The Tampa Bay Rays began the offseason by declining their $4.5 million club option on catcher Mike Zunino, who logged a 50 OPS+ and minus-0.2 WAR in 118 games with the team in 2019 and 2020. While Bo Jackson's greatest accomplishment might be the fact that he is the greatest video game character ever, it is not the only thing that Bo is known for. Other good MLB outfielders right now include Bryce Harper, Giancarlo Stanton, J. D. Martinez, and Aaron Judge. An intercostal strain limited Winker to only one game after Aug. 15. Let's keep our 2021 MLB Player Rankings series rolling with a look at the top 25 outfielders. Brewers: The Crew has the Central's best outfield, led by Christian Yelich in right field and Lorenzo Cain in center. Below, we're focusing on fantasy baseball outfield sleepers. In the third season of his massive 13-year, $330 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, there was no question that Bryce Harper lived up to his salary. In 2019, it was all about arm strength for Laureano. You need to do it all to be an MVP these days. Mondesi has a tattoo of a cannon shooting out a baseball on his right arm. My guess, after talking with folks who know him: Yelich was among the players affected by how dramatically the COVID-19 protocol changed processes. The Frisco Classic is one of college baseball's premier early-season tournaments year-in and year-out, and this year's field is strong as usual, headlined by 2021 national champion Mississippi State and 2022 national runner-up Oklahoma. But the best of the best can fire lasers directly at their targets, from any position. NHL trade deadline: Winners and losers, including the Bruins, Devils and Bruce Boudreau? With Charlie Morton and Blake Snell both departing during the offseason and Tyler Glasnow lost to Tommy John surgery, more pressure has fallen on the relief corps to prop up the pitching staff. He was hitting .283/.394/.596 with 19 doubles, 24 home runs and 17 steals through 82 games at the time of the injury, good for a 3.6 WAR season. A standout defender throughout his time in the big leagues, Bader stepped his offensive game up this year, hitting .267/.324/.460 for a 116 OPS+ with 21 doubles and 16 home runs. Bobby Abreu has had one of the strongest and most accurate arms in baseball in recent years. He is considered to be one of if not the best center fielders of all-time. We're going to try something a little different. For a boost in the batting-average category, target McNeil, Verdugo or Brantley. Cobb is widely regarded as one of the best baseball players in the history of the game. In a down year by his standards, Betts was still a 4.2 WAR player. To qualify for inclusion, a player had to have at least 200 plate appearances. I can promise you with 100 percent certainty that my fantasy baseball outfield rankings for 2021 will not be 100 percent right. Dylan Carlson, Cardinals (TOP 250 Rank: 11) Key Fantasy Skill (s): Power, OBP Roadblock: Tyler O'Neill, Lane Thomas (Threat Level: MEDIUM) ETA: 2021 Need to Know: Carlson had a rough MLB. No other infielder came close to matching his average arm strength on Statcast-measured throws. "It was as if we were playing for the playoffs," one impressed staffer said. Honorable Mention: Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants. Rather than ranking individual players, we set out to name the best multi-player units in baseball. 4 overall prospect. 14. 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But with several intriguing free-agent outfielders available this winter, Chaim Bloom and Co. could look to add some depth at the position. Aaron Judge, Yankees has him drawing comparisons to Hall of Famer Ted Williams. Sometimes he looked like he was guessing wrong over and over and over, with the befuddlement covering his face as he walked away from the plate. But given his offensive production and impact at the top of the lineup, that's more than enough to make him an extremely valuable all-around player. After fielding the fly ball, Clemente unleashed a rocket that cause Retterman to retreat back to third base. He looks ready for a huge breakout season, after another year of offensive maturation. The so-called five-tool player is a special breed, as those who truly rate above average in each category are extremely rare. Steven Duggar-OF-San Francisco Giants-Bats Left-Age 27 It might be tough to pry Duggar from the winning Giants, but he is a very good defensive center fielder with speed. Luis Robert, Chicago White Sox Furillo once threw pitcher Mel Queen out by two feet on a ball that was hit to right field and that everyone believed to be a single. The club also traded away Diego Castillo at the deadline in exchange for JT Chargois and Austin Shenton. As the anchor of the Dodgers' package for Betts, Verdugo was the centerpiece in perhaps the most unpopular Boston baseball deal since Babe Ruth was shipped off to the Yankees, and he joined the Red Sox with a well-publicized reputation as a less-than-ideal teammate. As a rail-thin rookie, Bonds managed to accumulate 10 assists. The 29-year-old hit .309/.429/.615 to lead the majors in OPS+ (179). . We're focusing solely on 2021 production, so previous track record and future projections