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These are the left fielder fantasy rankings for 2011. Check out our previous first base, second base, third base, shortstop, catcher, and closer installments.

Like last year, the fantasy rankings are broken into tiers. Generally speaking, five-star players should be worthwhile in five categories and have an auction dollar value of $30 or more in your standard, mixed leagues. Four-star players should be worth at least $20 and useful in four categories, three-stars $10 and up, two-stars are more of your single-digit buys that you hope fill a hole or return some bargain value, and one-star players are, most likely, roster filler in the deepest leagues that you hope can be worth the buck you throw down on them.

This year we are listing stats like we have in the past (plate appearances, average, R, RBI, SB and HR projections from PECOTA) but are also including dollar value estimates produced by the Player Forecast Manager. In order to make these columns fit into the tables, I had to shorten them: "2L-$" is for mixed leagues, and "1L-$" is for AL- or NL-only leagues, depending on the player. The dollar values may not match up perfectly with the tiers, but those are just cases of PECOTA and I disagreeing on a player.

For reference, the dollar values were created with the PFM using standard 5×5 roto scoring, 23-player rosters—broken down as C (2) 1B (1) 2B (1) 3B (1) SS (1) CI (1) MI (1) OF (5) Util (1) P (9)—and $180 of the $260 budget allocated for hitters and $1 minimum salaries. A minimum of 20 games needed to be played at a position in the previous season to qualify (though I snuck a few brand-new players likely to qualify in). If your league uses different settings, be sure to plug them into the PFM to see what kind of differences in dollar value we are talking about—I set these to be as close to standard roster construction as possible.

Five Stars

Player

TEAM

PA

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

2L-$

1L-$

Carlos Gonzalez

COL

650

91

28

103

20

.304

$37

$34

Carl Crawford

BOS

650

80

13

78

46

.288

$31

$33

Ryan Braun

MIL

670

95

32

105

15

.298

$37

$33

Be prepared to see a lot of Carlos Gonzalez the next few days. He’s eligible at all three outfield positions, and while in a vacuum he’s not one of the league’s best players, the fact that he plays for Colorado means that he will score in fantasy like he is. I worry that Carl Crawford will lose a little batting average by moving to Boston—the lack of turf could cut into the speed of some of his hard-hit grounders—but between the Green Monster in left and the triangle in right-center, Crawford is going to have a good time with doubles and triples. He was covered in more detail in our first Donnybrook entry.

I debated Ryan Braun as a five-star left fielder a few weeks ago when I reviewed the left fielder rankings. I’ve stuck with him here, though I don’t think he’ll be better than either Gonzalez or Crawford. That says more about those two than it does about Braun, though.

Four Stars

Player

TEAM

PA

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

2L-$

1L-$

Matt Holliday

SLN

650

91

23

89

14

.303

$27

$28

Josh Hamilton

TEX

550

76

24

82

8

.297

$15

$21

It’s a little strange to have more five-star level players than four-star at a position, but left field is a bit top heavy. You could argue that Matt Holliday is a five-star left fielder, but I think five stars is where his upside lies—he’s a safer bet as a high-quality, four-star-level player. Josh Hamilton put up an incredible 2010 performance, but it was injury-shortened and benefited from a BABIP of nearly .400—he’s going to be much better than the (understandably) conservative $15 total spit out above, but I wouldn’t bet on a repeat of his 2010 season.

