Starting Pitcher Rankings with Projections

When drafting, fantasy owners will often either go with an ace early in the draft or load up later in the draft. Both strategies can work but, if you wait it is even more essential to make the correct selections. There is real value in drafting one of the top dogs in the first few rounds and then waiting several rounds to fill out your rotation. This is the strategy that I usually go with. The depth and general lack of consistency in pitchers makes the few reliable arms even more valuable. With that said, check out my rankings and projections here.

Outfield Rankings with Projections

The fantasy outfield is as loaded now as it has been in years. Fantasy owners should have no trouble finding at least a couple of hitters that can give them positive production across the board. This position provides a good blend of reliability, break out candidates, sleepers and bounce back stars. There is also an excess of young stars that have yet to hit their prime, providing a very strong future for the depth of this position. For those in keeper formats, there are also many very exciting prospects that are really getting close to the big league level. To say the least, the future of the fantasy baseball outfield is very bright. So, check out my projections and rankings here.

Shortstop Rankings with Projections

Entering your 2011 draft, one thing that had better be at the front of your mind is position scarcity. When I was actually trying to project the short stop position for the upcoming season it hit me that this position could decide leagues. There are stars that are developing, such as Elvis Andrus, Ian Desmond and Starlin Castro. However, there are even more former stars that are clearly past their prime and on a clear decline (Miguel Tejada, Derrek Jeter, Jimmy Rollins, and Rafael Furcal). I think that there is a good chance that more fantasy owners will have confidence in their catcher this year than their shortstop. That is simply unheard of in fantasy sports.
For those in keeper leagues, the immediate future is not that much brighter either. There are not many stud prospects coming up at shortstop in the near future. Plus, I think that it will still be a few years before we start to see the best of Andrus and Castro. The value, in keeper formats, for Troy Tulowitzki, Hanley Ramirez and Jose Reyes is very high right now because there is no telling when the next wave of stud shortstops will be here.
For my complete rankings and projections, click here.

Third Base Rankings with Projections

This seems to be a transition year for the hot corner position in fantasy baseball. With aging stars like Rolen, Arod, Aramis Ramirez and Chipper and young stars like Evan Longoria, Ryan Zimmerman, Pedro Alvarez along with a hot prospect like Mike Moustakis 2011 looks like the year of turn over. It is a top heavy position with a lot of questions after the top guys go off the board. Along with short stop, I consider third as the most unreliable position in fantasy baseball this season. In fact, I would go so far as to say that any owner that doesn't have either of these positions filled by the end of the second round is a long shot to win their league. Check out my full third base projections here.

Second Base Rankings and Projections

Second base is a position that is very top heavy but deeper than most fantasy players seem to think. After Robinson Cano's breakout year and the injuries that held down Dustin Pedroia, Chase Utley and (once again) Ian Kinsler, there is now a debate as to whether or not Utley is still the class of his position. While you could go back and forth on this, I think it is safe to say that Cano has joined Utley's level. Pedroia and Kinsler both have the ability to breakout and join the top tier of second basemen as well. While Kinsler comes with injury baggage, Pedroia has a very reckless style that could scare off some fantasy owners. All four these guys would be great to have at second base in 2011, but, I think something happens after they are all off the draft board. The drop off after these guys is significant. It appears that many fantasy owners are willing to overpay for 2010 numbers that I don't expect to see repeated in 2011. To view my complete second base projections, click here.

First Base Rankings and Projections

First base is an easy position to fill in fantasy baseball because it is the deepest position in the game. However, don't sleep on getting the right guy to fill first in your lineup. While first base is really deep, it gets shallow pretty quickly. In most drafts, you will see anywhere from 10-12 firstbaseman taken in the first 50-60 picks. This year, you are also looking at 4 going in the first round of most twelve team drafts. This position provides a major portion of most lineup's power and quite a few firstbasemen also provide reliable averages as well. In fact, the only major category you won't fill with first base is steals, although a handful of players will provide double figure steals. So, who are you rolling with at first base this year? Check out my rankings and projections here.

Catcher Rankings and Projections

The catching position has always been a weakness in fantasy baseball and 2010 was a good example of that, when there was not a single catcher in the season's top 100 rankings. However, 2010 did see some new blood that brought a little more depth to this thin position. Buster Posey (pictured here) won the N.L. Rookie of the Year and before getting hurt, Carlos Santana also had a solid debut over in the American League. Both these young blue chip prospects showed that they were ready for the show in a big way. While the catching position is still not deep, it could be argued that it is deeper than it has been in a very long time. Matt Weiters, still only 24 years old, has been a bust so far but he has gotten better. For my rankings and projections, click here.

Draft Day Decision SS (Elvis Andrus vs Starlin Castro)

Elvis Andrus is a young shortstop with a lot of upside who is gathering a lot of steam heading into the 2011 Fantasy Baseball Drafting Season. He has almost limitless upside in speed and looks like a player that could grow into another Jose Reyes type talent. Based upon his ADP on Mockdraftcentral.com, many fantasy owners are big believers in this future star. He is currently going number 66, which is in the middle of the 6th round for your standard 12 team league. Owners drafting Andrus are hoping that he continues to mature and leads the second tier of fantasy shortstops in 2011.
Starlin Castro is another young shortstop with superstar upside. With just half a season under his belt at the major league level, there is not much history to go off of but Castro did show that he is ready. It will likely take some time before we see just how good Castro will be but his upside is tremendous. His ADP on Mockdraftcentral is much lower than Andrus', currently 159 or early round 14 in 12 team leagues.
There is much more risk in drafting Castro than there is with Andrus. You will likely see more highs and lows with Castro. Both players have similar tools and talents but experience at the major league level is big. While Castro will likely outplay Andrus at times throughout the 2011 season, I doubt that he will be really close at the end of the year. However, that does not mean that Andrus is the better play here. Like a lot of draft day decisions, you have to look at who else is on the board at the time. Other players drafted around the 6th round on MDC include-Clayton Kershaw, Kendry Morales, and Justin Verlander. I would take any of those three along with Castro over Andrus and any other player around round 13-Ricky Romero, Johan Santana and Mike Stanton (I think Stanton will move up from this current position).


Projections-Andrus-282 avg, 5 hrs, 43 rbi, 41 sbs, 101 runs
Castro-285 avg, 7 hrs, 53 rbi, 26sbs, 78 runs

Fantasy Baseball Rankings-2011

Here are my position rankings for the 2011 Fantasy Baseball Season. These rankings are based on player values for the 2011 season only. Rankings take into account a players age, lineup, track record, team and injury potential. Rankings are also based on the standard 5x5 scoring system that most leagues use (avg, hrs, rbi, sbs, runs, wins, saves, k's, era and whip).
Catchers
First Base
Second Base
Third Base
Shortstop
Outfield
Starting Pitchers
Closers