Fantasy Baseball 2011, Top 250 Hitters

For those of you who don't know me, you should know that I love fantasy baseball. I also play a lot of it. Hell, when I was a kid I had my own primitive version of the game using my baseball cards. I would line up a bunch of cards and compare player stats. I'd compare the stats in each category and whichever player won the most times advanced past his opponent. That's just an example of my precursor to fantasy baseball love (read: obsession), not a commentary on what may have otherwise been a misspent youth.

Alas, if you're reading this column (and many thanks for making it this far), you probably know how fantasy baseball works. My rankings are based on a 12 team 5x5 league. Hitters are measured on Runs, Home Runs, RBIs, Stolen Bases and Average. Now, there are many different kinds of leagues out there, but most use at least these 5 categories to measure a hitter. In a standard 12 team, 5x5 league, the player pool for hitters is approximately 200 hitters. But, I've ranked the top 250, because your team may need help in different categories, not just overall.

To rank the players, I look at their projected stats, using www.rotowire.com as a reference point. I give each player a rank of 1-7 in each category. The numerical value (1-7) represents that player's value in that particular category. For instance, I assign the top player in each category a 7; players 2-10 are assigned a 6; players 11-50 are assigned a 5; players 51-100 are assigned a 4; players 101-150 are assigned a 3; players 151-200 are assigned a 2; players 201-250 are assigned a 1; and everyone else is assigned a 0. I do this for each of the 5 categories and then add each player's value to determine a total value. Players are then ranked by their total value.

I have found that this ranking system is far more objective than using the top 250 from any of the major fantasy baseball websites and can be tailored to your individual league. Now, without further ado, here are my top 250 hitters for 2011:

Rank	Last Name	First Name	Team	Pos	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	Value
1	Pujols	Albert	STL	1B	7	7	6	4	6	30
2	Gonzalez	Carlos	COL	OF	6	6	6	5	6	29
3	Votto	Joey	CIN	1B	6	6	6	4	6	28
4	Braun	Ryan	MIL	OF	6	6	6	4	5	27
