The top of the outfield rankings has taken a hit recently with George Springer and Joey Gallo both suffering the kind of injuries that could sideline them for multiple weeks, possibly more than a month. Surely, they have to move down, but exactly how far down is hard to say given both the uncertain timetable and the fact they'll make such an enormous impact when they return. I mean, you still want your team to have the highest possible bottom line come crunch time, for which both should be available again.
One outfielder I had absolutely no issue moving ahead of them, though: Austin Meadows. Dude's legit. Maybe not .350 batting average legit, but he doesn't strike out much and profiles for a high BABIP. His xBA is .317, so yeah, he'll hit for average. And with the way the power has come on this year and the freedom he has enjoyed on the base paths, he looks like a genuine five-category threat. If it turns out he's playing over his head in one of those areas, there are plenty of others to fall back on. A high ceiling combined with a high floor makes him the perfect sort of player to entrust with the "elite" designation.
He's just outside of my top 50 in this format, where starting pitchers tend to rise to the top, but suffice it to say that if anyone comes calling for him, they'll need to bring the goods.
Here are some guidelines for using this Trade Chart:
1. These values are tailored for standard CBS Head-to-Head points leagues, meaning 12 teams and 21-man rosters. The low-dollar players would be worth more in a deeper league, and the mid-dollar players would be worth less in a shallower league.
2. These values are intended only for 1-for-1 and 2-for-1 trades. Get into 3-for-1 or, heaven forbid, 4-for-1, and the impending roster crunch makes it near impossible to justify giving up the superior player (unless, of course, it's an obvious overpay).
3. These values are more of a rough guideline. In theory, if two players add up to more than some other player, you'll take the two over the one, but not every possible scenario has been vetted. And particularly with the lower-value players, perceptions are changing constantly. When in doubt, you'll want to stick with the better player.
Rank | Player | Position | Value |
1 | Mike Trout, LAA | OF | 53 |
2 | Cody Bellinger, LAD | 1B/OF | 51 |
3 | Christian Yelich, MIL | OF | 50 |
4 | Mookie Betts, BOS | OF | 48 |
5 | Nolan Arenado, COL | 3B | 47 |
6 | Max Scherzer, WAS | SP | 47 |
7 | Justin Verlander, HOU | SP | 47 |
8 | Alex Bregman, HOU | 3B/SS | 46 |
9 | J.D. Martinez, BOS | OF | 46 |
10 | Chris Sale, BOS | SP | 45 |
11 | Jacob deGrom, NYM | SP | 43 |
12 | Blake Snell, TB | SP | 43 |
13 | Gerrit Cole, HOU | SP | 42 |
14 | Francisco Lindor, CLE | SS | 40 |
15 | Freddie Freeman, ATL | 1B | 39 |
16 | Trevor Story, COL | SS | 39 |
17 | Jose Altuve, HOU | 2B | 38 |
18 | Kris Bryant, CHC | 3B/OF | 38 |
19 | Anthony Rendon, WAS | 3B | 37 |
20 | Anthony Rizzo, CHC | 1B | 37 |
21 | Trea Turner, WAS | SS | 37 |
22 | Ronald Acuna, ATL | OF | 35 |
23 | Patrick Corbin, WAS | SP | 35 |
24 | Zack Greinke, ARI | SP | 35 |
25 | Trevor Bauer, CLE | SP | 34 |
