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Early 2016 Top 100 Hitter Rankings: 1 - 50

It's early, but let's take a look ahead to the top 50 hitter rankings for 2016.

Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

There is not much going on during the All Star break for fantasy owners, so a big thanks goes out to Daniel Kelley who is offering our readers his midseason position rankings, posting one position rankings per day. Through Tuesday, he has published his catcher and first base rankings, and you can find them in the links provided below:

Midseason Catcher Rankings

Midseason First Base Rankings

The schedule for his midseason position rankings for the rest of the week is as follows:

Wednesday: Second Base Rankings

Thursday: Third Base Rankings

Friday: Shortstop Rankings

To add to his midseason position rankings, I am publishing my early 2016 hitter rankings. Is it too early to think about 2016? For some, I would say yes. Those of us who are still competing for our league championships or attempting to finish in the money, we aren't looking toward 2016 just yet.

But, for others, who have decided to bail and play for next season, they are thinking about 2016 rankings, or attempting to rebuild their teams to compete in 2016 or even 2017. Or, maybe they have begun to focus on fantasy football, and we have you covered there as well.

Below you will find my early top 50 100 hitter rankings for next season, and sitting at the top of my rankings is a familiar name, but in an unfamilar place. Yes, Paul Goldschmidt is my early #1 hitter for 2016. I ranked the best hitter over the last three seasons, Mike Trout at #2 and Bryce Harper at #3. One can argue that either of these top three will be the #1 fantasy hitter heading into 2016, but, right now, Goldy is my choice, as he provides the power, speed and high batting average that you would want at the #1 spot in 2016 drafts. And he's a first baseman!!! He is on pace to hit 39 home runs and steal 30 bases. While Trout and Harper are on pace to hit more home runs, neither are on pace to go 30-30 this year.

You will see a few new face in my top 20, including two Astros, George Springer and Carlos Correa. I recently wrote about Correa, discussing whether he could be the top fantasy shortstop for the rest of the season and in 2016. I think he can, as he is that special, and I have him ranked accordingly. You all know how much I love Springer, so I won't repeat myself. He could move up a few spots as we approach 2016.

Another new face is Orioles third baseman Manny Machado, as he has silenced his critics and is having a breakout season after missing time last season due to another knee injury. He is one pace for 35 home runs and 24 stolen bases, which, if reached, would push him up my rankings. It will be fun to watch him in the second half for sure.

Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado is yet another hitter having a break out season in 2015, and he is doing most of his damage on the road, so that tells you he is not just benefitting from playing half of his home games at Coors Field.

Finally, I ranked Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco in the lower part of my top 50, and he might be too high. We have seen enough from him to see that he isn't overmatched at the big league level. Heck, he even took Reds closer Aroldis Chapman deep soon after his call up. But, we will learn more about him in the second half as he goes around the league a few times.

I hope you enjoy the rankings, and let me know if I missed anyone. Who is ranked too high? Who is ranked too low?

Let's discuss in the comments section below.

Update: I decided to publish my top 100 hitter rankings for 2016. Look for part two to publish tomorrow morning.

