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

Get your combined outfielder rankings list through the Player Forecast Managercheck this link for details.

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

You may have noticed over the past few days that Carlos Gonzalez is my favorite outfielder for 2011. The problem, of course, is that you will have to pay top dollar for his production, and probably won't see much of a surplus return on your investment.

Four Stars

Player

TEAM

PA

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

2L-$

1L-$

Jay Bruce

CIN

650

84

30

91

9

.266

$20

$23

Jose Bautista

TOR

708

94

36

101

7

.248

$25

$24

Shin-Soo Choo

CLE

625

81

17

72

18

.274

$15

$21

Justin Upton

ARI

650

85

24

87

17

.271

$22

$25

Nelson Cruz

TEX

550

76

29

85

18

.279

$21

$25

Jayson Werth

WAS

650

86

26

84

16

.266

$21

$24

Hunter Pence

HOU

634

78

22

83

15

.273

$17

$23

Michael Stanton

FLO

625

81

34

93

2

.248

$15

$19

Jay Bruce is a different story, though—PECOTA sees him bumping up his fantasy value considerably, and I'm willing to move it up a step further and put him above the other four-star right fielders. The idea is that his second half in 2010 was a breakout, and you'll want to get him this year before everyone realizes what he is capable of. His average draft position, according to Mock Draft Central, is 81, with a high of 98 and a low of 52. He should be better than that.

Jose Bautista is well liked by PECOTA and I, though you won't see me predicting another 50-plus homer campaign for him. Shin-Soo Choo's numbers seem low here across the board—chances are good that when the percentiles are released, PECOTA and I can agree on his 70th percentile projection. Justin Upton has the most upside of anyone here, but after he took some steps back in 2010 and with plenty of other right fielders to choose from, you won't catch me in the same kinds of Upton bidding wars I put myself into in the past.

Nelson Cruz is pretty good at the baseball, but he needs to stick in the lineup for a full season to move further up in these rankings. Jayson Werth loses some points by leaving Philly's cozy Citizens Bank Park, but he should continue to provide power and some speed, and will likely contribute better R and RBI totals in the middle of the Nats' lineup. Hunter Pence is like a lesser version of Shin-Soo Choo, which is still good enough to make the four-star tier. He's one of the lone bright points in the Astros' lineup—scratch that, he is the bright point. If Stanton gets the playing time above, he'll surely steal more bases than what PECOTA has said here. He's another player I'm curious about the upper-level projections for.

Three Stars

Player

TEAM

PA

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

2L-$

1L-$

Corey Hart

MIL

630

80

24

87

16

.271

$20

$24

Rajai Davis

TOR

600

66

7

60

53

.268

$20

$29

Nick Markakis

BAL

700

89

16

82

8

.287

$17

$21

Ryan Raburn

DET

641

80

23

83

10

.266

$15

$20

Nick Swisher

NYA

632

83

28

82

2

.252

$11

$18

Ichiro Suzuki

SEA

700

76

2

58

32

.289

$14

$23

Andre Ethier

LAN

625

82

21

80

5

.278

$13

$19

Ben Zobrist

TBA

700

84

17

71

19

.246

$14

$20

Angel Pagan

NYN

603

69

7

63

29

.271

$10

$21

Jason Heyward

ATL

620

80

16

72

8

.276

$9

$18

Torii Hunter

ANA

600

72

19

70

15

.262

$9

$19

Andres Torres

SFN

500

59

11

57

20

.251

$1

$15

Hart put up a low four-star campaign in 2010 after some down years. I think he's still capable of four-star production—especially if he starts to steal more bases now that Ken Macha is gone—but that's more along the lines of his upside, rather than what we should expect. The same could be said of Rajai Davis—I'm not so confident in him that I would hand him four stars to begin with, but he has the potential to sneak into that tier.

Markakis can't seem to both hit for power and have patience at the plate at the same time. PECOTA does think he's going to have a pretty good 2011, though. Ryan Raburn should be playing every day in Detroit now—playing time was the only concern with him in the past, so now that he'll have it, scoop him up before anyone notices how good a hitter he is. Nick Swisher + Yankee lineup = three stars. That's science. Ichiro Suzuki would be a four-star player if it weren't required that he steal three bases after every single in order to score a run. Andre Ethier is in the middle of a poor offense, so I'm thinking his upside here is something like $17-18.