Three Stars

Player

TEAM

PA

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

2L-$

1L-$

Rajai Davis

TOR

600

66

7

60

53

.268

$20

$29

Juan Pierre

CHA

610

65

2

51

50

.276

$15

$26

Delmon Young

MIN

650

76

13

76

9

.283

$10

$18

Ryan Raburn

DET

641

80

23

83

10

.266

$15

$20

Brett Gardner

NYA

600

70

7

51

46

.260

$14

$25

Angel Pagan

NYN

603

69

7

63

29

.271

$10

$21

Jose Tabata

PIT

650

73

6

63

27

.276

$11

$22

Andres Torres

SFN

500

59

11

57

20

.251

$1

$15

Luke Scott

BAL

555

72

24

75

2

.262

$6

$16

Alfonso Soriano

CHN

540

69

23

77

13

.265

$11

$19

Chris Coghlan

FLO

675

81

8

67

19

.279

$12

$20

Jason Bay

NYN

602

76

21

71

10

.254

$8

$17

PECOTA loves it some Rajai Davis in Toronto, but I’m not so enthused that I’m willing to make him a four-star-level outfielder. The steals are great and his offensive numbers should improve as a result of leaving Oakland for the Rogers Centre, but $20 seems to be on the very high end of my expectations for him. He may be a better buy than Juan Pierre, given the latter has a much longer history and most likely a loftier price tag.

Delmon Young finally did something with his career that wasn’t frustrating to fantasy owners, but PECOTA stills sees a lot of his previous work in him. I’m not 100 percent sold on a repeat of 2010 based on how his career has gone so far, but I am willing to pop him into the three-star tier, which is something you would not have caught me doing a year ago. Ryan Raburn is supposed to be in the lineup every day, even if it’s not always at the same position. He can flat-out hit, and his versatility makes him that much more useful. Brett Gardner is expected to fall back a bit according to PECOTA—that development does not surprise Craig Brown—but he’s still a Yankee, which means that he should score a whole lot of runs. He has the best chance to make it to four-star territory out of this group, but he also has a good shot of moving toward the bottom of the three-star pile.

Angel Pagan won’t hit for much power, but he should play often and steal bases. PECOTA is underselling him a bit here. Jose Tabata is somewhat similar in my mind, though with a little less power. Soriano just snuck into three-star territory with his 2010 performance, and PECOTA thinks he can do it once more. PECOTA does not like Andres Torres nearly as much, which shouldn’t be a surprise. He wouldn’t be the first player to come out of the minors at a late age and perform at a high level for one season. I’m a Torres fan, and I expect we’ll see another quality season out of him. It’s hard to argue with a power/speed combination, even if it isn’t helping your batting average much and is packaged within an ordinary offense. Luke Scott had a quality 2010, and while PECOTA isn’t convinced he can do it again, I think he can do just enough to merit the three-star designation. It helps that he is eligible at first and in the outfield.

Chris Coghlan had an awful start to the 2010 season, but he picked things up in June before having his season end in July. The outfielder injured his knee after hitting teammate Wes Helms in the face with a pie following a walkoff RBI single. This ranking might be aggressive, but if he’s healthy he should provide some pop and some steals, and will also be able to slot into center field. Jason Bay is coming off of a concussion that ended his 2010 campaign. Even with all the questions surrounding concussions, the more confusing thing regarding Bay may be how well his bat will do at Citi Field. He performed better at his home park, which is pitcher-friendly, than he did on the road in 2010. That's not even a full season of data, though, so it’s difficult to get worked up too much in either direction—PECOTA seems to be taking the under, but by placing him in the three-star tier, it looks like I’m taking the over.

Two Stars

Player

TEAM

PA

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

2L-$

1L-$

Aubrey Huff

SFN

611

75

18

73

3

.263

$5

$14

Logan Morrison

FLO

620

78

8

63

5

.274

$2

$13

Bobby Abreu

ANA

600

70

11

56

22

.251

$4

$17

Will Venable

SDN

545

60

15

57

15

.234

-$1

$13

Raul Ibanez

PHI

520

63

17

64

3

.260

-$1

$12

Travis Snider

TOR

513

62

22

69

5

.252

$1

$14

Johnny Damon

TBA

620

72

12

62

16

.255

$5

$16

Carlos Lee

HOU

637

77

24

83

6

.268

$13

$19

Bill Hall

HOU

600

65

20

67

9

.223

$2

$12

As I said in the first base rankings, I think Huff will have another quality season, though probably not as good as his 2010. Logan Morrison is an intriguing player, and will be better than this $2 forecast, but the time to pay more attention to him in fantasy baseball will come after 2011. Bobby Abreu is still hanging on, but he’s not quite the power/speed titan of old. Instead, he’s just kind of old. Will Venable ended his 2010 on a high note after dealing with nagging injuries all season. The Padres are more open to the running game under General Manager Jed Hoyer, so expect Venable to swipe at least twice as many bases as are projected here (he had 29 in his injury-shortened 2010 campaign). If he weren’t stuck in Petco for half of his games—the park hates on all hitters, but left-handers especially—he would be much higher than a mid-range two-star player.

