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Top 100 Tiered Outfielder Rankings for 2016

For those who like to see position rankings in tiers, Ray offers his 2016 tiered outfielder rankings, where two of the best players in baseball sit atop the rankings. Check out where the rest of the Top 100 outfielders rank in his tiered rankings.

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

I ranked our Top 100 outfielders in six tiers, with two players in the first tier. 14 in the second tier, 11 in the third tier, 20 in the fourth tier, 27 in the fifth tier and 26 in the sixth tier. If I am drafting, I want to fill my outfield with five outfielders from the first four tiers.

First Tier

There is no question that Mike Trout and Bryce Harper are the cream of the crop, and deserving to be the only two in the first tier. They are the best two players in the game, and I don't see anyone unseating them this season, although a few guys in the second tier could make their way into the first tier in 2017.

Second Tier

George Springer, Giancarlo Stanton and Mookie Betts all could put up 2016 seasons worthy of a push into the first tier in 2017. Springer has the skills to put up a 30 home run, 25-30 stolen base season. Giancarlo Stanton, if healthy, could hit 45-50 home runs in the new dimensions of Marlins Park. Mookie Betts could put up a season where he hits 20 home runs, scores 110 runs, drives in 80 runs, steals 25 bases and hits .300, which would also be deserving of a spot in the first tier.

The second tier also includes some power guys like Jose Bautista Chris Davis, Nelson Cruz, Justin Upton and J.D. Martinez that you can count on for 25+ home runs, and in some cases, 35+ home runs per season. The tier also has its share of hitters who can do it all, hit for average, hit for power, steal some bases including George Springer, Andrew McCutchen, Charlie Blackmon, Ryan Braun, A.J. Pollock and Starling Marte. Guys i like in this tier are Springer, who I think will break out this season, Braun, assuming he is healthy, McCutchen and Blackmon.

Third Tier

The third tier is littered with guys that have a question mark heading into the season, including:

Carlos Gonzalez: Was 2015 his career year?

Jason Heyward: Is he a better real life player than fantasy player?

Matt Kemp: Can he build on his great 2015 second half?

Miguel Sano: Sure, the power is real, but can he make enough contact to get to it 30+ times this season?

Yasiel Puig: Can he have a bounce back season in 2016? (Yes)

I like the last three guys on this list, Kemp, Sano and Puig, to perform very well this season. I think Sano can lead the American League in home runs, and Puig appears to much more focusing coming into the season, and has lost some weight, as requested, in the offseason.

Fourth Tier

The fourth tier has some young outfielders who we could see in the second or third tier next season, including Cubs outfielders Jorge Soler and Kyle Schwarber, and Mets outfielder Michael Conforto. All three come into the season with less than a full season of big league experience, but have the bats to move up these rankings quickly.

Indians outfielder Michael Brantley looks misplaced in the fourth tier, and maybe I am too low on him, but he is coming off shoulder surgery, so there is a chance he is not 100% healthy once the season starts, and that could impact his performance for fantasy owners.

I like a few power hitters in this tier, including Mark Trumbo, who is moving to Camden Yards this season. Another power guy I like is Athletic's outfielder Khris Davis. He moves to o.Co Stadium, so the home run totals may disappoint, but I have a feeling he could still reach the 30 home run level assuming he plays regularly.

Fifth Tier

This tier has several players who could disappoint this season, including Reds outfielder Billy Hamilton, who I wrote about on Tuesday, Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson who is working on a swing adjustment, and Twins outfielder Byron Buxton, whose bat may not be major league ready yet.

That said, I do like Brewers outfielder Domingo Santana in this tier. He has plenty of questions to answer himself, but one FanGraphs writer compared him to Astros outfielder George Springer today, so drink that in. Two other outfielders I like in this tier are Phillies young outfielder Aaron Altherr, who could put up a 15 home run, 15 stolen base season in 2016, and Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth, who appears a bit undervalued this season. Yes, he is older than most outfielders, but I think he might have one more good season left in him.

