Fantasy Baseball 2023 Rankings for Each Position and Latest Mock Draft
It's peak draft season in the fantasy baseball realm.
With the 2023 MLB campaign getting closer by the minute, fantasy managers are running short on time to get their draft plans in order.
Luckily, this positional guide and mock first round can help get things rolling.
2023 Mock First Round (Head-to-Head Points)
1 of 7
1. Aaron Judge, OF, New York Yankees
2. Shohei Ohtani, DH/SP, Los Angeles Angels
3. Juan Soto, OF, San Diego Padres
4. José Ramírez, 3B, Cleveland Guardians
5. Mookie Betts, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers
6. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B, Toronto Blue Jays
7. Ronald Acuña, OF, Atlanta Braves
8. Freddie Freeman, 1B, Los Angeles Dodgers
9. Gerrit Cole, SP, New York Yankees
10. Corbin Burnes, SP, Milwaukee Brewers
First Basemen
2 of 7
1. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays
2. Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers
3. Pete Alonso, New York Mets
4. Paul Goldschmidt, St. Louis Cardinals
5. Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves
6. Vinnie Pasquantino, Kansas City Royals
7. José Abreu, Houston Astros
8. Rhys Hoskins, Philadelphia Phillies
9. Anthony Rizzo, New York Yankees
10. Nathaniel Lowe, Texas Rangers
First base isn't necessarily a shallow position, but it's one you might consider addressing early in your draft.
Guerrero and Freeman have face-of-your-fantasy-franchise talent. Alonso, Goldschmidt and Olson can anchor your lineup. Beyond that quintet, though, there is a decent-sized drop-off to the next tier.
If you don't get one of those first five hitters, you might try seeing if you can get a bargain on Lowe. Last season was his second full campaign in the bigs, and he belted 27 homers, tallied 150 combined runs and RBI and compiled a .302/.358/.492 slash line.
Second Basemen
3 of 7
1. José Altuve, Houston Astros
2. Marcus Semien, Texas Rangers
3. Jazz Chisholm Jr., Miami Marlins
4. Ozzie Albies, Atlanta Braves
5. Tommy Edman, St. Louis Cardinals
6. Andrés Giménez, Cleveland Guardians
7. Gleyber Torres, New York Yankees
8. Jorge Polanco, Minnesota Twins
9. Max Muncy, Los Angeles Dodgers
10. Vaughn Grissom, Atlanta Braves
If you believe positional scarcity matters, you should seriously consider investing in Altuve.
The top tier at second base is his and his alone. His bat delivers year after year, and last season he helped out fantasy managers a ton by deciding to run again. He wound up with 18 steals (and only a single caught stealing), his highest total since 2017.
If you don't want to pay top dollar for Altuve but still want someone with a sky-high ceiling, Chisholm might be your guy. He's a walking injury risk, but whenever his body holds up for an entire season, his stats will be spectacular. A 40-homer, 40-steal season isn't out of the question at some point in his career.
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Third Basemen
4 of 7
1. José Ramírez, Cleveland Guardians
2. Manny Machado, San Diego Padres
3. Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox
4. Austin Riley, Atlanta Braves
5. Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals
6. Nolan Arenado, St. Louis Cardinals
7. Alex Bregman, Houston Astros
8. Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles
9. Matt Chapman, Toronto Blue Jays
10. José Miranda, Minnesota Twins
There are elite talents at third base, but you have to decide how many you see and react accordingly.
Ramírez is in a tier of his own, while Machado, Devers and Riley are all between a half- and full-step behind them. But is Witt in that group, too? How far back are Arenado and Bregman? Would you be comfortable starting any of them, or do you need one of those top four?
If you can stomach the batting average hit, don't overlook Chapman as a (relatively) cheap power source. He has hit 27 homers in each of the last two seasons and has 148 RBI over this stretch.
Shortstops
5 of 7
1. Trea Turner, Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Fernando Tatís Jr., San Diego Padres
3. Francisco Lindor, New York Mets
4. Bo Bichette, Toronto Blue Jays
5. Corey Seager, Texas Rangers
6. Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals
7. Xander Bogaerts, San Diego Padres
8. Wander Franco, Tampa Bay Rays
9. Carlos Correa, Minnesota Twins
10. Oneil Cruz, Pittsburgh Steelers
Turner is a tremendous talent. Maybe he won't run as wild as he did during his younger days, but then again, maybe the rule changes will inspire the 29-year-old to give himself a neon-green light.
