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