Welcome back to the first edition of RotoBaller’s 2016 fantasy baseball rankings. We went around the horn and finished the infield with a look at third base yesterday, so now our attention turns to the outfield. If you’re just joining us, this first round of rankings was compiled by Brad Johnson, Max Petrie, and Nick Mariano in addition to yours truly. As we draw closer to the start of the season, the rest of our deep stable of MLB writers will offer their input.

As with the infield rankings, there wasn’t much dissension on the elite options. Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, naturally, were unanimous choices for first and second, respectively. Three of us had Giancarlo Stanton at #3 followed by Andrew McCutchen, while Brad had the two flipped. Brad included J.D. Martinez in his top 10 at the expense of Ryan Braun, but otherwise we all had the same 10 players at the top. That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t make for terribly interesting analysis. So today, I’ll highlight the outfielders I’m bullish on compared to my fellow RotoBallers. Tomorrow, we’ll look at the other side of the coin and discuss those players about whom I’m more pessimistic. Programming reminder: These rankings were originally submitted on December 6. Transactions since that time may not be reflected in our valuations. However, we'll be releasing updates as the offseason progresses.

Editor's Note: Don't forget to read all of our 2016 fantasy baseball rankings columns. There's lots of great rankings analysis including redraft, dynasty/keeper, prospects and positional tiers.

 

David Peralta

My rank: 25 | Low: 41 | Overall: 32

I wrote about Peralta at length last month. Suffice it to say that I’m completely buying his 2015 breakout. He got the majority of his at-bats as Arizona’s cleanup hitter, hitting behind A.J. Pollock and Paul Goldschmidt. Given a full season in that spot, Peralta should rack up a good amount of RBI. The Arizona lineup is top heavy, but Peralta uses his gap power and speed to great effect in taking extra bases, which will help him score more runs than he otherwise would. He has untapped stolen base upside as well.

 

Joc Pederson

My rank: 26 | Low: 42 | Overall: 34

Despite a second-half collapse, Pederson still hit 26 home runs and posted a 15.7% walk rate in his rookie season. Yes, the contact issues will continue to suppress his batting average. The lack of stolen bases (just four in 11 attempts) was a disappointing development as well. However, Pederson averaged 29 steals in his four minor league seasons and posted much higher Speed scores than he did in his first MLB campaign. With Don Mattingly out of the picture, Pederson should have a longer leash during the inevitable slumps that come with being a three true outcomes hitter. Steamer projects another 26 homers, but also 14 steals and 87 runs. Even with a low batting average, that kind of category juice merits a top-30 ranking, especially factoring in Pederson’s growth potential.

 

Adam Eaton

My rank: 29 | Low: 47 | Overall: 43

Behold – a table!

	BA	R	RBI	HR	SB	ESPN OF Rank
Eaton	.287	98	56	14	18	20
Player B	.259	94	66	16	20	26
Player C	.291	92	77	18	21	12

 

Player B is Brett Gardner. Player C? Mookie Betts. We all ranked Gardner in the top 30 and Betts in the top 10. Yet everyone else has Eaton in the mid-40s. Maybe they’re remembering his putrid April (.497 OPS, no homers, one steal) rather than his sexy second half (.904 OPS, eight homers, 13 steals). Maybe they’re skeptical of the power, despite the fact that just three of his 14 bombs were classified as “Just Enough” by ESPN’s home run tracker, and his average batted ball distance was higher than Gardner’s and essentially identical to Betts’. Maybe they’re jealous of his manly beard. Whatever the case, it seems like Eaton is being undervalued by my esteemed colleagues.

 

Randal Grichuk

My rank: 34 | Low: 50 | Overall: 44

Despite a strikeout rate north of 30 percent, Grichuk managed to hit .276 last season. Paired with 17 homers, 96 R+RBI, and four steals in just 350 plate appearances, that made him a pretty nifty in-season pickup for many fantasy owners. Normally, a middling walk rate and a high BABIP would give me pause. It certainly seems to have tempered the others’ expectations, but Grichuk’s batted ball data suggests that regression won’t hit as hard as we might otherwise expect. Simply put, he crushes the ball. Pick your metric – hard hit rate, line drive rate, exit velocity – and Grichuk grades out as excellent. He also posted much better whiff rates in the minors, so it’s not crazy to think he’ll improve there. Grichuk might have some SB upside as well; he stole 33 bases over his three full minor league seasons.

