Fantasy Baseball 2012: Early Top 50 Outfielder Rankings

by Ray Guilfoyle on Nov 28, 2011 7:00 AM EST in 2012 Fantasy Baseball Position Rankings

LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 21: Matt Kemp #27 of the Los Angeles Dodgers watches his three run homerun during the fifth inning to trail 5-4 to the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium on September 21, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Fake Teams early look at the 2012 fantasy rankings continues today with the Top 50 Outfielders. Make sure you check out our previous early 2012 position rankings along with the profiles for each player ranked:

Catcher: Initial, In-Depth with Profiles

First Base: Initial, In-Depth with Profiles

Second Base: Initial, In-Depth with Profiles

Third Base: Initial, In-Depth with Profiles

Shortstop: Initial, In-Depth with Profiles

Other than the top 14-15 outfielders in my rankings, most of the outfielders listed have a question mark that fantasy owners must answer on draft day. You can tell from my rankings that I lean toward guys like Chris Young, Ben Zobrist, and Shane Victorino, that can hit for some power and steal bases. I am probably lower on Andre Ethier than others, but he disappointed last year as his power has dropped in each of the last two seasons, and I don't see him being a mid-20's type home run hitter.

I will profile each of the Top 50 over the next two days, with 1 - 25 coming tomorrow and 26 - 50 coming on Wednesday.

Here are my early 2012 rankings for the Top 50 outfielders for fantasy baseball:

1. Matt Kemp, LAD

2. Ryan Braun, MIL

3. Justin Upton, ARI

4. Jose Bautista, TOR

5. Carlos Gonzalez, COL

6. Curtis Granderson, NYY

7. Andrew McCutchen, PIT

8. Jacoby Ellsbury, BOS

9. Carl Crawford, BOS

10. Alex Gordon, KC

The rest of my Top 50 Fantasy Outfielders for 2012 after the jump:

11. Mike Stanton, FLA

12. Jay Bruce, CIN

13. Josh Hamilton, TEX

14. Ben Zobrist, TB

15. Matt Holliday, STL

16. Hunter Pence, PHI

17. Shane Victorino, PHI

18. Shin-Soo Choo, CLE

19. B.J. Upton, TB

20. Desmond Jennings, TB

21. Chris Young, ARI

22. Nelson Cruz, TEX

23. Corey Hart, MIL

24. Michael Morse, WAS

25. Jason Heyward, ATL

26. Adam Jones, BAL

27. MIchael Bourn, ATL

28. Brett Gardner, NYY

29. Carlos Beltran, ?

30. Lance Berkman, STL

31. Ichiro Suzuki, SEA

32. Coco Crisp, ?

33. Jayson Werth, WAS

34. Nick Swisher, NYY

35. Logan Morrison, FLA

36. Howie Kendrick, LAA

37. Drew Stubbs, CIN

38. Andre Ethier, LAD

39. Matt Joyce, TB

40. Jeff Francoeur, KC

41. Michael Cuddyer, ?

42. Carlos Lee, HOU

43. Lucas Duda, NYM

44. Cameron Maybin, SD

45. Jason Bay, NYM

46. Peter Bourjos, LAA

47. Torii Hunter, LAA

48. Colby Rasmus, TOR

49. Jose Tabata, PIT

50. Yonder Alonso, CIN

Poll

Which 2011 bust will have the better bounce back season in 2012?

Carl Crawford

112 votes

Shin-Soo Choo

47 votes

Jason Heyward

77 votes

Jayson Werth

14 votes

250 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 13 comments | 0 recs |

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Comments

does anyone agree/disagree

on the ranking for Alex Gordon? Andre Ethier?

Let’s hear your thoughts.

Ray Guilfoyle
www.faketeams.com
www.minorleagueball.com
www.mlbdailydish.com

by Ray Guilfoyle on Nov 28, 2011 12:42 PM EST reply actions

Wow McCutch over Ellsbury?
Reasoning ?