A healthy Ben Zobrist should be able to match the PECOTA line above, but as he has shown in the past, he is capable of much more. I've discussed Angel Pagan, Torii Hunter, and Andres Torres before—all three seem a tad underrated by PECOTA's weighted-means, but I may just be optimistic. I'm interested in seeing their 70th percentiles as well, as I figure that's the same ballpark as my image of their production. Jason Heyward is a tremendous talent, but he hasn't achieved the greatness he is capable of just yet—don't get caught paying future prices for a player that is still blooming and not quite bloomed.

Two Stars

Player

TEAM

PA

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

2L-$

1L-$

Aubrey Huff

SFN

611

75

18

73

3

.263

$5

$14

Bobby Abreu

ANA

600

70

11

56

22

.251

$4

$17

Carlos Quentin

CHA

500

66

24

69

3

.254

$2

$14

Magglio Ordonez

DET

530

67

12

60

2

.292

$0

$13

Michael Cuddyer

MIN

650

78

15

73

6

.264

$7

$16

Will Venable

SDN

545

60

15

57

15

.234

-$1

$13

Travis Snider

TOR

513

62

22

69

5

.252

$1

$14

Brad Hawpe

SDN

575

72

18

67

3

.251

$1

$12

Domonic Brown

PHI

480

58

15

59

13

.264

$0

$14

Ryan Ludwick

SDN

545

66

20

67

4

.251

$1

$13

Huff's patient approach served him well in 2010, and I think he can do something similar again. Bobby Abreu can still hit double-digits in the home run and steal categories, but the lineup around him may keep him from putting up stellar R or RBI totals. He may still have a three-star year left in him, though. If Carlos Quentin could just stay on the field—he's averaged 120 games a year in his three seasons with Chicago—he would be worth much more. As it is, I don't feel confident drafting Quentin unless I'm also drafting an insurance outfielder I won't mind being stuck using.

Magglio Ordonez's defense doesn’t count against you in standard leagues, but, like Quentin, if he can't stay on the field it won't matter much—he's also averaged 120 games the last three years. Cuddyer can be useful given his multiple-position eligibility, but unless he has one of his random big years at the plate, he's not worth more than a few bucks. Brad Hawpe dealt with multiple injuries in 2010 that helped keep his production down, and while Petco Park won't give the lefty a break, better health should improve his numbers. Domonic Brown would rank higher than this if he were guaranteed a starting job, but I can't even pretend to understand what is going on with Philadelphia's outfield right now. If healthy, Ludwick can be basically what you're used to seeing. Petco isn't hitter-friendly, but for right-handers, it's no worse than Ludwick's previous home of Busch in St. Louis.

One Star

Player

TEAM

PA

R

HR

RBI

SB

AVG

2L-$

1L-$

J.D. Drew

BOS

537

69

17

63

4

.255

$0

$13

Tyler Colvin

CHN

550

63

18

70

5

.253

$1

$13

Seth Smith

COL

450

61

17

63

4

.283

$0

$13

Juan Rivera

TOR

520

62

20

67

2

.263

$0

$13

Jason Kubel

MIN

505

62

16

62

1

.263

-$2

$12

David DeJesus

OAK

550

63

6

52

7

.271

-$4

$11

David Murphy

TEX

419

51

11

49

8

.272

-$6

$11

Jeff Francoeur

KCA

600

67

13

66

5

.262

$1

$13

Cody Ross

SFN

500

59

16

62

5

.259

-$2

$11

Ben Francisco

PHI

410

49

12

48

11

.259

-$6

$10

Xavier Nady

ARI

464

55

14

56

2

.269

-$5

$10

Matt Joyce

TBA

380

48

13

45

6

.241

-$11

$8

Garrett Jones

PIT

400

47

13

49

6

.257

-$9

$8

Desmond Jennings

TBA

300

34

3

28

18

.258

-$16

$8

Andruw Jones

NYA

327

39

15

40

5

.224

-$16

$7

Jon Jay

SLN

400

44

5

38

8

.266

-$14

$7

Ryan Sweeney

OAK

400

44

3

36

5

.270

-$16

$6

Kosuke Fukudome

CHN

400

49

7

39

7

.256

-$13

$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

Mike Morse

WAS

299

37

10

37

1

.272

-$18

$4

Lastings Milledge

CHA

237

27

5

25

6

.265

-$25

$4

Casper Wells

DET

200

24

8

26

4

.233

-$27

$3

Austin Kearns

CLE

286

32

5

25

2

.237

-$27

$3

Chris Heisey

CIN

184

22

5

22

4

.258

-$29

$1

Mitch Maier

KCA

149

16

2

14

2

.261

-$36

$1

Drew has more value in an OBP league, but if he sees fewer plate appearances with Mike Cameron as the fourth outfielder, it's going to be tough to accumulate the counting stats that would make him useful in standard leagues. David DeJesus is better than his projection in a vacuum, but he's not playing in one of those. The Coliseum dislikes runs, and will prevent DeJesus from creating a lot of them with his bat.

