The Dynasty Guru Annual Ranking Season is upon us!  Leading off, the outfielders.  The rankings presented here are the composite rankings of all the writers at The Dynasty Guru, and after healthy debate and only a little name-calling, we are ready to share them with you. The comments below each tier are the work of the writer cited at the end of the section.  Don’t forget to check out Chris and Drew’s analysis of each position on the Join the Ranks podcast.

61 – 70

As someone who plays in deep fantasy leagues AND is a constant optimist in my fantasy valuations, all 10 names here in the 60s are a lot of fun. Let’s start by looking at those with more MLB experience.

In a standard league, with five outfielders needed on active rosters, last year was unlikely to be successful if Bryan Reynolds was expected to be one of your top players. Once a model of consistency, his multi-year streak of mid-20s homers and double-digit steals evaporated coincidentally with his 30th birthday season. His K-rate jumped 4 points to 26.5% year-over-year and his triple slash crashed just as hard as well. And between his xStats and BAPIP, luck didn’t appear to have anything to do with his poor performance. So this is where my optimism kicks in. Yeah, Reynolds may well be in decline. But if you can get him at OF#63 value, that is a player I’d jump on. His track record is just too good and he is far from old. I don’t have a secret stat helping me beyond vibes, but I’m looking for a bounce-back season from the Pirate and expect 2025 to be his career outlier.

Alec Burleson and Jordan Beck are two other players we may not see this deep in the list next year either, though for different reasons. Both had quietly successful seasons in ’25, though maybe not quite as successful as their fantasy managers hoped. I think the silence around their performances could equate to value picks. Burleson is likely to be 1B qualifying only next year, but if he can keep the positional flexibility it’ll help his somewhat ho-hum fantasy profile. Beck, on the other hand, almost registered a 20/20 year in his first full MLB season. He had a 10/10 first half but missed some games due to injury later in the summer. The early season performances resulted in some digital ink surrounding Beck’s future fantasy impacts, but those faded as he missed time. Making now a good time for you grab him as a potential OF#3 at a reasonable price.

Colton Cowser and Evan Carter are two wild cards. Both were once prospect darlings, but injuries and organizational roster moves have really cut into their playing time. I imagine they’re tough buys still, because at the heart of our dynasty game is often sunk cost fallacy. And while I don’t roster them in many leagues, I do still believe they have the potential to live up to their pedigree.

Speaking of pedigree, I feel that Kristian Campbell deserves his own paragraph. Multiple times, Drew and I waxed poetically about his future as an impact second baseman last offseason. We were far from alone in our lofty expectations. But the swing we saw throughout the 2024 season wasn’t the same swing Campbell brought in the 2025 season and the results matched. As poor as last year went, that magnificent ‘24 season was not something that happens without a level of talent persisting. Rumors are he’s working to bring back his old swing while also working more in the outfield defensively. It’s hard for someone to hit two moving targets simultaneously. While I believe his fantasy talent ultimately, I’m not certain we’ll see a complete revitalization this season.

Lastly, we have the three upper echelon prospects: Chase DeLauter, Braden Montgomery, and Ryan Waldschmidt. There’s plenty of similarities between them, so go with your gut if you get to choose from them. All three should play in the majors this year. DeLauter should break camp with the Guardians so if you want impact this year, lean to him. All three players have 60 grade raw power too. Montgomery may have the most, but also has the biggest swing and miss issue. Last summer I may have ignored his volatility a bit too much when I had him touching my top 25 prospect lists in mid-summer. Waldschmidt I think ultimately will surprise the most here. A strong hit tool will help him reach the power and he has enough speed to maybe touch double digits. And you know, now that I’m looking at some of his trends, dreaming of Waldschmidt’s ceiling has me comparing him to prime Bryan Reynolds. Not a bad circle of life if you roster them both.

(Chris Knock)

71 – 80

Dylan Beavers is in the wrong system because the Orioles only acquire right-handed-hitting corner outfielders.  Their outfield was already too clogged to give Heston Kjerstad a shot.  So what do they do?  Trade the gem of their pitching staff for Taylor Ward. And then they trade a mess of prospects for Tampa’s right-handed Shane Baz, who I suspect they will convert to a right-fielder. Earlier this offseason, it looked like they were going to give Beavers a real chance. Beavers showed a lot of promise offensively during his 35-game call-up, largely because of his high walk rate. But he’s also shown moderate power and excellent speed at every level in the minors. If the Orioles knew what they were doing, he would be a dark horse Rookie of the Year candidate in 2026.

