Fantasy Baseball 2012: Positional Draft Tiers—Outfielders

Here are the five tiers of outfield prospects for 12-team mixed roto leagues. This substantive list of roughly 125 assets is a combination of Average Draft Position values from Mock Draft Central, the 40-plus mock drafts I've participated in since Feb. 20 and my own rankings of the Top 40 outfielders and then Nos. 41-80.

Ideally, fantasy owners should target one player from Tier 1, two from Tier 2, two from Tier 3 and two from Tier 4 to fill out the 25-man roster. The top three assets in Tier 5 (Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, Jaff Decker) are all primed for June 1 call-ups and perhaps sizable numbers, upon permanently punching their tickets to the majors.

Tier 1

• Matt Kemp, Dodgers (the order of the following trio is purely subjective)
• Ryan Braun, Brewers (so please don't spend too much time on this in Round 1)
• Jose Bautista, Blue Jays (seriously, you cannot go wrong with any stud)
• Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox
• Justin Upton, Diamondbacks
• Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies
• Curtis Granderson, Yankees
• Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins (has 40-HR potential at age 22—a rising star)
• Josh Hamilton, Rangers (has track record of lethal stats in even-numbered years)

Tier 2

• Andrew McCutchen, Pirates (one of MLB's best speed/power threats)
• Matt Holliday, Cardinals
• Nelson Cruz, Rangers (is there any magic left in that old playoff bat?)
• Hunter Pence, Phillies
• Alex Gordon, Royals
• Michael Bourn, Braves
• Shin-Soo Choo, Indians (so much for him falling to Round 7/8 on draft day—damn!)
• Jay Bruce, Reds
• B.J. Upton, Rays
• Shane Victorino, Phillies
• Desmond Jennings, Rays
• Drew Stubbs, Reds (batting .255 is the baseline measure to keep my sanity)
• Ben Zobrist, Rays
• Lance Berkman, Cardinals
• Carl Crawford, Red Sox
• Jason Heyward, Braves (relative free pass from last year's sluggish, injury-plagued campaign)
• Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners (fingers crossed on one more season of 80 runs, 40 steals, .305 BA)

Tier 3

• Adam Jones, Orioles
• Michael Morse, Nationals (shoulder woes spoiled hopes of a big spring)
• Corey Hart, Brewers
• Howard Kendrick, Angels
• Brett Gardner, Yankees (the perfect third outfielder in mixed leagues)
• Jayson Werth, Nationals
• Nick Markakis, Orioles
• Michael Cuddyer, Rockies (has 2B eligibility in most leagues)
• Cameron Maybin, Padres (three-category dynamo who's slowly finding power stroke)
• Chris Young, Diamondbacks
• Melky Cabrera, Giants (stellar 2011 + torrid spring = one of the best Round 8 values)
• Carlos Lee, Astros
• Carlos Beltran, Cardinals
• Nick Swisher, Yankees
• Angel Pagan, Giants
• Torii Hunter, Angels
• Andre Ethier, Dodgers
• Emilio Bonifacio, Marlins (has SS-3B-OF eligibility)

Tier 4

• Lorenzo Cain, Royals (major spring breakout eliminates hopes of landing him in Round 25)
• Josh Willingham, Nationals (a two-category force—fingers crossed on .265 batting average)
• Jeff Francoeur, Royals
• Alex Rios, White Sox
• Logan Morrison, Marlins
• Austin Jackson, Tigers (an annual threat for 30 steals/100 runs)
• Martin Prado, Braves
• Brennan Boesch, Tigers
• Peter Bourjos, Angels
• Matt Joyce, Rays
• Brandon Belt, Giants (too much natural talent to repeat last year's struggles)
• Ben Revere, Twins
• Denard Span, Twins (ditto for Span—rejoice upon landing him in Round 22/23)
• Colby Rasmus, Blue Jays
• Lucas Duda, Mets
• Yoenis Cespedes, Athletics (superior athleticism and crazy hype warrant slot, but can he play?)
• Mitch Moreland, Rangers
• Jason Kubel, Diamondbacks
• Vernon Wells, Angels
• Jason Bay, Mets
• Coco Crisp, Athletics
• Delmon Young, Tigers
• Dexter Fowler, Rockies
• J.D. Martinez, Astros
• Garrett Jones, Pirates
• Juan Pierre, Phillies
• Alfonso Soriano, Cubs
• Chase Headley, Padres (mark him down for 12 HRs, 17 steals, 73 runs)
• Ryan Raburn, Tigers (2B eligibility adds to pre-draft value)

Tier 5

• Bryce Harper, Nationals (air-tight prospect just waiting for his call-up)
• Mike Trout, Angels (springtime illness temporarily halted All-Star career path)
• Jaff Decker, Padres (draws early comparisons to Alex Gordon)
• Carlos Quentin, Padres
• Matt LaPorta, Indians
• Michael Brantley, Indians
• Jason Bourgeois, Astros
• Allen Craig, Cardinals
• Eric Thames, Blue Jays
• Travis Snider, Blue Jays
• Grady Sizemore, Indians
• Rajaj Davis, Blue Jays
• Michael Taylor, Athletics
• Aubrey Huff, Giants
• Kyle Blanks, Padres (healthy April-May could vault power hitter up to next group)
• Dayan Viciedo, White Sox
• Carlos Gomez, Brewers
• Ty Wigginton, Phillies
• Juan Rivera, Dodgers
• Yonder Alonso, Padres
• Willie Bloomquist, Diamondbacks
• Starling Marte, Pirates (don't mistake Pittsburgh's Tier 5 monopoly for lack of talent)
• Alex Presley, Pirates (the club may have the NL's best outfield in 3-4 seasons)
• Jose Tabata, Pirates
• Seth Smith, Athletics
• Domonic Brown, Phillies
• Nolan Reimold, Orioles
• Luke Scott, Rays
• Alejandro De Aza, White Sox
• John Mayberry Jr., Phillies
• Nyjer Morgan, Brewers
• Jerry Sands, Dodgers
• Mike Carp, Mariners
• Josh Reddick, Athletics
• Colin Cowgill, Athletics (.419 average/1.074 OPS in the spring reveals boundless potential)
• Gerardo Parra, Diamondbacks
• Gregor Blanco, Giants
• Will Venable, Padres
• Bobby Abreu, Angels
• John Jay, Cardinals
• David Murphy, Rangers
• Jordan Schafer, Astros (former minor-league whiz should get every chance to succeed)
• Andy Dirks, Tigers

Jay Clemons can be reached on Twitter, day or night, at @ATL_JayClemons.