Updated: Jan. 24, 2017.

The new season will be here before you know it!

The 2017 fantasy baseball season begins on Sunday, April 2, so there's no better time than right now to get a head start on your draft preparations.

To help, here are my 2017 top-300 rankings, which will be updated throughout the winter and through spring training. Check back often for the latest updates.

Notes:

"Elig. Pos." is the player's eligible position(s) entering 2017. Position eligibility is determined based upon a minimum of 20 games, otherwise the position the player appeared at most, in 2016. "Pos. Rank" is the player's ranking at the position he played most in 2016. "2016 PR" is the player's final, overall finish on our Player Rater. An asterisk (*) next to a player's team indicates that he and/or his team possesses a 2017 option on his contract; if declined the player would become a free agent ("FA").

Rankings are based upon an ESPN standard league, which means a mixed player pool (American and National League players), 10 teams and only one starting catcher, and Rotisserie 5x5 (AVG, HR, RBI, SB and R for hitters, and W, SV, ERA, WHIP and K for pitchers) scoring.