Ray Flowers breaks down each position as the 2015 baseball season has reached its conclusion. Here are links to all of the individual breakdowns.
- Rankings from March
OUTFIELD
| Rank | Tier | Player | Team | 10 Team ($) | 12 Team ($) | 15 Team ($) |
| 1 | 1 | Mike Trout | Angels | 46 | 42 | 43 |
| 2 | 1 | Andrew McCutchen | Pirates | 41 | 39 | 38 |
| 3 | 1 | Giancarlo Stanton | Marlins | 37 | 36 | 34 |
| 4 | 2 | Carlos Gomez | Astros | 34 | 31 | 30 |
| 5 | 2 | Jose Bautista | Blue Jays | 30 | 29 | 30 |
| 6 | 2 | Justin Upton | Padres | 28 | 27 | 26 |
| 7 | 2 | Adam Jones | Orioles | 28 | 27 | 26 |
| 8 | 2 | Ryan Braun | Brewers | 28 | 27 | 26 |
| 9 | 2 | Jacoby Ellsbury | Yankees | 28 | 27 | 26 |
| 10 | 2 | Starling Marte | Pirates | 26 | 26 | 25 |
| 11 | 2 | Yasiel Puig | Dodgers | 25 | 25 | 24 |
| 12 | 2 | Michael Brantley | Indians | 25 | 25 | 24 |
| 13 | 2 | Carlos Gonzalez | Rockies | 25 | 24 | 24 |
| 14 | 2 | Corey Dickerson | Rockies | 25 | 24 | 23 |
| 15 | 3 | Matt Kemp | Padres | 23 | 23 | 21 |
| 16 | 3 | George Springer | Astros | 19 | 21 | 19 |
| 17 | 3 | Ben Revere | Blue Jays | 18 | 19 | 18 |
| 18 | 3 | Billy Hamilton | Reds | 18 | 19 | 18 |
| 19 | 3 | Bryce Harper | Nationals | 16 | 18 | 17 |
| 20 | 3 | Jason Heyward | Cardinals | 16 | 18 | 17 |
| 21 | 3 | Shin-Soo Choo | Rangers | 15 | 18 | 16 |
| 22 | 3 | Christian Yelich | Marlins | 14 | 17 | 15 |
| 23 | 4 | Kole Calhoun | Angels | 14 | 16 | 15 |
| 24 | 4 | Jay Bruce | Reds | 14 | 16 | 15 |
| 25 | 4 | Yoenis Cespedes | Mets | 13 | 16 | 14 |
BUSTS
Stanton was limited, again, to 74 games due to injury. He blasted 27 homers with 67 RBIs. He’s as good a power hitter as there is. He’s also failed to appear in 125 games in three of four seasons. How can you possibly trust him to be the foundation of your club?
Gomez played for two teams but wasn’t very good with either of them. Gomez hit 12 homers and stole 17 bases while batting .255 in 2015. He had averaged 24 homers, 37 steals and a .284 average in 2013-14.
Ellsbury hit seven homers with 21 steals in his second season with the Yankees. He hit only .257 with a .318 OBP, league average type of stuff, while scoring 66 runs. Terribly disappointing.
Puig appeared in 79 games as health was an ongoing issue for him. He swiped three bags and hit just .255. He simply couldn’t get going at any point all season long. His three-year OPS trend is troubling: .925, .863 and .758.
Dickerson dealt with multiple issues including plantar fasciitis. He was on the field for 65 games, hitting .304 with a .869 OPS and 10 homers. Really good when out there.
Springer was once again felled by ill health, appearing in a mere 102 games. He hit .276 with 16 homers and 16 steals, a very solid effort from a fella who hit .231 with five steals as a rookie. With health he will finally live up to expectations in Year 3.
SURPRISES
Harper is likely to win the MVP as he finally lived up to expectations. We thought he would steal bases — he swiped only six — but the rest of his game was superb. He hit 42 homers, drove in 99, scored 118 times and had the biggest of slash lines (.330/.460/.649).
Mookie Betts (ranked 38th) was better than I thought he would be, by about 20 percent. He had 18 homers, 21 steals, 92 runs scored and hit .291. He was fantastic in his first season.
A.J. Pollock (39th) was second at the position with a .315 average, and he was one steal away from going 20/40. Toss in 111 runs and 76 RBIs and you have… a superstar.
Nelson Cruz (41st) blew away any and all expectations. He was fantastic. He hit a career-best 44 homers, drove in 93, scored 90 and hit .302. He hadn’t hit .275 since 2010.
Charlie Blackmon (43rd) was second at the position with 42 steals. He also went deep 17 times with 93 runs scored while batting .287. A hell of a season.
Lorenzo Cain (49th) was ranked this low because of his propensity to be hurt. I really liked the talent, I took him late in Tout Wars for $3, and he was a star. He was four homers and two steals from a 20/30 effort and he crossed home plate 101 times while hitting .307.
J.D. Martinez (50th) was sooooo much better than I thought he would be. He was probably better than everyone thought he would be. JDM blasted 38 homers with 102 RBIs and 93 runs scored. He had a .535 SLG helping him to a .879 OPS.
Curtis Granderson (52nd) had his best season in years. By a mile. He socked 26 homers, drove in 70, scored 98 times and stole 11 bases. Not a bad effort at all.
Dexter Fowler (58th), my guy, finally came through. Fowler fell three homers short of a 20/20 effort, and thanks to a .346 OBP he scored 102 times with 29 doubles and eight triples.
Cameron Maybin (85th) is always hurt, but when on the field he’s a pretty solid performer. Maybin stole 23 bases and hit 10 homers for the Braves while driving in a career-best 59 runs and scoring 65 times.
Josh Reddick (88th) had just his second season of 120 games played and he was very productive with the work. Reddick hit 20 homers, stole 10 bases and hit .272. He only drove in 77 and scored 67 times for the Athletics.
Michael Taylor (96th) saw way more work than anyone thought he would because all of the Nationals were hurt in the outfield except Harper. He had a solid season with 14 homers and 16 steals, giving him a lot of NL-only value.
Gerardo Parra (103rd) ended the season with a thud in Baltimore. His overall effort was pretty good, though, as he hit 14 homers with 51 RBIs, 83 runs scored and a .291 batting average.
Ender Inciarte (105th) hit .303. Look it up. He only had six homers and 45 RBIs, but he scored 73 times and stole 21 bags (though he was caught 10 times). Solid work from a guy who wasn’t drafted in mixed leagues.
THE FANTASY ALARM PODCAST IS AVAILABLE (TUESDAY AND FRIDAY EACH WEEK). MANS AND FLOWERS TALK FOOTBALL, LADIES, BOOZE, DFS... YOU JUST NEVER KNOW.