With the MLB playoffs underway, it is officially time to begin looking at the 2019 fantasy baseball season. In the coming weeks, I’ll be rolling out my dynasty rankings and early bold predictions, but we’ve got to first begin with the top 250 rankings. Much is subject to change as players change rosters and we get more information on injuries, but as of now, this is how I would draft my teams and it should give you a pretty reliable glimpse on how fantasy drafts may shape up five months from now. I’ll take it 50 players at a time and highlight one ranking that I’m particularly passionate about from each group.

Top 50

1 Mike Trout LAA OF 2 Mookie Betts BOS OF 3 Jose Ramirez CLE 3B 4 Francisco Lindor CLE SS 5 Nolan Arenado COL 3B 6 Christian Yelich MIL OF 7 J.D. Martinez BOS OF 8 Manny Machado FA SS 9 Jose Altuve HOU 2B 10 Chris Sale BOS SP 11 Max Scherzer WSH SP 12 Corey Kluber CLE SP 13 Aaron Judge NYY OF 14 Bryce Harper FA OF 15 Trea Turner WSH SS 16 Alex Bregman HOU 3B/SS 17 Paul Goldschmidt ARI 1B 18 Andrew Benintendi BOS OF 19 Ronald Acuna Jr. ATL OF 20 Freddie Freeman ATL 1B 21 Javier Baez CHC 2B/SS/3B 22 Giancarlo Stanton NYY OF 23 Carlos Correa HOU SS 24 Clayton Kershaw LAD SP 25 Trevor Story COL SS 26 Aaron Nola PHI SP 27 Charlie Blackmon COL OF 28 Jacob deGrom NYM SP 29 Kris Bryant CHC 3B/OF 30 Noah Syndergaard NYM SP 31 Juan Soto WSH OF 32 Ozzie Albies ATL 2B 33 Blake Snell TB SP 34 Trevor Bauer CLE SP 35 Anthony Rendon WSH 3B 36 Rhys Hoskins PHI OF 37 Gerrit Cole HOU SP 38 Justin Verlander HOU SP 39 Cody Bellinger LAD 1B/OF 40 Eugenio Suarez CIN 3B 41 George Springer HOU OF 42 Anthony Rizzo CHC 1B 43 Matt Carpenter STL 1B/3B 44 Corey Seager LAD SS 45 Starling Marte PIT OF 46 Khris Davis OAK DH 47 Whit Merrifield KC 2B/OF 48 Gleyber Torres NYY 2B/SS 49 Eddie Rosario MIN OF 50 Xander Bogaerts BOS SS



Cody Bellinger (1B/OF – LAD)

You may have been burned by Bellinger this year, but that doesn’t mean you should say never again on a 23-year-old power-phenom. Here is the list of players with 60+ homers in their first two years under 24 years old: Albert Pujols, Eddie Matthews, Ryan Braun, Frank Robinson, Kris Bryant, Mark Teixeira, Evan Longoria and Bellinger. That’s it. Giancarlo Stanton and Barry Bonds didn’t do it and neither did Miguel Cabrera or Ted Williams. The list is exclusive to superstars and Bellinger belongs to it. Oh, by the way, he’s got 24 stolen bases already too which only Braun can stake claim to from the list above. He is a special player and despite the lackluster 2018 results, I’m still buying a ticket. he gave us reason to hope in the second half too. From August 1st until the end of the year, Bellinger batted .312/.388/.509 with a prorated pace of 24 homers and 27 stolen bases. That will do.

51 to 100

51 Luis Severino NYY SP 52 Walker Buehler LAD SP 53 J.T. Realmuto MIA C 54 Joey Votto CIN 1B 55 Justin Upton LAA OF 56 Jose Abreu CWS 1B 57 Jack Flaherty STL SP 58 A.J. Pollock FA OF 59 James Paxton SEA SP 60 Jean Segura SEA SS 61 Lorenzo Cain MIL OF 62 Stephen Strasburg WSH SP 63 Carlos Carrasco CLE SP 64 Tommy Pham TB OF 65 Mitch Haniger SEA OF 66 Gary Sanchez NYY C 67 Madison Bumgarner SF SP 68 Adalberto Mondesi KC SS 69 Wil Myers SD OF/3B 70 Daniel Murphy FA 2B 71 Nelson Cruz FA DH 72 Marcell Ozuna STL OF 73 Zack Greinke ARI SP 74 Justin Turner LAD 3B 75 Mike Foltynewicz ATL SP 76 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. TOR 3B 77 Nicholas Castellanos DET OF 78 Willson Contreras CHC C 79 Shohei Ohtani LAA DH/SP 80 Kenley Jansen LAD RP 81 Ender Inciarte ATL OF 82 Jose Berrios MIN SP 83 Edwin Diaz SEA RP 84 Patrick Corbin FA SP 85 Yoan Moncada CWS 2B 86 Aroldis Chapman NYY RP 87 Rougned Odor TEX 2B 88 Jonathan Villar BAL 2B 89 Aaron Hicks NYY OF 90 Craig Kimbrel FA RP 91 Carlos Martinez STL SP 92 Jesus Aguilar MIL 1B 93 Miguel Sano MIN 3B 94 Edwin Encarnacion CLE 1B 95 Nomar Mazara TEX OF 96 Matt Chapman OAK 3B 97 Roberto Osuna HOU RP 98 Blake Treinen OAK RP 99 Dee Gordon SEA 2B/OF 100 David Price BOS SP