were not a factor. C Ozuna, meanwhile, is back with the Braves after signing a four-year contract. Trent Grisham, San Diego Padres Mejia, 25, is hitting .263/.323/.429 with 20 extra-base hits, and he has thrown out 32 percent of base stealers on the year. . His career OPS is 1.000, exactly. Before he retired in the middle the 2010 season, Junior was the active leader in outfield assists with 154. He has also done a solid job handling the staff with a 3.87 ERA behind the plate. And it would be a crime not to grab Bellinger in this five-tools exercise somewhere. The late-bloomer is controllable for two more seasons, and the Blue Jays could explore a long-term extension to make sure he sticks around as part of the offensive core that also includes Guerrero, Bo Bichette and George Springer. The 23-year-old is expected to return sometime during the first half of next season. Jordan Wicks- from Kansas State at 6'2 and 220lbs he is 2-0 in 2021 and went 3-0 last year. Gorbous is the answer to the trivia question: "Who has the longest throw in baseball history"? Top Outfield Defense in the Minor Leagues: Kevin Kiermaier ( Tampa Bay Rays) Though Kiermaier wasn't the unanimous winner in this category, his defense earned universal praise across the scouting community. However, he was also a 4.2 WAR player at the time of the trade. One evaluator said that Bellinger's swing is so unusual that he'll probably always struggle for consistency, for finding the feel he needs to be successful, and because of that, he'll probably have a lot of ups and downs. Ha-Seong Kim (Padres): 95.2 mph 4. Here are the players who just missed the cut, listed alphabetically: 25. Quinn said, "Meusel's arm was the best I ever saw. Up next is the 22-year-old Soto, whose production over his first three seasons has him drawing comparisons to Hall of Famer Ted Williams. The towering right fielder posted a 149 OPS+ with 39 home runs and a career-low 25.0 percent strikeout rate. It's not like swinging hard and hitting a ball 115 mph. You can't go wrong taking him in the top five, either. As a 28-year-old rookie, Garcia posted a 101 OPS+ with 31 home runs, 90 RBI and 16 steals, and he was a surprise All-Star for the rebuilding Rangers. -- Thomas Harrigan Previous picks: Michael Brantley (hit), Nelson Cruz (power), Trea Turner (run), Kevin Kiermaier (defense) All of the sudden, the ball is at the base, and a runner who thought he had it made is out. Sits in the Top Ten of draft. The 24-year-old hit .251 with 10 homers, 10 steals and 42 runs in 59 games for the Padres last year. He could seemingly throw out any runner trying to pick up an extra base. That's why the model. From Jimenez's first season to his second, his wRC+ jumped from 116 to 141. Jackie Bradley Jr., free agent Standings. Furillo also has the distinction of having needed just one more hit in his career to have a .300 average, while he instead finished at .299. The two-year, $14 million contract Hernandez signed with Boston ended up being one of the best bargains of the 2020-21 free-agent market. Previous picks: Michael Brantley (hit), Nelson Cruz (power), Trea Turner (run), Kevin Kiermaier (defense). The speedy Straw was an everyday player for the first time in 2021, first replacing George Springer in center field in Houston before the Astros traded him to Cleveland at the deadline. As in: This is the type of hitter I want to be; get out of my way.". While the debate has raged on for years regarding if Jackson actually participated in fixing the World Series, there is little debate that he is one of the greatest players of all-time. Which outfielder has the strongest arm 2021? The regimented preparation that had worked for Yelich in the past was simply not available to him, and he may have suffered for it. No position in fantasy baseball is deeper than the outfield. Then theres Stanton, who might be the biggest boom-or-bust pick in fantasy. He led the National League in outfield assists twice in his career. Walker was known for his abilities at the plate, but he also had a gun for an arm. You could argue that so long as his arm is healthy, there's none more valuable. "He's a hitting outlier," Votto responded. His career will always be under a microscope, but it's hard to call his 2021 performance anything but superstar-caliber. He racked up 4.7 WAR despite missing 35 games early in the season with a fractured rib. Hernandez was signed as a super-utility . Julio Rodriguez was the team's best player while former top prospect arms Logan Gilbert and George Kirby shined in Seattle's rotation. Buck Showalter, Mets. Backup catcher Curt Casali (180 PA, 97 OPS+, 5 HR, 23 RBI) has also been solid at the plate, and the pitching staff has a fantastic 2.63 ERA with him in the crouch. But despite all of that offensive imperfection, the lasting impression Betts left behind is that of the closest thing you can have to a perfect player in a sport filled with moments of failure. Cobb did have some trouble with his arm however. With George Springer, Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert all missing considerable time and Cody Bellinger struggling through a down year, the Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers narrowly missed the cut for