Updated March 28, 2015 *The average draft round (ADR) presumes your participation in a standard 12 team league.
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Notes
Players with health concerns were removed. I will try to make every attempt to update this page to make sure the information is up to date. Please contact me with any errors you may discover or if you find another reputable website with a similar top overall ranking. I've compiled the data from the aforementioned websites to create the average rank for nearly 500 players. If a player did not appear on a resource's list, then they were assigned a static value of 500.
MLB.com : Fantasy Baseball Player Injury Updates & RosterResource.com : MLB Injury Report
What is the purpose of this spreadsheet?
Everyone has their own opinions regarding where a baseball player should be ranked during a fantasy baseball draft. These opinions are ever evolving, especially during the offseason while some men are still seeking a new home. How can you trust one resource? This is a compilation of lists sorted using unweighted as well as weighted rankings.
Why weighted values?
Unweighted values are fine if you believe all data is created equal. Frankly, there is so much data compiled here that it is fairly comparable to my weighted averages. The weighted values were determined for each resource with an arbitrary methodology in addition to how many individuals were polled for their overall list and/or general confidence in the resource. I welcome critiques.
- Individuals: 1
- Compilations: 2
- Experts: 3
- Average draft results: 5
Why should I care about standard deviation?
A low standard deviation indicates the data points tend to be very close to the mean, whereas high standard deviation indicates the data points are spread out over a large range of values. The standard deviation represents that range. Simply put, it is a measure of confidence between every website I referenced. Zero is ideal, which was the acquired score of Mike Trout.
Here are a few examples and my possible explanations:
- Clayton Kershaw and Felix Hernandez are first round candidates, but most people are very hesitant to draft pitchers early. I prefer bats, but these arms are truly too good to pass up.
- Hanley Ramirez is built from tissue paper. He's good, but it's only a matter of time until he breaks.
- Reliability or repeat performance concerns regarding Corey Dickerson, Todd Frazier, and Joey Votto.
- George Springer, Starling Marte, Billy Hamilton, and Nolan Arenado have possible upside concerns as they are younger players with a limited track record. What does the future hold?
- More injury concerns: Adam Wainwright, Victor Martinez, Matt Harvey, Hunter Pence, and many others.
Final Thoughts
Standard deviation may not actually indicate a possible performance issue or injury problems. It may just represent indecision, so do your homework before you commit to anything questionable. This guide provided me with success in 2012 and 2014 (I took a hiatus in 2013), and it's back again for 2015. I hope this helps others prepare for this season. Please give me a shout out if it helps you as the motivation helps me along. Good luck in your drafts!