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

1) Buster Posey SF – Best catcher in baseball, in real life and fantasy. 2016 Projection: 73/21/90/.312/2

2) Kyle Schwarber CHC – Great ballpark. Great line-up. 16 homers in only 273 PA in 2015. 5 homers in 31 postseason PA. 2016 Projection: 71/27/89/.254/4

3) Brian McCann NYY– Not a sexy name anymore, but still a lock to launch 20+ homers hitting in Yankee Stadium. 2016 Projection: 62/24/81/.240/0

4) Salvador Perez KC – Perfect mix of upside and reliability. 2016 Projection: 60/20/75/.270/1

5) Travis D’Arnaud NYM – Don’t let the French name scare you off, D’Arnaud has elite power upside for a catcher. He hit 12 homers in 268 PA last season. With improved health, 2016 could be his coming out party. 2016 Projection: 59/23/70/.264/1

6) Russell Martin TOR – Old reliable. Great ballpark. Great line-up. 2016 Projection: 70/18/72/.260/5

7) Devin Mesoraco CIN – After injury plagued 2015, expected to be fully healthy for next season. Prime bounce back candidate. 2016 Projection: 56/20/69/.255/1

8) Jonathon Lucroy MIL – After poor 1st half, Lucroy triple-slashed .289/.347/.461 post all-star break. Should be back to normal self for 2016. 2016 Projection: 54/14/64/.280/3

9) Matt Wieters BAL – Wrote a Matt Wieters, 2016 Fantasy Sleeper post for him. 2016 Projection: 62/21/75/.270/0 – (Update: Wieters is experiencing soreness in his elbow but is expected to be ready for opening day. Here we go again …)

10) Wellington Castillo ARI – Absolutely exploded once he was traded to Arizona in 2^nd half of the season, hitting 17 homers in 80 games. 2016 Projection: 51/19/70/.250/0

11) Yan Gomes CLE – Hit 9 homers in 56 post all-star break games after healing from a sprained MCL. 2016 Projections: 51/20/70/.243/0

12) Stephen Vogt OAK – 14 homers pre all-star break. 4 homers post. Who is the real Stephen Vogt? 2016 Projections: 55/17/67/.253/0

13) Derek Norris SD – Hit .233 with 11 homers in 85 pre all-star break games. Then hit .278 with 3 homers after the break. 2016 Projection: 62/14/62/.260/3

14) Yasmani Grandal LAD – .927 OPS pre all-star break. .498 OPS post. His opening day status is in question after experiencing soreness in his forearm. 2016 Projection: 50/17/60/.244/1

15) Blake Swihart BOS – Young catcher with upside, but not enough power to completely buy in for 2016. A considerably stronger Dynasty league option. 2016 Projection: 59/11/57/.259/5

16) J.T. Realmuto MIA – Another upside pick. Stole 8 bases in the majors last season, after stealing 18 bags at Double-A in 2014. 2016 Projection: 54/9/50/.263/9

17) Wilson Ramos WASH – Safer option than Swihart or Realmuto, but without the upside. 2016 Projection: 47/16/61/.258/0

18) Nick Hundley COL – No surprise he had a breakout season in 2015 playing at Coors. He still hit only 10 homers, though. 2016 Projection: 53/11/56/.279/3

19) Miguel Montero CHI-NL – Should have the starting job to himself, depending on Schwarber’s development. Willson Contreras is also lurking. 2016 Projection: 43/15/60/.255/1

20) Francisco Cervelli PIT – Will hit for a high AVG and not much else. 2016 Projection: 54/8/47/.284/1

By Michael Halpern
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com

December 21, 2014 – “Agent Scott Boras has said that his client, Matt Wieters (elbow), will be ready to play on Opening Day … as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery.”

February 28, 2015 – “Everything is trending toward the 28-year-old being ready for Opening Day.”

March 20, 2015 – “Wieters is dealing with some tendinitis in his surgically-repaired right elbow. The Orioles aren’t viewing it as a setback and are still hopeful of him being ready for Opening Day.”

March 21, 2015 – “The Orioles are tentatively targeting a return on April 11, citing this as a precautionary measure rather than a setback in his recovery.”

April 8, 2015 – “The Orioles are going to continue to play it safe with their star catcher, who probably won’t be ready until sometime in early May.”

May 1, 2015 – “A return in late May or early June for Matt Wieters (elbow) ‘seems reasonable.’”

May 10, 2015 – “Wieters continues to rehab in extended spring training and is on track to rejoin the Orioles at some point in June.”

June 5, 2015 – “Wieters will make his season debut on Friday after making his way back from Tommy John surgery.”

You see what I mean? Even after he made his debut, Wieters still dealt with lingering arm soreness all season, and needed to be heavily rested. He never allowed himself to properly heal from his torn UCL, and his playing time and production took a hit as a result. He played in only 75 games, triple-slashing .267/.319/.422, and hitting 8 homers.

The silver lining in all of this, is that his injury-ravaged 2015 makes him an ideal fantasy sleeper for 2016. With a full offseason of rest, and almost two years removed from the surgery, Wieters figures to be fully healthy this upcoming year. His 2015 numbers actually look pretty good considering the circumstances, and were not far off from his career averages. Wieters was also enjoying a strong start to the 2014 season before tearing his UCL, hitting .308/.339/.500, with 5 homers in 104 at-bats. In the three years prior to the injury, he hit 22, 23, and 22 homers, respectively.

All signs point to the 29-year-old Wieters having a bounce back season in 2016. On top of that, he still has the kind of raw talent and ability (he was ranked the #1 overall prospect in all of baseball in 2009), that a late career breakout is not out of the question. For 2016, I will give Wieters the projection of 62/21/75/.270/0, and should easily finish as a top 10 fantasy catcher.

By Michael Halpern
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com