March 23, 2017

Part 2 of our updated fantasy baseball outfield (OF) rankings, tiers and auction dollar values for March. Nick also looks at some rankings risers and fallers.

We rolled out our final update on 2017 rankings this past weekend. While there haven’t been seismic shifts, some players have naturally seen their stocks rise or fall since our initial valuations were made in December. We’re gathered here today to look at part two of our outfield rankings, tiers, and auction values, which have seen a bit of movement. Part one can be viewed here. Part two of this OF checkup will yield three more respective risers and fallers from Tier Six on.

As before, this round of rankings features picks from myself, Kyle Bishop, Bill Dubiel, Brad Johnson, Harris Yudin and Jeff Kahntroff.

Check out all of our updated rankings. Adjust your league size, and export your rankings. Tiers, auction values, prospects, news and more. It's all free.

2017 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Outfielders - Part Two (March Updates)

Outfield (Part Two) Rankings Analysis: March Risers and Fallers

Rankings Risers:
 
Keon Broxton

Broxton was the last name in Tier Seven in February, but now he finds himself going from our OF68 to OF52 – into Tier Six. The toolsy youngster has some serious potential, especially in fantasy baseball where HRs and SBs can outweigh deficiencies like striking out. Which he does, a lot. While his 32.5% strikeout rate in his 169 plate appearances after getting called up on July 26 is lofty, he also smacked eight homers alongside 16 steals in roughly a quarter of a full season’s worth of PAs. Don’t extrapolate that as law -- he’s not going to hit 30 homers and steal 60 bases – but do let it illustrate the ceiling that he houses.

Jay Bruce

Bruce was middling inside of Tier Eight (OF72) last time around, but now he finds himself as of the OF60, making him a viable option in our staff’s eyes as a legitimate starter in five-outfield, 12-team formats. This was mostly due to Bill and Harris raising him by quite a bit in their respective rankings, as perhaps they’ve heard the whispers from Terry Collins and accepted that Bruce will play and regain his form for the Metropolitans. There must be some reason that Michael Conforto (who is now ranked as the OF59, directly in front of Bruce) is getting buried, and while Citi Field is no Great American Ballpark, the former first-round pick remains a dominant power threat when locked in.

Jarrod Dyson

The speedy Mariner is now the OF78 compared to his OF88 February ranking, as we appear to be giving him some more respect as a guy who could finally cross the 400-PA threshold for the first time in his career. While PAs don’t tell the whole story with Dyson considering how often Kansas City would utilize him as a pinch-runner, he has still regularly posted 30+ stolen-base seasons despite his part-time gigs. Between the acquisition of Dyson and Jean Segura, Seattle is clearly trying to incorporate speed into their game. With an average that should sit around .270, Dyson could score 70 runs with 40+ steals with a nearly nonexistent draft-day cost.

 
Rankings Fallers:
 
Cameron Maybin

Maybin isn’t all that special on his own and should very well lose out on plenty time to Ben Revere assuming the latter can regain his usual form. It seems we’ve all cooled a bit here on the prospects of Maybin becoming a true fantasy asset even if he does garner some decent time in the field. It would be wise to realize that his 2016 was fueled by an unsustainable .383 BABIP as well considering his career BABIP is .322 (including last season's spike). His prior three seasons saw him post a mark around .300, which has usually yielded an average in the .260s. There’s also his durability woes, as he's only surpassed 400 PAs in one out of his last three seasons, so we’re likely better off drafting other late-round fliers.

David Peralta

Peralta was the OF57 in the last update, but now finds himself at OF65 – outside of 5OF-format starting territory. Perhaps this is nothing more than simply liking others a shade more, but Peralta is the kind of guy who many might not want to start on their squad simply due to his platooning nature. Not that Arizona strictly deploys him as such, but there’s no denying the guy can’t hit southpaws. His .222 career average and only two homers in 215 career PAs speaks to this, versus 27 homers and a .310 average in 833 PAs versus righties.

Brandon Drury

Without any other notable drops, I’ll speak on Drury – who slipped a few slots to an uninspiring OF91. I have him at No. 237 overall, with the next highest on staff being Brad – who is nearly 100 spots behind me at No. 336. Considering that the 24-year-old impressed with a neat little rookie campaign that yielded 16 homers, 31 doubles and a .282 average, Drury deserves more respect heading into 2017 when you weigh in his inside line on the starting 2B job. Chase Field is the best place to hit that isn’t named after a beer brewed in Golden, Colorado, so don’t be shy about reaching a bit over my cohorts’ heads to grab Drury.

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