RotoWire Roundtable: Latest 350 (Part 1)

Welcome to the second edition of the RotoWire Roundtable. This month, we added a new ranker - welcome Kevin Payne! Since our February update, there have been significant injury updates, closer battles and even a suspension reversal. The goal of the March update is to help you refine your draft day strategy. Below you will see our rankers' consolidated top-350 players.

These rankings were assembled for 12-team, 5x5 mixed leagues that start two catchers per team (thus there is a positional scarcity component added for catchers). We used five rankers: Jeff Erickson, Derek VanRiper, Michael Rusignola, Bernie Pleskoff and Kevin Payne. The rankings were provided completely blinded - none of the rankers saw any of the other rankings before the publication of this article. For more background on how to use these rankings, see the introduction to last month's update.

Upgrades since February

First, we'll go through a couple of players who have been upgraded since our February update.

- Ryan Braun (OF) - March Rank: 3; February Rank: 46.
- Jhoulys Chacin (SP) - March Rank: 196; February Rank: 314.
- Javy Guerra (CL) - March Rank: 274; February Rank: 348.
- Lucas Duda (OF) - March Rank: 197; February Rank: 261.
- Luke Hochevar (SP) - March Rank: 273; February Rank: 333.
- Justin Smoak (1B) - March Rank: 261; February Rank: 327.
- Jason Kubel (OF) - March Rank: 177; February Rank: 228.
- Jordan Zimmermann (SP) - March Rank: 133; February Rank: 168.
- Brandon Belt (1B) - March Rank: 215; February Rank: 265.
- Yu Darvish (SP) - March Rank: 83; February Rank: 109.

Those who drafted Ryan Braun in the fourth round a month ago are happy their optimism was rewarded. Ever since Braun won his appeal, he has been going in the top-5, peaking out in some cases as high as number one (we put him in the 3-6 range). Our rankers appear to have had a change of heart on Jhoulys Chacin since February:  Chacin's high strikeout and groundball rates should play well in Coors as he continues to mature. Javy Guerra will open the season as the Dodgers' closer (hence the uptick in his rankings) but he remains a risky play. Look for more growth from Lucas Duda. The starting right field job will be his come Opening Day, and he should find himself hitting near Ike Davis in the heart of the Mets' lineup. Former top pick Luke Hochevar had good second-half numbers in 2011, and is in a good park to take advantage of any possible breakout.

Justin Smoak was on a 30 HR, 100 RBI pace through 65 games last season before injuries and illness caught up to him. First base really thins out quickly and Smoak has the pedigree to impress if it all clicks. Jason Kubel will be playing in an outstanding hitter's park, and the increase in playing time he is expecting to see will only elevate his value. Jordan Zimmermann should see the strikeout rate inch up this year, and with the addition of Gio Gonzalez, he should have more favorable matchups pitching against most other teams' #3. Given how desperate the Giants were to score runs last year, Brandon Belt wasn't given a fair shake in 2011. He'll get more opportunities to play this season, and that should translate into bankable numbers. Yu Darvish brings the best arsenal of any pitcher we've seen come over from Asia and there's reason to think that he'll rack up a ton of strikeouts and wins, with the added advantage of hitters having little information about him in his first year. The Rangers know pitching and they know Japan (see: Lewis, Colby).

Downgrades since February

Here are the players who have seen their ranking fall since February.

- Chris Perez (CL) - March Rank: 264; February Rank: 217.
- Matt Capps (CL) - March Rank: 324; February Rank: 272.
- Tim Hudson (SP) - March Rank: 168; February Rank: 132.
- Stephen Drew (SS) - March Rank: 221; February Rank: 178.
- Roy Oswalt (SP) - March Rank: NR; February Rank: 224.
- Nick Markakis (OF) - March Rank: 135; February Rank: 107.
- Torii Hunter (OF) - March Rank: 188; February Rank: 156.

Chris Perez has not pitched yet this spring and his back issues could linger on into the season. Matt Capps's high ERA and low strikeout rate continue to hurt him in the rankings when compared to other, more steady closers. Tim Hudson has just started throwing off the mound, his first work since coming off back surgery. While he has an unofficial return date of May 1, there's a lot that needs to happen between now and then for that to become a reality. Speaking of injuries, the news over the past few weeks for Stephen Drew hasn't been very optimistic, and now there are reports that he won't be ready for Opening Day. It's hard to imagine that once Drew returns he'll play every game and with that concern comes a bigger drop in his value. Roy Oswalt still may sign at some point this season but he isn't going to sign now. His agent is comparing Oswalt's situation to Pedro Martinez's in 2009, where Pedro only pitched 45 innings. A lot of Nick Markakis's value lies in his reliability - both in terms of repeatable batting average and in durability. Both of those factors are in question this year. He might be back by Opening Day, but he's at risk to miss more time during the first month of the season. Torii Hunter is in the final year of a five-year contract, and with cheaper, younger and talented players waiting in the wings, he may be squeezed out of some playing time. He is not a reliable source of stolen bases any longer, having been caught more times than he's been successful on the basepaths in each of the last two seasons.