Joshua Baez seemed destined to be another one of those gleam-in-the-eye dream prospects whose hit tool prevents them from getting to their power.  But this year he magically cut his strikeout rate in half and began tapping into his game power.  After his promotion to Double-A Springfield, he hit .271/.374/.509 with 16 home runs and 34 stolen bases in 79 games.  He appears to be what people wishcasted Spencer Jones to be.

Jakob Marsee is in a similar boat with Daylen Lile and Isaac Collins.  They’re slightly older outfielders who broke out in a partial season without being heralded prospects.  When you look at Marsee’s minor league numbers and Savant slides it seems like he has a sufficiently high floor.  The problem is the winner’s curse.  Someone in your league will assume that he will actually build on his 2025, which itself would pro-rate out to a healthy fourteen home runs and 41 steals with a .292 average.

Jhostynxon Garcia, Owen Caissie, and Justin Crawford have all been heralded prospects.  For them, the magic password is “opportunity.”

Garcia might have the lowest ceiling of the three and the most clouded future.  Garcia has shown himself to be a solidly above-average hitter in the minor leagues without being elite.  Garcia appeared to be getting that opportunity when he was traded from the crowded Red Sox lineup to the historically bad Pirates.  With the additions of Ryan O’Hearn, Brandon Lowe, and Jake Mangum, Garcia’s playing time is now in question.

Meanwhile, you might want to move Caissie up in the ranks because the Marlins’ trade for him frees him from Cubs outfield jail.  Caissie’s profile is not that dissimilar from Garcia’s.  Caissie walks a bit more, strikes out a bit more, and is six months older.  There are almost as few professional hitters in the Marlins lineup as there are in the Pirates lineup, so we will see if he can hit in the major leagues this year.

People keep comping Justin Crawford to former Tampa Bay Rays corner outfielder Carl Crawford just because they have the same skillset and genetic material.  I think that is lazy fantasy analysis.  There are three things that stand out about Justin Crawford’s profile.  First, he steals a lot of bases.  He has stolen more than 40 in each of the past three minor league seasons.  Second, analysts are on his case for hitting the ball into the ground.  But, third, and most importantly, is that key word, “opportunity.”  Phillies management has been talking about giving Justin Crawford a big league role all offseason.

For Giancarlo Stanton, the big question is health.  Kirk Gibson may have hit a home run in a single at-bat with two bad legs.  But can Giancarlo play even a partial season with two bad elbows?  Despite playing only half a season and dealing with chronic injuries, 2025 was Stanton’s best fWAR year since 2021 and his best year for slugging percentage since his 2017 MVP year.  He hit 24 home runs in just 77 games.  With success like that, you can tell that he’s not epicondi-like-us.  Sometimes with jokes, you can try too hard.  And sometimes with swings, you can swing too hard.  The downside is that he played in only 77 games and his strikeout rate was the highest it has ever been for a season of more than 20 games.

Jonny Farmelo is a personal favorite prospect because he is being touted as able to do it all.  He has all five tools: hit for average, hit for power, run, field, and get injured.  He has not been able to stay on the field to show results, but could be a fun player to hold.

Josh Lowe is not one of my guys because I still feel burned by Austin Meadows, a Tampa Bay Ray who had one stellar season and continued to make me draft him past the time it was appropriate.  When you’re buying Lowe, you’re actually buying high on his 2023 season where he hit 20 home runs and stole 32 bases in 135 games.  Not only is that his career high for home runs and stolen bases, but also games played.   But, hey, moving from hitter-friendly Steinbrenner Field to the Trop has to help someone, right? [ed note: Lowe’s been traded to the Angels, plan accordingly.]

(Bob Kelly)

81 – 90

(Donovan Miller)

91 – 100

I’m starting to think it’s time to take a deeper look at Lars Nootbaar. For several seasons now he has been looked at as a possible (even likely) breakout candidate who has never broken out. Nootbaar is athletic, has a good approach at the plate, and has a Baseball Savant sheet full of red bars in some very important categories. What he lacks is actual production. Nootbaar is entering his sixth Major League season and is consistently producing a .240/.320/.330 slash line, a couple steals, and 13 home runs.  I no longer see any reason to project a different outcome.