Raul Ibanez still gets to play in Citizens Bank Park, so if he’s in the lineup, something between $5-10 seems more reasonable than his negative projection here. Travis Snider is showing small amounts of offensive growth, but for now belongs in this tier. Maybe by 2012 he will be ready to graduate. Moving from Detroit to Tampa Bay won’t do much to change Johnny Damon’s stats, but if he can still reach double-digits in homers and steals then there is value to be found here.

I don’t think it’s a secret I jumped off the Carlos Lee train a long time ago. His pre-2010 career most likely causes PECOTA to like him more than I do, so if you want to bet on PECOTA, feel free to move him up your personal rankings. Bill Hall is right near the bottom of the two-star stack, and gets to stay out of the one-star tier mostly because he has eligibility at multiple positions. If you’re forced to play him in left in any but the deepest of leagues, you'd better have someone like Chase Utley at second, or something went wrong.

One Star

Player

TEAM

PA

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

2L-$

1L-$

Manny Ramirez

TBA

443

60

16

54

1

.268

-$5

$10

Tyler Colvin

CHN

550

63

18

70

5

.253

$1

$13

Alex Gordon

KCA

600

73

17

65

9

.248

$3

$15

Juan Rivera

TOR

520

62

20

67

2

.263

$0

$13

Seth Smith

COL

450

61

17

63

4

.283

$0

$13

Corey Patterson

TOR

414

44

10

47

21

.251

-$5

$13

Josh Willingham

OAK

500

63

16

56

5

.249

-$3

$12

Cody Ross

SFN

500

59

16

62

5

.259

-$2

$11

David Murphy

TEX

419

51

11

49

8

.272

-$6

$11

Pat Burrell

SFN

552

67

21

62

1

.232

-$2

$10

Ben Francisco

PHI

410

49

12

48

11

.259

-$6

$10

Michael Saunders

SEA

500

52

11

48

11

.229

-$8

$10

Fred Lewis

CIN

410

48

7

43

14

.257

-$8

$9

Jay Gibbons

LAN

405

48

13

51

1

.277

-$9

$8

Marcus Thames

LAN

373

44

18

48

1

.240

-$12

$6

Jonny Gomes

CIN

350

42

14

44

5

.245

-$13

$6

Mark Derosa

SFN

409

47

10

42

3

.251

-$14

$6

Gerardo Parra

ARI

353

41

4

38

7

.276

-$15

$6

Ryan Spilborghs

COL

301

38

7

36

6

.281

-$16

$6

Roger Bernadina

WAS

275

31

5

28

13

.260

-$19

$5

Brennan Boesch

DET

299

33

9

35

3

.249

-$21

$5

Chris Carter

OAK

250

32

12

33

2

.241

-$22

$5

Chris Denorfia

SDN

289

32

4

28

8

.261

-$22

$4

Lastings Milledge

CHA

237

27

5

25

6

.265

-$25

$4

Eric Hinske

ATL

296

35

10

33

3

.236

-$21

$3

Austin Kearns

CLE

286

32

5

25

2

.237

-$27

$3

Felix Pie

BAL

213

24

4

23

4

.262

-$28

$3

Trevor Crowe

CLE

225

23

2

19

9

.247

-$28

$3

Eric Patterson

SDN

205

22

4

21

10

.247

-$27

$2

Jason Michaels

HOU

285

30

6

29

2

.233

-$26

$1

Chris Heisey

CIN

184

22

5

22

4

.258

-$29

$1

Scott Hairston

NYN

200

23

6

22

3

.239

-$30

$1

There are so many names I want to love here, like Manny Ramirez, or Tyler Colvin, or Cody Ross. For the most part, though, they have some major flaws. For Ramirez, the problem is playing time. He seems jazzed to play with the Rays, but I would be lying if I said I knew how often he will actually enter the lineup. He could get 300 plate appearances or 600 or anything in between, and his value is highly dependent on what number it ends up being. He’s a great buy-low pick. Colvin is another buy-low pick, since he seems to be someone whom many people have dismissed. Ross doesn’t hit right-handers well enough to compensate for his home park, but in a deep league or in a situation where you can start him against lefties, he’s going to have his uses.

