So far we’ve covered first base, second base, third base, shortstop, and catcher. Today we turn to fantasy baseball’s most important position, the outfield.
The outfield position is likely going to produce the majority of your offense and there is no shortage of category fillers to be had.
Our first tier is made up of can’t-miss players, led by Mike Trout. Many analysts have Andrew McCutchen or Carlos Gonzalez as their number two but I strongly believe Ryan Braun returns to his MVP-contender self this season, ‘roids or not. Anyone in the first tier is going to be a major producer for your team and, outside of Carlos Gonzalez, don’t carry a big injury risk.
The second tier is made up of elite players as well, but ones that carry some risk, inconsistency, or questions. While someone like Giancarlo Stanton or Yasiel Puig could certainly end up a Top 10 player, it’s harder to predict how their season will go compared to someone like Adam Jones or Jacoby Ellsbury.
The third tier is composed of players who could be elite outfielders but could also disappoint some fantasy owners. Whether it’s Matt Kemp‘s injury concerns, Wil Myers‘ inexperience, or Carlos Beltran‘s age, it’s certainly possible that some of those players fail to reach the fantasy promised land.
The fourth tier carries a lot of risk but could provide strong value if you have the stomach for Jason Heyward‘s inconsistency, Billy Hamilton‘s inexperience, or Alfonso Soriano‘s age.
The fifth tier is where we see multi-category contributors start to disappear and fantasy owners will have to target power or speed but likely be unable to find both. Brandon Moss and Evan Gattis can certainly provide some pop while Brett Gardner and Ben Revere can definitely bring the speed.
Be sure to check back for the rest of our outfield rankings and full outfield projections coming up on XN Sports this week.
| Tier | Rank | Player |
| 1 | 1 | Mike Trout |
| 2 | Ryan Braun | |
| 3 | Andrew McCutchen | |
| 4 | Carlos Gonzalez | |
| 5 | Adam Jones | |
| 6 | Jacoby Ellsbury | |
| 7 | Carlos Gomez | |
| 2 | 8 | Bryce Harper |
| 9 | Jay Bruce | |
| 10 | Jose Bautista | |
| 11 | Giancarlo Stanton | |
| 12 | Yasiel Puig | |
| 13 | Justin Upton | |
| 14 | Shin-Soo Choo | |
| 15 | Matt Holliday | |
| 16 | Hunter Pence | |
| 3 | 17 | Allen Craig |
| 18 | Wil Myers | |
| 19 | Yoenis Cespedes | |
| 20 | Alex Rios | |
| 21 | Starling Marte | |
| 22 | Carlos Beltran | |
| 23 | Mark Trumbo | |
| 24 | Matt Kemp | |
| 25 | Alex Gordon | |
| 4 | 26 | Jason Heyward |
| 27 | Ben Zobrist | |
| 28 | Billy Hamilton | |
| 29 | Jayson Werth | |
| 30 | Josh Hamilton | |
| 31 | Domonic Brown | |
| 32 | Shane Victorino | |
| 33 | Michael Cuddyer | |
| 34 | Alfonso Soriano | |
| 35 | Curtis Granderson | |
| 36 | Martin Prado | |
| 37 | Desmond Jennings | |
| 38 | Leonys Martin | |
| 39 | Austin Jackson | |
| 5 | 40 | Coco Crisp |
| 41 | Nelson Cruz | |
| 42 | Norichika Aoki | |
| 43 | Brett Gardner | |
| 44 | Michael Bourn | |
| 45 | Carl Crawford | |
| 46 | Ben Revere | |
| 47 | Brandon Moss | |
| 48 | Torii Hunter | |
| 49 | Evan Gattis | |
| 50 | Alejandro De Aza |