Conversely, Cedric Mullins has a pretty awful Baseball Savant page, registering red bars only in outfield range, baserunning, and sprint speed. He’ll enter his age-31 season with his third team in three years with the Tampa Bay Rays. The good news for Mullins is that he’s probably still a 20/20 outfielder. His ground ball % has dropped every year he’s been in the majors, down to 30% last season. The bad news is that he doesn’t hit the ball consistently hard due to below average bat speed and barrel rates. He’s also going into a notorious pitcher’s park, as the Rays are moving back into Tropicana Field. I find the difference in Savant pages interesting because both he and Nootbaar manage to find very different ways to be roughly the same guy. If you are wary of a low batting average, Nootbaar might be your choice. If you need steals, Mullins becomes the easy option.

Speaking of the Rays, Theo Gillen was their first-round draft pick in 2024 at 18^th overall out of high school. He had some injuries in his senior year of high school and battled them again in 2025 with a preseason calf injury and a hand injury that ended his season three weeks early. In between those injuries Gillen flashed a lot of speed, stealing 36 bases in 39 tries and would have led the Single-A Carolina League in on-base percentage at .433 had he played enough to qualify. He shifted from SS to CF and reportedly is doing well, which eases pressure on his bat as he advances. Gillen had an acceptable 23% K-rate to go with his 20% walk rate, and a solid 42% ground ball rate. Like most 20-year-olds, he needs to pack on some strength, and with that power should follow. Gillen is an exciting player if he can get past his injury issues, and he’s in an organization that does a good job of developing prospects.

Jesús Sánchez was traded from Miami to the Astros at last year’s trade deadline and promptly helped them miss the playoffs. He is another case where above-average metrics in bat speed, barrel rates, and exit velocity have not equated to production.  Sánchez has seen his strikeout % drop every year in the Majors and in 2025 was a career-best 22%. Unfortunately, his isolated power has dropped 80 points over his 5 Big League seasons. Sánchez seems destined to platoon with Cam Smith next season, which undercuts his value. Houston is not sitting on a pile of talent in their corner outfield positions, and if Sánchez can recover his power stroke it’s likely he can hit his way into a larger role.

I feel like the only thing that is changing in this group (outside of the prospect Gillen) is I’m seeing the same production despite alternating between good Baseball Savant pages and poor ones. Next up for Team Poor is Harrison Bader. Bader’s role seems to be pretty set as a platoon bat that steals double-digit bases and hits double-digit homers. What makes Bader different is that his terrific centerfield glove nets him more playing time than a typical short-side platoon bat. His 2025 season represents the first time in the last five years that his offense has been above average by OPS+. Similar to the rest of the outfielders in this 91-100^th ranked tier, Bader has a pretty defined role and should net 450+ AB’s, 15 homers and more than 10 steals.

Are you tired of reading about boring, part time, veteran players who are more of a last resort for your fantasy team than a comfortable starter? C.J. Kayfus to the rescue! He struggled in a small sample size in 2025, but his numbers from the upper minors are highly encouraging with StatCast data to match. Kayfus is a bit of a free swinger with an aggressive approach. His zone contact rates are above average, he hits the ball hard, in the air, and pulls it. If Kayfus can tone down his tendency to chase out of the strike zone, he can be a very solid contributor in every category but steals.

It feels like Victor Robles has been around forever. It’s probably because he has been. I don’t understand his fantasy baseball appeal, frankly. He doesn’t stay healthy, and even when he does outside of a 70-game stretch in 2024 he’s been mostly a punchless speed-merchant that doesn’t walk. He’ll somehow be only entering his age-29 season. While I’m sure he’ll find a job because of his glove, Robles is only worth a roster spot in the deepest of deep leagues.