If the Rogers Centre plays in 2011 like it did in 2010, Juan Rivera as a one-star outfielder is going to look silly. David Murphy would be more intriguing were he to receive more playing time, but unless Hamilton hurts himself early on, that isn’t going to happen. Ben Francisco is in the same situation, because Domonic Brown is likely to soak up a large percentage of the playing time in Philadelphia. Michael Saunders still has to try to hit in Safeco, so depending on him for anything is risky.

Jonny Gomes tailed off in the second half of 2010 (.253/.324/.382), but if the Reds give him playing time he can be useful in a deep NL league. The same goes for Roger Bernadina, Ryan Spilborghs, and Chris Denorfia. Felix Pie would have received more love from this corner, but the Orioles’ recent acquisition of Vladimir Guerrero pushes Luke Scott to the outfield on a full-time basis, cutting into his value. Lastings Milledge has already received far more attention elsewhere than he requires in this space. Eric Hinske could be useful in NL leagues given Chipper Jones’ uncanny ability to injure himself—this would cause new outfielder Martin Prado to shift back into the infield, giving Hinske more time on the diamond. Chris Carter was intriguing, but when the Athletics signed Hideki Matsui to DH and traded for outfielder Josh Willingham, his chances of securing meaningful playing time at the major-league level disappeared. Maybe in 2012, Chris.

Thank you for reading

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luftmich
2/22
Marc, I am surprised to see Cargo ahead of the more established Braun & Crawford. I am sure you know Cargo is taking a lot of flack as a major regression candidate from other fantasy experts. Care to comment on what to expect in terms of regression/performance to justify the top ranking?
yankeehater32
2/22
He still gets to play in Colorado, which is making him look a lot better than he is. I think a lot of experts are overreacting to the fact that he's not as good as his stats by docking him points, despite the fact most leagues really don't care where it is he gets his homers.

In a non-fantasy setting, I'm right there with everyone in the "Carlos Gonzalez is overrated" camp. In a fantasy setting, I will gladly take all of his Coors-inflated stats.
luftmich
2/22
Thanks for the clarification. I agree, I don't understand the Home/Road splits argument as a knock against him either, it seems like you'd be happy knowing that he gets to play half his games there.

The arguments I can't entirely shake are the unsustainably high BABIP, HR/FB ratio and poor plate discipline. I do find it encouraging that most projections see a drop in his numbers, but still rate him as a first rounder.
mikebuetow
2/22
Marc, where would Jacoby Ellsbury rank among LFs? He qualifies as one in most leagues.
eneff1
2/23
Prado anyone?
Stingers56
2/23
Is there a reason these analysis are based on 23 player rosters? Does it matter?

They do seem pretty deep. Much more than I would go if I were filling a 23 player roster. I'm sure it matters in how the prediction numbers shake out but that leads me back to 23.

Does anybody play in a 23 player roster league? Is this some new norm that gotten by me again?
hessshaun
2/23
My league roster is 29 mixed league, but it's a head to head and insanely pitcher heavy. If there was a cap on innings like a standard league, we would all exceed it before the all star break. Just preference really.

In terms of his analysis, keep in mind that he has to appeal to everyone who is playing fantasy. I know quite a few people who play in the standard roto format, referred to above, but they are NL or AL only leagues. When you have 10 teams with 5 OF per team, pickings get slim.
davinhbrown
2/23
been in a 23 man active roster league for a while.

What's the odds on Nyjer Morgan bouncing back? I know he may sit versus leftys this year, and his HRs/RBIs are non-existant.

But I see 70-80 runs, good avg in the past, good BABIP traditionally... and upside of anywhere from 30-45 steals.
bigchiefbc
3/15
Wow, 80 runs seems ridiculously low for Crawford. How could someone batting in the top 3 of Boston's lineup get less than 95 runs?