It’s Christmas time! I’ve been singing Christmas songs since mid-November, but I’m still working towards March and the 2019 draft season!

I’ve been updating my rankings since I posted the original list on November 27th based on the free agent signings, trades, and other moves this past month. You can see my list of notable transactions and how that affected the players involved here. Before we get into the updated list, I’ll say a few words about the biggest movers.

Biggest Risers

Anthony Swarzak (UNR – 251), Alex Colome (UNR – 263), Yoshihisa Hirano (228 – 206) — With Colome moving from Seattle to Chicago and Swarzak moving into the role vacated by Colome, each of them should have the opportunity to get saves in 2019. I’ve been a Swarzak fan for a few years, and I hope he can find some of the form he displayed in 2016. Hirano is my pick for the most likely to earn saves in Arizona, especially after Brad Boxberger was designated for assignment.

Luke Weaver (274 – 246), Charlie Morton (179 – 119) — Both of these starters moved up significantly this past month, mostly due to workload. St. Louis had a fairly crowded rotation going into 2019, thus giving Weaver more opportunity to consistently make starts after his move to Arizona. Morton is a bit of a different story. Prior to the publishing of my November rankings, there were rumors of Morton retiring, which had me fairly worried. As soon as he signed in Tampa Bay, I immediately shot him up my rankings.

Daniel Murphy (81 – 59), Yasiel Puig (142 – 96) — Man, I sure do love it when good hitters move to great hitters parks! Daniel Murphy may legitimately hit close to .330 in Coors Field. He is now easily one of my favorite second base targets going into 2019. As for Yasiel Puig, he goes from a potent offense in a pitcher’s park, to a potent offense in a hitter’s park. Puig may be the only outfielder to see consistent playing time in Cincinnati’s now crowded outfield; I’m not at all concerned that he will be placed into a platoon unless he starts off very poorly.

Adalberto Mondesi (77 – 49) — I do not like Mondesi’s hitting profile, but I cannot deny the potential for league-winning production in stolen bases. The Royals seem willing to let him run, and with a SBot over 50%, he wants to steal! I’m still not sure that I’ll have him on my fantasy teams in 2019; he’s a very high-risk, high reward player. At the end of the day though, the math simply adds up to Mondesi being drafted near the top 50 players.

Biggest Fallers

Jeurys Familia (207 – 271) — I’ll be honest, I was expecting Familia to get signed by a contender to close out games, such as the Cardinals, Angels, or Indians. After he signed with the Mets to man their eighth inning duties behind Edwin Diaz, I was sorely disappointed. It’s now very unlikely that Familia will see many opportunities to earn saves, decimating his fantasy value.

Jose Martinez (133 – 186) and Jesse Winker (108 – 148) — These two hitters are facing a similar issue: they each lost their starting roles to newcomers. Jose Martinez lost his first base spot to Paul Goldschmidt, and without a clear opening anywhere else, I cannot get excited about Martinez in 2019. He does seem like a clear trade candidate, but we’ll adjust his value if and when that move comes. As for Winker, I could see him pushing Scott Schebler or Matt Kemp for playing time. However, with Kemp and Yasiel Puig making their way to Cincinnati, the Red’s outfield is just a bit too crowded and unclear for my excitement in Winker to remain undeterred.

Now, onto the updated Top 300!

Overall Rankings

Positional Rankings

Catcher

First Base

Second Base

Third Base

Shortstop

Outfield

Starting Pitcher

Relief Pitcher