Jonathan Villar (2B – BAL)

I never thought I’d be recommending this name again, yet here we are. Just two seasons prior, Villar was a fantasy superstar, swiping 62 bags and swatting 19 homers while qualifying at both 2B and SS. In 2017 and for the start of 2018, he took a big dip, but once he was dealt to the Orioles, Villar took off again. In just 54 starts (exactly one-third of the season), he hit 8 homers and stole 21 basses. That 24/63 pace looks awfully familiar. Sign me up for a lottery ticket in 2018 when Villar could return second round value out of a ninth-round draft slot.

101 to 150

101 Tim Anderson CWS SS 102 Brian Dozier FA 2B 103 Felipe Vazquez PIT RP 104 Didi Gregorius NYY SS 105 Gregory Polanco PIT OF 106 Joey Gallo TEX OF/1B 107 Eric Hosmer SD 1B 108 Scooter Gennett CIN 2B 109 Max Muncy LAD 1B/3B 110 Rafael Devers BOS 3B 111 David Dahl COL OF 112 Matt Olson OAK 1B 113 Elvis Andrus TEX SS 114 Michael Conforto NYM OF 115 Jameson Taillon PIT SP 116 David Peralta ARI OF 117 Josh Hader MIL RP 118 Robinson Cano SEA 2B 119 Michael Brantley FA OF 120 Robbie Ray ARI SP 121 Jonathan Schoop MIL 2B 122 Sean Doolittle WSH RP 123 Jose Peraza CIN SS 124 Kyle Schwarber CHC OF 125 Brad Hand CLE RP 126 Raisel Iglesias CIN RP 127 Eloy Jimenez CHW OF 128 Yasiel Puig LAD OF 129 Andrew McCutchen FA OF 130 Yoenis Cespedes NYM OF 131 Lance McCullers Jr. HOU SP 132 Josh Donaldson FA 3B 133 Jon Lester CHC SP 134 Sean Newcomb ATL SP 135 Zack Wheeler NYM SP 136 Harrison Bader STL OF 137 Luis Castillo CIN SP 138 Chris Archer PIT SP 139 Masahiro Tanaka NYY SP 140 Nick Pivetta PHI SP 141 Victor Robles WSH OF 142 Odubel Herrera PHI OF 143 DJ LeMahieu FA 2B 144 Buster Posey SF C 145 Cesar Hernandez PHI 2B 146 Miguel Andujar NYY 3B 147 Ken Giles TOR RP 148 Wilson Ramos FA C 149 Kyle Hendricks CHC SP 150 Byron Buxton MIN OF



David Dahl (OF – COL)

It sure did take long enough, but it appears that Dahl has finally arrived. After years of hype followed by injuries and let-down, the Rockies’ potential star has implanted himself firmly into the heart of Colorado’s lineup. The young slugger was phenomenal in September, batting .287/.330/.985 with 9 homers and 27 RBIs. While he may not exactly be Nolan Arendo with that RBI pace, the batting average could actually rise over .300 as he continues to mature as a hitter. Dahl won’t steal 20 bags, but his 32/10 prorated pace will certainly please fantasy owners if he can keep it up, and frankly, there is room for much more if the September breakout was, in fact, legitimate.