the title of MLB's best outfield unit in 2021. Of course, that required trading several core players, but given the fact that Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, and Javier Baez were all rentals at last year's deadline, the Cubs made out phenomenally. Regardless of who the Rays plug into the pen, they continue to find success. The 21-year-old had 23 homers and 20 steals in the Minors in 2019, but thats the only full Minor League season hes played, and the left adductor muscle strain he suffered in his fourth Cactus League game spoiled any chance he had of cracking the Mariners Opening Day roster. While a member of the Indians minor league team in San Diego, he once threw a ball from home plate and it landed 436 feet away, deep over the center field fence. His arm was so powerful, that while pitching for his mill league, Jackson once broke a catchers arm and was subsequently moved to the outfield because no one wanted to catch for him. Listen. Speaker also holds the unique record for most unassisted double plays by an outfielder with six. He has been nominated for two SABR Analytics Research Award for Contemporary Analysis and won it in 2013 in tandem with Bill Petti. The longtime utility man split his time between center field (93 games) and second base (47 games), and he posted a 107 OPS+ with 58 extra-base hits in a career-high 585 plate appearances. September 10, 2021 | 00:05:48. Hitting with discipline is something you elect to do. A catch made high against the right field wall to take extra bases away from Ozuna. MLB fans were up in arms on Friday afternoon because of an absurd shift used during a Spring Training game. While his .286 on-base percentage and 31.2 percent strikeout rate leave something to be desired, he was a stellar defender (16 DRS, 11.8 UZR/150) to go along with his power production in a 3.8 WAR season. Mantle's pure strength can be seen was demonstrated by the fact that he hit some of the longest home runs in baseball history. Tom Glavine 1987-2002, 2008 (63.6 WAR) Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images. He tallied a career-high 42 doubles along with 35 home runs, 84 RBI and 101 runs scored in a 5.9 WAR season. . The Mariners sent pitchers Gerson Bautista, Justin Dunn, Anthony Swarzak and outfielder Jay Bruce to Seattle for infielder Robinson Cano and pitcher Edwin Diaz. During Wednesday night's game against the Athletics, Yankees outfield Aaron Hicks broke a Statcast record for the fastest ball thrown in recorded history with a 105.5 mph, 246 . He was ranked the 40th-best free agent this offseason, per Giants Baseball Insider's rankings. Pete Crow-Armstrong named among top OF prospects in MLB 38M ago / by James Neveau Cubs hicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong has been turning heads with his skills both at the plate and on defense, and a new ranking lands him among the best outfield prospects in the game. Acuna was squarely among the NL MVP front-runners when he suffered a season-ending torn ACL on July 10. In the third season of a five-year, $60 million contract, Pollock enjoyed his best season in a Dodgers uniform, hitting .297/.355/.536 for a 137 OPS+ with 27 doubles, 21 home runs and 69 RBI. Part I: Hit toolPart II: Power toolPart III: Run toolPart IV: Fielding tool. A former Gold Glove winner in left field, he is a roughly average defender in center field. Jesse Barfield had an incredibly strong and an incredibly accurate throwing arm. For reference, Bradley Zimmer has one of the best throwing arms on the big league roster and has always had a strong arm, considered to be plus (60) and maybe even double-plus (70). 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His 5.7 WAR was second on the AL West champions roster, behind only Carlos Correa. And I'm talking about strong arms, not merely accurate ones. Each writer provided anywhere from 80-100+ outfielders so we could create our consensus top-80. Through Williams's age 21 year -- two seasons -- he had 203 walks, 54 homers and an OPS of 1.041 in 293 games. He also had the two fastest-tracked infield assists to first base -- reaching 94 mph -- and was responsible for about half of the 92-plus mph assists from all infielders. Honorable Mention: Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays. Even at age 36, Ichiro was consistently able to throw out runners trying to take an extra base. Catch up on the 2021 MLB Player Rankings series: Catchers, First Basemen, Second Basemen,. Castellanos and Blackmon, meanwhile, faded dramatically after blazing starts. Williams loved to talk hitting, and through the last years of his life, he developed friendships with the likes of Tony Gwynn. The 27-year-old posted a 171 OPS+ with 42 extra-base hits in 254 plate appearances, and he had 10 DRS in 509.2 innings in center field. Kris Bryant, Chicago Cubs/San Francisco Giants. Williams played in just one World Series, and at a time when he was nursing an elbow bruise, Williams hit .200, with five walks and one RBI in seven games. Barfield threw out an astounding 162 runners during his 12 year career. Like with many of the other top outfielders on this list, runners knew not to try for extra bases when the ball was anywhere near Barfield's hands.