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By now, you have heard the news about Ryan Braun lying to everyone, even his teammates, and then accepting a plea bargain for a 65 game suspension, ending his 2013 season. Braun was a top 10, heck, he was a top 5-6 fantasy pick in most drafts this season, and now his season is over with him contributing a triple slash line of .298-.372-.498 with 9 HRs, 30 runs, 34 RBI and 4 stolen bases in just 61 games. Not what you expected on draft day.
Another top 10 outfielder at the beginning of the season, Matt Kemp, has been a huge disappointment for his owners this season, as he just landed on the DL for the third time yesterday. Kemp has played in just 62 games, hitting .263-.319-.382 with just 5 HRs, 30 runs, 27 RBI and 9 stolen bases in 9 attempts.
Braun and Kemp fall into the "bust" category for me for 2013, yet Kemp still has a chance to help his fantasy owners this season. Thinking ahead, I still like both Kemp and Braun in 2014 and see both of them being picked in the Top 20 overall. For those of you in keeper leagues and looking to rebuild, I would make a lowball offer for either of them right now.
There is no surprise as to who our #1 outfielder is for the rest of the season, yet I was the only one to rank him as my #2 outfielder, and I will give my reasons below.
Let's take a look at our Consensus Midseason Outfielder Rankings for the rest of the season:
Rank |
Name |
Ray |
Jason |
Zack |
Kevin |
Daniel |
Alex |
Dan S. |
Total |
1 |
Mike Trout |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
356 |
2 |
Carlos Gonzalez |
1 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
346 |
3 |
Chris Davis |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
344 |
4 |
Andrew McCutchen |
4 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
2 |
337 |
5 |
Adam Jones |
6 |
13 |
6 |
5 |
6 |
4 |
4 |
320 |
6 |
Bryce Harper |
5 |
4 |
9 |
6 |
7 |
11 |
6 |
316 |
7 |
Jose Bautista |
10 |
7 |
5 |
10 |
5 |
12 |
7 |
308 |
8 |
Allen Craig |
9 |
10 |
14 |
7 |
16 |
8 |
10 |
290 |
9 |
Jacoby Ellsbury |
22 |
14 |
10 |
11 |
8 |
7 |
9 |
283 |
10 |
Carlos Gomez |
15 |
9 |
8 |
14 |
11 |
6 |
23 |
278 |
11 |
Jay Bruce |
8 |
25 |
11 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
13 |
278 |
12 |
Shin-Soo Choo |
13 |
16 |
7 |
12 |
19 |
9 |
12 |
276 |
13 |
Giancarlo Stanton |
7 |
6 |
13 |
23 |
18 |
16 |
8 |
273 |
14 |
Justin Upton |
14 |
15 |
16 |
8 |
20 |
15 |
20 |
256 |
15 |
Alex Rios |
20 |
12 |
20 |
15 |
15 |
17 |
17 |
248 |
16 |
Carlos Beltran |
30 |
8 |
19 |
17 |
13 |
14 |
18 |
245 |
17 |
Yoenis Cespedes |
18 |
18 |
12 |
16 |
26 |
27 |
21 |
226 |
18 |
Starling Marte |
21 |
22 |
31 |
19 |
23 |
13 |
11 |
224 |
19 |
Nelson Cruz |
16 |
27 |
17 |
21 |
12 |
20 |
27 |
224 |
20 |
Matt Holliday |
25 |
17 |
23 |
26 |
9 |
22 |
19 |
223 |
21 |
Yasiel Puig |
19 |
11 |
29 |
13 |
25 |
25 |
28 |
214 |
22 |
Michael Cuddyer |
17 |
29 |
15 |
18 |
22 |
23 |
26 |
214 |
23 |
Desmond Jennings |
11 |
23 |
27 |
32 |
30 |
18 |
14 |
209 |
24 |
Alex Gordon |
24 |
19 |
21 |
31 |
17 |
24 |
24 |
204 |
25 |
Domonic Brown |
12 |
21 |
18 |
20 |
42 |
19 |
34 |
198 |
26 |
Hunter Pence |
31 |
24 |
22 |
24 |
21 |
29 |
30 |
183 |
27 |
Matt Kemp |
23 |
20 |
25 |
22 |
38 |
39 |
15 |
182 |
28 |
Mark Trumbo |
28 |
26 |
32 |
28 |
27 |
26 |
29 |
168 |
29 |
Matt Carpenter |
36 |
49 |
30 |
37 |
28 |
21 |
16 |
147 |
30 |
Dexter Fowler |
26 |
31 |
24 |
33 |
34 |
33 |
38 |
145 |
31 |
Jason Heyward |
43 |
28 |
26 |
41 |
31 |
31 |
22 |
142 |
32 |
Nick Markakis |
35 |
35 |
28 |
35 |
33 |
40 |
31 |
127 |
33 |
Alejandro De Aza |
37 |
30 |
36 |
25 |
44 |
30 |
46 |
116 |
34 |
Ben Zobrist |
33 |
45 |
34 |
42 |
32 |
32 |
33 |
113 |
35 |
Austin Jackson |
27 |
35 |
36 |
28 |
25 |
107 |
||
36 |
Josh Hamilton |
32 |
46 |
41 |
30 |
35 |
47 |
35 |
98 |
37 |
Wil Myers |
34 |
32 |
45 |
27 |
49 |
45 |
40 |
92 |
38 |