5	Cabrera	Miguel	DET	1B	5	6	6	4	6	27
6	Ramirez	Hanley	FLA	SS	6	5	5	5	6	27
7	Tulowitzki	Troy	COL	SS	6	5	6	4	6	27
8	Holliday	Matt	STL	OF	5	5	6	4	6	26
9	Cruz	Nelson	TEX	OF	4	6	5	5	5	25
10	Hamilton	Josh	TEX	OF	5	5	6	3	6	25
11	Young	Michael	TEX	3B	5	5	5	5	5	25
12	Choo	Shin-Soo	CLE	OF	5	4	5	5	5	24
13	Crawford	Carl	BOS	OF	6	3	4	6	5	24
14	Kemp	Matt	LA	OF	5	5	5	5	4	24
15	Longoria	Evan	TB	3B	5	5	6	4	4	24
16	Pedroia	Dustin	BOS	2B	6	4	4	5	5	24
17	Upton	B.J.	TB	OF	5	5	4	6	4	24
18	Wright	David	NY-N	3B	5	5	5	5	4	24
19	Heyward	Jason	ATL	OF	5	5	5	4	4	23
20	Pence	Hunter	HOU	OF	5	5	5	4	4	23
21	Rodriguez	Alex	NY-A	3B	4	5	6	4	4	23
22	Beltre	Adrian	TEX	3B	5	5	5	2	5	22
23	Cano	Robinson	NY-A	2B	5	5	5	1	6	22
24	Davis	Ike	NY-N	1B	4	4	4	6	4	22
25	Kinsler	Ian	TEX	2B	6	4	4	5	3	22
26	Markakis	Nick	BAL	OF	5	4	5	3	5	22
27	Ramirez	Alexei	CHI-A	SS	4	5	5	4	4	22
28	Rasmus	Colby	STL	OF	5	5	4	4	4	22
29	Teixeira	Mark	NY-A	1B	6	6	6	0	4	22
30	Youkilis	Kevin	BOS	1B	5	5	5	2	5	22
31	Zimmerman	Ryan	WAS	3B	5	5	5	2	5	22
32	Howard	Ryan	PHI	1B	5	6	7	0	3	21
33	Jeter	Derek	NY-A	SS	6	2	3	5	5	21
34	McCutchen	Andrew	PIT	OF	5	3	3	5	5	21
35	Stubbs	Drew	CIN	OF	5	4	4	6	2	21
36	Werth	Jayson	WAS	OF	5	5	4	4	3	21
37	Ellsbury	Jacoby	BOS	OF	5	1	2	7	5	20
38	Fielder	Prince	MIL	1B	5	6	6	0	3	20
39	Gonzalez	Adrian	BOS	1B	5	5	5	0	5	20
40	Guerrero	Vladimir	BAL	DH	4	5	5	1	5	20
41	Martinez	Victor	DET	C	4	4	5	2	5	20
42	Morneau	Justin	MIN	1B	4	5	6	0	5	20
43	Phillips	Brandon	CIN	2B	5	4	4	5	2	20
44	Suzuki	Ichiro	SEA	OF	4	2	4	5	5	20
45	Victorino	Shane	PHI	OF	5	3	3	5	4	20
46	Weeks	Rickie	MIL	2B	6	5	4	4	1	20
47	Bautista	Jose	TOR	3B	5	6	5	3	0	19
48	Bay	Jason	NY-N	OF	5	4	5	4	1	19
49	Bruce	Jay	CIN	OF	4	5	4	2	4	19
50	Ethier	Andre	LA	OF	4	5	5	1	4	19
51	Hart	Corey	MIL	OF	4	5	5	4	1	19
52	Jones	Adam	BAL	OF	4	4	4	3	4	19
53	Lee	Derrek	BAL	1B	4	5	5	1	4	19
54	Pena	Carlos	CHI-N	1B	4	6	5	2	2	19
55	Reyes	Jose	NY-N	SS	5	2	2	6	4	19
56	Rios	Alexis	CHI-A	OF	4	4	4	5	2	19
57	Young	Chris	AZ	OF	5	4	4	2	4	19
58	Abreu	Bobby	ANA	OF	5	3	4	5	1	18
59	Beltran	Carlos	NY-N	OF	3	3	4	4	4	18
60	Butler	Billy	KC	1B	4	4	5	0	5	18
61	Drew	Stephen	AZ	SS	4	4	3	3	4	18
62	Johnson	Kelly	AZ	2B	4	4	3	4	3	18
63	Kendrick	Howie	ANA	2B	3	2	4	4	5	18
64	Roberts	Brian	BAL	2B	5	2	2	5	4	18
65	Sanchez	Gaby	FLA	1B	3	4	4	3	4	18
66	Sandoval	Pablo	SF	3B	4	4	4	1	5	18
