In the outfield, you’ll find a mixture of archetypes, including power, speed and defense-first players—and sometimes you can find all three within the same player, especially at the top of our rankings. Players approaching their peak years but already contributing across multiple categories are gold in dynasty leagues and there are several fitting the bill in the outfield who you should accumulate on your roster.
Our rankings are targeted specifically for dynasty leagues, with a focus on balancing a variety of scoring formats. To achieve this we focused on wRC+ as our primary measure. While wRC+ by its nature is OBP-slanted, we took into consideration high and low batting averages when ranking players. The goal of these positional rankings is to provide the best possible order based on a value of three to five years, which means older, productive veterans are discounted and may be ranked alongside or even behind prodigious talents yet to debut.
Keep all of this in mind when considering your team’s needs and the context of your league. If you are trying to compete in 2023, you should prefer Joey Gallo over the Mets’ Alex Ramirez (who we have ranked back-to-back), but some of your league mates, especially those not competing, would likely prefer Ramirez in a trade.
Because of the depth of the position and the typical necessity to roster three or more on your fantasy teams, we have listed 150 outfielders below and added additional targets, sleepers and players to fade.
1. Juan Soto, SDP
2. Julio Rodriguez, SEA
3. Ronald Acuna Jr., ATL
4. Kyle Tucker, HOU
5. Aaron Judge, NYY
6. Yordan Alvarez, HOU
7. Fernando Tatis Jr., SDP
8. Mike Trout, LAA
9. Mookie Betts, LAD
10. Bryce Harper, PHI
11. Michael Harris, ATL
12. Corbin Carroll, ARI
13. Randy Arozarena, TBR
14. Luis Robert Jr., CHW
15. Eloy Jimenez, CHW
16. Jackson Chourio, MIL
17. Seiya Suzuki, CHC
18. Byron Buxton, MIN
19. Cedric Mullins, BAL
20. Kyle Schwarber, PHI
21. Jordan Walker, STL
22. James Wood, WAS
A GP Target: With an unusual combination of plate skills, double-plus raw power and athleticism, Wood cemented himself among the best prospects in the game during his full-season debut in 2022. He hit .337/.453/.601 over 50 games with Low-A Lake Elsinore before he was shipped to the Nationals as a part of the Juan Soto trade. Wood’s ability to discern balls and strikes is elite, as he chased pitches outside of the zone at a rate of 23%, while making contact at a rate of 75% or better. While Wood’s plate skills are tremendous, his raw power is easily double-plus. Wood slugged 40 extra-base hits over 76 games, while displaying elite exit velocity data. Wood’s 90th percentile exit velocity of 109 mph and hard-hit rate of 49% put him among the best raw power hitters in the minor leagues. With a full season under his belt, Wood might develop into one of the top five prospects in the game by the end of the 2023 season.
23. Bryan Reynolds, PIT
24. George Springer, TOR
25. Tyler O’Neill, STL
26. Andrew Vaughn, CHW
27. Daulton Varsho, ARI
28. Riley Greene, DET
29. Teoscar Hernandez, SEA
30. Steven Kwan, CLE
31. Christian Yelich, MIL
32. Taylor Ward, LAA
33. Jake McCarthy, ARI
34. Kris Bryant, COL
35. Adolis Garcia, TEX
36. Starling Marte, NYM
37. Giancarlo Stanton, NYY
38. Lars Nootbaar, STL
A GP Target: There are few players I’m more interested in targeting in drafts this year than Nootbaar. After exceeding his rookie limits in 2022, Nootbaar put up a .228/.340/.448 line over 347 plate appearances. His batting average was dragged down by an unusually low batting average on balls in play of .248. In all likelihood that number should regress to the mean of .300, a typical BABIP. Nootbaar limits strikeouts—he was sat down via strikeout in just 20.5% of his plate appearances, while walking at a robust rate of 14.7%. In addition to his pristine plate skills, Nootbaar’s exit velocity data is strong—his 91.7 mph average exit velocity ranked 25th among players with 200 or more batted-ball events in 2022. He’s not just pounding the ball into the ground, either, as his barrel rate ranked inside the top 50. If Nootbaar gets 500 plate appearances in 2023 he may rank within the top 25 at the position.
39. Anthony Santander, BAL
40. Royce Lewis, MIN
41. Druw Jones, ARI
42. Nick Castellanos, PHI
A DW Fade: Despite making it to the World Series, Castellanos would rather forget 2022. He had the lowest barrel rate of his career (below the MLB average), as well as the lowest line drive rate and the highest pop up rate. If you look at his percentiles on his Baseball Savant page, he essentially posted career lows across all metrics. One of the biggest culprits responsible for his downturn was his inability to handle fastballs, posting an xSLG against heaters below .500 for the first time in his career. It is rare that a player’s true talent would fall off so precipitously one year removed from a 34-home run season, so there should be a bit of a bounce back, though projection systems still only see him as a slightly better than average hitter. Because he is now in his 30s, his dynasty value will likely continue to decrease.
