New Year Top 300 Fantasy Baseball Rankings

We’re here to get you ready for this year’s fantasy baseball season.

As we turn the calendar to 2018 and the fantasy football season comes to a close, it is time once again to begin fantasy baseball draft preparation. There are still plenty of free agents to be signed and potential trades to be made, but, as of now, my 2018 rankings stand as follows below.

I would like to take a moment to discuss a tendency of mine that was brought up in my early starting pitcher rankings. As any experienced fantasy player knows, a good draft will exhibit a balance of safety and risk. When I consider risk of baseball players, I generally tend to take chances on young, unproven players that have a chance to break out as potential fantasy mainstays or stars, as opposed to older players that may fall off. Each type of player comes with significant levels of risk. The young player may not even get an opportunity to play or his small sample size may be misleading, and the older player that has been a consistent fantasy player may fall off the cliff in terms of production.

The reason I choose to purposefully and consistently rank the unproven players higher is because I would rather bank on the upside of the younger player. When drafting a player like Nelson Cruz, you are hoping he repeats what he has done the past three years, while his ADP reflects the risk that the 38-year-old DH will regress or get injured. On the other hand, when drafting a player like Ronald Acuña or Yoan Moncada, you are hoping that they can break out and become a star, or at least a productive player on your roster. The biggest difference I find between how the veteran and the prospect are handled is the willingness to drop them. If a prospect is sent down or goes through a slump, fantasy owners are quick to drop them for the next best thing on the waiver wire. Conversely, owners are more patient with proven veterans, which, often times, leads to holding on to the player for too long and missing out on the year’s waiver breakout – see me, last year, holding on to Brandon Crawford and Melky Cabrera while Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge were scooped up off the wire. Learn from my mistakes: take chances. If it doesn’t work out, drop the guy and take another chance.

Now, let’s get to the rankings.

	Player	Team	Age	Pos. Rank	Pos. Elig.
1	Mike Trout	LAA	26	OF1	OF