26 | Stephen Strasburg, WAS | SP | 34 |
27 | Javier Baez, CHC | 2B/3B/SS | 33 |
28 | Paul Goldschmidt, STL | 1B | 33 |
29 | Gary Sanchez, NYY | C | 33 |
30 | Josh Bell, PIT | 1B | 33 |
31 | Rhys Hoskins, PHI | 1B/OF | 33 |
32 | Whit Merrifield, KC | 2B/OF | 33 |
33 | Noah Syndergaard, NYM | SP | 32 |
34 | Carlos Carrasco, CLE | SP | 32 |
35 | Adalberto Mondesi, KC | SS | 32 |
36 | Charlie Blackmon, COL | OF | 31 |
37 | Xander Bogaerts, BOS | SS | 31 |
38 | Manny Machado, SD | 3B/SS | 31 |
39 | Clayton Kershaw, LAD | SP | 31 |
40 | J.T. Realmuto, PHI | C | 30 |
41 | Willson Contreras, CHC | C | 30 |
42 | Michael Brantley, HOU | OF | 30 |
43 | Bryce Harper, PHI | OF | 29 |
44 | Aaron Judge, NYY | OF | 29 |
45 | James Paxton, NYY | SP | 29 |
46 | German Marquez, COL | SP | 29 |
47 | Luis Castillo, CIN | SP | 28 |
48 | Juan Soto, WAS | OF | 28 |
49 | Walker Buehler, LAD | SP | 27 |
50 | Aaron Nola, PHI | SP | 26 |
51 | Jose Berrios, MIN | SP | 26 |
52 | Hyun-Jin Ryu, LAD | SP | 25 |
53 | Austin Meadows, TB | OF | 25 |
54 | David Price, BOS | SP | 24 |
55 | Caleb Smith, MIA | SP | 24 |
56 | Shane Bieber, CLE | SP | 24 |
57 | Matthew Boyd, DET | SP | 24 |
58 | Lucas Giolito, CHW | SP | 23 |
59 | Jose Ramirez, CLE | 3B | 23 |
60 | Jorge Polanco, MIN | SS | 23 |
61 | George Springer, HOU | OF | 21 |
62 | Pete Alonso, NYM | 1B | 21 |
63 | Khris Davis, OAK | DH | 20 |
64 | Joey Gallo, TEX | 1B/OF | 20 |
65 | Giancarlo Stanton, NYY | OF | 20 |
66 | Andrew Benintendi, BOS | OF | 20 |
67 | Matt Chapman, OAK | 3B | 19 |
68 | Eugenio Suarez, STL | 3B | 19 |
69 | Carlos Correa, HOU | SS | 19 |
70 | Kirby Yates, SD | RP | 19 |
71 | Edwin Diaz, NYM | RP | 18 |
72 | Paul DeJong, STL | SS | 18 |
73 | Vladimir Guerrero, TOR | 3B | 17 |
74 | Zack Wheeler, NYM | SP | 17 |
75 | Rafael Devers, BOS | 3B | 17 |
76 | Marcell Ozuna, STL | OF | 17 |
77 | Eddie Rosario, MIN | OF | 17 |
78 | Charlie Morton, TB | SP | 17 |
79 | Yasmani Grandal, MIL | C | 17 |
80 | Aroldis Chapman, NYY | RP | 16 |
81 | Brad Hand, CLE | RP | 16 |
82 | Brandon Woodruff, MIL | SP/RP | 16 |
83 | Chris Paddack, SD | SP | 16 |
84 | Jack Flaherty, STL | SP | 16 |
85 | Tommy Pham, TB | OF | 15 |
86 | Elvis Andrus, TEX | SS | 15 |
87 | Luke Voit, NYY | 1B | 14 |
88 | Felipe Vazquez, PIT | RP | 14 |
89 | Josh Hader, MIL | RP | 14 |
90 | Ketel Marte, ARI | 2B/SS/OF | 14 |
91 | Edwin Encarnacion, SEA | 1B | 14 |
92 | Carlos Santana, CLE | 1B | 14 |
93 | Madison Bumgarner, SF | SP | 13 |
94 | Masahiro Tanaka, NYY | SP | 13 |
95 | Kenley Jansen, LAD | RP | 13 |
96 | Roberto Osuna, HOU | RP | 13 |
97 | Jose Abreu, CHW | 1B | 13 |
98 | Mike Clevinger, CLE | SP | 12 |
99 | Frankie Montas, OAK | SP | 12 |
100 | Gleyber Torres, NYY | 2B/SS | 12 |
101 | Mike Moustakas, MIL | 2B/3B | 12 |
102 | Austin Riley, ATL | 3B/OF | 12 |
103 | Domingo German, NYY | SP | 11 |
104 | Mike Minor, TEX | SP | 11 |
105 | Yoan Moncada, CHW | 2B/3B | 11 |
106 | Corey Seager, LAD | SS | 11 |
107 | Nelson Cruz, MIN | DH | 11 |
108 | Fernando Tatis, SD | SS | 11 |
109 | Blake Treinen, OAK | RP | 11 |
110 | Wilson Ramos, NYM | C | 10 |
111 | Omar Narvaez, SEA | C | 10 |
112 | Mitch Haniger, SEA | OF | 10 |
