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I am definitely glad that we got the Ryan Braun news yesterday instead of today. I have to say I am very shocked that his proposed suspension was overturned, but we are not here to discuss that. We are here to discuss my updated outfielder rankings, and now that we know Braun won't be suspended, he will be my #2 overall outfielder behind Matt Kemp. I am not sure how anyone can rank Jose Bautista ahead of these two hitters, unless you are in a league that places an emphasis on OBP. Actually, I might be lower on Bautista than some others, but my reasons are after the jump.
Onto my 2012 Top 100 Outfielder Rankings
1. Matt Kemp , LAD
2. Ryan Braun, MIL
3. Justin Upton, ARI
4. Carlos Gonzalez, COL
5. Curtis Granderson, NYY
6. Mike Stanton, MIA
7. Jacoby Ellsbury, BOS
8. Jose Bautista, TOR
9. Andrew McCutchen, PIT
10. Jay Bruce, CIN
The rest of my 2012 Top 100 Outfielder Rankings after the jump:
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12. Alex Gordon, KC
13. B.J. Upton, TB
14. Matt Holliday, STL
15. Hunter Pence, PHI
16. Adam Jones, BAL
17. Carl Crawford, BOS
18. Desmond Jennings, TB
19. Michael Morse, WAS
20. Ben Zobrist, TB
21. Shin-Soo Choo, CLE
22. Nelson Cruz, TEX
23. Jason Heyward, ATL
24. Andre Ethier, LAD
25. Shane Victorino, PHI
25.a. Nick Markakis, BAL
26. Corey Hart, MIL
27. Chris Young, ARI
28. Lance Berkman, STL
29. Michael Bourn, ATL
30. Jayson Werth, WAS
31. Drew Stubbs, CIN
32. Brett Gardner, NYY
33. Carlos Beltran, STL
34. Ichiro Suzuki, SEA
35. Nick Swisher, NYY
36. Torii Hunter, LAA
37. Howie Kendrick, LAA
38. Logan Morrison, MIA
39. Jeff Franceour, KC
40. Colby Rasmus, TOR
41. Peter Bourjos, LAA
42. Carlos Lee, HOUS
43. Dexter Fowler, COL
44, Matt Joyce, TB
45. Coco Crisp, OAK
46. Michael Cuddyer, COL
47. Cameron Maybin, SD
48. Lucas Duda, NYM
49. Alex Rios, CHW
50. Yonder Alonso, SD
51. Josh Willingham, MIN
52. Jose Tabata, PIT
53. Denard Span, MIN
54. Seth Smith, OAK
55. Jason Bay, NYM
56. Chris Heisey, CIN
57. Jason Kubel, ARI
58. Austin Jackson, DET
59. Michael Brantley, CLE
60. Martin Prado, ATL
61. Carlos Quentin, SD
62. J.D. Martinez, HOU
63. Lorenzo Cain, KC
64. Delmon Young, DET
65. Nolan Reimold, BAL
66. Brennan Broesch, DET
67. Emilio Bonafacio, MIA
68. Alfonso Soriano, CHC
69. Eric Thames, TOR
70. David DeJesus, CHC
71. Bryce Harper, WAS
72. Mike Trout, LAA
73. Yoenis Cespedes, OAK
74. Ben Revere, MIN
75. Dayan Viciedo, CHW
76. Alex Presley, PIT
77. Jerry Sands, LAD
78. Mike Carp, SEA
79. Mitch Moreland, TEX
80. Grady Sizemore, CLE
81. David Murphy, TEX
82. Allen Craig, STL
83. Marlon Byrd, CHC
84. John Mayberry, PHI
85. Melky Cabrera, SFG
86. Josh Reddick, OAK
87. Alejandro de Aza, CHW
88. Angel Pagan, SFG
89. Brandon Belt, SFG
90. Bobby Abreu, LAA
91. Garret Jones, PIT
92. Vernon Wells, LAA
93. Rajai Davis, TOR
94. Gerardo Parra, ARI
95. Andres Torres, NYM
96. John Jay, STL
97. Jordan Schafer, HOU
98. Luke Scott, TB
99. Ryan Raburn, DET
100. Nyjer Morgan, MIL
I decided to drop Jose Bautista because I think his power may drop slightly this season and his BA will drop well below .300. He will still hit plenty of home runs, just not as many as Mike Stanton. Stanton could lead all of MLB in home runs this year, and I think he can go 40+ this season. Yes, he will hit more fly balls and more of them will leave the new Marlins Stadium with the normal size left field wall.
Matt Kemp and Ryan Braun are the top two outfielders, and I think they should be the top 2 overall picks in fantasy drafts this season.
I moved Jay Bruce up to 10th as he is primed to follow up his 32 HR and 97 RBI 2011 season with another 30+ HR season and could breach the 100 RBI level as well. He lost some weight this offseason, so we could see him run a bit more this season as well.
The National League has 7 of the top 10 outfielders, and the top 4 overall, as Carlos Gonzalez and Justin Upton are better all around hitters than Curtis Granderson, and should hit for a better BA than Granderson as well.
Some of outfielders who moved up my rankings slightly include Andre Ethier, Michael Morse, and Shin-Soo Choo, as Choo and Ethier are set up for solid bounce back seasons, and I think Morse will come close to duplicating his 2011 breakout season in 2012.
I am starting to believe in Dexter Fowler after being down on him for several years. His second half last year was pretty impressive, and it appears he has worked his tail off this offseason to add some muscle, which could result in a few more homers.
Speaking of working his tail off, did anyone see the ESPN video of Matt Kemp working out. The man is driven to prove the BBWWA writers were wrong for voting for Ryan Braun for the NL MVP last season. He won't go 50-50 but could he approach 40-40 again. Sure. And, he is batting third this season, most likely ahead of Andre Ethier.
Is it me, or is outfield thinner than usual this season? After the top 40 or so, there are lots of question marks and one category hitters.