If you are an avid fantasy baseball player, MLB.com and ESPN recently released their player previews. They are pretty good resources to prepare for a fantasy draft. Here’s what they are saying about the Pirates…
MLB.com has rankings for each individual team, and they have the top 24 Buccos. Here’s the list:
3. A.J. Burnett
4. Neil Walker
5. Jason Grilli
10. James McDonald
11. Russell Martin
12. Michael McKenry
13. Gerrit Cole
14. Travis Snider
15. Charlie Morton
16. Mark Melancon
17. Gaby Sanchez
18. Jeanmar Gomez
19. Clint Barmes
20. Josh Harrison
21. Jose Tabata
22. Vin Mazzaro
23. Alex Presley
24. Jerry Sands
Quick Notes:
- Unsurprisingly, Andrew McCutchen is the top rated Pirate after an excellent 2012 campaign.
- MLB notes Pedro’s power potential entering his prime, and Neil Walker’s sleeper capabilities.
- One interesting listing is Gerrit Cole at #13. Although he won’t pitch a full season with the Bucs, he could be a useful fantasy piece down the stretch if he gets called up.
- Jeanmar Gomez, who is unlikely to be on the team, is ranked higher than starting shortstop Clint Barmes. MLB appropriately notes that Barmes had more strikeouts than hits in 2012; they project him to hit .238 with a .630 OPS this year.
Among all players, MLB.com has Andrew McCutchen at #8 on the board. Four of the top seven are outfielders, including Mike Trout (1), Ryan Braun (3), Matt Kemp (4), and Carlos Gonzalez (7). You won’t find another Bucco until #131, where you’ll see Pedro Alvarez. After that, A.J. Burnett is #150, Neil Walker is #151, Jason Grilli is #203, etc.
ESPN also released their top 300 fantasy players for 2013; here are the eight Buccos that made the cut:
5. Andrew McCutchen
124. Neil Walker
157. Pedro Alvarez
198. Jason Grilli
213. A.J. Burnett
224. James McDonald
227. Garrett Jones
247. Wandy Rodriguez
It’s awesome to see Andrew McCutchen ranked highly on these lists; hopefully a bunch of Bucco fans can select him for their teams.
There are plenty of signs that baseball season is just around the corner, and the arrival of fantasy baseball is certainly one of them.
Go Bucs
Photo: Jared Wickerham/Getty Images
