2016 Fantasy Baseball Rankings

Fantasy Baseball: Top 100 Hitter Rankings for 2016

Ray updates his top 100 hitters for 2016, where Mike Trout is not the #1 hitter in the game anymore.

By Ray Guilfoyle@faketeams Dec 1, 2015, 7:00am EST

I posted an early Top 100 hitters for 2016 way back in mid-July during the All Star break, so this is my first take on my top 100 hitters in the offseason. The name I have at the top of my rankings may surprise some of you, but for me he is a five category hitter capable of hitting .300+, hitting 40 home runs and stealing 20 bases. Angels outfielder Mike Trout isn't running anymore, focusing more on hitting for power and staying healthy. Nationals outfielder and National League MVP Bryce Harper doesn't run either, so I am more comfortable with Goldschmidt at the top spot.

My #4 ranked hitter is the young Orioles third baseman Manny Machado who had a breakout season in 2015, hitting 35 home runs, scoring over 100 runs, driving in 86 and stealing 20 bases while hitting .286. Keep in mind he is only three months older than Harper, so two of my top four hitters are 23 years of age, Trout is just 24, while Goldschmidt is 28.

The rest of my top 10 includes Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson, who won the American League MVP after hitting .297 with 41 home runs and scoring and driving in over 120 runs. Whether he can repeat that kind of production in 2016 is the question for fantasy owners, but he should be good for at least 30 home runs and 90-100 runs scored and RBI.

Two Astros are ranked in my top 10: outfielder George Springer at #7 and shortstop Carlos Correa at #10. Both are capable of putting up 25 home runs and stealing 20 bases in 2016, with a chance at a 30-30 season as well. Springer showed some growth at the plate in 2015, lowering his strikeout rate while maintaining his double digit walk rate. If he can stay healthy this season, I think 2016 can be his breakout season. Correa already showed us what he can do at the plate and all that is stopping him from being the #1 fantasy pick in 2017 is whether he goes through a sophomore jinx and has trouble making adjustments to major league pitching.

It seems strange to see Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera outside of the top 10, but age and injuries have impacted his power production at the plate. While he is still a solid choice to hit .320+, the question for owners is if he can return to being a 30+ home run hitter or not.

Another hitter who is a stranger to being outside the top 10 is Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton. In just 74 games last season, Stanton hit 27 home runs and drove in 67, but for the fourth time in his six seasons, he failed to play more than 123 games. When healthy, he is the best power hitter in the game, but he is a health risk on draft day.

Looking further down my top 100 rankings, you can see I am high on Twins designated hitter/outfielder Miguel Sano, Rockies outfielders Charlie Blackmon and Corey Dickerson, Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts, Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco, and Padres outfielder Matt Kemp.

Am I too high on any of these hitters? Who am I too low on? Let's hear it in the comments section, and provide support and reasoning if you disagree. We can all learn from each other.

