Fantasy Baseball 2014: Updating the Top 150 Big Board, Week 8

RANK	PLAYER	TEAM	POSITION(S)	LAST
150	Martin Prado	Diamondbacks	2B/3B/OF
149	Rick Porcello	Tigers	SP
148	Wily Peralta	Brewers	SP
147	Jered Weaver	Angels	SP	NR
146	Huston Street	Padres	RP	NR
145	Nate Eovaldi	Marlins	SP	132
144	Ben Zobrist	Rays	2B/SS/OF	122
143	Scott Kazmir	Athletics	SP
142	Tim Hudson	Giants	SP
141	Tyson Ross	Padres	SP
140	C.J. Wilson	Angels	SP
139	Sergio Romo	Giants	RP
138	Daniel Murphy	Mets	2B
137	Howie Kendrick	Angels	2B
136	Carlos Santana	Indians	C/1B/3B
135	Michael Cuddyer	Rockies	OF
134	Mark Teixeira	Yankees	1B
133	Shelby Miller	Cardinals	SP
132	Jhonny Peralta	Cardinals	SS
131	Brett Gardner	Yankees	OF
130	Brett Lawrie	Blue Jays	2B
129	Joe Nathan	Tigers	RP
128	David Robertson	Yankees	RP
127	Rafael Soriano	Nationals	RP
126	Mike Morse	Giants	OF
125	Brian McCann	Yankees	C
124	Bryce Harper	Nationals	OF
123	Andrew Cashner	Padres	SP
122	Ervin Santana	Braves	SP
121	Matt Cain	Giants	SP	105
120	Ryan Zimmerman	Nationals	3B	86
119	Nolan Arenado	Rockies	3B	81
118	Brandon Belt	Giants	1B
117	Jean Segura	Brewers	SS
116	Billy Hamilton	Reds	OF
115	Jonathan Lucroy	Brewers	C
114	Jose Reyes	Blue Jays	SS
113	Jason Heyward	Braves	OF	90
112	Desmond Jennings	Rays	OF
111	Francisco Rodriguez	Brewers	RP	125
110	Michael Brantley	Indians	OF	128
109	Homer Bailey	Reds	SP
108	Doug Fister	Nationals	SP
107	Garrett Richards	Angels	SP
106	Allen Craig	Cardinals	1B/OF
105	Corey Kluber	Indians	SP	NR
104	Alex Cobb	Rays	SP	145
103	Brandon Moss	Athletics	1B/OF	120
102	Justin Morneau	Rockies	1B
101	George Springer	Astros	OF	116
100	Gio Gonzalez	Nationals	SP	112
99	Mike Napoli	Red Sox	1B
98	Aroldis Chapman	Reds	RP
97	Trevor Rosenthal	Cardinals	RP
96	Matt Carpenter	Cardinals	2B/3B
95	Yordano Ventura	Royals	SP
94	Starlin Castro	Cubs	SS
93	Mike Minor	Braves	SP
92	Dee Gordon	Dodgers	2B/SS
91	Hyun-Jin Ryu	Dodgers	SP
90	Joe Mauer	Twins	C/1B	74
89	Manny Machado	Orioles	3B	72
88	Charlie Blackmon	Rockies	OF
87	Matt Kemp	Dodgers	OF
86	Pedro Alvarez	Pirates	3B
85	Glen Perkins	Twins	RP
84	Koji Uehara	Red Sox	RP
83	Anibal Sanchez	Tigers	SP	106
82	Kenley Jansen	Dodgers	RP
81	Melky Cabrera	Blue Jays	OF
80	Greg Holland	Royals	RP
79	Craig Kimbrel	Braves	RP
78	Eric Hosmer	Royals	1B
