2011 Fantasy Baseball Preview - Outfield Rankings 2

Introduction  - Catchers  - First Basemen  - Second Basemen  
Third Basemen  - Shortstops  - Outfielders 1  - Outfielders 2  
Starting Pitchers 1  - Starting Pitchers 2

#21 Curtis Granderson
Granderson was pretty disappointing for the Yankees after getting a huge deal from them in the offseason. He hit only .247 with a .324 OBP. He had an unlucky .277 BABIP, but Yankees stadium helped him power wise as he hit 24 home runs. Granderson was expected to be a 30-30 guy but he only stole 12 bases, which was extremely disappointing. He's too good of a player to have too many more seasons like last year, so I'd consider buying low on Granderson and getting him for your #2 or #3 outfielder.

#22 Shane Victorino
Victorino had a solid year in 2010. His batting average was down but he had a career high 18 homers and a really nice 34 steals. Victorino is 30 years old so he has a few more solid years left in him, and he should score a bunch of runs for the Phillies again this year. You know what you're going to get, and if that's what you need, draft him.

#23 Mike Stanton
Stanton has huge power. He hit 22 homers in 100 games last year. He did that with a .259 batting average and a high .330 BABIP. He's a big swinger so you'll never get a really good batting average out of him, and he won't steal bases or anything like that. However, he'll hit a bunch of home runs and drive in a bunch of runs. If you need power, he's a very good option at a pretty low spot in the draft.

#24 Jacoby Ellsbury
2010 was a frustrating year for Ellsbury and his owners. He played only 18 games, so looking at his numbers from last year is pretty meaningless. He's a speed guy, plain and simple. He stole 70 bases in 2009 and scored 94 runs. That's what you'll get from him. If he's healthy he'll steal bases and score runs, but not much else.

#25 Colby Rasmus
Rasmus was a very streaky player in 2010 but wound up with a .276 average and 23 home runs when all was said and done. He's a young player with a lot of room to improve, and he has upside in almost all categories. He's definitely a good guy to draft, especially with how low he'll be going in most drafts.

#26 Corey Hart
Hart had a pretty monstrous 2010 with 31 home runs. However, his LD% was only 17.8 and his HR/FB was high at 16.8. The power seems flukish and he doesn't contribute enough in other categories for me to take the risk. I'm avoiding Hart this year.

#27 Ben Zobrist
Zobrist is going to be a key for the Rays this year, but could lose some playing time with the recent signings of Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez. Zobrist is a good player who had a really great season in 2009. He'll probably never come near that 27 home run, .297 batting average season, but he'll contribute a fair amount. There's not a lot of upside, and there's the downside of losing playing time, so I probably won't be drafting Zobrist unless he falls quite a ways.

#28 Torii Hunter
Hunter is 35 years old now and has been putting up numbers his whole career. Last year he hit .281 with 23 homers. Predicting him to repeat those numbers isn't a stretch by any means, and he could even steal you 10-15 bases. Not much upside here either, but Hunter is a solid player.

#29 Grady Sizemore
Sizemore had a tough 2010, playing only 33 games after suffering a season-ending injury early on. We can't take much from his 2010 stats because of that, but I can say that is still 28 years old and has the athletic ability to be one of the more versatile players in the game. In his last full season (2008), Sizemore hit .268 with 33 home runs and 38 stolen bases. If he gets healthy and returns anywhere near those numbers, he'll be a serious steal in this draft. If he really falls this low in your draft, you'd be foolish to pass on him.

#30 Nick Markakis
Markakis is one of the better young players in the game, but what pretty disappointing last year with his power numbers. He hit only 12 home runs in 160 games, which is pretty hard to believe. His batting average stayed consistent at .297, but people drafted him for 20+ HR power, and they didn't get it. He only stole 7 bases, so he didn't contribute in much else besides batting average. Markakis had a really low HR/FB rate, and there will be better hitters behind him this year in the Orioles lineup, so I expect the power to come up. He could be another serious mid-round steal.

#31 Carlos Quentin
Quentin is another young guy with very serious power, he hit 36 homers in 2008. Last year he hit 26 bombs but batted only .246. That seems like the player he is going to be his whole career, good power numbers but not a big contributor in anything else. He doesn't steal bases and strikes out a bunch. If you need another power bat for your team, Quentin could be a nice pick up later in the draft.

#32 Aubrey Huff
Huff had a huge year last year, and if you read the first base post, you know that I don't expect him to do anything like that this year. The LD% and BABIP don't raise any fluke questions from 2010, but he's just too old and he played too out of his element last year for me to put him on my team.

#33 Bobby Abreu
Abreu has been in the league since 1996, that's a long time. Last year he hit .255 (the second lowest average of his career) with 20 homers. He steals bases, but you aren't going to get a whole lot out of him. He's really pushing it in age, and I really would be surprised to see Abreu play another full productive season.

#34 Michael Bourn
If you're drafting Bourn, it's for the steals. That's exactly what you'll get from him. He's stolen over 50 bases his last 2 years, and has scored over 80 runs in those years. There's no power or great batting average here, but he'll steal you the bags you need.

#35 Juan Pierre
Pierre is 33 and still swiping bases. He stole 68 last year, a huge number considering he had 30 the previous year. The .275 batting average and 96 runs scored were pretty solid numbers to go along with it as well, making him a very good fantasy player last year. He's getting up there in age, however, and I see better options than him at this point in the draft. If you need steals and he's all there is, he's a good bet to steal 30+ bases.

#36 Drew Stubbs
Not many people knew who Stubbs was last year, but he played pretty well for the Reds, scoring 91 runs and stealing 30 bases in 151 games. He's just another top of the order speed guy that is going to help you in 2 or 3 categories, but he's young enough to have more upside than guys like Bourn or Pierre.

#37 Brett Gardner
Gardner has been proclaimed the fastest player in the league. There's no real way to know that, but he did steal 47 bases last year in his first full season. He hit only 5 home runs, so playing for the Yankees you can tell there isn't a whole lot of power there. He scored 97 runs and shouldn't have much of a problem getting there again this year with the Yankees ridiculous lineup. He hit .277 and has upside to hit higher than that. He might be a better bet than Bourn or Pierre just because of the upside, but if you want a more sure thing, you'd be better going elsewhere with the pick.

#38 Vernon Wells
Wells was traded to the Angels this offseason, and will have some pretty heavy expectations. He had a hot start to last year and finished the season with a solid .280 average and 31 homers. He's 32 years old now and with the guaranteed money on his plate already, I wouldn't expect him to perform as well as people expect this year. If you need a power guy, he's a good option for how late he's going to go, but I don't really think he's going to do much in 2011.

The rest: Carlos Lee, Travis Snider, Adam Jones, Rajai Davis, Jason Bay, Denard Span, Michael Cuddyer, Angel Pagan, Andres Torres, Carlos Beltran