Top 100 Hitter Rankings for 2016

Rank	Name	Pos	G	PA	HR	R	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA	wRC+	WAR
1	Paul Goldschmidt	1B1	159	695	33	103	110	21	0.321	0.435	0.570	0.418	164	7.4
2	Bryce Harper	OF2	153	654	42	118	99	6	0.330	0.460	0.649	0.461	197	9.5
3	Mike Trout	OF1	159	682	41	104	90	11	0.299	0.402	0.590	0.415	172	9
4	Manny Machado	3B1	162	713	35	102	86	20	0.286	0.359	0.502	0.370	134	6.8
5	Josh Donaldson	3B2	158	711	41	122	123	6	0.297	0.371	0.568	0.398	154	8.7
6	Anthony Rizzo	1B2	160	701	31	94	101	17	0.278	0.387	0.512	0.384	145	5.5
7	George Springer	OF3	102	451	16	59	41	16	0.276	0.367	0.459	0.360	129	3.7
8	Andrew McCutchen	OF4	157	685	23	91	96	11	0.292	0.401	0.488	0.380	146	5.8
9	Nolan Arenado	3B3	157	665	42	97	130	2	0.287	0.323	0.575	0.371	119	4.5
10	Carlos Correa	SS1	99	432	22	52	68	14	0.279	0.345	0.512	0.365	133	3.3
11	Joey Votto	1B5	158	695	29	95	80	11	0.314	0.459	0.541	0.427	172	7.4
12	Miguel Cabrera	1B3	119	511	18	64	76	1	0.338	0.440	0.534	0.413	165	4.3
13	Giancarlo Stanton	OF5	74	318	27	47	67	4	0.265	0.346	0.606	0.394	152	3.8
14	Jose Bautista	OF6	153	666	40	108	114	8	0.250	0.377	0.536	0.389	147	4.5
15	Edwin Encarnacion	1B4	146	624	39	94	111	3	0.277	0.372	0.557	0.392	150	4.5
16	Starling Marte	OF7	153	633	19	84	81	30	0.287	0.337	0.444	0.337	117	3.6
17	Mookie Betts	OF8	145	654	18	92	77	21	0.291	0.341	0.479	0.351	119	4.8
18	Charlie Blackmon	OF9	157	682	17	93	58	43	0.287	0.347	0.450	0.345	101	2.1
19	Buster Posey	C1	150	623	19	74	95	2	0.318	0.379	0.470	0.363	138	5.7
20	A.J. Pollock	OF10	157	673	20	111	76	39	0.315	0.367	0.498	0.371	132	6.6
21	Chris Davis	1B6	160	670	47	100	117	2	0.262	0.361	0.562	0.390	147	5.6
22	Nelson Cruz	OF11	152	655	44	90	93	3	0.302	0.369	0.566	0.396	158	4.8
23	J.D. Martinez	OF12	158	657	38	93	102	3	0.282	0.344	0.535	0.372	137	5
24	Troy Tulowitzki	SS2	128	534	17	77	70	1	0.280	0.337	0.440	0.335	100	2.3
25	Brian Dozier	2B1	157	704	28	101	77	12	0.236	0.307	0.444	0.323	103	3.4
26	Yoenis Cespedes	OF13	159	676	35	101	105	7	0.291	0.328	0.542	0.367	135	6.7
27	Jose Abreu	1B7	154	668	30	88	101	0	0.290	0.347	0.502	0.361	129	3
28	Carlos Gomez	OF14	115	477	12	61	56	17	0.255	0.314	0.409	0.315	96	2.6
29	Miguel Sano	DH1	80	335	18	46	52	1	0.269	0.385	0.530	0.392	151	2
30	Lorenzo Cain	OF15	140	604	16	101	72	28	0.307	0.361	0.477	0.360	129	6.6
31	Kris Bryant	3B4	151	650	26	87	99	13	0.275	0.369	0.488	0.371	136	6.5
32	Todd Frazier	3B5	157	678	35	82	89	13	0.255	0.309	0.498	0.342	114	4.4
33	Jose Altuve	2B3	154	689	15	86	66	38	0.313	0.353	0.459	0.347	120	4.3
34	Dee Gordon	2B2	145	653	4	88	46	58	0.333	0.359	0.418	0.337	113	4.6
