The Super Bowl is officially in the rearview mirror, and that means it will only be a short time before pitchers and catchers begin reporting to spring training and the 2016 MLB season is officially underway.
We’re still roughly two months from Opening Day, but the time is now to start preparing for your yearly fantasy baseball drafts.
There is no shortage of information to pore over, but establishing a Big Board to serve as a foundation is always a good place to start.
Below is our preliminary ranking of the top 150 fantasy players for draft season—though there will be plenty of change between now and the start of the year as spring performance, transactions and injuries will cause players to rise and fall.
Before we get to the Big Board, a bit of clarification.
First, everything is based on 10- or 12-team mixed leagues with standard five-by-five rotisserie scoring for hitters (BA, R, HR, RBI, SB) and pitchers (W, ERA, WHIP, K, SV).
Second, lineup construction assumes 22 active roster positions, consisting of one each for catcher, first base, second base, third base, shortstop, corner infield, middle infield and utility, along with five outfielders and nine pitchers.
Finally, to be eligible at a particular position, players must have accrued at least 20 games there in 2015 (or be projected to play there regularly).
With that established, it’s on to the Big Board, starting with No. 150 and working all the way to No. 1.
Ins and Outs
With our first Big Board for the upcoming fantasy season now established, this is the section in future articles where we’ll review who climbed into the top 150 and who dropped out in the time that has passed since the previous rankings.
Players who make the Big Board will be accompanied by a brief write-up, as well as highlighted on the above board. Players who drop out will also get a quick blurb explaining why they fell.
On the Bubble
You’re no doubt wondering who missed cracking the top 150, so here’s a look at a handful of guys who fell just short of making the Big Board:
- Devin Mesoraco, Lucas Duda, Mark Trumbo, DJ LeMahieu, Daniel Murphy, Neil Walker, Kolten Wong, Matt Duffy, David Wright, Ian Desmond, Billy Burns, Michael Conforto, Dexter Fowler, Ender Inciarte, Kevin Kiermaier, Joc Pederson, Josh Reddick, Raisel Iglesias, John Lackey, Collin McHugh, Jake Odorizzi, Carlos Rodon, Julio Teheran, Yordano Ventura, Brad Boxberger, Glen Perkins, Huston Street, Shawn Tolleson
Something worth keeping in mind with these preseason rankings: When a few players at the same position are bunched together—for example, outfielders J.D. Martinez, Starling Marte, Charlie Blackmon and Nelson Cruz—it means they’re more or less interchangeable, with no clear-cut favorite at the moment.
That will shift as more information, news, injuries and performances come to light. For now, when players are grouped, consider their value to your team based more on specific category need than overall ranking.
Biggest Risers and Fallers
Similar to the “Ins and Outs” portion above, this section will also be updated each time we publish a new Big Board, and it will focus on players who rose or fell in the rankings by more than 10 spots in either direction.
The “Previous” section in the above table will be used to indicate how many spots those notable players climbed or dropped.
Just like with new additions to the list, players on the rise will be highlighted in the table.
Wrapup
So there you have it, the first look at Bleacher Report’s 2016 fantasy baseball Big Board with the top 150 players for the upcoming season. Hopefully it can serve as a useful tool to help put you in the best position to win your league.
That is, unless you happen to be in one of my leagues. Then I implore you to disregard everything you’ll read here.
Pitchers and catchers officially begin reporting Feb. 18, and the first full-squad workouts begin a few days later on Feb. 22.
Baseball is almost here, folks. Get excited!
All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
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