Projecting 600 plate appearances for Jeff Francoeur isn't funny because it's off base, it's funny because it could happen. Ben Francisco might be more useful early in the year, before Domonic Brown wrests away the majority of his playing time. Xavier Nady is a little less useful after Russ Branyan was signed in Arizona, but in NL-only leagues he has some value for his versatility. Matt Joyce is going to be a better real-life player than a fantasy one, given Tampa Bay's platoon obsession that will cut into his time on the diamond.

Desmond Jennings was more likely to have some impact before Johnny Damon was signed to handle left field. He may appear later in the year, as the projection above indicates, but he's someone you should spend FAAB money on or scoop up on midseason waivers. Andruw Jones will enjoy hitting in Yankee Stadium, but he won't get to do so often enough to make a difference anywhere but AL-only leagues.

The rest of this list is full of part-timers who need injuries or a great start to the year to secure a job. In the deepest of leagues you may want to draft them, but it's more likely you'll pick these guys up midseason to replace some of your own injured draftees.

That's it for position player rankings—remember to check the PFM to access the combined outfielder rankings. We'll have both AL and NL starting pitchers for you tomorrow to wrap up this series.

Thank you for reading

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nicholj
2/24
Thanks for your work and getting these out fast and early. What tier do you have for the DH only types like Ortiz, Vlad, Matsui, Cust and Hafner?
yankeehater32
2/24
I haven't done as much research for this position yet, but preliminarily, the first two would be three-star players (though Ortiz, if he's still got something in his tank like he did in 2010, can probably sneak his way into four-star production), and the rest are basically one-star guys. I can pop a list onto the blog at some point, since it's such a small number of players.
rotoman21
2/24
Why are all OF not lumped into one category? I've never seen or played in a fantasy league that actually makes you pick a RF, LF or CF by position. Its usually a league with 5 or 3 OF's.

I'm sure there is someone out there who has to pick each a left fielder, center field and right fielder, but these types of leagues are in the small minority.
yankeehater32
2/24
If you're looking for the combined outfielder rankings, I have a present for you.
BurrRutledge
2/24
I'm in that small minority, and I appreciate that they are separated.

Part of the beauty of last year's use of a tier system is that you can lump them together with very little effort. For those of us who do play in leagues where they are separate, this is much more useful than trying to separate a combined list.

You can also now use the PFM to sort/combine Marc's lists.

All that said, however, I do think it would be nice if Marc would do a truncated combined list, listed in order of his own ranking. That way you can compare across positions to see if Jay Bruce or Matt Holiday would be the 4th highest outfielder, for instance.
apbadogs
2/24
Why, if the OF's are being separated, is CarGo the #1 CF and the #1 RF? Is he THAT good?
apbadogs
2/24
AND the #1 LF!
yankeehater32
2/24
He's eligible at all three spots this year, thanks to lots of bouncing around in 2010.
stepsinsc
2/24
Regarding the fact that PFM now shows the "expert ranks," is it just me or should the "tiers" in PFM be listed the other way around? Right now Tier 1 in PFM means the lowest tier, rather than the best tier. As a result, if you forget how many tiers there are, then knowing that a player is in "tier 3" isn't really that helpful. On the flip side, if they start at tier 1 and move up, you always have a feel for where they are.
yankeehater32
2/24
The tool tip you can mouse over in the Rankings section says which tier is best and which is worst.

The tiers are named the way they are because it's generally the number of categories a player excels in.
raef12
2/24
I never send questions to chats and rarely post questions after articles, but I fully intended on posing one to Marc about Justin Upton, who is available in my NL-only keeper league.
The question (or comment) was going to go something like this, 'Please tell me why I should not get into a bidding war over Justin Upton? or 'Should I get into a bidding war over Justin Upton?'

And it appears you have already answered that question. GET OUT OF MY HEAD NORMANDIN!!

Seriously though, care to elaborate on Upton and why I should be a cautious?

Thanks

yankeehater32
2/24
He went right back to striking out a ton in 2010 after making small strides in that area in 2009. I'm a little nervous about the fact Arizona was willing to trade him--it makes me think there is more wrong with his shoulder than has been let on (though that's just a personal fear).

