It can be difficult to go back to a standard five category league after experiencing total points. There are so many things that those basic formats don’t encompass. Even adding walks (our sixth category) doesn’t quite tell the whole story. So, when you see these players ranked you have to take that into account. It really isn’t an accurate mark of where these guys are as players. We have to take what we are given in just those categories.

Feel free to look at the companion article to see where these same players were in terms of total points. That article will include the contract information and fielding information for each player. We are including their composite rankings in five and six category formats in this edition along with their performance over the past five seasons.

Jose Martinez—St. Louis Cardinals

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.309	14	47	46	4	32
AVG	.309	14	47	46	4	32

5 Category: 19

6 Category: 20

The Cardinals roster is full of guys like Martinez. They play multiple positions and are all better than bench players, but not quite as good as all-stars. Martinez’s future is murky. They probably want to upgrade at first base. He can also play each corner outfield slot, but he doesn’t play either of them well. So, they will likely go with a modified platoon that will include Stephen Piscotty, Tommy Pham, and Randal Grichuk (along with Martinez). Expect the hot hand to get the at bats. Heaven knows who that could be at this point.

Victor Martinez—Detroit Tigers

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.255	10	38	47	0	36
2016	.289	27	65	86	0	50
2015	.245	11	39	64	0	31
2014	.335	32	87	103	3	70
2013	.301	14	68	83	0	54
AVG	.285	19	59	77	1	48

5 Category: 18 

6 Category: 19

Martinez hasn’t exactly been a model of consistency, but even acknowledging that fact we would have to take his aggregate with a grain of salt considering the awesome numbers he put up in 2014. Those aren’t happening again, but his 2013 and 2016 seasons would seem to be a pretty good ceiling to go on. If he produces somewhere between those two he will be a useful fantasy utility player or 1B/3B in those formats.

Joe Mauer—Minnesota Twins

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.305	7	69	71	2	66
2016	.261	11	68	49	2	79
2015	.265	10	69	66	2	67
2014	.277	4	60	55	3	60
2013	.324	11	62	47	0	61
AVG	.286	9	66	58	2	67

5 Category: 21 

6 Category: 17

Mauer had the proverbial double whammy of losing his power and moving to a power position. That zapped his traditional fantasy value. He is still a good baseball player overall, but his best skills aren’t counted in a traditional five category format. People that appreciate his skills will likely just become frustrated by his seeming lack of production otherwise. He is best left to a total points format.

Kendrys Morales—Toronto Blue Jays

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.250	28	67	85	0	43
2016	.263	30	65	93	0	48
2015	.290	22	81	106	0	58
2014	.218	8	28	42	0	27
2013	.277	23	64	80	0	49
AVG	.260	22	61	81	0	45

5 Category: 23 

6 Category: 24

If you remove 2014 you see a very clear picture of a decent, but not spectacular first basemen/designated hitter. He is the mirror image of Mauer in many ways. He is useful within the five category universe, but his skills outside of those categories are marginal at best. There is a place for a guy that will hit 20 to 25 home runs and drive in close to 90 runs. It’s not the starting lineup necessarily, but there is a place for it somewhere on your roster.

Logan Morrison—Free Agent

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.246	38	75	85	2	81
2016	.238	14	45	43	4	37
2015	.225	17	47	54	8	47
2014	.262	11	41	38	5	24
2013	.242	6	32	36	0	38
AVG	.243	17	48	51	4	45

5 Category: 27 

6 Category: 25

This ranking is inappropriate, but it is hard to say what is appropriate. He is better than the aggregate, but likely not as good as he was last season. Plus, it is impossible to predict whether he will land in a spot where he would have an everyday role. We will have to wait and see where he stays in Tampa or signs somewhere where he becomes a part of a platoon. Even in a platoon he is likely better than the average.

Wil Myers—San Diego Padres

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.243	30	80	74	20	70
2016	.259	28	99	94	28	68
2015	.253	8	40	29	5	27
2014	.222	6	37	35	6	34
2013	.293	13	50	53	5	33
AVG	.254	17	61	57	13	46

5 Category: 16 

6 Category: 17

Myers fares better in traditional formats because of his speed and power combination. The Padres are reportedly looking for a first basemen. They would likely move Myers to left field in that scenario. That obviously would have a dramatic impact on his value. One more healthy season would likely push Myers into the top dozen first basemen. An ambitious fantasy owner could pick him there and then bank on positional flexibility down the road.

Matt Olson—Oakland Athletics

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.259	24	33	45	0	22
AVG	.259	24	33	45	0	22

5 Category: 29 

6 Category: 30

Obviously, this ranking is a bit out of whack as compared to what he would be projected to do. Baseball-reference projects him to have an .888 OPS in 2018. Steamer has him projected to have a .796 OPS. If we split the difference we will see a guy that likely will come in around .250/.350/.480 slash line with 30 or more home runs. In six category leagues that’s good enough to be a starter at first base or utility.

