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2012 Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings: Relief Pitchers
There are two schools of thought when it comes to drafting relief pitchers. The first one I call the “old school way” which is closers are a dime a dozen and setup men offer little to no value whatsoever. The “new school way” is to put more of a premium on the better closers and key relief pitchers who offer multiple category impact. I subscribe to the new school method myself as I like to grab a top closer early and lock down the position before most teams have even taken their first. This allows me the comfort and peace of mind to not have to constantly spend free agent money and time chasing saves. Whatever your method for selecting relief pitchers, here are my rankings for 2012.
2012 Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings: First Base
Long considered one of the deepest positions in fantasy baseball, I think I learned last season that it just might not be the case anymore. Age has caught up with a bunch of players, injuries have taken down a few more, and some of the young crop hasn't come in and performed like we hoped. At one time almost all fantasy teams had two good, solid first basemen, but now after three rounds most of the ones that you can count on will be gone if not sooner. Of course there are sleepers like there are at every position, but if you want a real bonafide stud in 2012 you are going to have to pay for it. Lucky for you there are seven to eight of those, so as long as you don't wait too long, you should be fine at first. Speaking of waiting, why haven't you clicked the link to read the rest of the first base rankings? Go on!
2012 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Starters
There are two types of people in fantasy baseball. There are those who lock down starting pitching early on in the draft and those who wait to the later rounds to secure arms. Considering the abundance of injuries that befall power armed pitchers and the wealth of starters that pop up on the waiver wire it may not be a bad approach to wait on starting pitching this year. Whatever your strategy, here are my starting pitcher rankings for 2012.
2012 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Outfield
The biggest downside of using your top picks on outfielders is position scarcity. There is no doubt that there is a ton of power and speed options at this position but with so many good players why not wait to fill your outfield until the middle rounds? These are the questions that will haunt you all the way up until your draft. Luckily for me, you’ll have to make those decisions while I sit here and rank them.
2012 Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings: Third Base
Last year I made it a point to draft an early round third baseman because I viewed it as one of the thinnest positions and the one with the steepest decline in talent. This year however, I am finding a rather deep crop of talent at the hot corner thanks to a couple of top players changing positions, an influx of young talent at the position and a couple of strong rebound candidates whom I like very much. Here are my third base rankings for 2012:
2012 Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings: Shortstop
The days of the big, power hitting shortstop are over. Both middle infield positions for the most part have become source for runs, steals and a batting average that won’t hurt you. With the anticipated move of Hanley Ramirez to 3B, the SS position is nearly void of power entering the season. Only three SS hit 20+ HR last season and three of them were named J.J. Hardy (30), Asdrubal Cabrera (25) and Jhonny Peralty (21). Outside of Troy Tulowitzki you are better off looking for speed at this position and hoping that the steals can lead to runs. Here are my shortstop rankings for 2012:
2012 Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings: Second Base
Every fantasy baseball owner has to ask themselves just how important position scarcity is to them this season. While there are plenty of outfielders, corner infielders and pitchers available, there is a major shortage of sure things at the middle infield positions. Second base has always been a difficult position to fill but with major question marks such as Chase Utley, Brian Roberts and Gordon Beckham production could hard to come by this year. So, let’s take a look at my second base rankings for 2012.
2012 Fantasy Baseball Player Rankings: Catcher
Catchers. Backstops. The warriors of the baseball field. It is one of the toughest positions to fill, and there are so few good options, Most of them are slow, fat, and hit for a terrible average. Pretty much all of them don't play every day, and it is the position that a Fantasy Alarm subscription will help you out the most with. It is also a difficult position to try to figure out when to draft. Generally once one person breaks the seal and drafts a catcher, a run will start on the rest of the elite options so it is important to handle this position correctly. They are the most injury prone, the hardest to predict, and some leagues inexplicably require that you play two of them. In those cases I like to try to fill the position earlier than I do in a one catcher league, as to not have a black hole on the roster. It is already time to start thinking about fantasy baseball and what better place to start than the Catcher rankings.
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