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2016 Fantasy Baseball Tiered Rankings: Outfield, Part 2 (March)

Smoothly transitioning from yesterday's top four tiers to today's best of the rest, let's start my overvalued/undervalued list with a player who recently snuck up from tier 5 to tier 4 and thus snuck his way into this column.

Editor's note: Be sure to also check out our 2016 fantasy baseball rankings dashboard. It's already loaded up with tons of great rankings articles and draft analysis. Aside from our tiered staff rankings for every position, we also go deep on MLB prospect rankings, impact rookies for 2016, and dynasty/keeper rankings as well. Bookmark the page, and win your drafts.

 

2016 Fantasy Baseball Rankings Analysis: Outfield (Lower Tiers)

Gregory Polanco

Polanco was all the rage early in 2014. Scouts raved about him, and he was going to burst onto the fantasy scene. He started out hot, batting .288 with 2 homers and 4 steals in his first 19 games. But, in July, August, and Sept/Oct, he hit .214, .225, and .179 while striking out way too much. In 2015, he struggled a bit in the first half, batting .237 with 3 homers. In the second half, he batted .276 with 6 homers. While this may not look promising, Polanco will be 24 this year and stole 27 bases this year. He has shown signs of increasing power and an ability to increase his batting average, and at his age, power should increase.  His 41 doubles + triples could easily turn into extra home runs. Plus, as his plate discipline improves, and he gets on base more, he should also steal more bases given the extra opportunities. He could project to a Yelich-esque line (lower average, possibly slightly more speed and power without the back issues), but he is ranked five spots lower by my peers. A .275/15/90/60/30 line is not unreasonable with room for power upside.

 

Wil Myers

Myers should not be mentioned without addressing his wrist issues; they very well could be chronic and have kept him off the field for a large part of the last two years. Nevertheless, as I stated in other pieces, this is the portion of the draft where I am willing to gamble. The flipside of the wrist injuries is that his true performance may be much greater than he's shown if healthy. And playing first base full time may help him stay healthy. Myers is only 25, and San Diego, while still not great for righty power (23rd), is not the severe pitchers' park that many think it is because the fences were moved in. If he stays healthy, .260/25 with 15 steals is reasonable, with the ability to put up more average and power. After all, his 162 game averages are .256/19/88/81/11 and those stats were posted from ages 22-24 and include Tropicana Field in Tampa, which is even worse for righty power (26th); thus, one could easily see room for improvement on these averages.

 

Mark Trumbo

I wrote about Trumbo in my first-base rankings piece, and since then it is looking even more like Trumbo may be the number 5 hitter for the Orioles. Fifth is a nice spot in a lineup that ranked 9th in the majors in runs last year and looks to be improved. Camden Yards ranked 10th for righty homers last year. Trumbo has played large majority of his games in Anaheim (22nd), but also played in Seattle (25th) and Arizona (18th). Thus, he should benefit from Camden Yard. He has career 162 game averages of .250/31/74/96 despite these previous parks. Even the past two years, coming off his three big years in Anaheim, his 162 game averages were .251/26/70/88. A .260/30/75/90 season is not out of the question with potential to do more. He is being drafted way too lowly.

 

Carlos Beltran

Beltran will be 39 this year. I don't like that. What do I like? That aside from an injury-plagued 2014 and early 2015, which bookmarked elbow surgery, he has consistently been very good. Moreover, he rebounded in the second half last year showing signs that he is healthy again. And the Yankees scored the second most runs in baseball, which is good for his run production. Beltran is past his days of swiping 40 bags; in fact, you'll be lucky if he steals you a few. But he can be a solid four-category performer. In the second half, Beltran posted .292/12/37/36 in 67 games. While he likely won't play all 162, those numbers still project to .292/29/89/87 over a full season. I wouldn't expect that, but if he comes close, he is great value as he should come cheaply. Just as is the case with Werth, you can drop him if he isn't panning out because he won't cost as much as someone like Holliday, who shouldn't give any better performance.