Albert Pujols—Los Angeles Angels

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.241	23	53	101	3	37
2016	.268	31	71	119	4	49
2015	.244	40	85	95	5	50
2014	.272	28	89	105	5	48
2013	.258	17	49	64	1	50
AVG	.257	28	68	97	4	45

5 Category: 12 

6 Category: 14

No player has driven in more than 100 runs and scored fewer runs than Pujols did last season. He had a similar gap in 2016 as well. It might seem like pointless trivia, but it does indicate a problem with picking Pujols for your team. Maybe the Angels improve overall with Justin Upton on their team for a whole season. Unfortunately, that doesn’t bring Pujols any closer to his prime and depending on the batting order may actually take some of his RBIs away.

Hanley Ramirez—Boston Red Sox

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.242	23	58	62	1	51
2016	.286	30	81	111	9	60
2015	.249	19	59	53	6	21
2014	.283	13	64	71	14	56
2013	.345	20	62	57	10	27
AVG	.281	21	65	71	8	43

5 Category: 10 

6 Category: 12

The aggregate sometimes doesn’t make a whole lot of sense when we look at each season individually. Ramirez is either really good or not all that effective. There is no real reason to think he will accomplish some middle ground. It is probably best to take a wait and see approach on him. At best, you might be able to take him in the later rounds and hope you catch lightening in a bottle.

Anthony Rizzo—Chicago Cubs

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.273	32	99	109	10	91
2016	.292	32	94	109	3	74
2015	.278	31	94	101	17	78
2014	.286	32	89	78	5	73
2013	.233	23	71	80	6	76
AVG	.272	30	89	95	8	78

5 Category: 3 

6 Category: 2

We can remove Rizzo’s 2013 campaign and get a much more realistic look of where he is as a player. That would make him a .282/32/94/99/9/79. Those numbers cement him as at worst the third best first basemen on the board. Depending on how much you value steals, you might even select him second before Paul Goldschmidt. The Cubs have a better offense overall, so he probably has a better chance of putting up bigger numbers moving forward.

Carlos Santana—Free Agent

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.259	23	90	79	5	88
2016	.259	34	89	87	5	99
2015	.231	19	72	85	11	108
2014	.231	27	68	85	5	113
2013	.268	20	75	74	3	93
AVG	.250	25	79	82	6	100

5 Category: 12 

6 Category: 10

Santana presents a significant problem for thinking fans. We know he is better than this, but his track record is pretty consistent. This is who he is as a five-category guy. Add in the on base element and he is significantly more valuable, but even then he has his limits in the fantasy game. Total points obviously treats him better, but that is reserved for mostly daily formats. So, we have to shut off our brain for a moment and take some lesser players before him.

Justin Smoak—Toronto Blue Jays

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.270	38	85	90	0	73
2016	.217	14	33	34	1	40
2015	.226	18	44	59	0	29
2014	.202	7	28	30	0	24
2013	.238	20	53	50	0	64
AVG	.231	19	49	53	0	46

5 Category: 30 

6 Category: 28

Smoak is one of those impossible cases to correctly predict. He isn’t as good as he was last season or as bad as he was the previous seasons. The best we can do is eliminate 2014 and go from there. If we extrapolate that out we get .238/23/54/58/0/52. Even that seems like an inadequate guess. The tough question is how much of last season was a step forward and how much was out of context performance. Proceed with caution, but he probably should go off the board at some point.

Eric Thames—Milwaukee Brewers

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.247	31	88	63	4	75
AVG	.247	31	88	63	4	75

5 Category: 13

6 Category: 12 

Let’s assume for the sake of argument that this is who Thames is. That by itself is a dangerous assumption given his fast start and slow finish. He has raw power and good patience on his side, but there is also a ton of swing and miss in his game. It’s hard to say whether the Brewers will continue to remain patient with that combination. Thames has outfield and first base eligibility, so there is value there, but the rankings don’t seem to be appropriate. He probably belongs on a fantasy bench more than in a lineup.

Joey Votto—Cincinnati Reds

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.320	36	105	100	5	134
2016	.326	29	101	97	8	108
2015	.314	29	99	80	11	143
2014	.255	6	32	23	1	47
2013	.305	24	101	73	6	135
AVG	.304	25	87	75	6	113

5 Category: 5 

6 Category: 4

Let’s start by removing his injury shortened 2014 campaign. Suddenly, you are looking at a .316/30/102/87/8/128 player. Those walks in combination with the batting average make him the most valuable offensive performer in the sport in those four seasons. Unfortunately, he is not so dominant when you compare the run producing categories. Thus marks the starkest difference between real baseball and fantasy baseball. You can’t ignore it. Sometimes you have to bite your lip and give in to more primitive forces.

Ryan Zimmerman—Washington Nationals

	AVG	HR	Runs	RBI	SB	BB
2017	.303	36	90	108	1	44
2016	.218	15	60	46	4	29
2015	.249	16	43	73	1	33
2014	.280	5	26	38	0	22
2013	.275	26	84	79	6	60
AVG	.265	20	61	69	2	38

5 Category: 20 

6 Category: 20

On a long enough timeline, the survival rate drops to zero. Every generation has guys like Zimmerman. They are the Don Mattinglys and Tony Olivas of the past. This isn’t to say that he is as good, better, or worse than those guys necessarily. It is just to say that Nationals fans will look back and wonder what might have been had he been able to stay healthy. That means seasons like 2017 are bound to happen. They just stand as a testament to what might have been. Those seasons rarely repeat themselves. The aggregate is oddly appropriate even though he rarely produces at that level. He will either come in above or below that. I’m betting the under.