2013 Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings – Overall

When compiling my 2013 Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings, I struggled with many small decisions, and battled with many overall themes. And it dawned on me that these rankings may indicate where a player sits on a ladder, with the very best at the top, and one player below them on every rung, and so on. But in reality, most of these players are similarly rated, and different owners might need different things. These rankings are groupings of players that I believe are similar in value.

Kyle Elfrink and Ray Flowers had me on their Sirius/XM Fantasy Drive show Tuesday night, and one of their preseason segments is called, “Bracket Busters.” This is where they discuss two players close in value, and have listeners vote on which one is better than the other, and that player moves on to face another player in the next bracket, and so on. They asked me, “Who would I rather draft: Justin Upton or Joey Votto?”

And I was kinda stumped. I rank Votto ahead of Upton, but I would have no problem taking Upton with that same pick near the end of the first round. I went with Votto because that’s what my rankings say, and I think Upton has similar injury concerns over his career that Votto has (Votto has actually played more games over the past five seasons).

Plus, they chose Upton, which made me want to be the contrarian. I can’t help it!

Will these 2013 Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings save your life!?!

Probably not. And while I’m telling you that most of these players are similarly rated, there’s still a top shelf, like Miguel Cabrera and Ryan Braun, and there are certainly bottom shelves, like most of the Miami Marlins’ starting lineup. But don’t get caught up in which one player should be ranked three spots higher in order for him to be ranked ahead of this guy or that guy.

Just understand that you want to get the best players for your team. You might be a late power drafter.

You might prefer to pick up steals from waivers. You might like to go pitching heavy because you know how to back-fill your hitting lineup. You might be one of those weird people that like “Two Broke Girls.”

I don’t know. I can only suggest to you which players I think are of similar value – and to tell you to stop watching that show.

And then there’s Mike Trout …

With all of that said, I think the most controversial ranking I have here is that I rank Trout outside of the top three. Please understand that I am of the minority here, and that I will likely not own Trout in any league because of this valuation.

My suggestion to you would be to think about drafting him in the top five, and then try to trade him for a large package, that includes a late first-round player, like Upton or Votto!

I will deal with this in another article, but I just find it tough to believe Trout can keep up these stats in a second year in the majors. Also, he has had a full offseason of people telling him how he’s the “next Mickey Mantle.” More often than not, that affects a person. Let’s not go crazy, though – I still think of him as a top-10 player.

In keeper leagues, he’s the No. 1 guy, period. No questions asked. I would probably not trade him for anything less than two elite players and some sexy pictures of a young Leah Remini.

Enjoy my 2013 Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings below. Understand that after the top 100, the player rankings tool from FantasyPros.com meshes my position rankings together to fill out the next 150-plus players. I looked it over and approve, but as far as one player over another player at another position, those decisions are up to you in the middle and later rounds.

Overall Rankings | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | DH | SP | RP | 2013 15-Team Mock Draft

2013 Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings

Overall Rankings | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | DH | SP | RP | 2013 15-Team Mock Draft

I hope you were able to glean something from these 2013 Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings, and you found them helpful. I’ll do my best to adjust them as the spring rolls on.