Fantasy baseball rankings: Top 200 overall for 2022

The start of the 2022 MLB regular season is mere days away! To help guide you through your fantasy drafts prior to Opening Day on April 7, here are my top-200 overall rankings. These rankings assume a standard head-to-head categories scoring system.

You can find the top 200 overall at the bottom of this article. Before that, here’s a sampling of my positional rankings, with the top 5-10 players at each spot followed by some analysis.

Catcher

1. Salvador Perez, Royals
2. J.T. Realmuto, Phillies
3. Will Smith, Dodgers
4. Yasmani Grandal, White Sox
5. Willson Contreras, Cubs

Only seven catchers made the top 200, and only Perez (42) made the top 70. You can go after him if you’d like in the early rounds, but a repeat of his 48-homer, 121-RBI campaign is highly unlikely in his age-32 season. While the top three catchers here are clearly the cream of the crop, this remains a position you should most likely wait on, with the hopes of striking gold with a value pick in the late rounds of your draft.

First base

1. Vladimir Guerrero, Blue Jays
2. Freddie Freeman, Dodgers
3. Matt Olson, Braves
4. Paul Goldschmidt, Cardinals
5. Pete Alonso, Mets

I was skeptical about Vlad entering last season due to some of his batted-ball data in 2020. That was stupid, huh? He is one of 20 first basemen in the top 200, and unquestionably No. 1 here. He should be off all draft boards once you get past pick No. 5. However, if Vlad isn’t available to you, definitely try to grab one of these top five, all of whom are among the top 50 overall. There’s a bit of a drop-off after that.

Second base

1. Trea Turner, Dodgers
2. Ozzie Albies, Braves
3. Marcus Semien, Rangers
4. Whit Merrifield, Royals
5. Jose Altuve, Astros

Three of the top five from last year’s preseason rankings are still here (Albies, Merrfield, Altuve). It’s not quite as deep as shortstop, but with standout performers such as Brandon Lowe, Jorge Polanco and NL Rookie of the Year Jonathan India making up the bottom of the top 10, second base is a little deeper than in years past.

Third base

1. Jose Ramirez, Guardians
2. Rafael Devers, Red Sox
3. Manny Machado, Padres
4. Austin Riley, Braves
5. Alex Bregman, Astros

There are 18 third basemen in the top 200, but Ramirez is head-and-shoulders above the rest. Ranked fourth overall, he is 14 spots ahead of Devers, which is the largest gap between the top two players at any position other than catcher. The question marks here start early — can Riley do that again? How will Bregman perform after wrist surgery? — so try to prioritize the hot corner in your drafts.

Shortstop

1. Trea Turner, Dodgers
2. Bo Bichette, Blue Jays
3. Marcus Semien, Rangers
4. Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox
5. Tim Anderson, White Sox

There is so much talent here. Case in point, there are 24 shortstops in the top 200. That includes the currently injured and former No. 1 shortstop, Fernando Tatis Jr. He is No. 15 at this position and No. 103 overall. No matter which strategy you choose to employ during your draft, odds are you are going to come away from it with a roster pillar at shortstop.

Outfield

1. Juan Soto, Nationals
2. Bryce Harper, Phillies
3. Mookie Betts, Dodgers
4. Mike Trout, Angels
5. Kyle Tucker, Astros
6. Luis Robert, White Sox
7. Ronald Acuna Jr., Braves
8. Starling Marte, Mets
9. Cedric Mullins, Orioles
10. Teoscar Hernandez, Blue Jays

The top four outfielders from my 2021 preseason rankings still take up those places in 2022, just in a slightly different order. This is a pretty fun position to take some shots at in the early rounds, especially if some recently elite fantasy commodities can stay healthy this season. Tatis, would have also been the No. 1 player at this position as well, slots in at No. 31.

Starting pitcher

1. Gerrit Cole, Yankees
2. Jacob deGrom, Mets
3. Corbin Burnes, Brewers
4. Max Scherzer, Mets
5. Walker Buehler, Dodgers
6. Brandon Woodruff, Brewers
7. Zack Wheeler, Phillies
8. Shane Bieber, Guardians
9. Julio Urias, Dodgers
10. Sandy Alcantara, Marlins

Lots of upheaval here compared to this time last year, especially at the back end of the top 10, but that’s part of life with starting pitchers. Results vary greatly from year to year thanks to the high prevalence of injuries. With all pitchers carrying significant injury risk, try to shoot for upside with starters and let the chips fall where they may.

Relief pitcher

1. Josh Hader, Brewers
2. Liam Hendriks, White Sox
3. Raisel Iglesias, Angels
4. Ryan Pressly, Astros
5. Aroldis Chapman, Yankees

There are only 14 relief pitchers in the top 200, and you could certainly argue that’s too many. I surmise there are six genuinely reliable closers — these five plus Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase. Uncertainty creeps in after that. You know Edwin Diaz has been a roller coaster with the Mets. Jordan Romano was fabulous last year with Toronto, but he doesn’t have the track record or stuff of those above him. Are we going to get the Blake Treinen of 2018 and 2021 as he takes over for Kenley Jansen in L.A.? And speaking of Jansen, who’s at No. 10, what does he have left for Atlanta at age 34? If you decide to not spend a top-60-to-100 pick on anyone in this quintet, using a closer-by-committee strategy may be best.

2022 Fantasy Baseball Rankings