2	Jose Altuve	HOU	27	2B1	2B
3	Paul Goldschmidt	ARI	30	1B1	1B
4	Nolan Arenado	COL	26	3B1	3B
5	Bryce Harper	WAS	25	OF2	OF
6	Trea Turner	WAS	24	SS1	SS
7	Giancarlo Stanton	NYY	28	OF3	OF
8	Charlie Blackmon	COL	31	OF4	OF
9	Joey Votto	CIN	34	1B2	1B
10	Mookie Betts	BOS	25	OF5	OF
11	Clayton Kershaw	LAD	30	SP1	SP
12	Carlos Correa	HOU	23	SS2	SS
13	Corey Kluber	CLE	31	SP2	SP
14	Kris Bryant	CHC	26	3B2	3B
15	Chris Sale	BOS	28	SP3	SP
16	Max Scherzer	WAS	33	SP4	SP
17	Freddie Freeman	ATL	28	1B3	1B
18	Anthony Rizzo	CHC	28	1B4	1B
19	Manny Machado	BAL	25	3B3	3B
20	Aaron Judge	NYY	25	OF6	OF
21	Jose Ramirez	CLE	25	2B2	2B, 3B
22	Josh Donaldson	TOR	32	3B5	3B
23	Francisco Lindor	CLE	24	SS3	SS
24	J.D. Martinez		30	OF7	OF
25	George Springer	HOU	28	OF8	OF
26	Corey Seager	LAD	28	SS4	SS
27	Zack Greinke	ARI	34	SP5	SP
28	Stephen Strasburg	WAS	29	SP6	SP
29	Gary Sanchez	NYY	25	C1	C
30	Madison Bumgarner	SF	28	SP7	SP
31	Cody Bellinger	LAD	22	OF9	1B, OF
32	Noah Syndergaard	NYM	25	SP8	SP
33	Dee Gordon	SEA	29	2B3	2B, OF
34	Jose Abreu	CHW	31	1B6	1B
35	Carlos Carrasco	CLE	31	SP9	SP
36	Brian Dozier	MIN	30	2B4	2B
37	Justin Upton	LAA	30	OF10	OF
38	Starling Marte	PIT	29	OF11	OF
39	Jacob deGrom	NYM	29	SP10	SP
40	Anthony Rendon	WAS	27	3B6	3B
41	Elvis Andrus	TEX	29	SS5	SS
42	Robbie Ray	ARI	26	SP11	SP
43	Luis Severino	NYY	24	SP12	SP
44	Andrew Benintendi	BOS	23	OF12	OF
45	Marcell Ozuna	STL	27	OF13	OF
46	Daniel Murphy	WAS	32	2B5	2B
47	Rhys Hoskins	PHI	25	OF14	1B, OF
48	Edwin Encarnacion	CLE	35	1B8	1B
49	Jonathan Schoop	BAL	26	2B6	2B
50	Wil Myers	SD	27	1B9	1B
51	Miguel Sano	MIN	24	3B7	3B
52	Kenley Jansen	LAD	30	RP1	RP
53	Alex Bregman	HOU	23	SS6	3B, SS
54	Yu Darvish		31	SP13	SP
55	Nelson Cruz	SEA	37	OF15	OF
56	Carlos Martinez	STL	26	SP14	SP
57	Justin Verlander	HOU	35	SP15	SP
58	Byron Buxton	MIN	24	OF16	OF
59	James Paxton	SEA	29	SP16	SP
60	Buster Posey	SF	31	C2	C, 1B
61	Jean Segura	SEA	28	SS7	SS
62	Aaron Nola	PHI	24	SP17	SP
63	Robinson Cano	SEA	35	2B7	2B
64	A.J. Pollock	ARI	30	OF17	OF
65	Chris Archer	TB	29	SP18	SP
66	Justin Smoak	TOR	31	1B11	1B
67	Christian Yelich	MIA	26	OF18	OF
68	Willson Contreras	CHC	25	C3	C, OF
69	Eric Hosmer		28	1B12	1B
70	Billy Hamilton	CIN	27	OF19	OF
71	Craig Kimbrel	BOS	29	RP2	RP
72	Jake Arrieta		32	SP19	SP
73	Domingo Santana	MIL	25	OF20	OF
74	Khris Davis	OAK	30	OF21	OF
75	Zack Godley	ARI	27	SP20	SP
76	Justin Turner	LAD	33	3B9	3B
77	Andrew McCutchen	PIT	31	OF22	OF
78	Sonny Gray	NYY	28	SP21	SP
79	Tommy Pham	STL	30	OF23	OF
