Baseball America: Fantasy Baseball

SCOUTING REPORTS BEGIN ON PAGE 8 Max Scherzer now has a Cy Young Award from each league after another strong season POSITION-BY-POSITION CATCHER FIRST BASE SECOND BASE THIRD BASE POSITION-BY-POSITION SHORTSTOP OUTFIELD RELIEVER DESIGNATED HITTER STARTING PITCHER…

01 JONATHAN LUCROY RANGERS Age: 30. Experience: 8 years. SCOUTING REPORT: Lucroy profiles as a near-perfect defensive catcher and potent offensive force, boasting excellent framing skills and a big bat, but he’s a relative injury risk. An outspoken clubhouse leader and competitor, he’s still got plenty of production in the tank. FANTASY REALITY: The move to Texas sparked an improvement in his power numbers (including 11 homers and a 131 wRC+ in 47 games), so it’ll be interesting to see what he’ll do with a full season in Globe Life Park—a veritable hitting paradise. And last season’s overall offensive rebound (.208 ISO, .364 wOBA) hints that his depressed 2015 numbers were an injurybased outlier, so consider Lucroy a top five catcher with plenty of upside. 02 BUSTER POSEY GIANTS Age:…

01 PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT DIAMONDBACKS Age: 29. Experience: 6 years. SCOUTING REPORT: Goldschmidt is an elite slugger and a rare basestealing threat among first basemen. Goldschmidt won the 2015 National League Gold Glove for his stellar defensive work. He’s improved his defense tremendously and is one of the steadiest run producers in the game. FANTASY REALITY: It’s possible that Goldschmidt won’t ever hit 40 home runs or win a batting title, but there’s just so much fantasy goodness in the complete package and consistency from season to season, that he comes in once again as the top fantasy first baseman. His wOBA dipped to .382 last season, but the 32 steals were a career high and a sign that he’s far from regressing as a top-notch fantasy stud. 02 MIGUEL CABRERA…

01 JOSE ALTUVE ASTROS Age: 26. Experience: 6 years. SCOUTING REPORT: A durable, solid fielder, Altuve sets himself apart with a brilliant offensive game—and he does it with consistency. He clearly one of the game’s best young hitters, but he’s no longer a leadoff hitter in many more spots to take a base. Now, the diminutive second baseman is hitting second in the lineup and likely driving in a lot of runs (96 RBI in 2016). FANTASY REALITY: It’s a trade-off of speed (2017 estimates are about 28-35 SB, and he stole 56 two seasons ago) for power—and his ISO, which hit .194 last season, isn’t likely to get there this season. He’s a very safe bet with lots of upside coming off career highs in just about every measurable…

01 NOLAN ARENADO ROCKIES Age: 25. Experience: 4 years. SCOUTING REPORT: Arenado is an elite hitter and defensive third baseman with a quick bat, prodigious home run power and average speed. He’s had some injuries but his production should easily rank among the top three at his position. He’s walking more, striking out less and emerging as a more consistently spectacular fantasy commodity. FANTASY REALITY: The slugger actually improved on his 2015 numbers last season and ended up with a .386 wOBA and 124 wRC+, metrics that exceeded our projections. Since he’s not just great in Coors Field (his road OPS over the last two seasons is .834—far and away the best on the team), Arenado gets the top 3B spot in a talented field. 02 KRIS BRYANT CUBS Age:…

01 MANNY MACHADO ORIOLES Age: 24. Experience: 5 years. SCOUTING REPORT: It’s hard to believe that Machado is only 24, because he’s already made a huge offensive and defensive impact on the game and has shown considerable development over the past few seasons. He’ll be shortstop and third base eligible in 2017 in most formats. FANTASY REALITY: Machado followed up his 2015 breakout with another epic season, but went from 20 steals in 2015 to zero in 2016. An elite fantasy option even without the steals, Machado’s ISO improved from .216 to .239—and he could be hitting his power peak in the next couple of seasons, and another 35-40 homers isn’t out of reach in Baltimore. 02 CARLOS CORREA ASTROS Age: 22. Experience: 2 years. SCOUTING REPORT: The 2015 American…