With spring training in full swing, we’ve got the 2017 RealGM fantasy baseball draft guide right here. In case you’re not familiar with the format of my rankings, I organize the players in tiers based on position. I strongly suggest using a tier system for all of your drafts. You will also find a composite ranking of the top 150 players at the end of this article, which is to be used to cross-check against the tier rankings (since player values vary based on position). You need to use the tier rankings and the top 150 in tandem in order to best make use of this guide (e.g. a tier 1 catcher doesn’t have the same value as a tier 1 first baseman, etc.). Please also note the following with respect to the rankings:

  • Rankings are based on the standard 5 x 5 categories (R, HR, RBI, AVG and SB on offense; W, K, ERA, WHIP and S for pitching). Adjust accordingly for leagues with additional/different categories. For example, Joey Votto gets a bump for leagues with OBP.
  • Rankings cover the 2017 season ONLY. For keeper/dynasty leagues, you will need to factor in keeper ramifications accordingly.

Please hit me up on twitter at @NeemaHodjat with any questions whether for your draft or during the season. On that note, here we go: 

Catchers:

Tier 1:              Buster Posey

Tier 2:              Kyle Schwarber, Gary Sanchez, Jonathan Lucroy, Willson Contrares

Tier 3:              J.T. Realmuto, Yasmani Grandal, Salvador Perez, Brian McCann, Evan Gattis

Tier 4:              Yadier Molina, Welington Castillo, Russell Martin, Matt Wieters, Tom Murphy, Stephen Vogt, Wilson Ramos, Mike Zunino, Francisco Cervelli

First Basemen

Tier 1:              Paul Goldschmidt, Anthony Rizzo

Tier 2:              Miguel Cabrera, Joey Votto, Freddie Freeman

Tier 3:              Edwin Encarnacion, Daniel Murphy, Jose Abreu, Wil Myers

Tier 4:              Chris Davis, Matt Carpenter, Hanley Ramirez, Eric Hosmer, Carlos Santana

Tier 5:              Albert Pujols, Brandon Belt, Adrian Gonzalez, Brad Miller, Mike Napoli

Tier 6:              CJ Cron, Mitch Moreland, Kendrys Morales, Eric Thames, Chris Carter, Tommy Joseph, Travis Shaw

Second Basemen

Tier 1:              Jose Altuve

Tier 2:              Trea Turner, Robinson Cano, Daniel Murphy, Brian Dozier

Tier 3:              Roughned Odor, Dee Gordon, Ian Kinsler

Tier 4:              Jason Kipnis, DJ LeMahieu, Jean Segura, Matt Carpenter, Dustin Pedroia

Tier 5:              Ben Zobrist, Logan Forsythe, Starlin Castro, Neil Walker, Jonathan Schoop, Devon Travis, Javier Baez

Third Basemen

Tier 1:              Nolan Arenado, Kris Bryant, Manny Machado, Josh Donaldson

Tier 2:              Kyle Seager, Jonathan Villar, Adrian Beltre, Todd Frazier, Alex Bregman

Tier 3:              Matt Carpenter, Evan Longoria, Anthony Rendon

Tier 4:              Jose Ramirez, Justin Turner, Miguel Sano

Tier 5:              Maikel Franco, Nick Castellanos, Jake Lamb, Eduardo Nunez, Javier Baez, Mike Moustakas, Ryon Healy, Eugenio Suarez, Yulieski Gurriel

Shortstops

Tier 1:              Manny Machado

Tier 2:              Corey Seager, Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, Xander Boegarts

Tier 3:              Jonathan Villar, Trevor Story

Tier 3.5:           Jean Segura

Tier 4:              Troy Tulowitzki, Addison Russell, Brad Miller, Dansby Swanson, Aledmys Diaz, Elvis Andrus

Tier 5:              Eduardo Nunez, Brandon Crawford, Javier Baez, Jose Peraza, Marcus Semien, Didi Gregorious

Outfielders:

Tier 1:              Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Kris Bryant

Tier 2:              Bryce Harper, Charlie Blackmon, Trea Turner

Tier 3:              Starling Marte, J.D. Martinez, Ryan Braun, George Springer, Carlos Gonzalez, Wil Myers, Giancarlo Stanton, Yoenis Cespedes, Christian Yelich, AJ Pollock, Gregory Polanco, Nelson Cruz

