As we continue with the left field list it remains important to think about where we have been. The essential nature of our rankings is that they consider primarily where the players have been in their careers. Obviously, that may not always be the best way to do it, but past is often prologue. As someone else once said, on a long enough timeline the survival rate drops to zero.

So, we are primarily looking at where players have been over the past three and five seasons in five and six category leagues, but our personal rankings will reflect some outlook on the future. As we move further into the postseason we will have opportunities to take a look at various projections and take stock of where they have players finishing up. For now, we will look at the past and go from there.

Nomar Mazara—Texas Rangers (.266, 20.0 HR, 59.0 Runs, 64.0 RBI, 0.0 SB, 39.0 BB)

3 Year 5 Category- 15

3 Year 6 Category- 15

5 Year 5 Category- 17

5 Year 6 Category- 17

A selection of Mazara is a selection based on spec. There is little in last season’s performance to get overly excited about except for the fact that it came from a player in his early twenties. There is room for growth, but there is no telling when or if that growth will ever come. That’s the tricky part of putting your faith in younger players. Still, no fantasy championship was ever won by playing it safe on every pick. Rank: 15^th

Brandon Moss—Free Agent (.246, 24.6 HR, 60.8 Runs, 69.0 RBI, 1.4 SB, 46.2 BB)

3 Year 5 Category- 17

3 Year 6 Category- 14

5 Year 5 Category- 14

5 Year 6 Category- 13

Projecting Moss in December is impossible. We don’t know where he will play or how much he will play once he gets there. We do know that he will produce 20+ home runs if given a chance to play and that by itself makes him a fantasy commodity. In six category leagues he is draftable, and the ranking here is based on that. Rank: 14^th

Angel Pagan—San Francisco Giants (.280, 6.0 HR, 60.7 Runs, 39.7 RBI, 14.3 SB, 33.0 BB)

3 Year 5 Category- 18

3 Year 6 Category- 18

5 Year 5 Category- 15

5 Year 6 Category- 16

Pagan has the single greatest name in sports. Other than that, there isn’t a whole lot to get interested in. Pagan’s biggest advantage is that he can compile numbers when he is healthy enough to play regularly. That makes him a pretty good fantasy backup, but that is about the extent of his value. He can probably slip through your draft. Rank: 18^th

Gerardo Parra—Colorado Rockies (.268, 10.0 HR, 64.0 Runs, 43.3 RBI, 10.0 SB, 23.0 BB)

3 Year 5 Category- 16

3 Year 6 Category- 19

5 Year 5 Category- 18

5 Year 6 Category- 19

Like many people, I naturally assumed that Parra would see a surge in his numbers when he moved to Coors Field. For whatever reason, it never happened. Now, he is being penciled in as their fourth outfielder. Parra has caught fire before and when he does he can be a borderline fantasy regular. I’d allow him to slip through your draft and then you can wait for him to prove himself again. Rank: 19^th

David Peralta—Arizona Diamondbacks (.283, 9.7 HR, 41.3 Runs, 43.0 RBI, 5.7 SB, 22.7 BB)

3 Year 5 Category- 21

3 Year 6 Category- 23

5 Year 5 Category- 22

5 Year 6 Category- 23

Out of sight and out of mind. Coming into 2016, Peralta was a trendy pick to take a major step forward. He took a step to the disabled list instead. Unlike the two previous gentlemen, Peralta has considerable upside and could be a good late round selection. If he’s healthy he could be a borderline fantasy regular. Rank: 20^th

Colby Rasmus—Free Agent (.226, 19.3 HR, 50.0 Runs, 51.7 RBI, 3.3 SB, 39.7 BB)

3 Year 5 Category- 22

3 Year 6 Category- 22

5 Year 5 Category- 21

5 Year 6 Category- 18

Rasmus should be the first guy to drop out of the top 24 as soon as we add the knocking on the door candidates. He has been hinting at early retirement, so it is possible he won’t sign anywhere. Rasmus was supposed to be better than this when he began his career, but that’s not a knock on him. He has been a consummate professional over the past few seasons, but he is still a limited player. Rank: 24^th

Eddie Rosario—Minnesota Twins (.268, 11.5 HR, 56.0 Runs, 41.0 RBI, 8.0 SB, 13.5 BB)

3 Year 5 Category- 20

3 Year 6 Category- 21

5 Year 5 Category- 20

5 Year 6 Category- 22

It’s moving year for Rosario. He either takes a major step forward and establishes himself as a consistent regular or he doesn’t. Like Peralta, he has more upside than some of the other guys on the bottom, but he needs to prove himself. Showing more patience at the plate would be a good first step in doing that. Rank: 21^st

Michael Saunders—Free Agent (.241, 12.6 HR, 48.0 Runs, 39.4 RBI, 7.8 SB, 37.4 BB)

3 Year 5 Category- 24

3 Year 6 Category- 24

5 Year 5 Category- 23

5 Year 6 Category- 24

Saunders was born under the right sign. The numbers above wouldn’t fetch anything in free agency, but he was healthy last season for the first time in his career. So, instead of the paltry numbers above, teams are looking at the guy that hit 24 home runs a season ago. Fantasy players are looking at that guy too. It might be worth a late round pick to see if he can do it again. Rank: 23^rd

Seth Smith—Seattle Mariners (.254, 13.3 HR, 57.0 Runs, 51.0 RBI, 0.3 SB, 54.7 BB)

3 Year 5 Category- 23

3 Year 6 Category- 20

5 Year 5 Category- 24

5 Year 6 Category- 21

Smith represents the gap between fantasy baseball and real baseball. In real baseball he is a valuable player because he gets on base at a consistent rate and has decent power. In fantasy baseball, there are far too many players more valuable because they bring something more tangible to the table. Rank: 22^nd 

Justin Upton—Detroit Tigers (.256, 28.7 HR, 81.0 Runs, 90.0 RBI, 12.0 SB, 59.3 BB)

3 Year 5 Category- 4

3 Year 6 Category- 3

5 Year 5 Category- 3

5 Year 6 Category- 2

Upton came on strong at the end of last season. It’s easy to be underwhelmed by his numbers overall, but we have to accept what he is. If the Tigers keep their lineup together there will continue to be run producing opportunities for him that weren’t there for him before 2016. So, this ranking may seem high, but the numbers back it up. Rank: 2^nd 

Jayson Werth—Washington Nationals (.252, 16.3 HR, 73.3 Runs, 64.3 RBI, 4.7 SB, 64.0 BB) 

3 Year 5 Category- 12

3 Year 6 Category- 10

5 Year 5 Category- 12

5 Year 6 Category- 10 

Werth is a silent assassin. When healthy he just produces good numbers across the board. With the Nationals adding Adam Eaton the opportunities are there for more run producing opportunities for everyone in that lineup. Unfortunately, attendance is part of the grade, so it is hard to make him a fantasy regular. Rank: 13^th 

Christian Yelich—Miami Marlins (.294, 12.3 HR, 78.3 Runs, 65.3 RBI, 15.3 SB, 63.0 BB)

3 Year 5 Category- 7

3 Year 6 Category- 5

5 Year 5 Category- 8

5 Year 6 Category- 9

Yelich finally added power to his game last year when he hit 21 home runs. If that trend continues he is the complete fantasy package. Like many players on the board, the past numbers may not be an appropriate. So, we will rank him a little higher and wait for the projection systems to put him where he properly belongs. Rank: 5th