If you’re trying to get an early start on your draft prep for the upcoming season, you’ve come to the right place! We have a bevy of resources available that can give you a leg up on the competition between our articles, consensus rankings, average draft position, projections, and podcast.  Today, we will be adding to those items by bringing in six featured analysts from across the industry to build their own consensus top-10 fantasy baseball rankings and share their favorite early-round draft targets.

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Featured Pros:
Dan Harris – FantasyPros
Nick Mariano – RotoBaller
Nate Miller – FantasyPros
Brad Camara – FantasyPros
Mick Ciallela – Fantrax
Wayne Bretsky – BretskyBall

2021 Top-10 Players (5×5 League Scoring) – View full expert consensus rankings

_{Also receiving top-10 votes: Christian Yelich (#11), Shane Bieber (#T-12), Freddie Freeman (#T-12)}

2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Advice

Each expert answered two questions about the players they like this season. Here are their suggestions for who you should target.

Q1. Which player outside of your top 3 has the best chance of finishing No. 1 and why?

Trea Turner (SS – WSH) 
“Turner definitely has the skillset and recent track record to suggest a potential catapult to the top spot. He was held to 122 games in 2019 due to injury and, of course, the pandemic-shortened campaign last year held every player to a maximum of 60 regular-season games (Turner played in 59). Even with those interruptions, the 27-year-old shortstop has slashed .309/.366/.525 with 162-game paces of 28 homers, 88 RBIs, 43 steals, and 128 runs scored since the outset of the 2019 season. Now that he’s in the middle of his prime, expect big things in 2021.”
– Nate Miller (FantasyPros)

“My choice for this year’s potential overall number-one player is Trea Turner. His blistering 2020 campaign was even more impressive when you consider the horrendous start he had. Over his final 47 games, Turner batted .369 while slugging 11 home runs and stealing 12 bases. He also scored 44 runs and drove in 39 in that timeframe. He is one of only a handful of players who can realistically put up a 30-30 season. That type of upside is reserved for the very best hitters in the game, yet Turner can be had at a relative discount compared to the consensus top-three hitters. His underlying metrics support the numbers he put last season. Turner’s Statcast page has more red in it than his jersey does. Draft him with confidence and reap the rewards.”
– Mick Ciallela (Fantrax)

Mike Trout (OF – LAA) 
“The obvious answer is Trout, who lands outside of the top three for reasons less about him and more about the remarkable performances of the players above him. Trout had an excellent year in 2020, ranking in the top 10% of almost every Statcast category. The only thing knocking him down a tad is his lack of steals, as he stole (and attempted to steal) just a single base. But we’ve seen Trout’s steals totals ebb and flow throughout the years (49, 33, 16, 11, 30, 22, 24, 11, 1), and stolen bases are a matter of desire more than anything. Entering his age-30 season, there’s still plenty left in the tank for Trout, and if he gets back up to the 15-20 steal range, he has an excellent chance of finishing as the top player overall.”
– Dan Harris (FantasyPros)

Jacob deGrom (SP – NYM) 
“The obvious answer is future first-ballot Hall of Famer, Mike Trout. The more intriguing answer is deGrom, who may finally receive the universe’s wind in his sails with run support and a deep bullpen en route to a 20-win campaign. I recognize it’s difficult for a starting pitcher to deliver that in a 5×5 format since they can’t get saves, versus hitters who can be five-category heroes. As one of the few pitchers that most project to hit the 200-inning mark in ’21, deGrom’s absurd 21.6% swinging-strike rate last season marks four straight years of increasing punchout metrics.”
– Nick Mariano (RotoBaller)

Christian Yelich (OF/DH – MIL) 
“Yelich is currently sixth overall (ninth overall in the consensus ECR) in my rankings, but it wouldn’t shock me if he finished as the top player overall. He struggled in 2020, slashing .205/.356/.430 while striking out 30 percent of the time. The 29-year-old was a former NL MVP and was in the running to repeat in 2019. The rise in his strikeout rate is alarming, but Yelich is too talented of a player and fantasy managers can expect the former MVP to bounce back in 2021.”
– Brad Camara (FantasyPros)

Shane Bieber (SP – CLE) 
“Obviously any of the top-10 players have a chance to finish at one overall, that’s why they are first-rounders! However, the really cheap answer here is to say Shane Bieber. He’s been the best pitcher in fantasy for the past two seasons and if he can get anywhere near the 41.1% strikeout rate from 2020 over the course of a full season, we are looking at the No. 1 overall player in roto leagues. Outside of the Bieber, Trea Turner and Jose Ramirez have that 30/30 upside that could vault them to the top of the list.”
– Wayne Bretsky (BretskyBall)

Q2. Who’s your favorite early target after the first round inside the top 50 in ECR and why?

