OT (kindof): 2012 Fantasy Baseball Rankings

absolutely ranks over Freeman. There are major ranges in the amount of time that Howard will miss, and the surprising lack of true depth at 1B would weigh a guy who will start the season fairly heavy for me.

For me, Freese is on the overrated list not because I don’t think he’ll perform when he’s healthy. The issue is tremendously based on the popularity that he will get after his postseason heroics, but he’s a player whose only consistent statistic thus far in his MLB career is his significant DL days. You’re going to have to pay a top 10 price to get Freese this year, and I just don’t see him paying that back.

A healthy Howard absolutely ranks over Freeman. There are major ranges in the amount of time that Howard will miss, and the surprising lack of true depth at 1B would weigh a guy who will start the season fairly heavy for me.

For me, Freese is on the overrated list not because I don’t think he’ll perform when he’s healthy. The issue is tremendously based on the popularity that he will get after his postseason heroics, but he’s a player whose only consistent statistic thus far in his MLB career is his significant DL days. You’re going to have to pay a top 10 price to get Freese this year, and I just don’t see him paying that back.

After 21, the outfielders are kind of a jumbled mess. Guys like Beltran, Hunter, Morrison, Markakis, Hunter, Ethier, Melky, Gardner, Werth, Crisp, Prado, Willingham, Heyward, Austin Jackson, etc. all could easily be a top 25 player. I went for upside toward the end of that list.

I understand the reasoning, but McCann has been a top 5 every catcher for each season. There’s inconsistent performance that Napoli brings (a .264 career hitter that hit .320 last season) that I don’t want to overpay for, and Santana has only one season at the major league level that also provided wildly inconsistent. I understand that McCann had a rough last two months of 2011, but his long range track record says solid BA, excellent power, and very good run/RBI production. I really like 1-3 all very close at catcher, but I chose consistency over risk there.

I try not to overrate Braves, but I LOVE Beachy.

Wieters was a top-5 fantasy catcher, depending on your format, in 2011. He made big moves forward in 2011. Of qualified catchers in 2011, he ranked 6th in batting average, 3rd in runs, 5th in home runs, and 8th in RBI. In fact, his 2011 is very, very similar to McCann’s.

Posey before his injury was showing a major sophomore slump in some eyes, but in many’s eyes, he was playing back to where his more expected level was. His 2010 numbers were odd to most projection folks in that no one had Posey as a 25 homer player. 15ish with solid average, absolutely. His production to start 2011 showed a much worse plate discipline and power that would put him more in that 12-16 homer power range than 25. Posey’s 2010 was driven primarily by two tremendously hot months. Anyone remember Jeff Francoeur? I was lower on Posey than most last year for that same reason. If I’m wrong, I’ll correct that in the future, but for now I would hesitate moving Posey up any.

Wieters was a top-5 fantasy catcher, depending on your format, in 2011. He made big moves forward in 2011. Of qualified catchers in 2011, he ranked 6th in batting average, 3rd in runs, 5th in home runs, and 8th in RBI. In fact, his 2011 is very, very similar to McCann’s.

Posey before his injury was showing a major sophomore slump in some eyes, but in many’s eyes, he was playing back to where his more expected level was. His 2010 numbers were odd to most projection folks in that no one had Posey as a 25 homer player. 15ish with solid average, absolutely. His production to start 2011 showed a much worse plate discipline and power that would put him more in that 12-16 homer power range than 25. Posey’s 2010 was driven primarily by two tremendously hot months. Anyone remember Jeff Francoeur? I was lower on Posey than most last year for that same reason. If I’m wrong, I’ll correct that in the future, but for now I would hesitate moving Posey up any.