 

Jayson Werth

First, the negatives: Werth will be 37 most of the year. Werth was injured last year and hit .227. Werth did not steal a single base last year. He has battled injuries throughout his time in Washington. Now, the positives. From 2012-2014, he posted 162 game averages of .303/21/96/89/13. And the worst of those years was 2012. It's possible that Werth doesn't bounce back, but then you can drop him and grab someone else. In this range, it's hard to find a true five-category threat, and Werth has the potential to be one. It's a bit confusing to me how he is rated so much lower than a Matt Holliday who is a similar age, and likewise is coming off a down, injury-riddled year.

 

Evan Gattis

Gattis will be 30 this year, is coming off sports' hernia surgery, has never stolen a base and has a .250 career average. Even though he will likely be a source of power, he will do little else. Players such as Osuna, Trumbo, Beltran, and Myers are all being ranked after him, but they could easily equal or surpass his power and have more upside in the other categories. Based on the recent surgery combined with the skillset, I'm expecting regression from Gattis as opposed to reasons for better years from the aforementioned players.

 

Outfield Tiered Fantasy Baseball Rankings (March)

Rank Tier Name Brad Max Kyle Nick Harris Jeff Bill
1 1 Mike Trout 1 1 1 1 2 1 2
2 1 Bryce Harper 2 2 2 2 1 2 1
3 2 Giancarlo Stanton 4 3 3 3 3 3 4
4 2 Andrew McCutchen 3 5 4 4 4 6 3
5 2 Jose Bautista 8 6 6 5 5 7 5
6 2 George Springer 6 7 5 6 6 9 7
7 2 Mookie Betts 5 4 9 7 7 5 10
8 2 A.J. Pollock 7 9 8 8 11 4 6
9 2 Starling Marte 10 8 7 12 10 8 8
10 3 J.D. Martinez 9 12 10 9 8 12 11
11 2 Ryan Braun 13 10 11 11 13 10 9
12 3 Justin Upton 12 11 12 10 14 13 13
13 3 Charlie Blackmon 11 14 13 13 19 15 14
14 3 Lorenzo Cain 17 18 15 16 12 11 12
15 3 Nelson Cruz 18 15 16 15 9 16 16
16 3 Carlos Gonzalez 19 16 19 18 18 18 18
17 3 Adam Jones 15 20 21 14 23 19 15
18 3 Jason Heyward 14 17 17 20 16 22 21
19 3 Carlos Gomez 21 13 23 19 22 14 19
20 3 Kyle Schwarber 22 19 14 21 15 25 17
21 3 Yoenis Cespedes 20 21 20 17 17 20 20
22 4 Yasiel Puig 16 23 18 23 25 21 24
23 4 Hunter Pence 34 22 22 22 32 23 23
24 4 Jacoby Ellsbury 26 32 41 30 20 24 25
25 4 Curtis Granderson 29 33 28 27 28 30 26
26 4 Alex Gordon 23 31 29 35 26 35 29
27 4 Kole Calhoun 28 24 30 34 31 33 28
28 4 David Peralta 35 25 24 25 38 29 32
29 4 Christian Yelich 27 36 35 28 21 32 36
30 4 Brett Gardner 39 26 27 32 33 31 31
31 4 Corey Dickerson 25 28 32 26 37 54 22
32 4 Adam Eaton 37 37 26 24 34 28 39
33 4 Michael Brantley 56 27 37 40 27 17 27
34 4 Joc Pederson 41 41 25 37 24 34 35
35 4 Matt Holliday 43 30 31 29 43 45 30
36 4 Gregory Polanco 32 29 42 42 44 26 36
37 4 Shin-Soo Choo 42 35 38 31 30 39 40
38 4 Billy Hamilton 33 40 55 51 29 27 34
39 5 Michael Conforto 40 34 40 47 36 37 42
40 5 Josh Reddick 31 43 36 39 53 38 38
41 5 Hanley Ramirez 24 48 44 33 45 44 46
42 5 Stephen Piscotty 48 39 39 36 39 52 44
