, since 2010, Adam Jones has had at most a seven point difference in batting average (lowest .280, highest is .287), has hit 25 or more home runs, and post an OPS higher than .765. Despite some serious red flags like swing rate, fantasy owners know what they're going to get from Jones, and basically are using their first round pick for security.
11. Jose Bautista OF Now this is an interesting projection. There is no denying the fact that Joey Bats has been arguably the best slugger in baseball by quite a large margin. There also is no denying the fact that he is not healthy very often. Yes, he logged 155 games last year, but he has been oft injured the past two seasons as he played in 92 in 2012 and 118 games in 2013. However, even in that limited time, he still hit 27 and 28 home runs, respectively. It also helps to mention that he walks often and whiffs sparingly. In fact, Bautista was one of the few last year to walk more than he struck out.
12. Edwin Encarnacion 1B/3B In my opinion, he is one of the most underrated players in baseball. That is quite telling because he is still a projected first rounder, and will likely be taken at around the twelfth pick in most drafts. Encarnancion may be incredibly valuable in real life due to the fact that he has a contract that can rival Julio Tehran's, but he is probably more valuable in fantasy since his fielding stats don't matter. Due to the fact that he strikes out far less than not just power hitters, but less than the average player too, he is also a player that won't lose owners points in leagues where hitter strikeouts deduct points. You can also count for him to give an ISO similar to his league leading .279 last year. Plus, his positional versatility helps so you can draft him and then draft a high risk, high reward corner infielder.
Thank you for reading the first edition of my fantasy baseball series where I will give tips, analysis and everything else that is fantasy baseball.
5. Giancarlo Stanton OF Stanton was well on his way to having one of the better hitting seasons in recent memory before, well, this happened. It will be a major question mark heading into Spring Training whether Stanton will be able to step up to the box and maintain his way of hitting. Honestly though, I wouldn't be too concerned about it. The only concern I have with Stanton is that he has only a recent history of being healthy. Still, the power in his bat is incredibly hard to pass up if he's still available at your turn. He alone can be what helps you win in the home run category in stat based leagues.
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| Courtesy of Bleacher Report |
7. Carlos Gomez OF It is certainly interesting to see the former Met climb his way from obscurity to now being one of the top players in baseball, and also a consensus fantasy first rounder. Despite his volatile personality, Gomez is essentially a lock for a 20/20 season (perhaps a 30/30?) Gomez also showed major improvement as a hitter, as he posted a walk rate of 7.3% and saw his flyable rate rise to 40.9%, better than his 39.5% rate. He could still be seen as risky by some, but with the park he plays in, followed by the protection his lineup gives him? Gomez will certainly help give any owner an outstanding foundation by being able to provide in any stat.
8. Jose Abreu 1B/DH I remember picking Abreu in the 10th round of last years draft and figured I would take a chance on him. Boy, was my confidence rewarded. My confidence may have been rewarded last year, but will the same be said for those who likely take him in the first round? From what I've seen, Abreu has been selected as early as the 6th pick, and as late as the 22nd pick (mid to late second round, depending on the number of teams). Abreu is no longer a flier, but he is still unproven. I believe statistics stabilize after the second year, so we will see if Abreu's good hitting is for real. What we do know about him though, is his prodigious power will certainly stay with him, even if the average doesn't.
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| Photo credit to media.oregonlive.com |
10. Adam Jones OF Adam Jones is known as a player that is as consistent as they come. In fact, since 2010, Adam Jones has had at most a seven point difference in batting average (lowest .280, highest is .287), has hit 25 or more home runs, and post an OPS higher than .765. Despite some serious red flags like swing rate, fantasy owners know what they're going to get from Jones, and basically are using their first round pick for security.
11. Jose Bautista OF Now this is an interesting projection. There is no denying the fact that Joey Bats has been arguably the best slugger in baseball by quite a large margin. There also is no denying the fact that he is not healthy very often. Yes, he logged 155 games last year, but he has been oft injured the past two seasons as he played in 92 in 2012 and 118 games in 2013. However, even in that limited time, he still hit 27 and 28 home runs, respectively. It also helps to mention that he walks often and whiffs sparingly. In fact, Bautista was one of the few last year to walk more than he struck out.
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| courtesy of fansided.com |
12. Edwin Encarnacion 1B/3B In my opinion, he is one of the most underrated players in baseball. That is quite telling because he is still a projected first rounder, and will likely be taken at around the twelfth pick in most drafts. Encarnancion may be incredibly valuable in real life due to the fact that he has a contract that can rival Julio Tehran's, but he is probably more valuable in fantasy since his fielding stats don't matter. Due to the fact that he strikes out far less than not just power hitters, but less than the average player too, he is also a player that won't lose owners points in leagues where hitter strikeouts deduct points. You can also count for him to give an ISO similar to his league leading .279 last year. Plus, his positional versatility helps so you can draft him and then draft a high risk, high reward corner infielder.
Thank you for reading the first edition of my fantasy baseball series where I will give tips, analysis and everything else that is fantasy baseball.
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