113 | Starling Marte, PIT | OF | 10 |
114 | Lorenzo Cain, MIL | OF | 9 |
115 | Mike Soroka, ATL | SP | 9 |
116 | Mike Foltynewicz, ATL | SP | 9 |
117 | Kyle Hendricks, CHC | SP | 9 |
118 | Sean Doolittle, WAS | RP | 9 |
119 | Miles Mikolas, STL | SP | 9 |
120 | Justin Turner, LAD | 3B | 8 |
121 | Matt Carpenter, STL | 1B/3B | 8 |
122 | Joey Votto, CIN | 1B | 8 |
123 | Ken Giles, TOR | RP | 8 |
124 | Griffin Canning, LAA | SP | 8 |
125 | Rich Hill, LAD | SP | 8 |
126 | Tyler Glasnow, TB | SP/RP | 7 |
127 | Max Muncy, LAD | 1B/2B/3B | 7 |
128 | Hunter Dozier, KC | 1B/3B | 7 |
129 | Nick Senzel, CIN | 2B/OF | 7 |
130 | Eduardo Escobar, ARI | 3B/SS | 7 |
131 | Ozzie Albies, ATL | 2B | 7 |
132 | Corey Kluber, CLE | SP | 6 |
133 | Luis Severino, NYY | SP | 6 |
134 | Dansby Swanson, ATL | SS | 6 |
135 | Tim Anderson, CHW | SS | 6 |
136 | Jean Segura, PHI | SS | 6 |
137 | Michael Conforto, NYM | OF | 6 |
138 | Josh Donaldson, ATL | 3B | 5 |
139 | Craig Kimbrel, FA | RP | 5 |
140 | Andrew Heaney, LAA | SP | 5 |
141 | Kenta Maeda, LAD | SP/RP | 5 |
142 | Brad Peacock, HOU | SP/RP | 5 |
143 | Lance Lynn, TEX | SP | 5 |
144 | Jake Odorizzi, MIN | SP | 5 |
145 | Max Kepler, MIN | OF | 5 |
146 | Jonathan Villar, BAL | 2B/SS | 5 |
147 | Max Fried, ATL | SP | 5 |
148 | Cole Hamels, CHC | SP | 5 |
149 | Aaron Hicks, NYY | OF | 4 |
150 | Domingo Santana, SEA | OF | 4 |
151 | David Peralta, ARI | OF | 4 |
152 | Greg Holland, ARI | RP | 4 |
153 | Raisel Iglesias, CIN | RP | 4 |
154 | Daniel Vogelbach, SEA | 1B | 4 |
155 | Daniel Murphy, COL | 1B/2B | 4 |
156 | Matt Olson, OAK | 1B | 4 |
157 | Shane Greene, DET | RP | 4 |
158 | Will Smith, SF | RP | 4 |
159 | Chris Archer, PIT | SP | 4 |
160 | Mitch Garver, MIN | C | 4 |
161 | Marcus Stroman, TOR | SP | 4 |
162 | Luke Weaver, ARI | SP | 4 |
163 | Kyle Gibson, MIN | SP | 3 |
164 | Wade Miley, HOU | SP | 3 |
165 | Jon Gray, COL | SP | 3 |
166 | Robbie Ray, ARI | SP | 3 |
167 | Jose Quintana, CHC | SP | 3 |
168 | Jon Lester, CHC | SP | 3 |
169 | Michael Chavis, BOS | 1B/2B/3B | 3 |
170 | Byron Buxton, MIN | OF | 3 |
171 | Alex Gordon, KC | OF | 3 |
172 | Trey Mancini, BAL | 1B/OF | 3 |
173 | Sonny Gray, CIN | SP | 3 |
174 | Eduardo Rodriguez, BOS | SP | 2 |
175 | Nick Pivetta, PHI | SP | 2 |
176 | Yu Darvish, CHC | SP | 2 |
177 | Joe Musgrove, PIT | SP | 2 |
178 | Hector Neris, PHI | RP | 2 |
179 | Alex Colome, CHW | RP | 2 |
180 | Jordan Hicks, STL | RP | 2 |
181 | Rick Porcello, BOS | SP | 2 |
182 | Jimmy Nelson, MIL | SP | 2 |
183 | Jameson Taillon, PIT | SP | 2 |
184 | Franmil Reyes, SD | OF | 1 |
185 | Gregory Polanco, PIT | OF | 1 |
186 | Nicholas Castellanos, DET | OF | 1 |
187 | David Dahl, COL | OF | 1 |
188 | Victor Robles, WAS | OF | 1 |
189 | Martin Perez, MIN | SP | 1 |
190 | Brandon Lowe, TB | 2B | 1 |
191 | Cesar Hernandez, PHI | 2B | 1 |
192 | Yasiel Puig, CIN | OF | 1 |
193 | Tommy La Stella, LAA | 2B/3B | 1 |
194 | DJ LeMahieu, NYY | 2B/3B | 1 |
195 | Joc Pederson, LAD | OF | 1 |
196 | Zach Eflin, PHI | SP | 1 |
197 | J.A. Happ, NYY | SP | 1 |
198 | Dallas Keuchel, HOU | SP | 1 |
199 | Robinson Chirinos, HOU | C | 1 |
200 | Matt Strahm, SD | SP/RP | 1 |