67	Stanton	Michael	FLA	OF	4	6	5	2	1	18
68	Utley	Chase	PHI	2B	3	4	4	3	4	18
69	Coghlan	Chris	FLA	OF	5	1	2	4	5	17
70	Cuddyer	Michael	MIN	OF	5	4	4	2	2	17
71	Huff	Aubrey	SF	1B	4	4	4	2	3	17
72	Hunter	Torii	ANA	OF	3	4	4	4	2	17
73	Jackson	Austin	DET	OF	5	1	2	5	4	17
74	Mauer	Joe	MIN	C	4	2	4	0	7	17
75	McCann	Brian	ATL	C	3	4	5	1	4	17
76	Posey	Buster	SF	C	3	4	4	0	6	17
77	Rollins	Jimmy	PHI	SS	4	3	3	5	2	17
78	Span	Denard	MIN	OF	5	0	3	5	4	17
79	Uggla	Dan	ATL	2B	5	5	5	1	1	17
80	Wells	Vernon	ANA	OF	4	4	4	3	2	17
81	Zobrist	Ben	TB	2B	4	3	4	5	1	17
82	Alvarez	Pedro	PIT	3B	4	5	5	0	2	16
83	Granderson	Curtis	NY-A	OF	4	5	3	4	0	16
84	Konerko	Paul	CHI-A	1B	3	5	5	0	3	16
85	McGehee	Casey	MIL	3B	3	4	5	0	4	16
86	Pagan	Angel	NY-N	OF	3	1	2	5	5	16
87	Prado	Martin	ATL	2B	5	2	3	1	5	16
88	Reynolds	Mark	BAL	3B	3	5	4	4	0	16
89	Santana	Carlos	CLE	C	4	4	4	1	3	16
90	Tabata	Jose	PIT	OF	4	0	2	5	5	16
91	Upton	Justin	AZ	OF	4	4	3	5	0	16
92	Walker	Neil	PIT	2B	3	3	4	3	3	16
93	Byrd	Marlon	CHI-N	OF	3	2	4	2	4	15
94	Desmond	Ian	WAS	SS	2	2	3	5	3	15
95	Dunn	Adam	CHI-A	1B	4	6	5	0	0	15
96	Francisco	Ben	PHI	OF	2	2	2	4	5	15
97	Furcal	Rafael	LA	SS	4	1	1	5	4	15
98	Loney	James	LA	1B	3	2	5	3	2	15
99	Morales	Kendry	ANA	1B	2	4	4	0	5	15
100	Moreland	Mitch	TEX	1B	3	4	4	3	1	15
101	Murphy	David	TEX	OF	2	2	3	4	4	15
102	Raburn	Ryan	DET	OF	3	4	4	1	3	15
103	Ramirez	Aramis	CHI-N	3B	3	4	4	0	4	15
104	Torres	Andres	SF	OF	3	2	2	5	3	15
105	Andrus	Elvis	TEX	SS	5	0	1	6	2	14
106	Aybar	Erick	ANA	SS	3	1	1	5	4	14
107	Barton	Daric	OAK	1B	4	2	3	2	3	14
108	Castro	Starlin	CHI-N	SS	3	0	2	4	5	14
109	DeJesus	David	OAK	OF	3	1	3	2	5	14
110	Escobar	Alcides	KC	SS	3	1	2	5	3	14
111	Gardner	Brett	NY-A	OF	4	0	1	6	3	14
112	Gutierrez	Franklin	SEA	OF	3	3	3	5	0	14
113	Headley	Chase	SD	3B	3	2	3	4	2	14
114	Hill	Aaron	TOR	2B	4	5	4	1	0	14
115	Ortiz	David	BOS	DH	4	5	5	0	0	14
116	Pierre	Juan	CHI-A	OF	4	0	0	6	4	14
117	Polanco	Placido	PHI	3B	4	0	2	3	5	14
118	Quentin	Carlos	CHI-A	OF	4	5	5	0	0	14
119	Scott	Luke	BAL	DH	3	5	4	0	2	14
120	Swisher	Nick	NY-A	OF	4	5	4	0	1	14
121	Young	Delmon	MIN	OF	4	4	4	2	0	14
122	Beckham	Gordon	CHI-A	2B	3	3	3	2	2	13
123	Figgins	Chone	SEA	2B	4	0	0	6	3	13
124	Fowler	Dexter	COL	OF	4	1	1	5	2	13
125	Ibanez	Raul	PHI	OF	3	4	4	1	1	13
126	Jones	Chipper	ATL	3B	2	3	3	3	2	13
127	Kubel	Jason	MIN	OF	3	4	5	0	1	13