 

Outfield Rankings for 2016 Fantasy Baseball

Name	Brad	Max	Kyle	Nick	Composite
Mike Trout	1	1	1	1	1
Bryce Harper	2	2	2	2	2
Giancarlo Stanton	4	3	3	3	3.25
Andrew McCutchen	3	4	4	4	3.75
Jose Bautista	7	5	6	5	5.75
George Springer	5	9	5	6	6.25
A.J. Pollock	6	6	8	7	6.75
Starling Marte	10	8	7	10	8.75
Ryan Braun	11	7	9	8	8.75
Mookie Betts	8	10	10	9	9.25
J.D. Martinez	9	13	11	11	11
Justin Upton	14	12	12	15	13.25
Charlie Blackmon	13	19	13	14	14.75
Nelson Cruz	15	16	15	16	15.5
Adam Jones	20	11	21	12	16
Kyle Schwarber	16	15	16	19	16.5
Lorenzo Cain	19	20	14	17	17.5
Carlos Gonzalez	17	18	19	18	18
Carlos Gomez	12	14	24	23	18.25
Yoenis Cespedes	25	21	17	13	19
Jason Heyward	18	17	20	24	19.75
Yasiel Puig	23	22	18	25	22
Corey Dickerson	22	26	22	21	22.75
Hunter Pence	28	28	23	20	24.75
Brett Gardner	27	27	27	28	27.25
Jacoby Ellsbury	24	24	32	29	27.25
Curtis Granderson	31	33	28	26	29.5
Kole Calhoun	29	30	33	32	31
Alex Gordon	26	32	35	33	31.5
Matt Holliday	38	29	30	31	32
Michael Brantley	46	23	37	22	32
David Peralta	36	41	25	27	32.25
Jorge Soler	40	36	31	30	34.25
Joc Pederson	34	42	26	38	35
Christian Yelich	30	37	39	34	35
Billy Hamilton	21	25	45	50	35.25
Josh Reddick	33	40	36	35	36
Shin-Soo Choo	35	34	38	37	36
Matt Kemp	39	31	42	43	38.75
Gregory Polanco	42	35	41	41	39.75
Michael Conforto	32	38	43	46	39.75
Stephen Piscotty	37	39	48	36	40
Adam Eaton	47	44	29	44	41
Randal Grichuk	41	50	34	42	41.75
Dexter Fowler	44	45	40	39	42
Hanley Ramirez	45	43	44	40	43
Steven Souza	53	47	47	47	48.5
Ender Inciarte	57	46	46	52	50.25
Khris Davis	63	49	52	45	52.25
Ben Revere	52	60	49	51	53
Ben Zobrist	51	51	57	53	53
Kevin Pillar	62	53	51	48	53.5
Jayson Werth	48	62	53	54	54.25
Delino Deshields	65	48	56	49	54.5
Melky Cabrera	54	52	58	56	55
Billy Burns	60	54	54	58	56.5
Marcell Ozuna	67	55	50	55	56.75
Wil Myers	68	56	55	57	59
Aaron Hicks	43	68	69	65	61.25
Brandon Moss	49	61	71	66	61.75
Aaron Altherr	59	69	60	60	62
Cameron Maybin	70	58	61	59	62
Odubel Herrera	55	66	59	71	62.75
Carlos Beltran	61	67	62	61	62.75
Eddie Rosario	58	64	66	63	62.75
Rusney Castillo	69	57	63	67	64
Jay Bruce	64	63	67	62	64
Colby Rasmus	56	74	65	64	64.75
Gerardo Parra	71	59	64	68	65.5
Danny Valencia	50	65	78	72	66.25
Mark Trumbo	76	75	68	69	72
Marlon Byrd	79	76	72	73	75
Byron Buxton	75	78	73	75	75.25
Denard Span	74	72	85	74	76.25
Brad Miller	66	70	70		---
Anthony Gose			77		---
Kevin Kiermaier	83	83	74		---
Derek Dietrich	77	79	75		---
Chris Colabello	82		76	70	---
Andre Ethier	85		79		---
Brock Holt	78	80	80		---
Mark Canha			81		---
Michael Taylor	86	81	82		---
Domingo Santana	80	82	83		---
Enrique Hernandez			84		---
Nori Aoki	73	71	86		---
Austin Jackson	72	88	87		---
Eduardo Escobar		87	88		---
Franklin Gutierrez			89		---
Preston Tucker		84	90		---
Jackie Bradley Jr.		86			---
Chris Coghlan	84	85			---
Nick Markakis	87	89			---
Michael Cuddyer	81				---
Alex Rios	88	90			---
Yasmany Tomas		73			---

 

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