Top Fantasy Players by Team: August Edition

Another month has gone by in the 2016 baseball season. It's time to see how much the top players by team have changed since last month. I have listed the top performer by team and their overall rank this year. The * next to the players are additional players on that team who ranked higher than the worst 'best' player.

Here are the results (rankings are through August 31th):

Hou Jose Altuve (1)**
LAA Mike Trout (4)*
Oak Khris Davis (95)
Sea Robinson Cano (39)**
Tex Ian Desmond (22)***

Cle Corey Kluber (20)******
CWS Chris Sale (18)*
Det Justin Verlander (19)****
KC Danny Duffy (59)
Min Brian Dozier (36)

Bal Zach Britton (21)**
Bos Mookie Betts (2)********
NYY Masahiro Tanaka (55)
TB Evan Longoria (76)*
Tor Josh Donaldson (12)*****

Ari Paul Goldschmidt (14)*
Col Nolan Arendado (10)****
LAD Clayton Kershaw (9)***
SD Wil Myers (35)
SF Madison Bumgarner (8)**

CHC Kris Bryant (6)*******
Cin Joey Votto (37)*
Mil Jonathan Villar (5)*
Pit Starling Marte (7)*
Stl Seung Hwan Oh (67)*

Atl Freddie Freeman (70)
Mia Jose Fernandez (25)*
NYM Noah Syndergaard (34)*
Phi Odubel Herrera (90)*
Wsh Max Scherzer (3)******

Interesting Findings

Last month, the worst 'best' player award went to Khris Davis at overall player #123. Davis becomes the first two time winner of the award this month but does improve his overall ranking to #95. He beats out Odubel Herrera who came in at #90. Maybe Davis can beat out Herrera by the end of September.

5 teams had a new best player from the previous month. The Cardinals (Seung Hwan Oh) have a new best player for the 3rd straight month. Others (Corey Kluber, Justin Verlander, Danny Duffy, and Freddie Freeman) have all had a great month helping them claim the top spot on their respective teams.

In addition to the Athletics, the Royals (Duffy), Braves (Freeman), Yankees (Masahiro Tanaka), Padres (Wil Myers), and Twins (Brian Dozier),  all only had one player inside the top 95. Last month, this was an issue for 5 teams. San Diego and Minnesota achieves this feat despite both having a top 40 overall player.

The Angels (Mike Trout/Albert Puljos), Rays (Evan Longoria/Alex Colome), White Sox (Chris Sale/Jose Quintana), Pirates (Starling Marte/Gregory Polanco), Phillies (Odubel Herrera/Jeanmar Gomez), Diamondbacks (Paul Goldschmidt/Jean Segura), Reds (Joey Votto/Billy Hamilton), Brewers (Jonathan Villar/Ryan Braun), Marlins (Jose Fernandez/Christian Yelich), Mets (Noah Syndergaard/Jeurys Familia), and Cardinals (Seung Hwan Oh/Carlos Martinez) have only two players better than #95. A total of 17 teams have 2 or fewer players better than the worst 'best' player. Last month, that number was 10 teams.

The Red Sox (9) and Cubs (8) remain the top 2 teams. Both the Indians and Nationals are right behind them with 7 players inside the top 95 each.

The top team of August belongs solely to the Boston Red Sox. They become the first team to have 2 months atop this list with 9 players better than Oakland's best player, Khris Davis.
Led by Mookie Betts, those players are: Rick Porcello, Xander Bogaerts, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Drew Pomeranz, Hanley Ramirez, Jackie Bradley Jr., and David Price.

For the FORTH straight month, the Cubs ENTIRE ROTATION is ranked higher than the worst 'best' player.

Of the 17 teams who have 2 or fewer players inside the top 95, only 6 teams have a record at .500 or better. The Cardinals (70-62) have the best record of any team with 2 or fewer top 95 players. 11 of the 17 teams with 2 or fewer top players have losing records. Maybe fantasy baseball does have some correlation with real life baseball after all?

The American League (50) beat out the National League (45) in total players ranked in the top 95.

May Edition
June Edition
July Edition

Please leave comments if you have any further questions and feel free to let me know what you found most interesting in this research. Thanks for the read!