American League Tiered Outfield Rankings: August 2015

Your favorite AL specific outfield rankings here at FanGraphs is back! As usual, rather than boring Tier One or Tier Two, etc., today I’ll be presenting my favorite Kanye West albums. To be clear, I don’t actively dislike anything he’s recorded, but I certainly have my favorites. As a bonus, I’ll be adding my three favorite tracks from each album. I can’t defend what Kanye has said and done outside of the recording booth, but I’ll be damned if he can’t create magic with music and lyrics (warning, language, etc. on these videos).

As always, apologies if I accidentally missed a player.

The College Dropout — All Falls Down (runner up: Never Let Me Down, third place: Jesus Walks)

Mike Trout

I mean, what were you expecting at this point? Rather than force a debate about on Trout, I’ll simply highlight the fact that The College Dropout had a huge personal effect on me. It came out my junior year of high school, right about the time pop culture (or counter culture, whatever floats your boat) becomes too important for kids and I got caught up in it. I popped my collar(s) — yeah, nothing like a suburban Asian kid sporting multiple popped collars — on my polos and rugbys for like two straight years because of this album. The multiple popped collar phase of my life is one that I look back on with a mix of shame and laughter. Mostly shame though.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy — Blame Game (runner up: All of the Lights, third place: Gorgeous)

Adam Jones
Jose Bautista
Jacoby Ellsbury
J.D. Martinez
Nelson Cruz
Hanley Ramirez
Mookie Betts

Jones is just so steady. Yeah, he doesn’t draw many walks and his speed is on the decline, however for the seventh season in a row he is likely to hit .275+ with at least 17 home runs. He’s managed to trim his strikeout rate down to 14.9 percent, better than both the 19.8 percent AL average this season and 19 percent career average. Placing Betts is hard as he’s still out with a concussion, but apparently is no longer showing any symptoms of one. If he does rejoin the Boston squad this weekend, I’ll feel fine with him here, but if he hits a snag, putting him in the second tier will look awfully aggressive. When healthy he’s hit at a rate just above league average, and has 10 home runs and 13 steals to boost his fantasy value. Again assuming he comes back before the end of the week, Betts could post a 15-20 season with a .265 batting average that won’t sink your team. Next year he’ll be playing his age-23 season and I’ll likely have him here in the second tier in the preseason rankings. I’m sold on him.

Graduation — Homecoming (runner up: Stronger, third place: Everything I Am)

Chris Davis
Michael Brantley
Brett Gardner
Carlos Gomez
Ben Revere
Lorenzo Cain
Billy Burns
Kole Calhoun
Evan Gattis

It feels as though Davis’ bounce-back has been overlooked. His 27 home runs already surpassed his total from last season and both Steamer and ZiPS like him to hit at least a dozen more dongers. Nothing has really changed in his game; he still strikes out a bunch, draws walks and hits for power. I’m a big fan of Gomez at the No. 2 spot in the powerful Astros lineup. No doubt he’s disappointed fantasy owners this season, but he could score another 35+ runs relatively easy in the final eight weeks of the season. That said, most of what Gomez does that I like, Brantley and Gardner do it as good or better. Both are likely to have a higher average than Gomez going forward and all three hit near the top of their respective lineups. If Revere hits leadoff, his value stays here, however thus far he’s split time between leadoff and ninth. Revere doesn’t have any real power to speak of, so if he gets moved to hitting ninth more regularly, consider him at the bottom of this tier. Burns is currently enjoying a breakout rookie campaign as his speed continues to shine at the big league level. I was skeptical of it translating from the minors to the show, but Burns is already second in the AL with 21 steals, trailing only Jose Altuve. Burns is also tied at 22 infield hits with Altuve for most in the junior circuit.

Watch the Throne (featuring Jay-Z) — Otis (runner up: Who Gon Stop Me?, third place: No Church in the Wild)

Ben Zobrist
Josh Reddick
Alex Rios
Shin-Soo Choo
Gerardo Parra
George Springer
Josh Hamilton
Stephen Vogt
Torii Hunter

Springer would be higher up, but he still is about two weeks away from a minor league rehab assignment as he recovers from a broken wrist. Vogt has somewhat expectedly really slowed down from his hot start. Hunter’s AVG as dipped as I expected, but his power has maintained. I was much too low on him, as I figured at age-40, he couldn’t maintain both his rate stats and his power. I was right on that call, but he seems likely to clear 20+ home runs this year. Whoops.

Yeezus — Bound 2 (runner up: New Slaves, third place: Blood On the Leaves)

Delino DeShields Jr.
Melky Cabrera
Preston Tucker
Adam Eaton
Brock Holt
Rusney Castillo
Jimmy Paredes
Kevin Pillar
Oswaldo Arcia
Jarrod Dyson
Chris Young
Jake Marisnick
Rajai Davis
Mark Trumbo

I’m still waffling on where exactly to place DeShields. Love his speed, but his average is mediocre. That he hits leadoff in front of a solid Texas lineup is a big chip enough in his favor to warrant a spot here. A reasonable argument could be made for Melky to be a tier higher, however I’m concerned about the disappearance of his home run power and his steals. He does hit in a prime spot in a lineup, but he is a mostly empty AVG guy. On the other hand, Eaton has flashed a bit more power than I expected from him and if he gets the green light more, he could end the year with 10 home runs and 20 steals.

808s & Heartbreak — Heartless (runner up: Love Lockdown, third place: Welcome to Heartbreak)

Carlos Beltran
Colby Rasmus
Anthony Gose
Seth Smith
Danny Valencia
Chris Colabello
Avisail Garcia
Austin Jackson
Kevin Kiermaier
Brandon Guyer
Coco Crisp
Michael Bourn

The old, the likely to be injured and the ineffective are here.  Colabello is rated lower than what one may expect as I don’t trust his .392 BABIP to continue for much longer. He’s got power, however a he’s striking out four times for each walk he draws.

Late Registration — Gold Digger (runner up: Hey Mama, third place: Drive Slow)

Byron Buxton
Steven Souza
Alex Gordon
David Murphy
David DeJesus
Shane Victorino

Even when healthy, I don’t see a ton of value in Buxton’s bat this season. I love Souza, but he’s going to miss all of August and likely the first two weeks of September with a broken hand. Gordon is still about three weeks away, but the Royals may take things easy on his progression and playing time once he’s back given their cushion in the AL Central. The glut of outfielders the Angels acquired at the trade deadline slot here, because outside of Murphy, they don’t project to have a ton of plate appearances ahead of them.