43. Sal Frelick, MIL
44. Evan Carter, TEX
45. Brandon Nimmo, NYM
46. Ian Happ, CHC
47. Emmanuel Rodriguez, MIN
A DW Target: The Twins outfielder blasted his way into our minds in a 188-plate appearance stint in 2022 before being felled by a knee injury which required surgery. Before that injury, Rodriguez had a ridiculous 18% walk rate (leading to a ludicrous .492 on-base percentage) due to a keen eye that resulted in a 12% chase rate. Although his profile is currently mostly full of synonyms for ‘outrageous,’ he does have some swing-and-miss to his game—something to watch in 2023. He still has a plus hit tool and plus power and could cement himself as a top 20 prospect in the sport by the end of the season.
48. Pete Crow-Armstrong, CHC
49. Cody Bellinger, CHC
50. Masataka Yoshida, BOS
51. Colton Cowser, BAL
52. Zac Veen, COL
53. Mitch Haniger, SFG
A GP Fade: Entering his age-32 season Haniger has had just two full, healthy seasons under his belt. The expectation that Haniger will stay healthy is a difficult bet to make. While Haniger does hit the ball hard and shows average plate skills, it’s not enough to overcome the risk that Haniger will play under 80 games again in 2023. Now that he’s an aging veteran on the wrong side of 30 and moving to one of the worst home parks for righthanded power hitters in baseball, I’m unlikely to target him in leagues of any scoring style. Betting on a full, healthy and productive season for Haniger feels like a fool’s errand.
54. Elijah Green, WAS
55. Esteury Ruiz, OAK
A DW Sleeper: Ruiz has been the target of much derision ever since he debuted for the Padres in 2022, mostly for his lack of juice in the bat. Being traded to the Brewers—and then to the Athletics—within a year has done nothing to change the notion that, in terms of real life value, he is only a fringe regular. True, his exit velocities do not jump off the page, but his 90th percentile exit velocity is essentially average for Triple-A (despite the fact that Ruiz is younger than the average age for the level) and he has a knack for pairing his highest exit velocities with optimal launch angles. As Whitey Herzog has been attributed as saying, speed can’t slump—and Ruiz should post more than 30 stolen bases per 600 plate appearances. The question is whether he can contribute enough at the dish to be given those plate appearances. I believe that he can, and that would result in an extremely valuable fantasy contributor.
56. Jasson Dominguez, NYY
57. Dylan Carlson, STL
58. Christopher Morel, CHC
59. Jarred Kelenic, SEA
60. Andrew Benintendi, CHW
61. Oscar Gonzalez, CLE
A GP Fade: Gonzalez’s playoff run last season was impressive as he came through in clutch moments for the Guardians. As often happens following a stellar playoff performance, Gonzalez is now being overrated in drafts. Gonzalez hit .296/.327/.461 over 382 plate appearances in 2022. His batting average was heavily buoyed by his .345 batting average on balls in play, and his 3.9% walk rate in 2022 was among the bottom 15 in baseball among hitters with a minimum of 300 plate appearances. He also showed one of the worst approaches in baseball, as Gonzalez’s 48.3% chase rate ranked the second worst in the sport, behind only Javier Baez. Betting on Gonzalez maintaining that level of production while chasing at an exorbitant rate is just not a gamble I want to make.
62. Hunter Renfroe, LAA
63. Harrison Bader, NYY
64. Alex Verdugo, BOS
65. Jesse Winker, MIL
66. Austin Meadows, DET
67. George Valera, CLE
68. Michael Conforto, SFG
69. Bryan De La Cruz, MIA
70. Austin Hays, BAL
71. Jesus Sanchez, MIA
72. Garrett Mitchell, MIL
73. Alek Thomas, ARI
74. Joc Pederson, SFG
75. Everson Pereira, NYY
76. Miguel Bleis, BOS
77. Gavin Cross, KCR
78. Alexander Canario, CHC
79. Ceddanne Rafaela, BOS
80. Josh Lowe, TBR
81. Kevin Alcantara, CHC
82. Andy Pages, LAD
83. Samuel Zavala, SDP
A GP Sleeper: The youngest player to play at the full-season level in 2022, Zavala held his own over 33 games in Low-A. At the time Zavala was just 17, and hit .254/.355/.508 with a 13.5% walk rate and a respectable strikeout rate of 26.2%. Beyond his plate skills and production Zavala displayed power, posting a .254 isolated slugging percentage with Fort Wayne while posting exit velocity data in-line with the major league average. Zavala’s average exit velocity of 88.2 mph, 90th percentile exit velocity of 103.5 mph and hard-hit rate of 38.4% portend future plus power at maturation. His strong swing decisions should be enough for him to overcome fringe-average bat-to-ball skills. Despite his age, Zavala is the type of prodigious young prospect worth going all in on for rebuilding teams and competitive rosters alike.
