Outfielder Shuffle Up: The ageless Carlos Beltran
The idea is 5x5 value for rest of season. What's happened to this point is merely an audition. I didn't rank anyone on the DL, or anyone in the minors. Everyone seems to be more optimistic on injury returnees and hot prospects (hi, Buxton) than I am.
This week, we sort the fantasy outfielders.
The prices are unscientific in nature, and players at the same price are considered even. I'm just looking for a way to show the pockets of value as I see them. I don't look at old prices when I construct these -- it's all from scratch. I don't even see the point of looking back there; live in the present, look to the future.
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I welcome your respectful disagreement. Obviously you will feel passionate about what you don't agree with, that's why we have a game. The discussion can be deep and illuminating if you want it to be.
And remember the golden rule -- a player doesn't gain value because you like him, nor does he lose value because you don't like him.
Prices now, comments later today. I reserve the right to make changes in this list during the first 24 hours. Win the debate, win the rank.
If I missed someone, let me know. I'm on Twitter, @scott_pianowski.
$33 Mike Trout
$32 Mookie Betts
$30 Kris Bryant
$28 Bryce Harper
$26 Charlie Blackmon
$26 Ian Desmond
$25 Carlos Gonzalez
$24 Wil Myers
$23 George Springer
$22 Nelson Cruz
$21 Chris Davis
$20 Adam Jones
$20 Mark Trumbo
$20 Ben Zobrist
$19 Starling Marte
$19 Yoenis Cespedes
$18 Jay Bruce
$17 Carlos Beltran
$17 Lorenzo Cain
$17 Marcell Ozuna
$17 Adam Duvall
$17 Gregory Polanco
$17 Andrew McCutchen
May we all age as well as Carlos Beltran, who is far and away New York's best offensive player in his age-39 season. His stats are wonderfully portable to most situations — he has an .873 OPS against righties, a .966 OPS against lefties; his home OPS is .936, his road OPS is .861. Beltran is no longer able to steal bases or do much on defense, but we’ll pay up for a four-category contributor. Methinks he’s already filled in a Hall of Fame resume, but every little bit helps . . . . . . Does McCutchen look healthy to you? Are you confident he'll start running anytime soon? McCutchen is just 21st in offensive fWAR among outfielders over the last calendar year . . . Jones jumped back into the Circle of Trust with a bang-up June: .315/.348/.639. 10 homers. His low walk rate, that’s just something we have to deal with. He’s always been a “swing at anything” guy and he’s proven he can succeed that way . . . Everything we needed to say about Myers came on the blog a few weeks back.
$16 Danny Valencia
$16 Melvin Upton
$16 Matt Kemp
$16 Ryan Braun
$16 Kole Calhoun
$16 Brandon Belt
$16 Giancarlo Stanton
$15 Jackie Bradley Jr.
$14 Matt Holliday
$14 Odubel Herrera
$14 Jacoby Ellsbury
$13 Mike Napoli
$13 Justin Upton
$13 Hanley Ramirez
$13 Adam Eaton
$13 Michael Saunders
Everyone likes Stanton more than I do. I’ve made peace with it. I try not to chase after spectacles, guys who are made for highlights. I like versatile players, quiet four and five-category contributors. And Stanton hasn’t looked close to full health all year . . . I can’t go higher on Saunders given his .238/.310/.404 career slash and his injury history . . . Valencia earned his stripes last year, proving he just wasn't a short-platoon guy. The A's will get plenty of calls about his availability, between now and the trading deadline. It's at least 50-50 Valencia will be traded, and leaving Oakland is almost always a good thing for a hitter.
$12 Rajai Davis
$12 Stephen Piscotty
$12 Christian Yelich
$11 Shin-Soo Choo
$11 Khris Davis
$11 Leonys Martin
$10 Jayson Werth
$10 Billy Hamilton
$10 Brett Gardner
$10 Kevin Pillar
$9 Yasiel Puig
$9 Curtis Granderson
$9 Melky Cabrera
$9 Whit Merrifield
$9 Carlos Gomez
$9 Brandon Moss
$7 Jose Ramirez
$7 Mark Reynolds
$7 Jason Heyward
$7 Nomar Mazara
$7 Josh Harrison
$7 Alex Gordon
$6 Brad Miller
$6 Tyler Naquin
$6 Byron Buxton
Puig was on the Non-Wallet list before the year, so he hasn't been my problem. Maybe I have him too high here; all I know is I delete the trade offers I get involving him, then move along with my day . . . Gomez has been a little better since the DL stint, but still nothing close to what we expected pre-season . . . Moss is a .275/.365/.688 monster against righties, with all 16 of his homers. He’s struck out in 23 of his 56 at-bats against lefties, en route to a .196/.286/.286 slash . . . Buxton since the recall: .215/.247/.354, with one homer, four steals in 23 games. The lightbulb hasn’t come on yet.
$5 Ryan Rua
$5 Colby Rasmus
$5 Ben Revere
$5 Cameron Maybin
$5 Angel Pagan
$5 Corey Dickerson
$4 Marwin Gonzalez
$4 Ichiro Suzuki
$4 Robbie Grossman
$4 Franklin Gutierrez
$4 Ender Inciarte
$4 Nick Markakis
$4 Max Kepler
$4 Hyun Soo Kim
$4 Trayce Thompson
$4 Kolten Wong
$3 Lonnie Chisenhall
$3 Adonis Garcia
$2 Derek Dietrich
$2 Howie Kendrick
$2 Denard Span
$2 Joc Pederson
$2 Yasmany Tomas
$2 Eduardo Escobar
$2 Travis Jankowski
$2 Oswaldo Arcia
If anything happened to Jay permanently, I'd be temped to chase Jankowski up to the $5-7 range. He's capable of running and the Padres let their guys run as much as they want . . . The average is lovely with Maybin, but more pop would be nice. Actually, some pop. He’s slugging .345 in June, with three extra-base hits (zero homers).
$1 Jon Jay
$1 Michael Bourn
$1 Peter Bourjos
$1 Cody Asche
$1 Seth Smith
$1 Sean Rodriguez
$1 Michael Taylor
$1 Matt Joyce
$1 Steven Moya
$1 Ryan Raburn
$1 Jake Smolinski
$1 Peter O'Brien
$1 Chris Owings
$0 Coco Crisp
$0 Gregor Blanco
$0 Ryan Flaherty
$0 Ezequiel Carrera
$0 Jacob Marisnick
$0 Chris Coghlan
$0 Desmond Jennings
$0 Avisail Garcia
$0 Mike Aviles
$0 Brandon Drury
$0 Enrique Hernandez
$0 Jarrod Dyson
$0 Jeff Francoeur
$0 Kelly Johnson
$0 Aaron Hicks
$0 Daniel Santana
Courtesy Injury Ranks - I wil not debate these
Josh Reddick $14
Dexter Fowler $14
J.D. Martinez $12
Jose Bautista $12
David Peralta $11
Hunter Pence $9
Michael Brantley $9
Miguel Sano $9
Gerardo Parra $6
Steve Pearce $4
Steve Souza $4
Mallex Smith $2
Brock Holt $1
Jorge Soler $1
