2016 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Catcher/First Base/Second Base/Third Base/Outfield(Top 25)/(Top 50)/(Top 75)/Starters(Top 25)/(Top 50)/(Top 75)/(Top 100)/Closer/Top 250 Overall

1) Carlos Correa HOU – The dawn of the new power hitting SS era begins with Correa, and not a moment too soon, as SS production was getting brutal to watch. 2016 Projection: 88/28/96/.283/21

2) Manny Machado BAL – Every bit the phenom Correa is. 7 games played at SS in 2015. 2016 Projection: 94/31/89/.281/15

3) Troy Tulowitzki TOR – A move away from Coors, advancing age, and a cracked shoulder blade in 2015 are all good reasons to stay away from Tulo. On the flip side, he will be hitting in the middle of a loaded Toronto lineup, and the Rogers Center is a good hitter’s ballpark as well. 2016 Projection: 81/23/90/.283/3

4) Xander Bogaerts BOS – Expect more power and less AVG this season. 2016 Projection: 84/14/80/.293/8

5) Corey Seager LAD – The #1 ranked prospect in my 2016 Top 100 Fantasy Prospects post. Players seem to be hitting their primes earlier and earlier these days, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Seager hits the ground running in his official rookie season. 2016 Projection: 82/19/82/.277/7

6) Francisco Lindor CLE – Doesn’t have the offensive upside of the players ranked above him, but he is no slouch. Hit .313, with 12 homers, and 12 steals in 99 MLB games last season. 2016 Projection: 82/14/68/.274/18

7) Ian Desmond TEX – Signed with Texas to be their starting LF. Presents an enticing power/speed combo. 2016 Projection: 71/21/77/.261/12

8) Jung-ho Kang PIT – Wrote a Jung-ho Kang, 2016 Fantasy Sleeper post. 2016 Projection: 70/20/70/.284/4

9) Addison Russell CHI-NL – Wrote about Russell in my 2016 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Top 20 Second Basemen post. 2016 Projection: 72/18/72/.268/10

10) Starlin Castro NYY – Wrote about Castro in my 2016 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Top 20 Second Basemen post. 2016 Projection: 74/14/71/.283/7

11) Elvis Andrus TEX – I don’t see a late breakout coming, but still think he can be useful in fantasy. 2016 Projection: 71/8/66/.271/24

12) Marcus Semien OAK – Underrated power/speed combo. A breakout is possible. 2016 Projection: 69/17/61/.264/10

13) Jean Segura ARI – The trade to Arizona somewhat revived his fantasy hype. I guess it is nice to know somebody still believes in him. 2016 Projection: 67/8/53/.268/27

14) Ketel Marte SEA – Doesn’t get the hype the other SS’s in the 2015 rookie class receive. There is some risk here, but should provide a solid AVG and speed. 2016 Projection: 73/5/58/.275/21

15) Brandon Crawford SFG – Power explosion in 2015. Don’t think he will fall all the way back down to earth, but not paying for the career year either. 2016 Projection: 64/17/78/.254/4

16) Alexei Ramirez SD – Ballpark and lineup downgrades going from CHI to SD. Age concerns as well. 2016 Projection: 60/10/63/.263/15

17) Alcides Escobar KC – Speed and runs, nothing else. 2016 Projection: 75/4/49/.262/20

18) Eugenio Suarez CIN – 13 homers in 97 games last season. The high risk version of Crawford. 2016 Projection: 59/16/68/.252/5

19) Trevor Story SS – Story is the #30 ranked prospect in my 2016 Top 100 Prospects post. He has absolutely crushed spring training pitching, securing the starting SS job while Jose Reyes is suspended. Teams have no incentive to adjust to what he has been doing in Spring so far (for example, in 2015, Mike Zunino triple-slashed .353/.431/.882 with 7 homers in Spring, and then he hit .174/.230/.300 during the regular season), so don’t get too excited, but he certainly put his name on the redraft league map for this season. 2016 Projection: 55/13/51/.250/8

20) Jose Reyes COL – Injury concerns. Suspension concerns. Age concerns. I’m concerned. 2016 Projection: 42/5/28/.281/14

By Michael Halpern
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@ImaginaryBrickW)