And on with...

The List (Part 1 - 1-175; Part 2 - 176-350)

Rank	Name	Position	Jeff	DVR	Michael	Bernie	Kevin	Median	Feb Rank
1	Miguel Cabrera	1B	1	2	1	2	2	2.0	1
2	Albert Pujols	1B	2	3	2	3	1	2.0	3
3	Ryan Braun	OF	3	6	4	4	5	4.0	46
4	Matt Kemp	OF	4	11	3	1	4	4.0	2
5	Jose Bautista	3B	5	1	12	5	3	5.0	4
6	Troy Tulowitzki	SS	6	7	10	11	6	7.0	8
7	Joey Votto	1B	8	9	8	7	7	8.0	6
8	Carlos Gonzalez	OF	11	5	5	8	13	8.0	5
9	Jacoby Ellsbury	OF	10	12	6	6	9	9.0	7
10	Robinson Cano	2B	7	10	9	14	8	9.0	10
11	Adrian Gonzalez	1B	9	13	7	9	14	9.0	9
12	Justin Upton	OF	12	4	11	13	11	11.0	11
13	Evan Longoria	3B	13	8	15	20	10	13.0	13
14	Prince Fielder	1B	14	16	16	10	16	16.0	14
15	Clayton Kershaw	SP	21	18	14	12	17	17.0	12
16	Dustin Pedroia	2B	15	15	17	21	20	17.0	15
17	Hanley Ramirez	SS	16	17	22	24	12	17.0	19
18	Ian Kinsler	2B	17	14	36	31	15	17.0	22
19	Roy Halladay	SP	22	20	13	17	18	18.0	16
20	Justin Verlander	SP	33	19	21	16	24	21.0	17
21	Curtis Granderson	OF	18	31	23	18	22	22.0	18
22	Giancarlo Stanton	OF	19	22	33	19	25	22.0	20
23	Mark Teixeira	1B	20	29	35	22	23	23.0	24
24	Jose Reyes	SS	24	25	27	15	21	24.0	21
25	Adrian Beltre	3B	26	24	28	23	19	24.0	23
26	Cliff Lee	SP	27	26	18	41	26	26.0	25
27	Andrew McCutchen	OF	23	21	29	56	29	29.0	27
28	Paul Konerko	1B	40	48	25	29	31	31.0	36
29	David Wright	3B	25	30	34	32	37	32.0	29
30	Alex Gordon	OF	30	32	30	39	50	32.0	39
31	Josh Hamilton	OF	34	28	24	33	39	33.0	28
32	Hunter Pence	OF	39	49	32	27	33	33.0	37
33	Cole Hamels	SP	37	27	20	40	35	35.0	26
34	Matt Holliday	OF	35	33	26	35	41	35.0	30
35	Starlin Castro	SS	29	41	40	36	32	36.0	35
36	Carlos Santana	C	36	53	38	30	36	36.0	34
37	Felix Hernandez	SP	38	38	37	26	28	37.0	32
38	Jay Bruce	OF	42	23	39	34	40	39.0	33
39	Brett Lawrie	3B	28	42	19	47	45	42.0	31
40	Tim Lincecum	SP	41	46	50	42	27	42.0	44
41	Shin-Soo Choo	OF	32	47	31	64	43	43.0	38
42	Desmond Jennings	OF	31	43	43	69	46	43.0	43
43	Ryan Zimmerman	3B	43	40	51	58	42	43.0	50
44	CC Sabathia	SP	50	37	57	46	38	46.0	42
45	Elvis Andrus	SS	46	44	63	44	70	46.0	45
46	Jered Weaver	SP	58	56	45	38	47	47.0	40
47	Nelson Cruz	OF	47	45	46	75	53	47.0	52
48	Aramis Ramirez	3B	48	52	47	25	55	48.0	51
49	Stephen Strasburg	SP	60	50	44	49	34	49.0	49
50	David Price	SP	51	35	42	50	51	50.0	41
51	Yovani Gallardo	SP	57	36	69	51	49	51.0	48
52	Buster Posey	C	53	60	58	54	44	54.0	47
53	Eric Hosmer	1B	56	51	54	70	48	54.0	59
54	Michael Cuddyer	OF	54	102	41	68	54	54.0	63
55	B.J. Upton	OF	49	55	53	117	59	55.0	53
56	Mike Napoli	C	44	70	59	28	60	59.0	54
57	Brian McCann	C	45	59	66	43	71	59.0	57
58	Zack Greinke	SP	59	34	87	87	30	59.0	69
59	Alex Rodriguez	3B	52	67	62	60	52	60.0	60
60	Jon Lester	SP	61	57	75	92	57	61.0	70
61	Dan Haren	SP	62	62	64	45	58	62.0	56
62	Pablo Sandoval	3B	63	39	77	53	68	63.0	58
63	Brandon Phillips	2B	65	69	52	37	72	65.0	55
64	Adam Jones	OF	70	64	49	74	65	65.0	66