77	Starling Marte	Pirates	OF
76	Elvis Andrus	Rangers	SS
75	Alexei Ramirez	White Sox	SS	89
74	Ian Desmond	Nationals	SS
73	Anthony Rendon	Nationals	2B/3B
72	Joey Votto	Reds	1B	55
71	Chase Utley	Phillies	2B
70	Jeff Samardzija	Cubs	SP	83
69	Jayson Werth	Nationals	OF
68	Wil Myers	Rays	OF	56
67	Josh Hamilton	Angels	OF	84
66	Jose Altuve	Astros	2B	79
65	Alex Rios	Rangers	OF
64	Cole Hamels	Phillies	SP
63	Jordan Zimmermann	Nationals	SP	45
62	Gerrit Cole	Pirates	SP
61	Sonny Gray	Athletics	SP
60	Michael Wacha	Cardinals	SP
59	Matt Holliday	Cardinals	OF
58	Jay Bruce	Reds	OF	85
57	Buster Posey	Giants	C	47
56	Yadier Molina	Cardinals	C
55	Yoenis Cespedes	Athletics	OF
54	Hisashi Iwakuma	Mariners	SP	71
53	Jon Lester	Red Sox	SP
52	Dustin Pedroia	Red Sox	2B	52
51	Julio Teheran	Braves	SP	65
50	Anthony Rizzo	Cubs	1B	61
49	Hunter Pence	Giants	OF
48	Ian Kinsler	Tigers	2B	60
47	Cliff Lee	Phillies	SP	31
46	Justin Verlander	Tigers	SP
45	James Shields	Royals	SP
44	Brian Dozier	Twins	2B
43	Jason Kipnis	Indians	2B	58
42	David Ortiz	Red Sox	UTIL
41	Johnny Cueto	Reds	SP
40	Ryan Braun	Brewers	OF	22
39	Justin Upton	Braves	OF
38	Shin-Soo Choo	Rangers	OF
37	Nelson Cruz	Orioles	OF	51
36	Victor Martinez	Tigers	UTIL	50
35	Madison Bumgarner	Giants	SP
34	Jacoby Ellsbury	Yankees	OF
33	Chris Sale	White Sox	SP	54
32	David Price	Rays	SP
31	Masahiro Tanaka	Yankees	SP
30	David Wright	Mets	3B	41
29	Adrian Gonzalez	Dodgers	1B
28	Adrian Beltre	Rangers	3B
27	Stephen Strasburg	Nationals	SP
26	Zack Greinke	Dodgers	SP
25	Jose Abreu	White Sox	1B
24	Felix Hernandez	Mariners	SP
23	Josh Donaldson	Athletics	3B
22	Max Scherzer	Tigers	SP
21	Hanley Ramirez	Dodgers	SS
20	Evan Longoria	Rays	3B
19	Albert Pujols	Angels	1B
18	Adam Jones	Orioles	OF
17	Chris Davis	Orioles	1B
16	Yu Darvish	Rangers	SP
15	Carlos Gonzalez	Rockies	OF
14	Robinson Cano	Mariners	2B
13	Adam Wainwright	Cardinals	SP
12	Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	SP
11	Freddie Freeman	Braves	1B
10	Yasiel Puig	Dodgers	OF
9	Edwin Encarnacion	Blue Jays	1B
8	Andrew McCutchen	Pirates	OF
7	Jose Bautista	Blue Jays	OF
6	Giancarlo Stanton	Marlins	OF
5	Carlos Gomez	Brewers	OF
4	Paul Goldschmidt	Diamondbacks	1B
3	Troy Tulowitzki	Rockies	SS
2	Miguel Cabrera	Tigers	1B/3B
1	Mike Trout	Angels	OF

