2012 Fantasy Baseball Rankings & Projections – Top 20 Outfielders

Going from the Top 20 shortstops to the Top 20 outfielders is like going from whoever Geoffrey Arend was dating, to marrying the chick from Mad (HINT: just Google when you aren’t at work). I mean how did he land that? I’m as anti-marriage as they come but sweet damn. The guy from Super Troopers landed that!? The guy who wouldn’t shut up in Undeclared landed her!? Let me, Let me, Upgrade you! Any-who the top 20 outfielders are quite solid, the top 40 outfielders are o-tay, and then from there it starts to get pretty ugly. The Oakland A’s alone have about 40 outfielders. I was tempted to leave all of them out.

A quick note on these rankings and projections that will be featured over the next few weeks and will culminate with the Top 10, Top 20, Top 100,  and Top 300 rankings…these are how I think they should be valued. You may disagree at times and fall in love with me at times (but hey let’s just stay friends for now…I’d just break your heart….unless you have a huge bankroll for drinks.) Any-who I break things out into tiers when I can. When you see guys in the same tier it means it doesn’t really matter who is ranked ahead of whom…I just prefer the guy on top (well that came out wrong.) All the rankings will also be featured on their own page (look above…higher…higher…there), which can be found here.

After we wrap up the rankings I’m going to hold a live chat on fantasybalk.com to answer any questions you may have and try and help you with any last minute keeper question, draft questions, relationship advice, etc. that you might be facing. I’ll be announcing the date and time shortly. Feel free to start sending in your questions now to fantasybalk@gmail.com

Ok so the 2012 Top 20 Outfielders for Fantasy Baseball:

