Maybe it is just recency bias, but I cannot remember a time where there was this much movement at the top of the outfielder rankings in Fantasy Baseball. Between the blockbuster trades and expected breakouts of young players, a single year’s difference seems more like five or six.
I mean, just pulling up a random 2017 outfielder rankings list and you can see the difference. 14 of the Top 25 players either changed teams or are no longer in the Top 30 at the position.
Whether it was age (Carlos Gonzalez, Ryan Braun), over-hyped (Jackie Bradley Jr.) or extenuating circumstances (Starling Marte’s suspension) some guys completely letdown their ranking last season. On the other hand, there were surprise breakouts from younger players (Aaron Judge) or huge bounce-back, healthy seasons (Giancarlo Stanton).
The biggest move, without a doubt, is Stanton putting on pinstripes. After one of the best non-steroid era power seasons ever, Stanton joins arguably the second-best ewer hitter in the game, Aaron Judge, in the same outfield. Talk about lineup protection. If I give you an over/under of 100 combined home runs from those two, what do you take?
Joining Stanton in the American League East is J.D. Martinez after signing with the Boston Red Sox. As powerful as the Yankees outfield now is, the Red Sox outfield represents a third of the Top 9 in my outfielder rankings. Good luck to the pitchers in that division.
These outfielder rankings are for mixed leagues, with no designation on which position in the outfield. Personally, I much rather prefer LF/CF/RF designations in your lineup. However, for outfielder rankings purposes, the blurred line of positional eligibility becomes an absolute muddled mess. There is no definite on which outfield position a player is eligible for.
So we are going to look at the Top 80 for mixed leagues that have no designation for these outfielder rankings. The Average Draft Position and Expert Consensus Rankings (both overall and by position) are relative to FantasyPros.com as of February 28th. For outfielder rankings eligibility, the player had to play at least 20 games at the position last season.
2018 SCFE Outfielder Rankings
| Rk. | Player, Team | ADP | ECR | ECR (Pos.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox | 8 | 7 | 3 |
| 3 | Giancarlo Stanton, New York Yankees | 10 | 9 | 5 |
| 4 | Charlie Blackmon, Colorado Rockies | 9 | 8 | 4 |
| 5 | Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals | 7 | 6 | 2 |
| 6 | Aaron Judge, New York Yankees | 16 | 20 | 6 |
| 7 | J.D. Martinez, Boston Red Sox | 24 | 28 | 8 |
| 8 | George Springer, Houston Astros | 28 | 23 | 7 |
| 9 | Andrew Benintendi, Boston Red Sox | 43 | 40 | 12 |
| 10 | Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers | 54 | 47 | 14 |
| 11 | Marcella Ozuna, St. Louis Cardinals | 44 | 45 | 13 |
| 12 | Nelson Cruz, Seattle Mariners | 49 | 36 | 19 |
| 13 | Starling Marte, Pittsburgh Pirates | 52 | 39 | 10 |
| 14 | Justin Upton, Los Angeles Angels | 42 | 41 | 11 |
| 15 | Khris Davis, Oakland Athletics | 68 | 54 | 17 |
| 16 | A.J. Pollock, Arizona Diamondbacks | 60 | 53 | 16 |
| 17 | Tommy Pham, St. Louis Cardinals | 61 | 58 | 18 |
| 18 | Yoenis Cespedes, New York Mets | 83 | 66 | 22 |
| 19 | Andrew McCutchen, San Francisco Giants | 78 | 68 | 23 |
| 20 | Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins | 57 | 64 | 21 |
| 21 | Lorenzo Cain, Milwaukee Brewers | 86 | 74 | 24 |
| 22 | Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers | 94 | 80 | 25 |
| 23 | Billy Hamilton, Cincinnati Reds | 66 | 81 | 26 |
| 24 | Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles | 124 | 102 | 29 |
| 25 | Yasiel Puig, Los Angeles Dodgers | 114 | 101 | 28 |
| 26 | Ender Inciarte, Atlanta Braves | 123 | 104 | 30 |
| 27 | Nomar Mazara, Texas Rangers | 162 | 135 | 38 |
| 28 | Domingo Santana, Milwaukee Brewers | 84 | 99 | 27 |
| 29 | Eddie Rosario, Minnesota Twins | 130 | 128 | 35 |
| 30 | Adam Eaton, Washington Nationals | 141 | 115 | 32 |
| 31 | Ian Desmond, Colroado Rockies | 118 | 111 | 33 |