80	Whit Merrifield	KC	29	2B8	2B, OF
81	Luis Castillo	CIN	25	SP22	SP
82	Travis Shaw	MIL	27	3B10	3B
83	Miguel Cabrera	DET	34	1B13	1B
84	Ryan Braun	MIL	34	OF25	OF
85	Dallas Keuchel	HOU	30	SP23	SP
86	Luke Weaver	STL	24	SP24	SP
87	Yoenis Cespedes	NYM	32	OF26	OF
88	Gerrit Cole	PIT	27	SP25	SP
89	Jose Berrios	MIN	23	SP26	SP
90	Corey Knebel	MIL	26	RP3	RP
91	Mike Moustakas		29	3B11	3B
92	Shohei Ohtani	LAA	23	SP27	SP, DH
93	Marcus Stroman	TOR	26	SP28	SP
94	Masahiro Tanaka	NYY	29	SP29	SP
95	Yasiel Puig	LAD	27	OF27	OF
96	Kyle Hendricks	CHC	28	SP30	SP
97	Jose Quintana	CHC	29	SP31	SP
98	Xander Bogaerts	BOS	25	SS8	SS
99	Aroldis Chapman	NYY	30	RP4	RP
100	Lance McCullers Jr.	HOU	24	SP32	SP
101	Lorenzo Cain		31	OF28	OF
102	Danny Duffy	KC	29	SP33	SP
103	Alex Wood	LAD	27	SP34	SP
104	Ender Inciarte	ATL	27	OF29	OF
105	Adam Eaton	WAS	29	OF30	OF
106	Eduardo Nunez		30	2B9	2B, 3B, OF
107	Matt Carpenter	STL	32	1B14	1B
108	Raisel Iglesias	CIN	28	RP5	RP
109	Kyle Seager	SEA	30	3B13	3B
110	David Price	BOS	32	SP35	SP
111	Trevor Story	COL	25	SS9	SS
112	Jake Lamb	ARI	27	3B14	3B
113	Edwin Diaz	SEA	24	RP6	RP
114	Didi Gregorius	NYY	28	SS10	SS
115	Michael Conforto	NYM	25	OF32	OF
116	Gregory Polanco	PIT	26	OF33	OF
117	J.T. Realmuto	MIA	25	C4	C
118	Trevor Bauer	CLE	27	SP36	SP
119	Roberto Osuna	TOR	23	RP7	RP
120	Ronald Acuna	ATL	20	OF34	OF
121	Matt Olson	OAK	24	1B15	1B
122	Carlos Santana	PHI	31	1B16	1B
123	Joey Gallo	TEX	24	3B15	1B, 3B
124	Salvador Perez	KC	27	C5	C
125	Adrian Beltre	TEX	38	3B16	3B
126	DJ LeMahieu	COL	29	2B10	2B
127	Rich Hill	LAD	38	SP37	SP
128	Yoan Moncada	CHW	22	2B11	2B
129	Felipe Rivero	PIT	26	RP8	RP
130	Rafael Devers	BOS	21	3B17	3B
131	Andrelton Simmons	LAA	28	SS11	SS
132	Danny Salazar	CLE	28	SP38	SP
133	Ian Desmond	COL	32	OF35	1B, OF
134	Evan Gattis	HOU	31	C6	C
135	Brad Hand	SD	28	RP9	RP
136	Rougned Odor	TEX	24	2B12	2B
137	Adam Jones	BAL	32	OF36	OF
138	Chris Taylor	LAD	27	2B13	2B, OF
139	Kevin Kiermaier	TB	27	OF38	OF
140	Steven Souza Jr.	TB	28	OF39	OF
141	Manuel Margot	SD	23	OF40	OF
142	Greg Bird	NYY	25	1B19	1B
143	Nomar Mazara	TEX	22	OF41	OF
144	Eddie Rosario	MIN	26	OF42	OF
145	Wade Davis	COL	32	RP10	RP
146	Brad Peacock	HOU	30	SP39	SP, RP
147	Yadier Molina	STL	35	C7	C
148	Ian Happ	CHC	23	OF43	2B, OF
149	Evan Longoria	SF	32	3B18	3B
150	Jay Bruce		30	OF44	OF
151	Odubel Herrera	PHI	26	OF45	OF
152	Mike Zunino	SEA	27	C8	C
153	Josh Bell	PIT	25	1B20	1B
154	Chase Anderson	MIL	30	SP40	SP
155	Jon Lester	CHC	34	SP41	SP
