The 2011 Fantasy Baseball season has begun folks and why not kick it off with The Fantasy Man's 2011 Fantasy Baseball Rankings. There's no question that the first 3-5 rounds of your fantasy baseball draft are most important as these choosen players provide the foundation of your teams' stats for the season. Muff up a pick here and you can kiss your championship dreams goodbye! Below we'll rank our top 50 fantasy players heading into 2011.
Now, if you've been following The Fantasy Man for a few years, you know my style by now. I like to do things my own way, at my own pace, and usually like to go against the grain. This philosophy has treated me with success over the years whether it's picking closers earlier than everyone else or simply loading up on the two biggest power hitters in the first two rounds from the two most plentiful positions. Whatever the strategy may be, just remember that there are a hundred different ways to win a fantasy baseball league. It takes preparation, research, a plan, and execution.... and that all starts right here with recognizing who is on top!
2011 Fantasy Baseball Rankings - Updated 2/22/11
1. Albert Pujols - Still #1 dominant, reliable, no sign of a drop off yet, CONTRACT YEAR!!!
2. Hanley Ramirez - Somebody help this guy get us 30+HR please!
3. Carl Crawford - Does everything and now in an amazing lineup
4. Carlos Gonzalez - He was out of his mind yet still consistent all year, 5 tool stud, 30/30 potential
5. Joey Votto - Young, on the rise with more upside, great to build a keeper team around
6. Miguel Cabrera - Last year was his best, still just entering prime but DUI charges in back of mind
7. Robinson Cano - I said last year he was top 2, no one believed me. 2nd half tailed off....so what!
8. Alex Rodriguez - You're crazy if you dismiss A-Rod, if he's not in your top 10.... you're crazy!
9. Ryan Braun - Lower than expected performance last year means lots of upside this year and too much hype
10. Josh Hamilton - Injury risks knock him down a few slots but if healthy, he's top 3
11. Chase Utley - Should have a bit of a comeback year if healthy, "plays like his hair is on fire"
12. Prince Fielder - Load up on power here, CONTRACT YEAR
13. Ryan Howard - Injury hurt performance, will bounce back to expectations, always a slow starter
14. Evan Longoria - On the rise, haven't seen his best season yet
15. David Wright - Better situation, consistent stats every year, less pressure, 5 category player
16. Matt Holliday - Same kind of stats as Wright but more BA and less SB
17. Mark Teixeira - He was "man-down" at the end of 2010, if healthy = bounce back
18. Tim Lincecum - He's ridiculous but prolonged season worries me
19. Roy Halladay - As dominant as they come + the wins
20. Cliff Lee - He'll rack up 18+ wins with a great WHIP and plenty of K's in Philly
21. Jose Reyes - See David Wright. The right situation = better season! He'll drop lower than this spot in drafts which means value