Tier 4:              Andrew McCutchen, Justin Upton, Jose Bautista, Kyle Schwarber

Tier 5:              Jackie Bradley Jr., Adam Jones, Billy Hamilton, Mark Trumbo, Stephen Piscotty, Adam Eaton, Jose Ramirez, Matt Kemp, Marcell Ozuna, Khris Davis, Andrew Benintendi, Miguel Sano, Kole Calhoun

Tier 6:              Willson Contreras, Lorenzo Cain, Odubel Herrera, Byron Buxton, David Dahl, Michael Brantley, Joc Pederson, Ender Inciarte

Tier 7:              Jay Bruce, Adam Duvall, Dexter Fowler, Yasmany Tomas, Hunter Pence, Nomar Mazara, Carlos Beltran, Keon Broxton, Yasiel Puig, Brett Gardner, Randal Grichuk, Mitch Haniger, Ben Zobrist, Melky Cabrera, Curtis Granderson, Ian Desmond

Tier 8:              Kevin Kiermaier, Rajai Davis, Hunter Renfroe, Matt Holliday, Joshua Bell, Eric Thames, Josh Reddick, Domingo Santana, Manuel Margot Jarod Dyson, Corey Dickerson, Max Kepler, Jose Peraza

Starting Pitchers:

Tier 1:              Clayton Kershaw, Madison Bumgarner, Max Scherzer, Chris Sale

Tier 2:              Noah Syndergaard, Corey Kluber, Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, Johnny Cueto, Justin Verlander

Tier 3:              Carlos Carrasco, Stephen Strasburg, Chris Archer, Yu Darvish, Jacob DeGrom, Carlos Martinez, Kyle Hendricks, Masahiro Tanaka

Tier 4:              Gerrit Cole, Jose Quintana, Cole Hamels, David Price, Rick Porcello, Kevin Gausman, Zack Greinke, Julio Teheran, Marcus Stroman, Danny Duffy, Kenta Maeda

Tier 5:              Felix Hernandez, Danny Salazaar, Michael Fulmer, Aaron Sanchez, Rich Hill, Drew Pomeranz, Dallas Keuchel, James Paxton, John Lackey

Tier 6:              Jeff Samardzija, Matt Shoemaker, Aaron Nola, Drew Smyly, Jake Odorizzi, Jameson Taillion, Sean Manaea, Steven Matz, Julio Urias, Robbie Ray

Tier 7:              Hisashi Iwakuma, Carlos Rodon, Adam Wainwright, Lance McCullers, Anthony DeSclafani, Tanner Roark, Vincent Velasquez, Marco Estrada, Jon Gray, Sonny Gray, Taijuan Walker, Jharel Cotton, Michael Pineda, Alex Cobb, JA Happ, Joe Ross

Tier 8:              Gio Gonzalez, Ian Kennedy, Garrett Richards, Jason Hammel, Chris Tillman, Jared Eickhoff, Michael Wacha, Mike Fiers, Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, Jordan Zimmerman, Junior Guerra, Ivan Nova, Ervin Santana

Relief Pitchers

Tier 1:              Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen, Zach Britton

Tier 2:              Mark Melancon, Seung Hwan Oh, Wade Davis, Edwin Diaz, Roberto Osuna, Craig Kimbrell

Tier 3:              Kelvin Herrera, Cody Allen, Ken Giles, David Robertson, Andrew Miller

Tier 4:              Jeurys Familia, Francisco Rodriguez, Alex Colome, Raisel Iglesius, AJ Ramos, Tony Watson, Dellin Betances

Tier 5:              Sam Dyson, Adam Ottavino, Jim Johnson, Ryan Madson, Brandon Maurer, Cameron Bedrosian

Tier 6:              Neftali Feliz, Shawn Kelley, Hector Neris, Nate Jones, Addison Reed, Fernando Rodney 

