2016 Fantasy Baseball Rankings, OF: Mike Trout, Bryce Harper battle for top spot

Brad Pinkerton

2016 Fantasy Baseball Rankings, OF: Mike Trout, Bryce Harper battle for top spot image

There's no shortage of talent atop the fantasy baseball OF rankings once again. In fact, we project at least three outfielders to be drafted early in the first round, and possibly all five of the players mentioned below. 

These guys are among the best of the best, regardless of position, and how quickly they come off the board will set the tone for your league's entire draft. With that in mind, let's take a look at the projected top five outfielders drafted and when you'll have to draft them. 

2016 FANTASY BASEBALL RANKINGS:
First | Second | Short | Third | Outfield | Catchers | Starters | Relievers | Prospects

2016 Fantasy Baseball Rankings, OF

1. Mike Trout, Angels. Though Bryce Harper is making it a close race, we still have Trout at the top of the overall player rankings as the No. 1 pick. His steals, health and longer track record are the advantages on Harper, though these two should be neck and neck all season. 

2. Bryce Harper, Nationals. Harper broke out last year with 42 homers and a .330 average, though his six steals left at least a little to be desired. That's why we're going with Trout and maybe even Paul Goldschmidt ahead of Harper in fantasy drafts. That said, the steals potential is there for this freakish athlete when he's healthy. You really can't go wrong with Harper. 

MORE OUTFIELDERS: Best sleepers | Top prospects | Draft strategy

3. Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins. Speaking of freak athletes, Stanton comes with as much power upside as anyone at any position and can even steal you a few bases. His main drawback is frequent injuries, but that was also the knock against Harper entering 2015. We'd recommend drafting Stanton, whose ADP is around 7.5, within the first six picks. You'll want to be there when the full-season breakout happens. 

4. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays. Despite hitting 40 homers for the third time in the last six years and tallying 100 runs and 100 RBIs simultaneously for the fourth time in that span, Bautista is slipping into the late second round in early fantasy mock drafts (20.0 ADP). That's insane. Only a handful of players can even hope to give you those stats. So, while we'd recommend Bautista as a late-first-round pick, the data says you can wait and get an incredible value in the second.  

5. Andrew McCutchen, Pirates. We thought we were being aggressive on McCutchen at OF5 after a somewhat disappointing season with just 11 steals, but his ADP is actually around 8.6, making him the fourth OF taken in early mock drafts. While that's even more bullish than our projection, we think McCutchen's steals will bounce back to 20-plus if his knee is healthy this year. That could vault him back into the top-10 fantasy options.  

Brad Pinkerton