84. Robert Hassell III, WAS
85. Mason Auer, TBR
86. Brennen Davis, CHC
87. Oscar Colas, CHW
88. Spencer Jones, NYY
89. Chase DeLauter, CLE
90. Jake Fraley, CIN
91. Will Brennan, CLE
92. Trent Grisham, SDP
93. Alec Burleson, STL
94. Seth Brown, OAK
95. Kyle Stowers, BAL
96. Oswaldo Cabrera, NYY
97. Jonny DeLuca, LAD
98. Alex Ramirez, NYM
99. Joey Gallo, MIN
100. Max Kepler, MIN
101. Heston Kjerstad, BAL
102. Josue De Paula, LAD
A GP Sleeper: De Paula boasts a unique combination of athleticism, plate skills and projectable power. One of the standouts of the Dominican Summer League in 2022, De Paula’s price in dynasty is yet to reach a fever pitch, making him one of my primary targets this offseason. The cousin of New York City basketball legends Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair, De Paula has strong athletic bloodlines. His bat-to-ball skills and approach are plus, while his frame hints at future plus power potential. With the Dodgers player development behind him, De Paula is one of my primary targets in dynasty leagues in 2023. He should be a late-round target for all managers in 2023 dynasty startups.
103. Juan Yepez, STL
104. Matt Wallner, MIN
105. Gabriel Martinez, TOR
106. Lourdes Gurriel Jr., ARI
107. Tyler Gentry, KCR
A DW Sleeper: After not being among the Royals’ top 30 prospects a year ago, Gentry truly broke out to find himself as the No. 7 prospect in the organization entering 2023 after putting up a .326/.422/.542 slash line across two levels. With scouting grades of 50s or 55s across the board, Gentry will likely start this season in Triple-A, but if he continues to lower his strikeout rate and increase his contact quality, he may find himself manning right field in the majors by the second half of 2023.
108. Joey Wiemer, MIL
109. Manuel Margot, TBR
110. Dustin Harris, TEX
111. Aaron Zavala, TEX
112. Anthony Gutierrez, TEX
113. Grant McCray, SFG
114. Gabriel Gonzalez, SEA
115. Edward Olivares, KCR
116. Nolan Jones, COL
117. Estevan Florial, NYY
118. Lawrence Butler, OAK
119. Drew Gilbert, HOU
120. Sterlin Thompson, COL
121. Drew Waters, KCR
122. Jacob Melton, HOU
123. Brock Jones, TBR
124. Justin Crawford, PHI
125. Jordan Beck, COL
126. Denzel Clarke, OAK
127. Cristhian Vaquero, WAS
128. Yanquiel Fernandez, COL
129. Owen Caissie, CHC
130. Jay Allen, CIN
131. Luis Matos, SFG
132. Avisail Garcia, MIA
133. Jeremy De La Rosa, WAS
134. Benny Montgomery, COL
135. Charlie Blackmon, COL
136. Adam Duvall, BOS
137. Johan Rojas, PHI
138. Joey Meneses, WAS
139. Dylan Beavers, BAL
140. Roman Anthony, BOS
141. Cade Marlowe, SEA
142. Chas McCormick, HOU
143. Parker Meadows, DET
144. Moises Gomez, STL
145. Jud Fabian, BAL
146. Joshua Baez, STL
147. Mark Vientos, NYM
148. Kerry Carpenter, DET
149. Mark Canha, NYM
150. Jorge Soler, MIA
The next prospects: Who will be next to join the list?
1. Yasser Mercedes, MIN (55/Extreme)
2. Vaun Brown, SFG (50/High)
3. Yeison Morrobel, TEX (55/Extreme)
4. TJ White, WAS (50/High)
5. Tyler Black, MIL (50/High)
6. Henry Bolte, OAK (55/Extreme)
7. Jake Fox, CLE (50/High)
8. Nick Loftin, KCR (50/High)
9. Tommy Specht, TEX (55/Extreme)
10. Peyton Burdick, MIA (45/Medium)
11. James Outman, LAD (45/Medium)
12. Mike Siani, CIN (45/Medium)
13. Pedro Leon, HOU (45/Medium)