22. Jimmy Rollins - His half season slumps are tough to deal with, but CONTRACT YEAR is nice
23. Troy Tulowitzski - First 5 months of 2010 season = 12 HR/55 RBI, Last month 15HR/45RBI, I'll pass
24. Joe Mauer - If he brings the power back, he's a great value here
25. Matt Kemp - Has potential to be top 5 and 30/30/.300 easy but has to cut down on K's and be patient
26. Adrian Gonzalez - Shoulder injury could hurt his ADP which means value for you
27. Ryan Zimmerman - On the rise, still plenty young, great to build a keeper team around
28. Nelson Cruz - If he stays healthy he'll out grow this rankings easy, he does it all but has hamstring issues
29. Andrew McCutchen - We all expected 20/30/.280, we got 16/33/.286... look for slight upside
30. Ichiro Suzuki - Same output every year, why would you expect less? Age? Nah.
31. Dustin Pedroia - If he's 100% ready, expect to start where he left off
32. Justin Morneau - Same as Pedroia but needs to show he's healthy, could be dominant
33. Victor Martinez - Mr. Consistent from the catcher position
34. Brian McCann - Gives you the quality numbers you want from the 3rd-4th round catcher, just entering prime
35. Buster Posey - Position eligibility and upside has you drooling
36. Jason Heyward - He's more hype than anything but tons of upside, could be top 5 by 2012
37. Shin-Soo Choo - Solid all around stats .300/20+/20+ all day
38. C.C. Sabathia - Don't see any sign of regression, will rack up wins
39. Felix Hernadez - CY Young candidate but wins may suffer again
40. Adam Wainwright - He's just as dominant as Halladay/Lee minus some hype, better value down here
41. Adam Dunn - HR/RBI/R machine with surprising BA in 2010, look for him to build on that
42. Jose Bautista - Bust of 2011?? This one is a crap shoot! Expect a low BA though, I LOVE THIS GUY!
43. Justin Upton - Bounce back could make him top 10 in 2011
44. Jayson Werth - Didn't go contract year crazy as we expected but solid speed/combo output
45. Andre Ethier - Maybe too high but he is a special hitter, let him drop and watch him have a career year
46. Delmon Young - Boom or bust? Was 2010 for real? You'll have to pay to find out
47. Grady Sizemore - Come back player of year, .275/30HR/20SB I'll predict, but hopefully better
48. Alex Rios - I like the power/speed combo here with the solid .280+BA
49. Kevin Youkilis - Always plays with nagging injuries or else he'd rank higher
50. Kendry Morales - Should come back healthy and start where he left off
8 comments:
cmon man, these rankings suck
If you don't like my rankings feel free to move along...if u have something constructive to say, I'm all ears...
I really like your sight! Since Fanball has gone under Ive been searching for a quality source.
Your opinions are straight from the hip with all the fluff left out! Thanks!
When are your pitching rankings and capsules coming?
Brian
Can you update your rankings? Or do you still feel that these are the same?
Ok Dave, I just updated this Top 50. You'll notice the changes. I havent really touched this since November. As I've mentioned many times, these are my personal rankings that I put out here for people to use, analyze or just take ideas from. Not trying to put out the same rankings as every other site on the Internet. Thus...
I don't see Longoria in the top 10.
I won't draft Tulowitzski based on his September explosion. I'd rather take the speed of Reyes or Rollins both in Contract years.
I'm not a huge Ryan Braun guy. He has a down year last year and somehow he's ranked higher this year than last year.
I love a healthy A-Rod in an odd year, probably the most contoversial ranking other than my placement of Tulo.
I guess we'll see how this all ends up by October.
FM
Why draft A-Rod in the top 10 if you can wait until after 20?
Whats up Mike, Once again its great to have your input again for this new fantasy season. Great job on the rankings! I see your still sporting your A rod love lol. I like him too, eventually he will degress to the point where he will no longer hit over .300 and he will no longer run but not this year. If your picking late in the first round of a snake draft, he is a great target as your wraparound pick.
Ive seen lincecum ranked higher mostly every other source, but I will go with you here, I actually have him down a little farther than you. (with halladay ahead of him).
Can't agree with you on Reyes and Rollins over Tulo.
Youk needs to be moved up significantly, with 3B eligibilty this year he needs to be drafted earlier than the 4th round.
I like Posey slightly better than Mccann
Good ranking on Howard, most sources have him lower but his production is too high to let him slip farther than the early 2nd round.
Yeah I've seen Lincecum higher everywhere too, and makes me love where I ranked him even more. I just like to shy away from Sp's who pitch late into the post season i.e. Josh Beckett. Sure, you get Sp's that turn out fine like CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee but CC is built for a ton of innings and Cliff Lee keeps his pitch counts so low. I'm not so sure Lincecum and his funky delivery can put up with pitching into late October/November. That's just me and I indicated that through my rankings. I just dont want to take that kind of risk on such a high draft pick.
FM
Post a Comment