151 to 200

151 Corey Knebel MIL RP 152 Yu Darvish CHC SP 153 Nick Senzel CIN 3B 154 Cole Hamels CHC SP 155 Miguel Cabrera DET 1B 156 Dallas Keuchel FA SP 157 Jeurys Familia FA RP 158 Adam Jones FA OF 159 Mike Clevinger CLE SP 160 Tyler Glasnow TB SP 161 Brandon Morrow CHC RP 162 Billy Hamilton CIN OF 163 Tyler White HOU 1B 164 Stephen Piscotty OAK OF 165 Eduardo Rodriguez BOS SP 166 Salvador Perez KC C 167 Seranthony Dominguez PHI RP 168 Mike Moustakas MIL 3B 169 German Marquez COL SP 170 Jordan Hicks STL RP 171 Evan Longoria SF 3B 172 Ian Happ CHC OF/3B 173 Ian Desmond COL 1B/OF 174 Carlos Santana PHI 1B 175 Jose Martinez STL 1B/OF 176 Amed Rosario NYM SS 177 Charlie Morton FA SP 178 Yasmani Grandal FA C 179 Andrelton Simmons LAA SS 180 Willy Adames TB SS 181 Yadier Molina STL C 182 Kirby Yates SD RP 183 Paul DeJong STL SS 184 Miles Mikolas STL SP 185 Cody Allen FA RP 186 Jurickson Profar TEX SS/3B/1B 187 Travis Shaw MIL 3B/2B 188 Mallex Smith TB OF 189 Brett Gardner NYY OF 190 Francisco Mejia SD C 191 Matt Kemp LAD OF 192 Scott Kingery PHI SS 193 A.J. Minter ATL RP 194 Shin-Soo Choo TEX OF 195 Kevin Gausman ATL SP 196 Zach Britton FA RP 197 Trey Mancini BAL OF/1B 198 Brandon Nimmo NYM OF 199 Jake Lamb ARI 3B 200 Alex Reyes STL SP



Tyler Glasnow (SP – TB)

This is a dangerous name to be recommending, but then again, so were Blake Snell and Trevor Bauer this year, but I did that anyway because of the potential they so clearly had. The worst case scenario is that you find out quickly that Glasnow isn’t an ace and you cut ties before he ruins your season. What that is a possibility, it seems more likely that he has finally turned the corner and may join Snell atop that Rays’ rotation for a long time. After posting the best numbers in minor league baseball during the 2017 season, Glasnow struggled in the majors until being dealt to Tampa where he finished out the season with 3 or fewer runs allowed in 9 of 11 starts. In that time, Glasnow cut down on the walks while striking out well over a batter per inning. He wrapped up his season with 9 Ks over 5 innings, finishing with 10.3 K/9 on the season. There is a legitimate chance he carries that momentum over in 2019 and catches the AL East by storm.

201 to 250

201 Hunter Renfroe SD OF 202 Josh Bell PIT 1B 203 Franmil Reyes SD OF 204 Max Kepler MIN OF 205 Kyle Tucker HOU OF 206 Adam Eaton WSH OF 207 Starlin Castro MIA 2B 208 Kyle Gibson MIN SP 209 Keone Kela PIT RP 210 Dellin Betances NYY RP 211 Corey Dickerson PIT OF 212 Mike Zunino SEA C 213 Evan Gattis FA DH 214 Ketel Marte ARI 2B/SS 215 Brad Boxberger ARI RP 216 Rich Hill LAD SP 217 Justin Smoak TOR 1B 218 Tyler Skaggs LAA SP 219 Marcus Semien OAK SS 220 Dakota Hudson STL SP 221 Zack Godley ARI SP 222 Archie Bradley ARI RP 223 David Robertson FA RP 224 Fernando Tatis Jr. SD SS 225 Hyun-Jin Ryu LAD SP 226 Chad Green NYY RP 227 Rick Porcello BOS SP 228 Brandon Belt SF 1B 229 Wade Davis COL RP 230 Maikel Franco PHI 3B 231 Manuel Margot SD OF 232 Jorge Alfaro PHI C 233 Jose Leclerc TEX RP 234 Danny Jansen TOR C 235 Yonder Alonso CLE 1B 236 Kyle Freeland COL SP 237 Luis Urias SD 2B 238 Brendan Rodgers COL 2B/SS 239 Kyle Seager SEA 3B 240 Ryan Zimmerman WSH 1B 241 Carlos Rodon CWS SP 242 Jose Quintana CHC SP 243 Austin Meadows TB OF 244 Greg Bird NYY 1B 245 Carl Edwards Jr. CHC RP 246 Jorge Polanco MIN SS 247 Jed Lowrie FA 2B 248 Shane Bieber CLE SP 249 Ben Zobrist CHC OF/2B 250 Luke Voit NYY 1B



Franmil Reyes (OF – SDP)

If you take a look at the exit velocity leaderboard, you’ll see Reyes sandwiched between superstars like Christian Yelich, Mookie Betts and Kris Davis. His launch angle needs some work, but after being called back up to the majors on August 5th, Reyes obliterated MLB pitching, batting .318/.385/.933 with 10 homers in 157 at-bats. That was by no means a fluke either, as it came following a .324/.428/.614 line in Triple-A. The 6’5″275-pound masher is still just 22 years old and will likely only improve over the off-season. You better believe I’ll be getting plenty of shares with hopes that he is a major breakout in 2019.