156	Cody Allen	CLE	29	RP11	RP
157	Marcus Semien	OAK	27	SS12	SS
158	Ken Giles	HOU	27	RP12	RP
159	Jonathan Lucroy		31	C9	C
160	Jeff Samardzija	SF	33	SP42	SP
161	Javier Baez	CHC	25	SS13	2B, SS
162	Brett Gardner	NYY	34	OF46	OF
163	Trey Mancini	BAL	26	OF47	1B, OF
164	Corey Dickerson	TB	28	OF48	OF
165	Ozzie Albies	ATL	21	2B16	2B
166	Nick Castellanos	DET	26	3B19	3B
167	Archie Bradley	ARI	25	RP13	RP
168	Wilson Ramos	TB	30	C10	C
169	Garrett Richards	LAA	29	SP43	SP
170	Brandon Morrow	CHC	33	RP14	RP
171	Lance Lynn	STL	30	SP44	SP
172	Jon Gray	COL	26	SP45	SP
173	Cesar Hernandez	PHI	27	2B17	2B
174	Michael Fulmer	DET	25	SP46	SP
175	Justin Bour	MIA	29	1B22	1B
176	Josh Reddick	HOU	31	OF49	OF
177	Gio Gonzalez	WAS	32	SP47	SP
178	Brian McCann	HOU	34	C11	C
179	Alex Colome	TB	29	RP15	RP
180	Marwin Gonzalez	HOU	29	SS14	1B, 2B, SS, OF
181	Aaron Hicks	NYY	28	OF51	OF
182	Gleyber Torres	NYY	21	SS15	SS
183	Jose Martinez	STL	29	OF52	1B, OF
184	Taijuan Walker	ARI	25	SP48	SP
185	Hector Neris	PHI	28	RP16	RP
186	Starlin Castro	MIA	28	2B19	2B
187	Mitch Haniger	SEA	27	OF53	OF
188	Jose Peraza	CIN	23	SS16	2B, SS
189	Johnny Cueto	SF	32	SP49	SP
190	Michael Brantley	CLE	31	OF54	OF
191	Drew Pomeranz	BOS	29	SP50	SP
192	Jacob Faria	TB	24	SP51	SP
193	Addison Russell	CHC	24	SS17	SS
194	Jorge Polanco	MIN	24	SS18	SS
195	Austin Barnes	LAD	28	C12	C, 2B
196	Arodys Vizcaino	ATL	27	RP17	RP
197	Mark Melancon	SF	33	RP18	RP
198	Scooter Gennett	CIN	27	2B22	2B
199	Carlos Gonzalez		32	OF55	OF
200	Kyle Schwarber	CHC	25	OF56	OF
201	Adam Duvall	CIN	29	OF57	OF
202	Bradley Zimmer	CLE	25	OF58	OF
203	Eric Thames	MIL	31	OF59	1B, OF
204	Kelvin Herrera		28	RP19	RP
205	Charlie Morton	HOU	34	SP52	SP
206	Orlando Arcia	MIL	23	SS19	SS
207	Greg Holland	COL	32	RP20	RP
208	Yasmani Grandal	LAD	29	C13	C
209	Yuli Gurriel	HOU	33	1B26	1B
210	Lewis Brinson	MIL	23	OF60	OF
211	Sean Doolittle	WAS	31	RP21	RP
212	Brad Brach	BAL	32	RP22	RP
213	Yonder Alonso	CLE	31	1B27	1B
214	Ervin Santana	MIN	25	SP53	SP
215	Anthony Swarzak	NYM	32	RP23	RP
216	Paul DeJong	STL	24	SS20	2B, SS
217	Joc Pederson	LAD	26	OF61	OF
218	Ryan Zimmerman	WAS	33	1B28	1B
219	Chris Davis	BAL	32	1B29	1B
220	David Peralta	ARI	30	OF62	OF
221	Dylan Bundy	BAL	25	SP54	SP
222	Collin McHugh	HOU	31	SP55	SP
223	Francisco Mejia	CLE	22	C14	C
224	Andrew Miller	CLE	32	RP24	RP
225	Zack Cozart	LAA	32	SS21	SS
226	Aaron Altherr	PHI	27	OF63	OF
227	Jimmy Nelson	MIL	28	SP56	SP
228	Blake Snell	TB	25	SP57	SP