1. Ryan Braun – I already covered him here. 2012 Projections: 110/32/115/.310/25
2. Jose Bautista  - I already covered him here. 2012 Projections: 105/41/110/.275/7
3. Matt Kemp – So Kemp said he will go 50-50 this year. Well I am saying I am going to hook-up with 50 girls this week. Just because you say something doesn’t mean it will happen. (Mine will though.) I am seeing way too many owners taking him first overall. Let’s not forget about his .380 BABIP last year, and the fact that his lineup this year will consist of a bunch of Suck and Age. Put that together and you have Suckage. It’s good that Kemp increased his walk rate last year because he’ll be doing a lot of that this year. I don’t see why teams will pitch to him unless they must. 2012 Projections: 95/31/105/.295/30
4. Justin Upton – So who will follow in the footsteps of Carlos Gonzalez and Matt Kemp and be this year’s Mayor of Stud City? J to the Up! 2012 Projections: 105/32/110/.300/25
5. Jacoby Ellsbury – I’ve probably mentioned it so much that if I repeated every time I’ve mentioned it in one breath I would knock myself out: “I tend to shy away from guys who just came off of a career year.” I would equate it to a middle school dance. You want to go over there, but you don’t want to go over there. If you went to a private school like me, a teacher probably told you to stop dancing so close to the girls to leave room for the Holy Spirit. 2012 Projections: 110/20/75/.300/40
6. Carlos Gonzalez – I was down on him going into last year because 2010 felt like a career year. I was right and wrong. He was still pretty great, and if he doesn’t crash into the wall, he would have come quite close to repeating that year sans the batting average. I’m back to loving you Carlos! Lucky you! 2012 Projections: 95/28/100/.295/18
7. Jay Bruce – You want to get nuts! Let’s get NUTS! I plan on owning Bruce in as many leagues as possible. I realize his average was pretty blah last year but to get 35+ homers and 8+ stolen base potential is too much awesomeness to pass up. I’ve seen more from Bruce in the past few seasons than the other guys in this tier, that is why he is ranked above the others in this tier. It’s personal preference I guess, but don’t mind me while I grab Bruce over the others. Gracias! That’s Spanish for thanks! This is Tier #2 and it goes through Cruz. I call this tier “I’ll have at least one of these guys, and possibly two.” 2012 Projections: 100/34/105/.265/8
8. Mike Giancarlo Stanton – The best way I can describe Stanton is: #BOOM. That should be printed on his jersey. The whole Beast Mode thing was just explained to me a few weeks ago, and before it was explained to me I just assumed it was about Mike Stanton. Again, within tiers I typically put the guys with more upside on top.  Also, I know a popular anti-#BOOM argument is: “Hey isn’t he basically Adam Dunn in his prime? I mean I guess…it’s just that Adam Dunn was hitting those 40 bombs, while bench players were able to hit 30 homers in a season. Now players are hitting 20-30 homers a year, and Stanton has 40 homer potential. The difference is the era. 2012 Projections: 90/36/105/.265/5
9. Curtis Granderson – I know what you are thinking so let me go ahead and answer it. Yes I know he is coming off a career year, and yes I just got a hair cut thanks for noticing. Yankee Stadium is so perfect for Granderson, and I truly believe he fixed something in his swing. I can’t imagine we get 40 homers, but 30+ with 20+ SBs will keep me satisfied. 2012 Projections: 110/33/95/.265/20
10. Andrew McCutchen – Here are my problems with McCutchen. 1. He doesn’t have 30-homer power like pretty much everyone else in this tier.  2. The team isn’t very good. 3. I don’t see him getting to 100/100 either. As a result I have him ranked a little lower than most. 2012 Projections: 90/25/90/.280/25
11. Matt Holliday – Some people are down on him, and some people are really high on him. I’m right in the middle. A lot comes down to if he can actually stay healthy this year. I swear the whole Cardinals team might be out for year by the time this post makes it to the World Wide Web. Furcal, Berkman, Holliday, Beltran, Carpenter, Wainwright, Freese, etc. Yikes City. 2012 Projections: 90/25/100/.300/5
12. Hunter Pence – No Howard for a portion of the season, Utley is a DL stint waiting to happen, and Rollins is in the decline….Pence won’t have the help you might think even with the park help. 2012 Projections: 90/25/95/.280/12
13. Josh Hamilton – Hamilton wants a long term contract so could I see a MVP season? Yes. He also want to run around bars with his shirt off. Could I see this happening again? Yes. This is why he is ranked 12^th and not higher. I don’t like taking guys who you know will be hurt. This post bleeds… 2012 Projections: 85/25/90/.300/8
14. Nelson Cruz – Onto this post. Well now we have a mess. Cruz’s hamstrings are ticking time bombs. Whenever he uses them to much they blow up and he lands on the DL. Pretty much Speed 3 with Cruz. When healthy he is as solid as they come. He and Hamilton could both shoot up these rankings, but I shy away from guys that make me nervous (and could outdrink me.) 2012 Projections: 75/30/85/.270/10
15. Lance Berkman – I already covered him here. This is tier number 3 and it goes into the Top 40 list, which will be out tomorrow. I call this tier “Hey I’ll probably own one of these guys tooo…the extra o is a typo.” 2012 Projections: 85/25/95/.280/2
16. Michael Morse  - I already covered him here. 2012 Projections: 85/28/90/.285/2
17. BJ Upton – Another guy I would love to own in as many leagues as possible. Ignore the average for a second and he looks like a pretty darn good fantasy player doesn’t he? Yes! Well what if just a few more balls he makes contact with fall for a hit each week. He could bat .275-.280. 2012 Projections: 85/22/85/.255/50
18. Desmond Jennings – What did one snowman say to the other snowman? Is Jennings being over-drafted in most leagues? No…but yes! Let’s not forget his September where he hit .160, had one double, one triple, and two homers. Did teams figure him out? Maybe. Will he be good to great in 2012? Sure. I am just not all-in like say Bill James. He’ll struggle at times. He’s not someone I am going to reach on. 2012 Projections: 95/15/60/.265/40
19. Shane Victorino – I am down on most Philly hitters this year. They are just old, banged up, and smelly. Please don’t throw batteries at me friends (and enemies!) 2012 Projections: 80/15/60/.270/20
20. Adam Jones – Great park, terrible team, I’m still all about Mr. Jones this year. 2012 Projections: 80/25/90/.280/10