Speaking of punchless speed-merchants (I like how there are a lot of natural segues in this group) next up is Chandler Simpson. He is one of the fastest players in baseball and is a legitimate threat to steal 70+ bases. He gets a running start out of the lefthanded batter’s box, and he makes every ground ball an adventure for the defense. Simpson makes contact on pitches in the strike zone at a ridiculous 93% clip and somehow managed to not register a single barrel per Baseball Savant. There is some risk that Simpson turns into a modern-day Terrance Gore-style professional pinch-runner, but he has the speed to steal these nubbed ground ball singles and walks into triples after a couple of pitches. The Rays can be unconventional, and Simpson is definitely unconventional in the context of modern baseball. He’ll have a better chance to stick in Tampa than anywhere else.

Adolis García was a late bloomer as a player, finally getting a full-time job as a 28-year-old in 2021. He had his worst season since his debut, registering a 93 OPS+ in 2025. The Rangers non-tendered García this offseason and he was quickly snatched up by the Phillies. The Rangers seem to have done him a big favor as García moved from one of the worst power ballparks into one of the best. He should have plenty of opportunities for playing time as a good defending outfielder with power is something they need. García’s bat speed has started to decline, dropping nearly 2 mph. He still posts well above-average exit velocities and strikes out an acceptable 25% for a player with his power. García will be 33 this season, but I would not rule out a resurgence this year hitting in a powerful Phillies lineup.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has been about as rock-solid consistent as a player can be. He nets about 19-22 homers, gets about 75 RBI, 60 runs, and steals one base each month every season.  This year he is out until the All-Star break after ACL surgery, and he’ll start 2027 as a 33-year-old. At this stage in his career this injury presents risk. Gurriel may lose some mobility and have to shift out of the outfield, perhaps as soon as this summer.

(Brandon Ring)

101-130

If you already read my optimism bit above, you won’t be surprised that I see many fun and relevant players even down here in the trenches of our outfielder ranks. The veterans are in two batches or types – steady, bench depth that are likely on and off contending rosters, or players who are more volatile and are coming off poor performances.

But before that, I feel the need to immediately highlight two big prospect values I see this low: Nate George and Kevin Alcantara. In George, I see a PCA starter kit – Defensive wiz, physical build, speedster with hope for power. In reality, a 30/30 season is unlikely for the young prospect, but a few years ago similar was said of PCA. The O’s had a great streak of positional player development. We know this well in 2025 even if the story doesn’t yet have a fairy tale ending for their fans. If it was truly the organization that helped the players reach their development peaks, George will absolutely pop this year. Go get him now. Alcantara is well known to dynasty fans at this point but he is still a raw tool box with not a fully known future. After the Cubs shipped out Caissie and failed to re-sign Tucker, Alcantara’s path to playing time in Wrigley is much easier. I see both of these young men being way higher ranked in one year’s time.

Okay, back to my veteran groupings. The steady bunch includes Tommy Edman, Brandon Marsh, Brendan Donovan, and Gavin Sheets. There are others too but these are the ones I’d first target pending my team’s needs. The volatile names I see are Parker Meadows and Tyler O’Neill. Anyone who’s familiar with my fantasy roster types would understand why they jump out at me, but I think I may be done chasing the hope I had with Meadows. O’Neill I may also be done with too. Though because the O’s handed him that sizable contract last year, I think he’ll get another chance at proving himself to the organization. Willi Castro also likely falls into the volatile bucket. He may not be quite as potentially dynamic as TO’N but he just signed with Colorado and seemingly qualifies to play every position outside of catcher (seriously, it may be worth double checking your league settings for him).

There’s plenty of other names down here that may prove to be valuable to your team, but one last one I want to mention is Garrett Mitchell of the Milwaukee Brewers. Seemingly a perpetual fantasy tease, Mitchell started last year as the Opening Day centerfielder for the Crew. But as has been the main consistent in Mitchell’s career, he got hurt. What started as an oblique injury at the end of April became a detached shoulder labrum during rehab in the summer. Mitchell ended up missing over 125 games and the rest of the season. He rocks a fantasy friendly skillset when healthy but of course he also has historically struck out way too much. That combo puts him in our volatile bucket for this article and an underline as maybe our biggest risk/benefit player this deep. For you with 14-team leagues or larger, if he’s on the wire I’d scoop him up with an an eye on his spring performances. With an opportunity to crack the starting lineup after spring training, Mitchell has the talent to impact your roster all year.

(Chris Knock)