Top 150

  1. Mike Trout
  2. Jose Altuve
  3. Mookie Betts
  4. Nolan Arenado
  5. Kris Bryant
  6. Paul Goldschmitd
  7. Clayton Kershaw
  8. Manny Machado
  9. Josh Donaldson
  10. Anthony Rizzo
  11. Bryce Harper
  12. Madison Bumgarner
  13. Miguel Cabrera
  14. Max Scherzer
  15. Charlie Blackmon
  16. Trea Turner
  17. Joey Votto
  18. Chris Sale
  19. Freddie Freeman
  20. Corey Seager
  21. Robinson Cano
  22. Carlos Correa
  23. Noah Syndergaard
  24. Francisco Lindor
  25. Corey Kluber
  26. Starling Marte
  27. Xander Boegarts
  28. Edwin Encarnacion
  29. Daniel Murphy
  30. JD Martinez
  31. Jake Arrieta
  32. Brian Dozier
  33. Ryan Braun
  34. Jon Lester
  35. George Springer
  36. Jose Abreu
  37. Johnny Cueto
  38. Justin Verlander
  39. Kyle Seager
  40. Carlos Gonzalez
  41. Jonathan Villar
  42. Wil Myers
  43. Giancarlo Stanton
  44. Trevor Story
  45. Yoenis Cespedes
  46. Carlos Carrasco
  47. Stephen Strasburg
  48. Christian Yelich
  49. Chris Archer
  50. Adrian Beltre
  51. Buster Posey
  52. Roughned Odor
  53. AJ Pollock
  54. Todd Frazier
  55. Yu Darvish
  56. Jacob DeGrom
  57. Gregory Polanco
  58. Alex Bregman
  59. Carlos Martinez
  60. Dee Gordon
  61. Nelson Cruz
  62. Aroldis Chapman
  63. Kenley Jansen
  64. Ian Kinsler
  65. Carlos Martinez
  66. Kyle Hendricks
  67. Zach Britton
  68. Andrew McCutchen
  69. Masahiro Tanaka
  70. Justin Upton
  71. Jason Kipnis
  72. Chris Davis
  73. Jose Bautista
  74. DJ LeMahieu
  75. Gerrit Cole
  76. Jose Quintana
  77. Kyle Schwarber
  78. Jean Segura
  79. Matt Carpenter
  80. Cole Hamels
  81. Hanley Ramirez
  82. David Price
  83. Mark Melancon
  84. Eric Hosmer
  85. Seung Hwan Oh
  86. Rick Porcello
  87. Kevin Gausman
  88. Carlos Santana
  89. Jackie Bradley Jr.
  90. Dustin Pedroia
  91. Adam Jones
  92. Billy Hamilton
  93. Zack Greinke
  94. Wade Davis
  95. Gary Sanchez
  96. Mark Trumbo
  97. Stephen Piscotty
  98. Edwin Diaz
  99. Evan Longoria
  100. Julio Teheran
  101. Anthony Rendon
  102. Marcus Stroman
  103. Roberto Osuna
  104. Danny Duffy
  105. Adam Eaton
  106. Kenta Maeda
  107. Jose Ramirez
  108. Craig Kimbrell
  109. Matt Kemp
  110. Marcell Ozuna
  111. Albert Pujols
  112. Justin Turner
  113. Felix Hernandez
  114. Danny Salazaar
  115. Khris Davis
  116. Andrew Benintendi
  117. Miguel Sano
  118. Jonathan Lucroy
  119. Michael Fulmer
  120. Brandon Belt
  121. Kole Calhoun
  122. Aaron Sanchez
  123. Kelvin Herrera
  124. Cody Allen
  125. Troy Tulowitzki
  126. Adrian Gonzalez
  127. Rich Hill
  128. Addison Russell
  129. Brad Miller
  130. Ken Giles
  131. David Robertson
  132. Drew Pomeranz
  133. Willson Contreras
  134. Andrew Miller
  135. Lorenzo Cain
  136. Mike Napoli
  137. Dansby Swanson
  138. Dallas Keuchel
  139. Odubel Herrera
  140. James Paxton
  141. John Lackey
  142. Byron Buxton
  143. Jeurys Familia
  144. David Dahl
  145. Michael Brantley
  146. Francisco Rodriguez
  147. Aledmys Diaz
  148. Joc Pederson
  149. Elvis Andrus
  150. Ender Inciarte