65	Ben Zobrist	2B	64	66	71	67	56	66.0	67
66	Michael Young	3B	68	71	48	52	82	68.0	61
67	Kevin Youkilis	3B	76	68	86	57	69	69.0	71
68	Dan Uggla	2B	67	85	70	82	61	70.0	72
69	Joe Mauer	C	72	82	55	55	73	72.0	62
70	Michael Bourn	OF	55	78	56	78	74	74.0	65
71	Shane Victorino	OF	77	91	68	76	63	76.0	75
72	Derek Jeter	SS	78	83	60	81	77	78.0	78
73	Miguel Montero	C	71	81	78	62	100	78.0	74
74	Craig Kimbrel	CL	85	103	67	59	79	79.0	64
75	Ichiro Suzuki	OF	93	76	76	79	88	79.0	73
76	Matt Wieters	C	69	80	97	98	66	80.0	84
77	Drew Stubbs	OF	73	77	83	123	109	83.0	76
78	C.J. Wilson	SP	84	73	99	93	62	84.0	85
79	Carl Crawford	OF	94	94	84	65	83	84.0	68
80	Andre Ethier	OF	80	84	65	85	118	84.0	80
81	Jayson Werth	OF	79	100	82	122	85	85.0	97
82	Rickie Weeks	2B	86	58	88	104	67	86.0	79
83	Yu Darvish	SP	112	86	121	86	81	86.0	109
84	Chase Utley	2B	87	79	96	63	90	87.0	77
85	Asdrubal Cabrera	SS	88	65	91	106	75	88.0	87
86	Josh Beckett	SP	82	112	93	89	80	89.0	100
87	Jemile Weeks	2B	111	132	89	83	76	89.0	92
88	Josh Johnson	SP	114	97	61	90	89	90.0	86
89	Dee Gordon	SS	103	90	81	95	84	90.0	81
90	Alex Avila	C	89	89	90	109	113	90.0	94
91	Matt Cain	SP	66	110	73	115	91	91.0	99
92	Mat Latos	SP	101	88	94	113	92	94.0	89
93	Ricky Romero	SP	81	96	107	88	96	96.0	88
94	Adam Wainwright	SP	102	75	98	110	78	98.0	82
95	Madison Bumgarner	SP	98	72	117	114	64	98.0	102
96	Matt Moore	SP	100	74	116	91	98	98.0	95
97	Mike Morse	OF	99	106	74	66	110	99.0	83
98	David Ortiz	DH	106	98	144	96	99	99.0	108
99	Ian Kennedy	SP	116	95	100	112	87	100.0	104
100	Jimmy Rollins	SS	105	101	123	99	86	101.0	98
101	John Axford	CL	92	127	102	84	108	102.0	90
102	Jason Heyward	OF	95	54	105	201	102	102.0	120
103	Brett Gardner	OF	104	93	120	225	94	104.0	113
104	Ike Davis	1B	115	105	92	103	128	105.0	101
105	Daniel Hudson	SP	74	108	79	133	106	106.0	91
106	Paul Goldschmidt	1B	107	122	103	61	138	107.0	115
107	Howie Kendrick	2B	109	116	112	48	93	109.0	111
108	Lance Berkman	1B	117	104	109	72	115	109.0	105
109	Danny Espinosa	2B	108	109	155	186	104	109.0	137
110	Cameron Maybin	OF	129	61	110	231	95	110.0	116
111	Cory Luebke	SP	113	111	80	111	111	111.0	110
112	Chris Young	OF	110	92	111	203	122	111.0	96
113	Mark Reynolds	3B	75	113	122	100	121	113.0	106
114	Drew Storen	CL	96	135	113	121	112	113.0	119
115	Corey Hart	OF	130	125	72	97	114	114.0	93
116	James Shields	SP	83	63	130	124	116	116.0	103
117	Neil Walker	2B	118	117	104	107	158	117.0	112
118	Matt Garza	SP	91	87	119	194	117	117.0	114
119	Mariano Rivera	CL	90	121	125	118	97	118.0	117
120	Jonathan Papelbon	CL	97	128	115	120	126	120.0	121
121	Brandon Beachy	SP	123	107	136	130	101	123.0	125
122	Logan Morrison	OF	143	99	124	164	107	124.0	136
123	Michael Pineda	SP	126	133	160	116	120	126.0	122
124	Billy Butler	DH	128	124	148	73	131	128.0	126
125	Jason Kipnis	2B	138	129	101	150	124	129.0	127
126	Coco Crisp	OF	150	140	126	108	129	129.0	118
