Fantasy Baseball 2020: Analyzing Top OF Sleepers, Prospects, Rankings

Nobody knows when, or if, the 2020 MLB season will get under way.

The coronavirus pandemic has had a drastic impact on the sporting world, and commissioners from multiple leagues got on a conference call with President Trump to discuss timelines and measures to avoid potential financial calamity.

However, while Trump expressed optimism at the notion of sports returning to American society, baseball has less wiggle room due to the length of the schedule as well as being a warm weather sport. 

Thought leaders throughout MLB might have to figure out how best to approach a shortened season or even playing doubleheaders throughout the year. There are likely to be a number of logistics that need sorting out.

With plenty of unknowns remaining, fantasy baseball owners have a lot of time to sort through draft rankings to see the players who might best fit their roster. This is especially important in terms of figuring out the outfield, because most standard leagues allow for four outfielders on the roster.

Here is a list of the top 10 outfielders to draft in fantasy, as well as some sleeper picks.

Top 10 Outfielders (via ESPN):

1. Ronald Acuna Jr., Atlanta Braves

2. Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers

3. Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers

4. Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels

5. Cody Bellinger, Los Angeles Dodgers

6. Juan Soto, Washington Nationals

7. Starling Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks

8. Whit Merrifield, Kansas City Royals

9. Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies

10. J.D. Martinez, Boston Red Sox

Outfield Sleepers:

Michael Conforto, New York Mets (Pos. Rank 40; Ovr. Rank 131)

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

Conforto is coming off a rebound season in which he slashed .257/.363/.494 with 33 homers and a career-high 92 RBI, and he also stole seven bases.

The 27-year-old was an All-Star in 2017, but he has excellent sleeper value in part due to his position ranking, as well as the fact he has remained mostly healthy over the course of the last two seasons.

Conforto has played in at least 151 games in each of the last few years, and he is one of the few Mets outfielders who will be penciled into the lineup each and every day.

The stolen bases are particularly interesting. Conforto has always had fairly good speed and is rather "toolsy," but he has not gotten very involved in the running game.

Time will tell whether rookie manager Luis Rojas will put things in motion, but Conforto figures to see an uptick in stolen base attempts.

Conforto's combination of discipline, power and speed make him a big-time sleeper, particularly considering he is ranked below the likes of Adam Eaton and Andrew Benintendi.

Scott Kingery, Philadelphia Phillies (Pos. Rank 62; Ovr. Rank 190)

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

Kingery dealt with some injuries in his sophomore campaign, but despite playing in fewer games he actually saw more plate appearances. Not to mention, he saw massive improvement.

The 23-year-old slashed .258/.315/.474 with 19 homers, four triples and 15 stolen bases. Kingery was especially dominant over the course of the first few months, slashing .313/.363/.585 with 10 homers and a 142 weighted runs created plus (wRC+) value, according to FanGraphs. Unfortunately, the rest of Kingery's season was marred by inconsistency.

Still, Kingery has tons of value as a guy who can hit for power and steal plenty of bases. He is also likely to hit closer to the top of the lineup for the majority of the season, which should make him an excellent candidate to score runs in front of Bryce Harper, Rhys Hoskins and J.T. Realmuto.

Moreover, Kingery has positional versatility as a guy who can rotate between center field and the hot corner, which makes him especially valuable in fantasy.

Mark Canha, Oakland Athletics (Pos. Rank 84; Ovr. Rank 287)

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

There is no reason Canha should be ranked so low.

No, he does not necessarily steal bases in bunches or drive in tons of runs, but he is nonetheless one of the best hitters in Oakland's prodigious lineup.

Canha slashed .273/.396/.517 with 26 homers and a 145 OPS+, according to Baseball Reference. Those are huge numbers, especially considering he had less than 500 plate appearances.

There are drawbacks to drafting the 31-year-old, most notably the fact he had not produced a season anything close to his 2019 campaign. However, there is reason to believe he can have sustained success, especially considering he ranked in the top eight percent of baseball in terms of weighted on-base average (wOBA) and walk rate, per Baseball Savant. Canha's other career OPS+ numbers are also encouraging, even if you consider the 2019 season to be an outlier.

Canha should continue to have big power numbers and upside hitting behind sluggers like Matt Chapman, Matt Olson and Marcus Semien. Plus he is likely to be an everyday guy this season, which means he is bound for more production.

All stats obtained via Baseball Reference unless otherwise and noted all fantasy rankings obtained via ESPN.