128	LaRoche	Adam	WAS	1B	3	4	5	0	1	13
129	Lee	Carlos	HOU	OF	2	4	4	0	3	13
130	Lind	Adam	TOR	DH	3	5	5	0	0	13
131	Maybin	Cameron	SD	OF	4	2	2	4	1	13
132	Nishioka	Tsuyoshi	MIN	2B	4	1	1	4	3	13
133	Scutaro	Marco	BOS	SS	4	1	2	3	3	13
134	Sizemore	Grady	CLE	OF	3	3	3	4	0	13
135	Soriano	Alfonso	CHI-N	OF	3	4	3	3	0	13
136	Tejada	Miguel	SF	SS	3	2	3	2	3	13
137	Valencia	Danny	MIN	3B	2	2	3	1	5	13
138	Boesch	Brennan	DET	OF	2	3	4	3	0	12
139	Borbon	Julio	TEX	OF	2	0	0	5	5	12
140	Cabrera	Asdrubal	CLE	SS	2	0	2	4	4	12
141	Gordon	Alex	KC	OF	3	4	2	3	0	12
142	Johnson	Chris	HOU	3B	2	4	3	1	2	12
143	Lopez	Jose	COL	3B	2	3	4	1	2	12
144	Ordonez	Magglio	DET	OF	2	2	3	0	5	12
145	Rivera	Juan	TOR	OF	2	4	4	0	2	12
146	Ross	Cody	SF	OF	2	3	4	2	1	12
147	Snider	Travis	TOR	OF	2	4	3	2	1	12
148	Soto	Geovany	CHI-N	C	2	4	3	0	3	12
149	Theriot	Ryan	STL	SS	4	0	0	5	3	12
150	Wieters	Matt	BAL	C	1	3	4	0	4	12
151	Berkman	Lance	STL	1B	2	3	3	1	2	11
152	Bourn	Michael	HOU	OF	4	0	0	6	1	11
153	Colvin	Tyler	CHI-N	OF	2	3	3	3	0	11
154	Crisp	Coco	OAK	OF	3	1	1	5	1	11
155	Damon	Johnny	TB	OF	4	2	0	4	1	11
156	Drew	J.D.	BOS	OF	3	3	3	0	2	11
157	Freeman	Freddie	ATL	1B	2	2	3	0	4	11
158	Hardy	J.J.	BAL	SS	3	3	3	0	2	11
159	Infante	Omar	FLA	2B	3	0	2	1	5	11
160	Jennings	Desmond	TB	OF	1	0	0	5	5	11
161	Morrison	Logan	FLA	OF	4	2	3	0	2	11
162	Rodriguez	Sean	TB	2B	3	3	2	3	0	11
163	Stewart	Ian	COL	3B	2	4	3	2	0	11
164	Venable	Will	SD	OF	2	3	2	4	0	11
165	Wigginton	Ty	COL	3B	2	4	3	0	2	11
166	Willingham	Josh	OAK	OF	2	4	3	1	1	11
167	Aviles	Mike	KC	2B	2	0	0	3	5	10
168	Bourjos	Peter	ANA	OF	3	1	1	5	0	10
169	Brantley	Michael	CLE	OF	2	0	0	5	3	10
170	Casilla	Alexi	MIN	SS	2	0	1	4	3	10
171	Cust	Jack	SEA	OF	3	4	3	0	0	10
172	Freese	David	STL	3B	1	2	3	0	4	10
173	Inge	Brandon	DET	3B	2	3	4	1	0	10
174	Izturis	Maicer	ANA	2B	1	0	1	4	4	10
175	Johnson	Dan	TB	1B	2	3	3	0	2	10
176	LaPorta	Matt	CLE	1B	3	4	3	0	0	10
177	Ludwick	Ryan	SD	OF	3	3	4	0	0	10
178	Montero	Miguel	AZ	C	1	2	2	0	5	10
179	Morgan	Nyjer	WAS	OF	3	0	0	5	2	10
180	Napoli	Michael	TEX	C	2	4	3	1	0	10
181	Pennington	Cliff	OAK	SS	3	0	2	5	0	10
182	Peralta	Jhonny	DET	SS	3	3	4	0	0	10
183	Podsednik	Scott	TOR	OF	0	0	0	5	5	10
184	Reimold	Nolan	BAL	OF	2	3	2	2	1	10
185	Smith	Seth	COL	OF	2	3	2	1	2	10
186	Bartlett	Jason	SD	SS	3	0	1	4	1	9
187	Betemit	Wilson	KC	3B	1	3	2	0	3	9
188	Diaz	Matt	PIT	OF	0	1	1	3	4	9