127	Nick Swisher	OF	119	131	85	163	159	131.0	134
128	Carlos Beltran	OF	168	126	143	77	132	132.0	128
129	Ryan Madson	CL	124	134	138	140	134	134.0	123
130	Alexei Ramirez	SS	120	137	135	94	142	135.0	124
131	Gio Gonzalez	SP	125	152	184	135	127	135.0	149
132	Freddie Freeman	1B	142	114	137	128	136	136.0	133
133	Jordan Zimmermann	SP	136	130	167	176	119	136.0	168
134	Derek Holland	SP	122	119	194	193	137	137.0	154
135	Nick Markakis	OF	172	138	129	71	150	138.0	107
136	Brandon League	CL	137	184	133	139	167	139.0	135
137	Gaby Sanchez	1B	139	203	128	127	174	139.0	138
138	Peter Bourjos	OF	127	139	108	226	NR	139.0	131
139	Tommy Hanson	SP	144	153	145	134	125	144.0	146
140	J.J. Putz	CL	146	144	149	137	135	144.0	130
141	Vernon Wells	OF	160	147	95	159	140	147.0	144
142	Jason Motte	CL	148	169	146	138	156	148.0	141
143	Rafael Betancourt	CL	149	200	147	180	149	149.0	158
144	Yadier Molina	C	133	182	150	149	161	150.0	143
145	Johnny Cueto	SP	121	151	140	162	151	151.0	140
146	Martin Prado	OF	183	123	151	148	179	151.0	139
147	Adam Lind	1B	152	185	177	125	145	152.0	173
148	Delmon Young	OF	237	246	152	144	148	152.0	179
149	Jaime Garcia	SP	145	143	173	244	153	153.0	153
150	Carlos Lee	OF	235	148	154	141	173	154.0	142
151	Ubaldo Jimenez	SP	155	118	222	213	152	155.0	175
152	Kenley Jansen	CL	156	146	134	166	253	156.0	129
153	J.P. Arencibia	C	132	157	161	167	133	157.0	152
154	Matt Joyce	OF	192	158	131	160	130	158.0	150
155	Josh Willingham	OF	205	251	141	158	147	158.0	169
156	Erick Aybar	SS	159	170	174	80	105	159.0	147
157	Joel Hanrahan	CL	147	166	159	181	143	159.0	151
158	J.J. Hardy	SS	162	190	187	105	139	162.0	155
159	Jose Valverde	CL	167	145	197	119	162	162.0	145
160	Brandon McCarthy	SP	135	197	132	174	163	163.0	157
161	Ryan Howard	1B	161	187	163	Abst	164	163.5	185
162	Brandon Morrow	SP	164	141	260	196	103	164.0	176
163	Chris Carpenter	SP	140	165	186	214	160	165.0	148
164	Colby Rasmus	OF	197	136	165	281	123	165.0	165
165	Colby Lewis	SP	134	162	166	185	185	166.0	159
166	Huston Street	CL	166	199	168	165	154	166.0	166
167	Angel Pagan	OF	177	173	106	248	144	173.0	161
168	Tim Hudson	SP	173	262	153	161	228	173.0	132
169	Brennan Boesch	OF	199	174	172	204	165	174.0	186
170	Anibal Sanchez	SP	141	120	175	306	215	175.0	170
171	Doug Fister	SP	176	214	182	131	170	176.0	189
172	Ervin Santana	SP	175	177	247	195	168	177.0	182
173	Joakim Soria	CL	171	167	204	304	177	177.0	193
174	Wandy Rodriguez	SP	151	180	185	260	175	180.0	181
175	Carlos Pena	1B	181	235	228	154	180	181.0	212

NR = Not Ranked
Abst = Abstained from Ranking

Players with the same median were ranked secondarily by their average ranking. Players who were not ranked were assigned a ranking of 391.5 (the midpoint between 351 and 432, the total number of ranked players) for the purpose of computing the median and average.