Ceilings and floors, ceilings and floors.

You'll increasingly hear this phrase echo around fantasy baseball circles, and it exemplifies the greatest flaws in rankings and cheat sheets. Those of us who have played this game for years are probably experts at organizing players by their anticipated value.

Here's the problem: These things identify only one possible outcome for each player -- his most middle-of-the-road result.

What about the players with the widest range of potential outcomes? Call them whatever you wish, boom/bust, risk/reward, upside/downside -- or high-ceiling/low-floor -- these are the players who very often play the most major parts in your championship quest.

Take Bryce Harper, for example. In the past four seasons (working forward), the 2015 National League MVP has finished No. 353, No. 7, No. 93 and No. 50 on the ESPN Player Rater. Bear in mind that at the time he injured his knee last Aug. 12, he graded out a clear top-10-overall player as well. During this span, he had four different months with at least a .350 batting average, 8 HRs and 20 RBIs. During this same time, he averaged just 128 games played per year.

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Harper possesses one of the highest statistical ceilings of anyone in fantasy baseball, which is largely the reason so many -- this columnist included -- are willing to consistently spend a first-round pick on him. At the same time, his is one of the lowest floors of anyone ranked anywhere close to that range. These are traits that must be accounted for when you're examining any set of rankings. Are you willing to take the chance that this will be one of those years where everything clicks, Harper stays healthy and another MVP-caliber year results, or does the bust risk for the lofty price tag scare you?

Conversely, Anthony Rizzo has been eerily consistent during that same four-year span, especially over the past three seasons. From 2015 to 2017, Rizzo's annual average stat line is 157 games played, .281/.388/.521 slash rates, 32 home runs, 106 RBIs and 96 runs scored. During that three-year span, he never finished further from that annual average than three games played, 11 points of batting average, four points of on-base percentage, 23 points of slugging percentage, one home run, five RBIs or three runs scored. Few players can claim that level of consistency.

Though it's somewhat unfair to term Rizzo as "low-ceiling" -- his median-expectation stats are awfully high-grade -- in relative terms, his ceiling is pretty close to his median projection, as is his floor. He's one of the most predictable stars in baseball.

This column is for the Harper fans of the fantasy baseball world -- the ones who want to know where these highest ceilings and lowest floors reside. These are my annual bold predictions, which bring an additional dimension to my rankings, identifying the players who have the widest range of potential outcomes.

Use them as you wish. Jot down notes about them on your cheat sheet, so you know where to find the most potential profits during your draft. Or merely print them out and put them in a safe place until October so you can call me out on how many of them I ultimately got wrong. It's all good. After all, I got my Michael Conforto, Robbie Ray and Luis Severino predictions almost spot-on in 2017. I also horribly, horribly missed with my Tyler Glasnow, Jim Johnson and Seung-Hwan Oh predictions.

That's how this kind of thing goes. Remember, this is the risk/reward, or rather, the high-ceiling/low-floor prediction game. You're identifying the best (or worst) possible outcome for the player in question -- the 5 percent at the extremes.

Another thing about predictions: How "bold" they are is a relative thing. Some of these might seem fairly obvious to some, but completely bonkers to others. I try to account for a wide range of players, positions and categories. They are also listed in alphabetical order by player so you can easily find a specific name.

Here we go!

Tristan's bold predictions for 2018

Willson Contreras is gearing up to be a solid option at catcher this season. Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Wilmer Flores could be an unexpected source of power in 2018. Doug Murray/Icon Sportswire

Tommy Kahnle may not save many games, but even when he doesn't, the fantasy value is there. Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

You should be able to move Jose Pirela all over the infield by the time 2018 is done. AP