229	Nick Williams	PHI	24	OF64	OF
230	Hunter Renfroe	SD	26	OF65	OF
231	Brandon Belt	SF	29	1B30	1B
232	Stephen Piscotty	OAK	27	OF66	OF
233	Ian Kinsler	LAA	35	2B24	2B
234	Tanner Roark	WAS	31	SP58	SP
235	Alex Cobb		30	SP59	SP
236	Willie Calhoun	TEX	23	OF67	OF
237	Welington Castillo	CHW	31	C15	C
238	Jameson Taillon	PIT	26	SP60	SP
239	Kyle Barraclough	MIA	28	RP25	RP
240	Avisail Garcia	CHW	26	OF68	OF
241	Jeurys Familia	NYM	28	RP26	RP
242	Dansby Swanson	ATL	24	SS22	SS
243	Jackie Bradley Jr.	BOS	27	OF69	OF
244	Eugenio Suarez	CIN	26	3B20	3B
245	Mike Clevinger	CLE	27	SP61	SP, RP
246	Aaron Sanchez	TOR	25	SP62	SP
247	Scott Schebler	CIN	27	OF70	OF
248	Austin Hedges	SD	25	C16	C
249	Matt Kemp	LAD	33	OF71	OF
250	Matt Chapman	OAK	24	3B21	3B
251	Tim Anderson	CHW	24	SS23	SS
252	David Robertson	NYY	32	RP27	RP
253	Dellin Betances	NYY	30	RP28	RP
254	Derek Fisher	HOU	24	OF72	OF
255	Jason Kipnis	CLE	30	2B25	2B
256	Travis d’Arnaud	NYM	29	C17	C
257	Amed Rosario	NYM	22	SS24	SS
258	Shin-Soo Choo	TEX	35	OF73	OF
259	Ryon Healy	OAK	26	3B22	1B, 3B
260	Alex Reyes	STL	23	SP63	SP
261	Patrick Corbin	ARI	28	SP64	SP
262	Eduardo Escobar	MIN	29	3B23	3B
263	Blake Parker	LAA	33	RP29	RP
264	Josh Harrison	PIT	30	2B26	2B, 3B
265	Tim Beckham	BAL	28	SS25	SS
266	Dexter Fowler	STL	32	OF74	OF
267	Mark Trumbo	BAL	32	OF75	OF
268	Eduardo Rodriguez	BOS	24	SP65	SP
269	Kevin Gausman	BAL	27	SP66	SP
270	Delino DeShields Jr.	TEX	25	OF76	OF
271	Kenta Maeda	LAD	29	SP67	SP
272	Luiz Gohara	ATL	21	SP68	SP
273	Cam Bedrosian	LAA	26	RP30	RP
274	Raimel Tapia	COL	24	OF77	OF
275	Matt Wieters	WAS	31	C18	C
276	Maikel Franco	PHI	25	3B25	3B
277	Keon Broxton	MIL	27	OF78	OF
278	Chris Owings	ARI	26	SS26	2B, SS, OF
279	Sean Manaea	OAK	26	SP69	SP
280	Dinelson Lamet	SD	25	SP70	SP
281	Nick Senzel	CIN	23	3B26	3B
282	Blake Treinen	OAK	29	RP31	RP
283	Yandy Diaz	CLE	26	3B27	3B
284	Jonathan Villar	MIL	26	2B28	2B
285	Rick Porcello	BOS	29	SP71	SP
286	Jordan Montgomery	NYY	25	SP72	SP
287	Hanley Ramirez	BOS	34	1B32	1B
288	Reynaldo Lopez	CHW	24	SP73	SP
289	Lucas Giolito	CHW	23	SP74	SP
290	Anthony Alford	TOR	23	OF80	OF
291	Tyler Chatwood	CHC	28	SP75	SP
292	Brent Honeywell	TB	23	SP76	SP
293	Zach Britton	BAL	30	RP32	RP
294	Scott Kingery	PHI	24	2B29	2B
295	Yasmany Tomas	ARI	27	OF81	OF
296	Michael Wacha	STL	26	SP77	SP
297	Willy Adames	TB	22	SS27	SS
298	Julio Teheran	ATL	27	SP78	SP
299	Carlos Rodon	CHW	25	SP79	SP
300	Zach Davies	MIL	25	SP80	SP

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