35	Justin Upton	OF16	150	620	26	85	81	19	0.251	0.336	0.454	0.340	120	3.6
36	Adam Jones	OF17	137	581	27	74	82	3	0.269	0.308	0.474	0.334	109	3.6
37	Corey Dickerson	OF18	65	234	10	30	31	0	0.304	0.333	0.536	0.371	119	0.5
38	Freddie Freeman	1B8	118	481	18	62	66	3	0.276	0.370	0.471	0.364	133	3.4
39	Matt Kemp	OF19	154	648	23	80	100	12	0.265	0.312	0.443	0.325	109	0.4
40	Ian Desmond	SS3	156	641	19	69	62	13	0.233	0.290	0.384	0.294	83	1.7
41	Prince Fielder	DH2	158	693	23	78	98	0	0.305	0.378	0.463	0.360	124	1.6
42	Anthony Rendon	2B4	80	355	5	43	25	1	0.264	0.344	0.363	0.315	97	0.9
43	Ryan Braun	OF20	140	568	25	87	84	24	0.285	0.356	0.498	0.366	129	2.8
44	Ian Kinsler	2B7	154	675	11	94	73	10	0.296	0.342	0.428	0.335	111	4.2
45	Maikel Franco	3B6	80	335	14	45	50	1	0.280	0.343	0.497	0.360	128	1.5
46	Carlos Gonzalez	OF21	153	608	40	87	97	2	0.271	0.325	0.540	0.364	114	2.4
47	Jason Heyward	OF22	154	610	13	79	60	23	0.293	0.359	0.439	0.346	121	6
48	Adrian Gonzalez	1B10	156	643	28	76	90	0	0.275	0.350	0.480	0.354	129	3
49	David Ortiz	DH3	146	614	37	73	108	0	0.273	0.360	0.553	0.379	138	2.8
50	Albert Pujols	1B9	157	661	40	85	95	5	0.244	0.307	0.480	0.333	116	2
51	Kyle Seager	3B7	161	686	26	85	74	6	0.266	0.328	0.451	0.335	116	3.9
52	Evan Longoria	3B8	160	670	21	74	73	3	0.270	0.328	0.435	0.327	110	4.2
53	Jason Kipnis	2B6	141	641	9	86	52	12	0.303	0.372	0.451	0.355	126	5.2
54	Matt Carpenter	3B9	154	665	28	101	84	4	0.272	0.365	0.505	0.372	139	5.2
55	Corey Seager	SS4	27	113	4	17	17	2	0.337	0.425	0.561	0.421	175	1.5
56	Hanley Ramirez	OF23	105	430	19	59	53	6	0.249	0.291	0.426	0.308	89	-1.8
57	Adrian Beltre	3B10	143	619	18	83	83	1	0.287	0.334	0.453	0.337	108	4.6
58	Brett Gardner	OF24	151	656	16	94	66	20	0.259	0.343	0.399	0.327	105	2.6
59	Hunter Pence	OF25	52	223	9	30	40	4	0.275	0.327	0.478	0.347	127	1.6
60	Robinson Cano	2B5	156	674	21	82	79	2	0.287	0.334	0.446	0.335	116	2.1
61	Eric Hosmer	1B11	158	667	18	98	93	7	0.297	0.363	0.459	0.355	125	3.5
62	Yasiel Puig	OF26	79	311	11	30	38	3	0.255	0.322	0.436	0.328	111	1.5
63	Xander Bogaerts	SS5	156	654	7	84	81	10	0.320	0.355	0.421	0.338	109	4.3
64	Jonathan Lucroy	C2	103	415	7	51	43	1	0.264	0.326	0.391	0.313	93	1.1
65	Curtis Granderson	OF27	157	682	26	98	70	11	0.259	0.364	0.457	0.357	132	5.1
66	Gregory Polanco	OF28	153	652	9	83	52	27	0.256	0.320	0.381	0.304	94	2.3
67	Brandon Crawford	SS6	143	561	21	65	84	6	0.256	0.321	0.462	0.332	117	4.7
68	Brandon Belt	1B12	137	556	18	73	68	9	0.280	0.356	0.478	0.359	135	4.3
69	Mike Moustakas	3B11	147	614	22	73	82	1	0.284	0.348	0.470	0.353	124	3.8
70	Jacoby Ellsbury	OF29	111	501	7	66	33	21	0.257	0.318	0.345	0.294	83	0.9
71	Lucas Duda	1B13	135	554	27	67	73	0	0.244	0.352	0.486	0.359	133	3.1