With the 2014 baseball season going full tilt, the fantasy version of the sport needs all kinds of attention. Like, every-week attention—lest we fickle owners get frustrated and cranky, and that just isn't good for anyone.

With that in mind, it's time for the weekly update of the Big Board, which focuses on evaluating players' values over the rest of the season. Below is a ranking of the top 150 players from now until the end of September. With opinions and circumstances changing since the last iteration, including player performances, transactions and injuries, a refreshing is in order.

Think of it as your security blanket in an otherwise insecure world.

Before getting to that, though, some housekeeping is needed, as this lengthy list of the top talents comes with a few key qualifications. First, everything is based on 10- or 12-team mixed leagues with standard 5x5 rotisserie scoring for hitters (BA, R, HR, RBI, SB) and pitchers (W, ERA, WHIP, K, SV).

Second, lineup construction accounts for 22 active roster positions, consisting of: one each for catcher, first base, second base, third base, shortstop, corner infield, middle infield and utility, along with five outfielders and nine pitchers.

And third, to be eligible at a particular position, players must have played at least 20 games there in 2013 or 10 games in 2014.

With that out of the way, get ready to count down, starting with No. 150 and working all the way to No. 1.

Ins and Outs

This time around, three players fell off the Big Board:

• Ian Kennedy: He's been more good than bad, but Kennedy is far from a must-start pitcher.
• Shane Victorino: Re-aggravating a hamstring injury that acted up at the end of spring training and cost him the first few weeks of the season is one way to get bumped off the Board.
• Prince Fielder: Hope your neck feels better in time for 2015!

The three newbies replacing them, highlighted on the Big Board, are:

• Jered Weaver: Healthy for the first time in three years, Weaver has allowed only nine earned runs over his past seven starts (1.70 ERA, 0.94 WHIP).
• Huston Street: It's hard to argue with 13 saves, a 0.50 ERA and 0.78 WHIP.
• Corey Kluber: In retrospect, Kluber should've been on Board already. His 83 strikeouts rank second in all of baseball—and he's an ace when it comes to handling high jinks during on-camera interviews (see video).

On the Bubble

Because you're probably wondering about some players just outside the top 150, disregarding those who fell off this week, that list includes:

• Kyle Seager, Rajai Davis, John Lackey, Angel Pagan, Christian Yelich, Mat Latos, Neil Walker, Aaron Hill, Jimmy Rollins, Todd Frazier, Pablo Sandoval, Joakim Soria, Jonathan Papelbon, Marco Estrada and Salvador Perez.

Keep in mind: When a few players at the same position are bunched together—like outfielders Billy Hamilton, Jason Heyward and Desmond Jennings—it means they're more or less in the same boat, with no clear favorite at the moment.

That can and will change as more information, news, injuries and performances come to light. But for now, when players are grouped, consider their value to your team based more on specific category need than overall ranking.

Risers and Fallers

The right-most column marked "LAST" on the Big Board indicates a player who rose or fell in the rankings by at least 10 spots in either direction from the previous edition. Similar to the new additions, players who saw their value improve by that margin are highlighted.

Here are the reasons for some of the biggest risers this week:

• Alex Cobb: Finally back from an oblique strain that knocked him out of his second start of the year, Cobb returned this week and is steady as ever.
• George Springer: Talk about timing—Springer was in danger of dropping when he injured his hip earlier in the week and then sat out a couple of games, but he returned Saturday night and smashed a pair of homers to bring his May totals to a .293 batting average, 13 runs, six home runs and 16, RBI.
• Anibal Sanchez: He's been fighting through injuries all year it seems, but at least he's making it to the mound to post numbers very similar to his boffo 2013 (2.83 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 8.2 K/9).
• Josh Hamilton: His speedy recovery from a torn thumb ligament hit a bit of a bump when he felt some discomfort after getting jammed during his Triple-A rehab stint, per Rahshaun Haylock of Fox Sports West, but he's still expected to make it back to L.A. early in the week. Fingers crossed.
• Jose Altuve: Have you seen his numbers? Seriously: .322 batting average, 25 runs, two home runs, 17 RBI and 17 stolen bases.
• Jay Bruce: His return from knee surgery was incredibly quick—just two weeks!—so Bruce gets a boost into the top 60. Now he needs to hit to stay there.
• Hisashi Iwakuma: The second runner-up in the AL Cy Young voting last year has looked like the same pitcher ever since his recovery from a finger injury: 1.76 ERA, 0.72 WHIP.
• Jason Kipnis: After three weeks on the shelf with an oblique strain, Kipnis started his rehab assignment over the weekend, per Jim Massie of The Columbus Dispatch. A return this coming week could happen.
• Nelson Cruz: He's been smokin', is now tied with Jose Abreu for the most homers in the majors (15) and has passed the injured White Sox rookie for the most RBI in the AL (43).
• Victor Martinez: Only one more game until V-Mart and his .331 average and 12 homers are 1B-eligible (nine games).
• Chris Sale: In his return from an arm strain, Sale took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and whiffed 10. That's all.

