Fantasy 40/40: Early 2011 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: TOP 40 Overall (31-40)
- 31. A. McCutchen OF PIT
- 32. J. Reyes SS NYM
- 33. I. Suzuki OF SEA
- 34. A. Wainwright SP STL
- 35. J. Bautista 3B/OF TOR
- 36. J. Werth OF WAS
- 37. J. Mauer C MIN
- 38. A. Beltre 3B TEX
- 39. D. Uggla 2B ATL
- 40. C. Lee SP PHI
As I see it now, that’s the rest of my top 40. Many will disagree, but this is where I stand today. My preference for youth and upside, offensive players over pitchers and scarcity all played a part in the rankings.
McCutchen is a fantasy star waiting to bust out. He’s gone 12/22 and 16/33 in his first two seasons. I see at least another 16/30 season with an upside of 22/38 – possibly better. He was 39th on ESPN’s player rater last season which was good for 15th best OF – look for his continued maturation in 2011.
After Hanley and Tulo, the SS position becomes questionable and sketchy. An aging Rollins and Jeter along with Andrus, Drew and Ramirez make up the next contestants. Reyes is in a contract year and seems to be healthy heading into Spring Training. There’s risk here, but a huge reward if he goes off.
Like I always say, Ichiro in Japanese means “automatic.”
I had to put Bautista somewhere. He might not hit 50 ever again, Brady Anderson style. He might hit 40. BUT, 35 HR is totally realistic and he qualifies at two positions.
Mauer is a catcher, albeit the best one available, but I rarely draft catchers early. If he falls this far though, I couldn’t see myself passing on him in the 5th.
Wainwright is a beast and is barely ahead of Cliff Lee and Jon Lester (41) on my rankings.
I recently completed two mock drafts and will post the results soon. Interesting to see where certain players are falling.
Well, that’s my early top 40. Comments? Concerns? Please share.
Excellent analysis.
It is hard to disagree with your Top-40 rankings as they are your opinion and I wouldn’t offer to try and change that.
The most contention I have is that I think you rated Ales Rodriguez too high at #20 since he is so injury-prone and I did not see Ubaldo Jiminez anywhere in the top-40. Many feel Ubaldo may be the #1 pitcher overall.
Good analysis none-the-less.
JCMilan
JCMilan,
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Anyone you agree or disagree with? Since I’ve posted this, my top 40 has changed (of course) and it will be touched on again when I release my top 100 (soon). Thanks for reading.
TITO