It has been a couple of weeks since I have released an updated version of the Rest of Season 2016 Fantasy Baseball Top 250 Rankings. I thought the week after the All-Star Break was as good as time as any.

There have been plenty of changes in the rankings with a ton of injuries, trades and simply player performance that have caused me to re-evaluate a lot of things since the last rankings.

Now that the second half has begun, playoff pictures in your leagues start to take shape and races for those last few spots really begin.

You can use these rankings to help you make important trades to get yourself in the best position to make the playoffs and succeed once you get there.

Normally I do a stock up and stock down, but with so much happening, I didn’t want to focus on just four or five players. Instead this time I’m putting this in note form to cover more topics and players moving up and down my rankings.

Hitters

• I have been forced to move Bryce Harper off the two line. Look the fact is since the opening month he has not been the second best player in baseball. He hit nine home runs in April and only ten since that time. Batting average has dropped from .286 to .248. The steals are keeping his value up, and of course his talent, but he is not worth the two spot right now.
• Giancarlo Stanton is back! Since I dropped him in the rankings back on June 21^st he has hit eight home runs, 21 RBI and scored 19 runs with a .307 batting average. Message heard loud and clear.
• Crush Davis drops in the overall rankings due to the major highs and lows you get with him. He either hits eight home runs in two weeks or he hits zero. Usually with that zero, you get 15 strikeouts and very little elsewhere. Consistency means a lot to me when it come to evaluating players.
• Ozuna has really climbed the ranks after I was in disbelief for so long that this breakout season was going to continue. I am finally a full believer and he soared up the rankings.

Starting Pitching

• Chris Archer drops fairly significantly. Look, the strikeouts are nice, but everything else is baaaaad.
• Dallas Kuechel is starting to rebound and looking more like the pitcher we saw in 2015. Over the last month he has an ERA under three and has a quality start in all six of his starts.
• I honestly kept forgetting how good Julio Teheran was because he played for such a bad team. He has been a top 20 pitcher so far and there is no reason to think that can’t continue. In fact a possible trade would make his value go up.
• Good rookies such as Aaron Sanchez and Jerad Eickhoff don’t move up due to concerns of being shut down early or sent to bullpen.

Closer Roulette

• Craig Kimbrel is out 3-6 weeks. Now Koji Uehara is likely headed to the DL with a strained pectoral muscle. It is very likely newly acquired Brad Ziegler is going to close, but nothing is final yet.
• With the Ziegler trade, it appears that Tyler Clippard is the man in Arizona.
• Papelbon returns from the DL to reclaim the closer job for Washington

Third Base Shakeup

• Josh Donaldson looking like MVP again and has taken the top spot in the third base rankings.
• Manny Machado drops a few spots. If he isn’t running he isn’t as valuable as Donaldson, Arenado or Bryant, who are producing better pure hitting numbers than him.
• Jake Lamb, who I still think will tail off a bit, definitely climbs up the rankings. He has been one of the best players in baseball over the last month.

Pitching Injuries

• I originally was not going to drop Clayton Kershaw in my rankings. However after he suffered a setback after throwing a simulated game this past weekend, I had to drop him a couple of spots. I’m still expecting him to return soon though which is why he does not drop farther.
• The return for Gerrit Cole wasn’t as good of as he hoped. It was a return though, and that is good enough to slide him back up in the rankings.
• Zack Greinke is slated to return relatively soon, so he does not drop in my rankings very much at all.
• Jordan Zimmerman right now doesn’t move much, although he does move down. Should return in a couple of weeks.

Fantasy Baseball Top 250 Rankings

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Joe Bond

Founder at FantasySixPack.net

Not just another "Average Joe" when it comes to Fantasy Sports, Joe is the fantasy brain trust behind the up-and-coming FantasySixPack.net. For years now Joe has been spreading his love and addiction of fantasy sports there and many other sites such as FantasyPros.com and FanDuel.com. You can often find him waiting by his computer for your questions on Twitter too.

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