72	Brian McCann	C3	135	535	26	68	94	0	0.232	0.320	0.437	0.327	105	2.9
73	Jorge Soler	OF30	101	404	10	39	47	3	0.262	0.324	0.399	0.312	96	0.1
74	Kyle Schwarber	C4	69	273	16	52	43	3	0.246	0.355	0.487	0.364	131	1.9
75	Michael Conforto	OF31	56	194	9	30	26	0	0.270	0.335	0.506	0.359	134	2.1
76	Christian Yelich	OF32	126	525	7	63	44	16	0.300	0.366	0.416	0.343	117	2.3
77	Shin-Soo Choo	OF33	149	653	22	94	82	4	0.276	0.375	0.463	0.365	127	3.5
78	Kole Calhoun	OF34	159	686	26	78	83	4	0.256	0.308	0.422	0.317	105	3.8
79	Russell Martin	C5	129	507	23	76	77	4	0.240	0.329	0.458	0.340	114	3.5
80	Dexter Fowler	OF35	156	690	17	102	46	20	0.250	0.346	0.411	0.333	110	3.2
81	Khris Davis	OF36	121	440	27	54	66	6	0.247	0.323	0.505	0.353	121	1.3
82	Dustin Pedroia	2B8	93	425	12	46	42	2	0.291	0.356	0.441	0.347	116	2.5
83	Michael Taylor	OF37	138	511	14	49	63	16	0.229	0.282	0.358	0.274	69	1
84	Carlos Santana	1B14	154	666	19	72	85	11	0.231	0.357	0.395	0.331	110	2.4
85	Kolten Wong	2B9	150	613	11	71	61	15	0.262	0.321	0.386	0.310	96	2.3
86	Kendrys Morales	DH4	158	639	22	81	106	0	0.290	0.362	0.485	0.364	131	2.1
87	Francisco Lindor	SS7	99	438	12	50	51	12	0.313	0.353	0.482	0.358	128	4.6
88	Jung-ho Kang	SS8	126	467	15	60	58	5	0.287	0.355	0.461	0.356	130	3.9
89	Michael Brantley	OF38	137	596	15	68	84	15	0.310	0.379	0.480	0.368	135	3.8
90	Justin Turner	3B12	126	439	16	55	60	5	0.294	0.370	0.491	0.371	141	4
91	Alex Rodriguez	DH5	151	620	33	83	86	4	0.250	0.356	0.486	0.361	129	2.7
92	Stephen Piscotty	OF39	63	256	7	29	39	2	0.305	0.359	0.494	0.364	133	1.1
93	Ben Zobrist	OF40	126	535	13	76	56	3	0.276	0.359	0.450	0.349	123	2.1
94	Brandon Phillips	2B10	148	623	12	69	70	23	0.294	0.328	0.395	0.315	96	2.6
95	Devin Mesoraco	C6	23	51	0	2	2	1	0.178	0.275	0.244	0.241	45	-0.2
96	Joc Pederson	OF41	151	585	26	67	54	4	0.210	0.346	0.417	0.335	115	2.8
97	David Wright	3B13	38	174	5	24	17	2	0.289	0.379	0.434	0.359	133	0.9
98	Billy Hamilton	OF42	114	454	4	56	28	57	0.226	0.274	0.289	0.251	52	1.9
99	Neil Walker	2B11	151	603	16	69	71	4	0.269	0.328	0.427	0.325	108	2.4
100	David Peralta	OF43	149	517	17	61	78	9	0.312	0.371	0.522	0.380	138	3.7

Fantasy Rundown

If you are looking for more fantasy baseball or football coverage, look no further than Fantasy Rundown, which provides links to all of the best fantasy content on the internet.

Fantasy Baseball: Top 100 Hitter Rankings for 2016

Share this story

Share All sharing options for: Fantasy Baseball: Top 100 Hitter Rankings for 2016

Top 100 Hitter Rankings for 2016

Fantasy Rundown

Share this story

All sharing options for: Fantasy Baseball: Top 100 Hitter Rankings for 2016