With his bat coming alive—49 homers with a .312 average over the past two seasons—he's a really interesting power-and-speed source.
All of that said, though, this position would belong to Tatís if he wasn't still finishing a PED suspension and didn't have any injury concerns. He had 42 homers and 25 steals last season while playing just 130 games. His ceiling knows no limits.
Speaking of potential, Cruz offers an absurd amount. The 6'7", 240-pounder hits the cover off the ball and has enough pep in his step to push for 30 steals (at least). He's just raw right now, so you might have to prepare for some growing pains.
Outfielders
6 of 7
1. Aaron Judge, OF, New York Yankees
2. Juan Soto, OF, San Diego Padres
3. Mookie Betts, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers
4. Ronald Acuña, OF, Atlanta Braves
5. Julio Rodríguez, Seattle Mariners
6. Kyle Tucker, Houston Astros
7. Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
8. Yordan Álvarez, Houston Astros
9. George Springer, Toronto Blue Jays
10. Luis Robert Jr., Chicago White Sox
There is a decent chance you'll start your draft with one of these players.
Judge and Soto have two of the best bats in baseball. Betts, Acuña, Rodríguez and Tucker offer some of the top power-speed combos of anyone. And yet, a healthy Trout might be better than them all.
Outfield is sort of deep just due to the number of players available, but the elite crop separates itself—not just from this position, but from everyone in the player pool.
Pitchers and Catchers
7 of 7
Pitchers
1. Shohei Ohtani, DH/SP, Los Angeles Angels
2. Gerrit Cole, SP, New York Yankees
3. Corbin Burnes, SP, Milwaukee Brewers
4. Max Scherzer, New York Mets
5. Sandy Alcántara, Miami Marlins
6. Justin Verlander, New York Mets
7. Jacob deGrom, Texas Rangers
8. Aaron Nola, Philadelphia Phillies
9. Brandon Woodruff, Milwaukee Brewers
10. Spencer Strider, Atlanta Braves
If your league counts Ohtani the hitter and Ohtani the pitcher as one player and allows for daily lineup changes, he's a cheat code. He has 80 homers, 37 steals, 193 runs and 195 RBI over the last two seasons, and in 2022, he had 219 strikeouts in 166 innings pitched. Ridiculous.
Cole and Burnes are the top two starters in the non-Ohtani bracket for most analysts with the order of those two up to the individual. Cole might be the safest bet for 200 strikeouts. In his last four full seasons, he hasn't had fewer than 243 punchouts. Burnes isn't far behind and isn't as susceptible to home runs.
Age is theoretically a worry with Scherzer (38) and Verlander (40), but neither has given any indication of slowing down yet. Downgrade them for age-related concerns at your own risk.
The 34-year-old deGrom might be the most interesting player on the board. He is probably the best pitcher in baseball, but he hasn't reached 100 innings since 2019.
Catchers
1. J.T. Realmuto, Philadelphia Phillies
2. Daulton Varsho, Toronto Blue Jays
3. Adley Rutschman, Baltimore Orioles
4. Will Smith, Los Angeles Dodgers
5. Salvador Pérez, Kansas City Royals
6. Willson Contreras, St. Louis Cardinals
7. Sean Murphy, Atlanta Braves
8. Alejandro Kirk, Toronto Blue Jays
9. MJ Melendez, Kansas City Royals
10. William Contreras, Milwaukee Brewers
Catcher comes down to a matter of preference.
Do you like nabbing a top-tier option like Realmuto and feeling like you got a leg up on your rival managers? Or do you simply want to spend as little as possible on this position?
There are arguments for both sides. Realmuto has a really high floor, as his volume and speed help differentiate him at the position.
Then again, if you have to spend an early pick or a big chunk of salary-cap dollars to get the 31-year-old, he probably won't match the counting numbers of the non-catchers who come at a similar cost.
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