I still think he's excellent, and can become one of the great right fielders out there, but there are just other players I would rather go crazy for in terms of 2011.
BarryR
2/24
The bloodlines are part of what got people excited early, the bloodlines are part of what makes Justin Upton owners nervous now - those of us who own him in fantasy leagues, and the D-Backs as well. Given that the D-Backs also own a somewhat disappointing Drew, their tempered enthusiasm for the younger Upton seems merited. The same genes that gave him a world of talent may have given him an injury-prone body. Still, he ain't chopped liver and they ain't giving him away.
ultimatedub
2/24
In an OBP league, would you value Ethier more than Hart?
yankeehater32
2/24
Not if Hart is stealing bases. Ethier does a little bit of R, RBI, average and HR, but doesn't excel in any of them. Hart at least should hit in the middle of the Brewers' lineup and hit double-digits in steals, which can make up for some of the OBP.
ultimatedub
2/24
I've been going back and forth about it, but I've been tempted by Ethier pre-injury tear last year. I'll bet with an offseason to rest that hand he can beast again.
bubba3m
2/24
Hey Marc-
With this comment of yours in mind: "but I can't even pretend to understand what is going on with Philadelphia's outfield right now", it would be nice if you could provide a quick readjustment of these rankings in two weeks or so once the situations start to become more clear. Perhaps in an unfiltered post, with brief notes "With Brown locking up RF, he's now firmly in the three star category" or some such thing.
yankeehater32
2/24
That's the plan. It's great to get these rankings out early for everyone who needs them, but as spring training progresses, some things may change. We adjust the depth charts to account for those decisions, so the PFM will be able to spit out new values for Domonic Brown and Ben Francisco once we have a clearer picture of who is playing.
pikapp383
2/24
Where would you put Lance Berkman?
yankeehater32
2/24
Berkman is a high two-star player (he was in the first base rankings). I think he's capable of getting into the three-star range, but I wouldn't pay him much to find out.
pikapp383
2/24
Thanks, I looked at all the outfield spots for him, but not 1B.

Would he have more value in an OBP league?
mikedee
2/24
I just can not see giving a 5* rating to CarGo. This seems like you are putting more value on last years performance than what we can project this year, which will most likely be a decline in numbers....putting him mid-pack with the 4* fielders, possibly even lower.

My same thinking applies to Bautista.
yankeehater32
2/24
Bautista's 2010 season had five-star value--I have knocked him down in that regard. His projection looks pretty good though, especially since he is still in Toronto.

As for Carlos Gonzalez, I don't know why we should expect a massive decline in numbers if he still gets to play in Colorado, the place inflating his numbers like crazy. PECOTA has already knocked him down after accounting for past performance and his .384 BABIP from 2010, and he is *still* coming out in the high-$30 range. He was worth $44 in 2010, which is a crazy high number. Knocking him down about $10 still puts him in the five-star range, with room to spare.
rotoman21
2/24
I think Braun will produce more fantasy dollars than Cargo this year.
yankeehater32
2/24
I think they are pretty close. PECOTA has them with the same amount, and I rated both of them five-star. Can't go wrong with either.
camram003
2/24
I don't understand the lack of love PECOTA has for Jason Heyward. He had 91!! walks last year as a rookie. How can the system not be in love with him. I was actually thinking that his fourth round ADP is too low. Please explain this to me.
Thanks.
BurrRutledge
2/24
I am surprised by Stanton leapfrogging Heyward, but I guess in fantasy leagues the HRs really make the difference.

2010 MLB Season
Stanton: 396 PAs, .287 TAv (.326 OBP/.507 SLG)
Heyward: 623 PAs, .304 TAv (.393 OBP/.456 SLG)

... and yet...
2011: ..PA/R/HR/RBI/Steals/Avg/Values
Stanton 625 81 34 93 2 .248 $15 $19
Heyward 620 80 16 72 8 .276 $9 $18

So, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that if you're in an OBP league, or a league that uses Total Bases instead of HRs, then Heyward stands above Stanton.
Ophidian
2/24
I'm confused on the Jason Heyward ranking... PECOTA seems to think he'll put up pretty much the same numbers across the board as last year, despite the fact that he played much of last year hurt. I'm pretty much convinced that Heyward is in a much better position to perform this year than Stanton is.
yankeehater32
2/24
I think the dollar value for Heyward is low (which is why he's three-star and not two-star, as the dollar value indicates) but I also like Stanton a whole bunch, which is why he's bottom of four, and not in three.