Charles Krupa/Associated Press

Meanwhile, the big fallers dropped because of the following:

• Matt Cain: While Cain has yet to be placed on the disabled list due to a hamstring strain that forced him to leave his last outing, his scheduled start for Memorial Day Monday isn't happening. The righty cut short his bullpen session after feeling some pain in the leg, per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.
• Ryan Zimmerman: A setback concerning his thumb injury could keep Zimmerman out even longer, so he needs to be dropped down all over again for now.
• Nolan Arenado: Somebody needs to do a public service announcement on head-first slides for baseball players. Then maybe Arenado wouldn't be out for the next month-plus, interrupting his breakout campaign.
• Joe Mauer: If not for his catcher eligibility, Mauer just might be in danger of falling off the Board. There's nothing exciting about a .286 average, two homers and 14 RBI.
• Manny Machado: A sore groin is hampering Machado, and his bat has yet to make it all the way back. He has just 19 hits in his first 83 at-bats (.229) with one homer and three RBI in 20 games.
• Joey Votto: His trip to the DL followed a serious slump, which is a bad combination for Votto's value. Even when he gets back, he may not be 100 percent again this year, according to Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. He's got work to do to get back in the Board's good graces.
• Wil Myers: On the downside, Myers hasn't done much so far. On the plus side, last year he hadn't even debuted at this point (June 18), so the second-year Ray has plenty of time to break out of his sophomore slump.
• Jordan Zimmermann: The strikeout-to-walk ratio is improved over the past few years, but because of an elevated batting average on balls in play so far (.359), everything else is worse.
• Dustin Pedroia: He's slumped right along with the Red Sox. During the club's nine-game losing streak, Pedroia has gone just 7-for-36 (.194) with one RBI and three runs.
• Cliff Lee: An MRI revealed a strained left elbow for Lee, who may have trouble reaching the 200-inning threshold for the seventh season in a row.
• Ryan Braun: He's going to be dealing with bothersome injuries and ailments all year long, isn't he?

Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

The Wrap-Up

Happy Memorial Day! The end-of-May holiday signals the point in the fantasy baseball season where everything starts to sink in and get real.

Player performances—both good and bad—become much more legitimate, and your league's standings and category scores are now relevant. The flip has switched.

So if you've been on cruise control over the past eight weeks, now is the time to put your foot back on the gas and either push further ahead or do your darnedest to catch up.

If you're in the latter category, you have a can't-wait-anymore card to play in order to cut that embarrassing underperformer (think: Carlos Santana, Billy Butler and Zack Wheeler) or injured players who won't be coming back anytime soon (read: Carlos Beltran, Matt Wieters, Mark Trumbo, Ben Zobrist). Of course, if you can hang on to them, that course of action still is preferred, particularly in deeper formats or leagues where there aren't any worthy options on the waiver wire.

And if you have been dragging your feet when it comes to working up a few quality trade offers to propose to your fellow owners, well, pick up your kicks already!

Just because it's a holiday doesn't mean you should be taking the day off from fantasy baseball.

Statistics are accurate through Saturday, May 24, and come from Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs, except where otherwise noted.

To talk baseball or fantasy baseball, check in with me on Twitter: @JayCat11