Early 2016 Hitter Rankings

Rank

Name

Team

PA

HR

R

RBI

SB

AVG

OBP

SLG

wOBA

wRC+

1

Paul Goldschmidt

Diamondbacks

386

21

60

70

16

0.340

0.455

0.610

0.443

183

2

Mike Trout

Angels

378

26

68

55

9

0.312

0.405

0.614

0.427

184

3

Bryce Harper

Nationals

343

26

59

61

4

0.339

0.464

0.704

0.485

216

4

Giancarlo Stanton

Marlins

318

27

47

67

4

0.265

0.346

0.606

0.398

156

5

Miguel Cabrera

Tigers

333

15

43

54

1

0.350

0.456

0.578

0.436

184

6

Anthony Rizzo

Cubs

380

16

48

48

12

0.298

0.413

0.542

0.409

162

7

Andrew McCutchen

Pirates

372

12

48

56

5

0.295

0.392

0.500

0.383

149

8

George Springer

Astros

324

13

43

29

14

0.264

0.365

0.457

0.361

133

9

Manny Machado

Orioles

379

19

56

48

13

0.298

0.361

0.525

0.381

145

10

Nolan Arenado

Rockies

353

24

52

70

0

0.293

0.329

0.598

0.384

131

11

Josh Donaldson

Blue Jays

394

21

65

60

3

0.293

0.351

0.532

0.380

143

12

Buster Posey

Giants

341

14

46

58

1

0.314

0.381

0.498

0.379

150

13

Jose Bautista

Blue Jays

360

17

56

60

4

0.239

0.381

0.491

0.376

141

14

Justin Upton

Padres

362

14

45

48

17

0.253

0.331

0.422

0.328

114

15

Carlos Correa

Astros

141

7

18

19

5

0.276

0.312

0.507

0.353

128

16

Kris Bryant

Cubs

340

12

47

51

8

0.269

0.376

0.472

0.370

136

17

Brian Dozier

Twins

393

19

67

50

9

0.256

0.328

0.513

0.359

131

18

Todd Frazier

Reds

374

25

54

57

8

0.284

0.337

0.585

0.392

151

19

Starling Marte

Pirates

340

13

45

49

16

0.279

0.328

0.455

0.339

119

20

Prince Fielder

Rangers

377

14

42

54

0

0.339

0.403

0.521

0.394

151

21

Ryan Braun

Brewers

348

16

51

56

12

0.275

0.340

0.495

0.358

126

22

Albert Pujols

Angels

359

26

52

56

1

0.255

0.323

0.532

0.363

139

23

A.J. Pollock

Diamondbacks

366

11

58

42

19

0.299

0.350

0.464

0.353

122

24

Charlie Blackmon

Rockies

380

11

52

40

23

0.291

0.360

0.463

0.358

113

25

Troy Tulowitzki

Rockies

316

10

44

49

0

0.313

0.351

0.480

0.357

112

26

Brett Gardner

Yankees

363

10

63

42

15

0.302

0.377

0.484

0.374

140

27

Freddie Freeman

Braves

283

12

43

41

3

0.299

0.367

0.520

0.381

145

28

Adrian Gonzalez

Dodgers

364

18

50

55

0

0.283

0.355

0.520

0.373

143

29

J.D. Martinez

Tigers

360

25

57

59

2

0.289

0.347

0.565

0.389

150

30

Nelson Cruz

Mariners

362

21

44

53

2

0.308

0.373

0.546

0.393

158

31

Edwin Encarnacion

Blue Jays

356

18

46

54

1

0.233

0.326

0.452

0.339

114

32

Mookie Betts

Red Sox

378

10

48

43

13

0.277

0.328

0.464

0.341

115

33

Jason Kipnis

Indians

403

6

59

37

10

0.323

0.401

0.487

0.383

151

34

Jose Abreu

White Sox

344

14

50

46

0

0.296

0.343

0.492

0.360

129

35

Adam Jones

Orioles

325

14

43

43

3

0.281

0.326

0.490

0.349

123

36

Hanley Ramirez

Red Sox

316

19

49

46

3

0.274

0.320

0.497

0.350

121

37

Kolten Wong

Cardinals

353

9

44

37

10

0.280

0.343

0.434

0.338

117

38

Dee Gordon

Marlins

378

1

46

22

33

0.338

0.359

0.413

0.336

113

39

Carlos Gomez

Brewers

267

8

38

41

7

0.273

0.322

0.450

0.337

112

40

Anthony Rendon

Nationals

80

0

9

5

0

0.290

0.375

0.362

0.331

110

41

Jason Heyward

Cardinals

336

9

42

31

11

0.273

0.327

0.416

0.324

107

42

Jose Altuve

Astros

363

8

45

38

25

0.293

0.335

0.412

0.321

105

43

Yasiel Puig

Dodgers

181

4

17

14

1

0.261

0.343

0.429

0.337

118

44

Mark Teixeira

Yankees

343

22

40

62

1

0.240

0.350

0.526

0.370

137

45

Maikel Franco

Phillies

236

10

31

34

1

0.284

0.339

0.495

0.361

131

46

Dustin Pedroia

Red Sox

314

9

34

33

1

0.306

0.367

0.452

0.357

127

47

Yoenis Cespedes

Tigers

366

13

52

51

3

0.297

0.322

0.499

0.351

124

48

Evan Longoria

Rays

363

9

38

41

3

0.276

0.350

0.414

0.330

117

49

Joc Pederson

Dodgers

366

20

46

40

2

0.230

0.364

0.487

0.368

140

50

Joey Votto

Reds

370

15

42

42

5

0.277

0.392

0.484

0.380

143

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