189	Ellis	Mark	OAK	2B	1	1	2	3	2	9
190	Escobar	Yunel	TOR	SS	3	0	2	2	2	9
191	Francoeur	Jeff	KC	OF	2	2	3	2	0	9
192	Gomes	Jonny	CIN	OF	2	3	3	1	0	9
193	Heisey	Chris	CIN	OF	1	2	0	2	4	9
194	Joyce	Matt	TB	OF	1	3	3	1	1	9
195	Kouzmanoff	Kevin	OAK	3B	2	3	4	0	0	9
196	Overbay	Lyle	PIT	1B	3	3	3	0	0	9
197	Rolen	Scott	CIN	3B	2	2	3	0	2	9
198	Schumaker	Skip	STL	2B	3	0	0	2	4	9
199	Barmes	Clint	HOU	2B	1	2	2	3	0	8
200	Brown	Domonic	PHI	OF	0	1	0	4	3	8
201	Buck	John	FLA	C	1	3	3	0	1	8
202	Burrell	Pat	SF	OF	1	4	3	0	0	8
203	DeRosa	Mark	SF	OF	2	3	3	0	0	8
204	Espinosa	Danny	WAS	SS	2	2	1	3	0	8
205	Fukudome	Kosuke	CHI-N	OF	2	2	1	3	0	8
206	Gonzalez	Alex	ATL	SS	2	3	3	0	0	8
207	Jones	Garrett	PIT	1B	1	2	2	2	1	8
208	Kaaihue	Kila	KC	1B	2	4	2	0	0	8
209	Matsui	Hideki	OAK	DH	1	3	4	0	0	8
210	Miranda	Juan	AZ	1B	1	2	2	0	3	8
211	Molina	Yadier	STL	C	0	1	2	2	3	8
212	Pierzynski	A.J.	CHI-A	C	1	2	2	0	3	8
213	Posada	Jorge	NY-A	C	1	3	3	0	1	8
214	Rhymes	Will	DET	2B	1	0	0	3	4	8
215	Smoak	Justin	SEA	1B	2	3	3	0	0	8
216	Wallace	Brett	HOU	1B	2	2	2	0	2	8
217	Betancourt	Yuniesky	MIL	SS	1	2	3	1	0	7
218	Branyan	Russell	AZ	1B	1	4	2	0	0	7
219	Castillo	Luis	NY-N	2B	1	0	0	4	2	7
220	Craig	Allen	STL	OF	0	2	1	0	4	7
221	Encarnacion	Edwin	TOR	3B	1	4	2	0	0	7
222	Getz	Chris	KC	2B	0	0	0	4	3	7
223	Hawpe	Brad	SD	OF	1	3	2	0	1	7
224	Hudson	Orlando	SD	2B	3	0	1	3	0	7
225	Jay	Jon	STL	OF	0	0	0	2	5	7
226	Lewis	Fred	CIN	OF	2	0	0	4	1	7
227	Mora	Melvin	AZ	3B	1	1	2	0	3	7
228	Murphy	Daniel	NY-N	1B	1	1	1	1	3	7
229	Pie	Felix	BAL	OF	1	1	1	3	1	7
230	Ramirez	Manny	TB	OF	1	3	2	0	1	7
231	Sanchez	Freddy	SF	2B	2	0	1	0	4	7
232	Saunders	Michael	SEA	OF	1	2	0	3	1	7
233	Sweeney	Ryan	OAK	OF	1	0	0	1	5	7
234	Thome	Jim	MIN	DH	1	4	2	0	0	7
235	Uribe	Juan	LA	3B	1	3	3	0	0	7
236	Bradley	Milton	SEA	OF	1	2	1	2	0	6
237	Brignac	Reid	TB	SS	1	1	2	2	0	6
238	Cabrera	Orlando	CLE	SS	2	0	1	3	0	6
239	Cain	Lorenzo	KC	OF	1	0	0	4	1	6
240	Ciriaco	Pedro	PIT	SS	0	0	0	3	3	6
241	Davis	Rajai	TOR	OF	2	1	1	0	2	6
242	Gomez	Carlos	MIL	OF	1	0	0	5	0	6
243	Iannetta	Chris	COL	C	1	3	2	0	0	6
244	Kennedy	Adam	SEA	2B	0	0	0	4	2	6
245	Martin	Russell	NY-A	C	2	0	1	3	0	6
246	Milledge	Lastings	CHI-A	OF	0	0	0	3	3	6
247	Morse	Mike	WAS	OF	0	2	1	0	3	6
248	Nady	Xavier	AZ	OF	1	2	2	0	1	6
249	Olivo	Miguel	SEA	C	0	2	2	2	0	6
250	Ruiz	Carlos	PHI	C	0	1	1	0	4	6
251	Young Jr	Eric	COL	2B	0	0	0	5	1	6