The nice folks at Fantasy Pros recently released their analysis of the 2014 rankings and I was happy to see that I finished within their top 10 expert rankings for last season. While that’s a nice little honor, I’m hoping to build upon that success with this year’s iteration of my fantasy baseball rankings and push Mr. Cheatsheet to the top of the heap!
I’ve already outlined some of items that I pay attention to in player valuation this offseason. One factor I look at is xAVG and I also take a look at the impact of Just Enough HR’s on the hitter side and I have my methods for finding Narco sleeper picks on the pitcher side. And, of course, I have my own Special Blend projections that drive a bit of my ranking research as well. As a reader it’s a lot of information to take in and try to quantify for your drafts so it is for that reason that I publish my player rankings each preseason. Instead of having to break all of that down and think about how high to rank one of my sleepers, you’ve got this handy list of my own personal rankings at your disposal.
These rankings are particularly for standard roto leagues. In looking at how my rankings stack up against the rest of the expert rankings, there’s a few highlights that I should touch upon:
- On the pitcher side, I have more faith than others in the return of two Yankees pitchers (Michael Pineda and Masahiro Tanaka). Banking on the health of players is always a bit of a gamble but these two pitchers have very high ceilings if they are able to stay healthy and I think they have both have the potential to be top pitchers in the league so I’m willing to gamble on that (in the middle rounds).
- I have Ian Desmond higher than most. He has proven his consistency over a few years now, which is valuable. He has proven his durability as well, which is valuable. He plays at one of the most scarce positions, which is also valuable. And, finally, I think he has room to improve despite three consecutive 20/20 seasons and so I’m feeling pretty good about him in 2015 as an early round pick.
- Year after year, I tend to rank Pablo Sandoval higher than most and he delivers on that value. That’s fine. He’s not flashy and he’s not a cornerstone player for fantasy teams but he’s a great later round value, especially in leagues that use a Corner Infielder spot. He’s fairly consistent as a 15 HR and .280 AVG hitter and there’s value in that.
- I’m down on Anthony Rendon compared to other experts. There are too many red flags and not enough of a track record here to justify a top draft pick. His power hasn’t been proven yet (and the HR Tracker data for him raises concerns) and he doesn’t have a track record to support his 17 SB from last season. While he’s young and very well could have a great season, the fact that he’s just as likely (in my eyes) to have a 15 HR, 5 SB season just makes me want to stay away in the first two rounds.
- Also, you may notice that I generally rank RP’s lower than other experts and this is just my own general preference of waiting on RP’s from a strategic perspective.
Take a look through the rankings (provided in partnership with the fine folks at FantasyPros) and post any questions you may have in the comments below.