43 5 Randal Grichuk 49 44 34 38 54 43 45
44 5 Matt Kemp 36 45 45 41 52 36 41
45 5 Jorge Soler 63 38 46 49 40 46 33
46 5 Dexter Fowler 44 42 43 44 47 53 43
47 6 Ben Zobrist 30 52 33 56 55 64 50
48 6 Delino Deshields 50 49 49 46 41 60 53
49 6 Ben Revere 57 51 58 53 42 42 48
50 6 Billy Burns 38 54 48 59 50 55 55
51 6 Kevin Pillar 58 55 53 48 49 49 51
52 6 Steven Souza 52 56 47 45 46 56 61
53 6 Gerardo Parra 45 50 59 52 56 48 60
54 6 Evan Gattis 51 47 57 43 57 72 49
55 6 Ender Inciarte 68 46 56 54 61 51 47
56 6 Wil Myers 74 60 66 57 35 40 58
57 6 Marcell Ozuna 47 57 51 60 65 58 57
58 6 Jayson Werth 60 59 50 70 67 50 52
59 6 Khris Davis 46 62 54 55 58 62 62
60 6 Melky Cabrera 53 53 60 65 69 63 54
61 7 Mark Trumbo 54 78 73 58 59 42 74
62 7 Aaron Altherr 65 69 87 69 88 65
63 7 Colby Rasmus 62 75 67 63 51 61 72
64 7 Jay Bruce 67 70 69 50 64 66 69
65 7 Carlos Beltran 70 67 64 62 70 47 66
66 7 Odubel Herrera 64 63 61 61 86 67 56
67 7 Byron Buxton 72 76 70 73 48 59 70
68 7 Brad Miller 59 66 52 71 71 71 76
69 7 Cameron Maybin 79 64 63 64 72 70 59
70 7 Eddie Rosario 69 61 68 78 68 68 67
71 7 Aaron Hicks 66 68 72 66 78 69 63
72 7 Rusney Castillo 75 58 65 72 89 57 68
73 8 Danny Valencia 61 65 71 68 80 81 73
74 8 Denard Span 73 73 88 76 60 65 71
75 8 Domingo Santana 71 71 62 74 66 76 87
76 8 Brandon Moss 76 77 77 67 74 74 64
77 8 Nori Aoki 77 72 82 80 62 75 88
78 8 Kevin Kiermaier 78 84 80 82 73 73 80
79 8 Hyun-soo Kim 55 92 75 77 - 85 92
80 8 Marlon Byrd 80 79 76 85 84 80 75
81 9 Yasmany Tomas 97 74 83 75 81 78 82
82 9 Brock Holt 79 83 78 86 94 91 79
83 9 Derek Dietrich 80 96 74 87 - 88 81
84 8 Chris Colabello 93 82 86 79 75 90 86
85 9 Eduardo Escobar - 88 79 89 - 84 89
86 9 Austin Jackson 72 95 95 83 76 87 95
87 9 Jackie Bradley Jr. 96 97 85 88 77 77 90
88 9 Nick Markakis 87 91 94 91 79 93
89 9 Franklin Gutierrez 95 100 91 81 - 79 91
90 9 Leonys Martin 94 93 96 94 63 93 94
91 9 Mark Cahna 98 89 84 109 83 86 78
92 9 Andre Ethier 85 87 89 90 99 83 96
93 9 Dalton Pompey 86 80 81 102 87 97 98
94 9 Jarrod Dyson 106 81 93 84 85 94 -
95 9 Alex Rios 88 90 102 98 96 - 84
96 9 Avisail Garcia - 85 100 103 82 - 97
97 9 Rajai Davis 100 - 97 92 - 89 -
98 9 Desmond Jennings 99 86 103 100 90 92 -
99 9 Josh Hamilton 91 94 - 99 91 100
100 9 Anthony Gose - 102 98 105 93 96 77
101 9 Preston Tucker 107 99 90 97 - 83
102 9 Oswaldo Arcia - 105 - 107 100 82 85
103 9 Chris Coghlan 84 103 99 93 - 101
104 9 Michael Taylor 89 102 92 108 95 98 99
105 9 Adam Duvall 90 104 106 101 92 99 -
106 9 Coco Crisp 92 106 107 106 98 95 -
107 9 Rymer Liriano 105 101 101 104 - 100 -
108 9 Will Venable - 108 109 95 97 -
109 9 Nomar Mazara 103 - 108 96 - - -
110 9 Angel Pagan 102 99 105 110 - - -
111 9 Abraham Almonte 104 - - - - - -
112 9 Seth Smith 101 107 104 111 - - -

 

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RANKINGS
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RANKINGS

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