| 32 | Gregory Polanco, Pittsburgh Pirates | 142 | 125 | 34 |
| 33 | Trey Mancini, Baltimore Orioles | 173 | 170 | 55 |
| 34 | Kevin Kiermaier, Tampa Bay Rays | 174 | 149 | 45 |
| 35 | Odubel Herrera, Philadelphia Phillies | 209 | 157 | 46 |
| 36 | Jay Bruce, New York Mets | 144 | 141 | 40 |
| 37 | Brett Gardner, New York Yankees | 170 | 145 | 41 |
| 38 | Ian Happ, Chicago Cubs | 147 | 152 | 44 |
| 39 | Steven Souza, Arizona Diamondbacks | 175 | 159 | 48 |
| 40 | Adam Duvall, Cincinnati Reds | 154 | 151 | 43 |
| 41 | Kyle Schwarber, Chicago Cubs | 167 | 163 | 51 |
| 42 | Avisail Garcia, Chicago White Sox | 194 | 183 | 56 |
| 43 | Shin-Soo Choo, Texas Rangers | 244 | 191 | 60 |
| 44 | Manuel Margot, San Diego Padres | 153 | 154 | 47 |
| 45 | Michael Conforto, New York Mets | 185 | 169 | 53 |
| 46 | Mitch Haniger, Seattle Mariners | 232 | 203 | 63 |
| 47 | Mark Trumbo, Baltimore Orioles | 228 | 192 | 58 |
| 48 | Josh Reddick, Houston Astros | 240 | 210 | 67 |
| 49 | David Peralta, Arizona Diamondbacks | 274 | 207 | 65 |
| 50 | Dexter Fowler, St. Louis Cardinals | 241 | 193 | 59 |
| 51 | Jackie Bradley, Boston Red Sox | 246 | 198 | 62 |
| 52 | Ronald Acuna, Atlanta Braves | 146 | 177 | 52 |
| 53 | Marwin Gonzalez, Houston Astros | 136 | 168 | 54 |
| 54 | Kole Calhoun, Los Angeles Angels | 301 | 241 | 75 |
| 55 | Bradley Zimmer, Cleveland Indians | 212 | 205 | 64 |
| 56 | Max Kepler, Minnesota Twins | 264 | 249 | 81 |
| 57 | Stephen Piscotty, Oakland Athletics | 270 | 222 | 73 |
| 58 | Corey Dickerson, Pittsburgh Pirates | 220 | 200 | 61 |
| 59 | Willie Calhoun, Texas Rangers | 257 | 239 | 72 |
| 60 | Aaron Hicks, New York Yankees | 243 | 251 | 78 |
| 61 | Michael Brantley, Cleveland Indians | 236 | 217 | 70 |
| 62 | Delino Deshield, Texas Rangers | 216 | 229 | 71 |
| 63 | Carlos Gonzalez, Free Agent | 341 | 232 | 69 |
| 64 | David Dahl, Colorado Rockies | 234 | 262 | 84 |
| 65 | Nick Williams, Philadelphia Phillies | 316 | 286 | 85 |
| 66 | Randal Grichuk, Toronto Blue Jays | 327 | 265 | 82 |
| 67 | Aaron Altherr, Philadelphia Phillies | 289 | 244 | 77 |
| 68 | Michael Taylor, Washington Nationals | 245 | 263 | 83 |
| 69 | Scott Schebler, Cincinnati Reds | 319 | 292 | 87 |
| 70 | Mallex Smith, Tampa Bay Rays | 386 | 371 | 103 |
| 71 | Hunter Renfroe, San Diego Padres | 351 | 288 | 92 |
| 72 | Carlos Gomez, Tampa Bay Rays | 422 | 303 | 101 |
| 73 | Cameron Maybin, Miami Marlins | 372 | 411 | 109 |
| 74 | Jason Heyward, Chicago Cubs | 369 | 392 | 114 |
| 75 | Gerardo Parra, Colorado Rockies | 416 | 384 | 108 |
| 76 | Jessie Winker, Cincinnati Reds | 375 | 311 | 93 |
| 77 | Melky Cabrera, Free Agent | 295 | 323 | 95 |
| 78 | Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers | 287 | 267 | 80 |
| 79 | Lewis Brinson, Miami Marlins | 373 | 290 | 86 |
| 80 | Joc Pederson, Los Angeles Dodgers | 343 | 318 | 91 |
- Some of the highest players in these outfielder rankings bring some of the highest risk in the early rounds, so keep that in mind in your roster construction.
- Garion’s write-up about possible busts convinced me to lower Domingo Santana in my rankings.
- Some of the best NL Rookie of the Year candidates can be found in these outfielder rankings with Ronald Acuna and Lewis Brinson
- I am quite a bit higher on Trey Mancini than most. I was higher on him last year and that really worked out so I will keep riding the Trey-train.
- On the other hand I am a bit lower on Bryce Harper. This is mostly due to the fact I am not sure he can play a full season.
- My favorite late-rounder in the outfielder rankings is Max Kepler. Byron Buxton gets all of the hype in Minnesota, but Kepler had a solid first full year. In his last full minor league season, he hit .318 with 19 stolen bases. I think he provides more in both categories (.243 and 6 last season) this year to go with 25+ home run potential.
- There are also still some solid free agents available with Melky Cabrera and Carlos Gonzalez among those without a team as of this writing.
Michael Tomlin
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