Top 100 Tiered Outfielder Rankings for 2016

Rank

NFBC ADP

Tier

Name

Tm

1

1.82

1

Mike Trout

LAA

2

2.72

1

Bryce Harper

WSN

3

10.29

2

Giancarlo Stanton

MIA

4

13.71

2

Andrew McCutchen

PIT

5

18.01

2

Mookie Betts

BOS

6

26.03

2

Jose Bautista

TOR

7

15.28

2

A.J. Pollock

ARI

8

11.08

2

Kris Bryant

CHC

9

23.52

2

Starling Marte

PIT

10

25.05

2

George Springer

HOU

11

23.95

2

Chris Davis

BAL

12

36.76

2

J.D. Martinez

DET

13

49.06

2

Justin Upton

DET

14

44.18

2

Ryan Braun

MIL

15

45.56

2

Nelson Cruz

SEA

16

35.92

2

Charlie Blackmon

COL

17

58.87

3

Adam Jones

BAL

18

57.82

3

Carlos Gonzalez

COL

19

38.84

3

Yoenis Cespedes

NYM

20

68.93

3

Jason Heyward

CHC

21

86.79

3

Yasiel Puig

LAD

22

61.15

3

Miguel Sano

MIN

23

52.94

3

Carlos Gomez

HOU

25

107.51

3

Hunter Pence

SFG

26

51.08

3

Lorenzo Cain

KCR

27

82.64

3

Matt Kemp

SDP

24

31.92

4

Kyle Schwarber

CHC

28

94.8

4

Gregory Polanco

PIT

29

127.98

4

Hanley Ramirez

BOS

30

101.51

4

Jacoby Ellsbury

NYY

31

111.15

4

Corey Dickerson

TBR

32

116.01

4

Kole Calhoun

LAA

33

140.79

4

Shin-Soo Choo

TEX

34

103.83

4

Christian Yelich

MIA

36

141.23

4

Brett Gardner

NYY

37

135.13

4

Khris Davis

OAK

39

213.5

4

Josh Reddick

OAK

40

188.18

4

Michael Conforto

NYM

41

101.38

4

Adam Eaton

CHW

42

173.07

4

Curtis Granderson

NYM

46

103.49

4

Ben Revere

WSN

50

186.43

4

Dexter Fowler

FA

52

102.72

4

Michael Brantley

CLE

60

233.17

4

Marcell Ozuna

MIA

62

182.3

4

Jorge Soler

CHC

70

177.1

4

Mark Trumbo

BAL

35

183.91

5

Alex Gordon

KCR

38

118.04

5

David Peralta

ARI

43

73.75

5

Billy Hamilton

CIN

44

250.56

5

Matt Holliday

STL

45

173.74

5

Joc Pederson

LAD

47

151.09

5

Brandon Belt

SFG

48

149.05

5

Billy Burns

OAK

49

178.5

5

Randal Grichuk

STL

51

181.12

5

Jay Bruce

CIN

53

206.1

5

Gerardo Parra

COL

54

199.27

5

Ben Zobrist

CHC

55

206.33

5

Wil Myers

SDP

56

157.81

5

Kevin Pillar

TOR

57

264.48

5

Melky Cabrera

CHW

58

180.9

5

Delino DeShields

TEX

59

205.73

5

Stephen Piscotty

STL

61

186.04

5

Ender Inciarte

ATL

63

223.88

5

Evan Gattis

HOU

64

245.09

5

Steven Souza

TBR

66

171.96

5

Byron Buxton

MIN

69

207.77

5

Yasmany Tomas

ARI

71

297.76

5

Jayson Werth

WSN

73

303.59

5

Colby Rasmus

HOU

74

311.39

5

Domingo Santana

MIL

75

407.23

5

Andre Ethier

LAD

82

249.27

5

Odubel Herrera

PHI

88

324.74

5

Aaron Altherr

PHI

65

253.59

6

Denard Span

SFG

67

320.59

6

Carlos Beltran

NYY

68

269.96

6

Kevin Kiermaier

TBR

72

207.94

6

Josh Harrison

PIT

76

281.22

6

Eddie Rosario

MIN

78

289.76

6

Jarrod Dyson

KCR

78

252.08

6

Rusney Castillo

BOS

79

320.95

6

Nori Aoki

SFG

80

244.44

6

Danny Valencia

OAK

81

324.65

6

Jackie Bradley Jr.

BOS

83

320.88

6

Brandon Moss

STL

84

328.97

6

Mark Canha

OAK

85

337.97

6

Joey Gallo

TEX

86

242.56

6

Cameron Maybin

ATL

87

364.48

6

Nick Markakis

ATL

89

294.63

6

Hyun-Soo Kim

BAL

90

418.11

6

Lonnie Chisenhall

CLE

91

472.05

6

Carl Crawford

LAD

92

357.39

6

Desmond Jennings

TBR

93

323.6

6

Leonys Martin

TEX

94

6

Eduardo Escobar

MIN

95

357.82

6

Anthony Gose

DET

96

482.96

6

Derek Dietrich

MIA

97

338.23

6

Rajai Davis

DET

98

287.8

6

Avisail Garcia

CHW

99

473.31

6

Adam Duvall

CIN

100

506.33

6

Ben Paulsen

COL

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