Michael Bourn |
44 |
37 |
34 |
24 |
50 |
32 |
90 |
|
39 |
Norichika Aoki |
45 |
37 |
39 |
44 |
36 |
46 |
39 |
78 |
40 |
Alfonso Soriano |
40 |
41 |
44 |
39 |
50 |
36 |
43 |
71 |
41 |
Coco Crisp |
38 |
33 |
41 |
41 |
36 |
69 |
||
42 |
Brett Gardner |
34 |
40 |
39 |
37 |
50 |
58 |
||
43 |
Nate McLouth |
41 |
33 |
49 |
43 |
34 |
58 |
||
44 |
Torii Hunter |
47 |
39 |
42 |
38 |
43 |
44 |
58 |
|
45 |
Jayson Werth |
29 |
43 |
43 |
46 |
45 |
52 |
||
46 |
Carl Crawford |
39 |
48 |
47 |
37 |
47 |
40 |
||
47 |
Gerardo Parra |
42 |
50 |
29 |
31 |
||||
48 |
Shane Victorino |
43 |
49 |
48 |
37 |
28 |
|||
49 |
Adam Eaton |
38 |
46 |
42 |
26 |
||||
50 |
Curtis Granderson |
29 |
47 |
23 |
Carlos Gonzalez, COL
I was the only writer to rank CarGo ahead of Angels outfielder Mike Trout in our consensus rankings, and here is why. First, let's take a look at their season stats:
Trout: 97 games, 16 HRs, 67 runs, 61 RBI, 22 SBs, .324-.402-.563
Gonzalez: 96 games, 26 HRs, 71 runs 67 RBI, 19 SBs, .298-.368-.602
My gosh these two are so close in every category but batting average. Crazy. I leaned Gonzalez since he plays his home games in Colorado. I guess it makes it even more amazing that Trout has put up similar stats in a pitchers park, when compared to Gonzalez playing in a hitter's haven.
Michael Bourn, CLE
While I am talking about busts, Bourn isn't exactly a bust this season, but I will say he has been very disappointing. You drafted him for his ability to dominate one category, stolen bases, and he has stolen just 13 bases in 20 attempts. Pretty sad, especially since he has never stolen less than 41 bases since becoming an every day player back in 2008.
Carlos Gomez, MIL
Gomez had a breakout season in 2012, hitting 19 HRs and stealing 37 bases in 137 games. Last offseason, there were many words written on how his 2012 season was a fluke. There was probably just as many words written saying that Gomez is for real, and will repeat his 2012 breakout in 2013. Well, the latter group has been right about Gomez, as he is having an excellent follow up season. In 92 games thus far, he has 15 HRs and 21 stolen bases, so it appears he will exceed his 2012 home run total, but will probably fall short in duplicating the 37 stolen bases. For your WAR-friendly owners out there, his 4.7 WAR at this point ranks 7th in all of baseball. He's pretty damn good.
Domonic Brown, PHI
Here is a guy I have been rooting for ever since the Phillies screwed with him by allowing him to sit on their major league bench a few years ago. This offseason, Brown worked with Phillies assistant hitting coach Wally Joyner on his hitting mechanics and they have paid off handsomely. Brown is the poster boy for buying the guy who had a strong spring training, so don't always buy the old saying "spring training stats don't count". They counted for Brown and he made the All Star team in his first full season in the big leagues.
Desmond Jennings, TB
I wrote about Jennings in a recent Roto Roundup, and think he will have an excellent second half for his owners this season. I was the highest on Jennings of the seven writers who participated in the rankings project, as I think Jennings has finally figured things out at the plate. He is hitting for more power and making more zone contact this season. He is on pace for a career high 17 HRs, and a slightly disappointing 25 stolen bases thus far. With the exception of stolen bases, his numbers are up across the board, or are on pace to be up, He is just entering his peak years, so those of you in keeper leagues, should hold onto to him. There is a small chance he turns into a 20 HR-30+ stolen base guy over the next year or two.
In case you missed our Midseason Fantasy Position Rankings, here are links to each of our rankings published thus far. Our Consensus Starting Pitcher rankings will publish on Friday.