Zac Gallen (SP – ARI) 
“Gallen is an absolute stud on the mound. I say that with great confidence despite the fact that he’s only worked 152.0 big-league innings to this point in his young career. Over his 27 MLB starts (seven for Marlins, 20 for D-Backs) dating back to his debut on June 20, 2019, Gallen has worked to an impressive 2.78 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and 10.5 K/9. From 2019-20, the 25-year-old righty improved his hard-hit rate from 39.9% to 28.7% and his groundball rate from 38.9% to 45.6% while maintaining a K-rate north of 28%. Gallen is my No. 11 SP at the moment, and I could very well raise him up even further in the future.”
– Nate Miller (FantasyPros)

Xander Bogaerts (SS – BOS) 
“Bogaerts is about as reliable a fantasy player as you are going to find in the top 50, which makes him a solid third-round pick on just about any roster. He finished as a top-10 roto bat in 2019 and followed that up batting .300/.364/.502 in the short 2020 season. Bogaerts has posted a slugging percentage north of .500 for three straight seasons so it’s safe to say the power is indeed real. Despite a diminished supporting cast, this is a player who has averaged a .300-102-32-116-10 5×5 line per 162 games since the start of 2018. If you fail to take the plunge on a speedy first-round shortstop like Turner or Story, Bogaerts represents the best value of the top-tier.”
– Wayne Bretsky (BretskyBall)

Luis Robert (OF – CWS) 
“Robert is currently 38th overall in the latest expert consensus rankings and one of my favorite early targets for 2021 fantasy drafts. He slashed .233/.302/.436 with 11 homers and nine steals across 225 plate appearances in 2020. The 23-year-old would be in the discussion as a top-25 pick if he didn’t completely disappear in September, hitting just .096 (7-for-73) during the month. Roberts is expected to hit in the middle of a loaded White Sox lineup and has all the tools to produce as a top-10 player in 2021 and beyond.”
– Brad Camara (FantasyPros)

Whit Merrifield (2B/OF – KC) 
“It’s not a sexy pick, but I’m winding up with plenty of Merrifield in drafts this year. Prioritizing speed and batting average early has long been one of my draft tenets, and Merrifield fills both needs. If you took his worst totals from each of his full seasons in the majors, you’d have a .288 hitter with 12 home runs, 80 runs scored, 60 RBIs, and 20 steals. Plus, he was far outpacing each of those numbers last year, other than batting average, in the 60-game season. Merrifield doesn’t hit the ball particularly hard and may never hit 20 home runs in a season. But with multi-position eligibility and an extremely high floor in hard to fill categories, he’s the ideal player for a fantasy roster in the fourth round.”
– Dan Harris (FantasyPros)

Bryce Harper (OF/DH – PHI) 
“Harper was my answer to this last season and I’m sticking with it. Still only 28 years old, he is a lefty bat in Philly who showed stronger plate discipline and an increased appetite for stolen bases in the shortened 2020 campaign. He may not hit above .300 again, but his loud swing and quick feet are capable of a 35/15 campaign with triple digits in the run and RBI categories. Philadelphia’s re-signing of J.T. Realmuto and Didi Gregorius, as well as improved health for Rhys Hoskins and the emergence of Alec Bohm make this one potent batting order to hit in the heart of.”
– Nick Mariano (RotoBaller)

D.J. LeMahieu (1B/2B/3B – NYY) 
“If you can get LeMahieu at his current ECR ranking of 37, I would advise doing so. Yes, he had a career year in 2020, but I have no problem having LeMahieu run it back in 2021. I believe he is still a prohibitive value even when factoring in an expected decrease in overall production. He figures to once again offer elite contributions in both batting average and runs scored. And though he will not provide a ton of power or speed, he will not hurt you in any of those areas either. LeMahieu also gives fantasy managers tremendous roster flexibility. He qualifies at three different infield positions, which is valuable in leagues with daily moves and/or transaction limits.”
– Mick Ciallela (Fantrax)

Thanks to the experts for sharing their advice! For more of the experts’ insight, be sure to follow each pundit on Twitter (click their names above) and visit their respective sites.

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