(Photo by Shelley Lipton/Icon Sportswire)
We featured the Top 25 Catchers, Top 30 First Basemen, Top 30 Second Basemen, Top 30 Shortstops, Top 30 Third Basemen, and Top 30 Outfielders in dynasty leagues so far this week — today, day seven remains in the outfield as we head deeper down the tiers. There are still more Outfielders to come later this week.
Tier Five: Locked Out of Heaven
31. Nick Castellanos (Detroit Tigers, 26)
32. Gregory Polanco (Pittsburgh Pirates, 26)
33. Adam Eaton (Washington Nationals, 29)
34. Eddie Rosario (Minnesota Twins, 26)
35. Ian Happ (Chicago Cubs, 23)
36. Nomar Mazara (Texas Rangers, 22)
37. Luis Robert (P) (Chicago White Sox, 20)
38. Juan Soto (P) (Washington Nationals, 19)
Tier Six: Uptown Funk
39. Mitch Haniger (Seattle Mariners, 27)
40. Yoenis Cespedes (New York Mets, 32)
41. Odubel Herrera (Philadelphia Phillies, 26)
42. Kyle Tucker (P) (Houston Astros, 21)
43. Lewis Brinson (P) (Miami Marlins, 23)
44. Chris Taylor (Los Angeles Dodgers, 27)
45. Marwin Gonzalez (Houston Astros, 28)
46. Willie Calhoun (P) (Texas Rangers, 23)
47. Kyle Schwarber (Chicago Cubs, 24)
48. Adam Duvall (Cincinnati Reds, 29)
Tier Seven: The Lazy Song
49. Michael Brantley (Cleveland Indians, 30)
50. Ian Desmond (Colorado Rockies, 32)
51. Ryan Braun (Milwaukee Brewers, 34)
52. Steven Souza Jr. (Tampa Bay Rays, 28)
53. Adam Jones (Baltimore Orioles, 32)
Tier Eight: Versace On the Floor
54. Austin Hays (P) (Baltimore Orioles, 22)
55. Taylor Trammel (P) (Cincinnati Reds, 20)
56. Jose Siri (P) (Cincinnati Reds, 22)
57. Estevan Florial (P) (New York Yankees, 20)
58. Kevin Kiermaier (Pittsburgh Pirates, 27)
59. Bradley Zimmer (Cleveland Indians, 25)
Way Too Deep Prospects
I plan on doing three outfield prospects for each of my three outfield articles. The next three I have my eye on but do not own (yet) are: Brandon Marsh (Los Angeles Angels, 20 – disclaimer: I do actually own Marsh), Torii Hunter (Los Angeles Angels, 22), and Tristen Lutz (Milwaukee Brewers, 19).
Brennen’s Notes:
- The Detroit Tigers are going to be awful for what I personally hope is only the next two or three years. While Nick Castellanos may only be around through the 2019 season and after last season’s reckoning he should be at the heart of the lineup with Miguel Cabrera – that’s not nothing for a guy who has consistently improved year to year (and is only 26 still)!
- Injuries took away from Gregory Polanco’s performance in 2017 – but I’m not convinced he would have done much better than he did in 2016. The threat of a 20/20 season keep him is very much alive so long as the Pirates keep him running and if he can put together an average above .260 — he’ll be much higher this time next year (something I think is doable given he slashed his strikeout rate to 14.6% in 2017).
- A year ago Luis Robert was heralded as “the best prospect in the world.” While much as changed as Ronald Acuna and Shohei Ohtani made their meteoric rises, I am still convinced Robert will be a fixture in the Chicago White Sox outfield with Eloy Jimenez for years to come. A short 114 plate appearances left Robert with a gaudy 19.3% walk rate and a line of .310/.491/.536. Yes he played in the rookie league and yes he is 20 years old — but Robert is doing everything needed (so far) to rapidly ascend through the minors. This year will determine a lot for his future value, but given his vast ceiling and his first taste of success in affiliated ball – I would grab him asap.
- How bad does your defense have to be to be designated at 23 years old and on a team with a 39-year-old legend? I’m not entirely sure, but I’m sure Willie Calhoun might. I expect Calhoun to get enough reps in the OF to qualify for the position and lucky for us, defense isn’t a countable stat (well, generally). Calhoun’s fantasy floor is high and a 30 HR / .280+ season is not out of question. Whether he actually qualifies, is.
- Adam Duvall is a poor man’s Khris Davis – his ranking demonstrative of the difference of what Davis’ additional 10 home runs do to his comparative value. Similarly, although Kyle Schwarber has the potential to hit 40 home runs, this is what a Mendoza line-esqe batting average will do.
- Tier Seven are all players that in the short term still provide value to a team. I envision these rankings for a year-one league, so they do not hold much value when planning for the future. As far as value goes, these players will return value and should help to anchor your outfield — if you end up with one or more, make sure that you invest heavily in prospects (the next 30 will be heavy on).
- Taylor Trammel and Jose Siri are two of the prospects I would love to have in my farm system. Their power/speed/average combo is unmatched by any other players in the minor league. They are both volatile as they have yet to see beyond high A ball, but both are electric to watch. (Unfortunately, Siri suffered ligament to his left thumb during spring training and is out indefinitely).
- Bradley Zimmer had a pretty prolonged look at the MLB and he carried over the same inability to make contact that plagued him in the minors. He has the potential to be a 15/30 player, but on a competitive team like the Indians — Zimmer is more of a liability than he is an asset.
I’ll be making notes in each of my rankings for players/situations/choices worth noting — if there is something specific you wish to discuss regarding the ranks — drop a comment.
If Deshields can hold onto the leadoff position in Texas and effectively maintain what he does last year, at 600 PAs he is high likely a 100+ run, 8HR, 40SB, .270AVG, .350 OBP player. IF B.Hamilton is top 20 in dynasty, I think its not unreasonably to have Deshields breaking top 40 at age 25.
I feel like this is the same story I have heard a few other times with Deshields. I doubt he holds the job. Worth a flier though!
I think DeShields holds the job. Not having DeShields higher was a result of my not updating the rankings I made previously. I’ll address it in tomorrow’s rankings. Hard to see who would take his place with Gomez gone.
I like tier 7 a lot. If healthy, they will produce similarly to tier 4a – you have two tier 4s, which is misleading – not sure if it was a mistake or a creative decision. I think if you are going with two tier 4s, then you skip 5? It just makes the lower tiers seem closer than they are.
Let’s go with a creative decision… I agree that Tier 7 will produce similarly to a Tier 4, at least for the next year or so. Given their age, I can’t see Desmond, Braun, or Jones producing at an above-average rate in two-three years time. They will taper quickly as players nearly a decade younger still produce. Age is a hard factor to utilize, but it was age that lead to Tier 7’s placement on this list, not immediate production. I would agree that the Tier Five here are still close to the two Tier 4’s from the Top 30 list.