Alex Bunbury = good. Teal Bunbury = a colour

by Lesean25 on Nov 28, 2011 2:22 PM EST reply actions

Ellsbury

I address this in my profiles to be published tomorrow morning, but don’t see Ellsbury as a 30 HR hitter going forward. I see McCutchen improving on his 2011 season.

Ray Guilfoyle
www.faketeams.com
www.minorleagueball.com
www.mlbdailydish.com

by Ray Guilfoyle on Nov 28, 2011 2:48 PM EST up reply actions

I am positively STUNNED

that you put Kemp at #1. Flabbergasted.

by pooptallica on Nov 28, 2011 3:58 PM EST reply actions

ha!!

I figured I would surprise everyone.

Ray Guilfoyle
www.faketeams.com
www.minorleagueball.com
www.mlbdailydish.com

by Ray Guilfoyle on Nov 28, 2011 4:25 PM EST up reply actions

Seriously, though

Too high for my taste: McCutchen, Gordon, Bruce, C. Young, Logan Morrison, Coco Crisp, Lucas Duda

Too low: Ethier, Berkman, Stanton

Overall pretty close to my thoughts, a couple of risks, it’s funny how quickly Dodgers fans turned on Ethier.

by pooptallica on Nov 28, 2011 4:04 PM EST reply actions

Ethier

yeah…..he’s turned into a high BA, mid-teens HR hitter in my eyes…..
Low on Stanton? Where would you rank him? 8?

I think Berkman had a fluke season….don’t see him doing that again. Wonder if he started hanging out with McGwire actually.

Ray Guilfoyle
www.faketeams.com
www.minorleagueball.com
www.mlbdailydish.com

by Ray Guilfoyle on Nov 28, 2011 4:28 PM EST up reply actions

Stanton

I would probably switch him and McCutchen. Then put Ellsbury ahead of him. ;) Not a crazy-low ranking, mostly I just wouldn’t put McCutchen ahead of him.

Berkman I think is very happy to be on a contending team in a productive environment. He was a high-quality hitter for years before, I think he has a few left in him. And McGwire, for all his steroid-mutated (sorry, ANDRO-mutated) freakishness, actually does know how to put a bat on a ball. Certainly didn’t hurt Berkman to be around him. Not going to speculate on chemical enhancement.

by pooptallica on Nov 28, 2011 5:15 PM EST up reply actions

McCutchen

I just see him hitting for a higher BA with similar power and more steals in 2012.
Love Stanton though….could hit 40+ next year. If former manager Jack McKeon is right, he could steal more than many people project. McKeon said he could be a 30-30 guy. Hopefully he didn’t mean 30 HRs and 30 walks!!

Ray Guilfoyle
www.faketeams.com
www.minorleagueball.com
www.mlbdailydish.com

by Ray Guilfoyle on Nov 28, 2011 5:44 PM EST up reply actions

Gordon

Pretty surprised to see him so high. He had a nice consistant year last year, but it was his first year playing at that level.

by highheat on Nov 28, 2011 8:27 PM EST via mobile reply actions

true

and I wavered back and forth on the ranking, but like the power speed combo. I took a bit of a risk with the ranking, but was not comfortable ranking someone like Hamilton in the top 10 due to the injury risk. I thought about Stanton, but decided to stick with Gordon there.

Ray Guilfoyle
www.faketeams.com
www.minorleagueball.com
www.mlbdailydish.com

by Ray Guilfoyle on Nov 28, 2011 10:30 PM EST up reply actions

Kakis love

really surprised not to see Markakis in the top 50, I figured him for top 30. I have found the 25-50 rankings are hard for me to solidify the exact order of preference though, looking forward to the indepth profiles for additional insight.

by jazzyjeff42 on Nov 28, 2011 10:02 PM EST reply actions

great point

as I was writing the profiles, I actually changed some of the rankings from 15 through 50, and made changes as late as last night. I originally had Matt Holliday ranked lower, but decided his missed time was the reason for his down year.
I agree that the guys ranked from 25-50 could be rearranged and I would not argue.

Ray Guilfoyle
www.faketeams.com
www.minorleagueball.com
www.mlbdailydish.com

by Ray Guilfoyle on Nov 28, 2011 10:34 PM EST up reply actions