Zach Thompson's Fantasy Baseball Rankings for the 2020 MLB Season

Here are all of Zach Thompson’s top 150 players ranked for the 2020 fantasy baseball season. He dives into how Luis Robert shot through the minors and now should find his way onto your team, the potential for Gary Sanchez to disappoint and a sleeper pick at starting pitcher making his return for a second-straight season.

MLB RANKINGS SPOTLIGHT

1. Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves – OF
2. Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels – OF
3. Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers – OF
4. Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers – OF
5. Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees – SP
6. Francisco Lindor, Cleveland Indians – SS
7. Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies – 3B
8. Trevor Story, Colorado Rockies – SS
9. Cody Bellinger, Los Angeles Dodgers – 1B,OF
10. Trea Turner, Washington Nationals – SS
11. Jacob deGrom, New York Mets – SP
12. Juan Soto, Washington Nationals – OF
13. Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals – SP
14. Alex Bregman, Houston Astros – 3B,SS
15. Walker Buehler, Los Angeles Dodgers – SP
16. Anthony Rendon, Los Angeles Angels – 3B
17. J.D. Martinez, Boston Red Sox – OF
18. Justin Verlander, Houston Astros – SP
19. José Ramírez, Cleveland Indians – 3B
20. Jack Flaherty, St. Louis Cardinals – SP
21. Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox – 3B
22. Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves – 1B
23. Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres – SS
24. Yordan Alvarez, Houston Astros – OF
25. Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals – SP
26. Gleyber Torres, New York Yankees – 2B,SS
27. Pete Alonso, New York Mets – 1B
28. Shane Bieber, Cleveland Indians – SP
29. Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies – OF
30. George Springer, Houston Astros – OF
31. Starling Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks – OF
32. Charlie Blackmon, Colorado Rockies – OF
33. Xander Bogaerts, Boston Red Sox – SS
34. Jose Altuve, Houston Astros – 2B
35. Aaron Judge, New York Yankees – OF
36. Javier Báez, Chicago Cubs – SS
37. Ozzie Albies, Atlanta Braves – 2B
38. Adalberto Mondesi, Kansas City Royals – SS
39. Keston Hiura, Milwaukee Brewers – 2B
40. Austin Meadows, Tampa Bay Rays – OF
41. Patrick Corbin, Washington Nationals – SP
42. Whit Merrifield, Kansas City Royals – 2B,OF
43. Kris Bryant, Chicago Cubs – 3B,OF
44. Blake Snell, Tampa Bay Rays – SP
45. Chris Paddack, San Diego Padres – SP
46. Manny Machado, San Diego Padres – 3B,SS
47. Luis Castillo, Cincinnati Reds – SP
48. Giancarlo Stanton, New York Yankees – OF
49. Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks – 2B,SS,OF
50. Anthony Rizzo, Chicago Cubs – 1B
51. Charlie Morton, Tampa Bay Rays – SP
52. Paul Goldschmidt, St. Louis Cardinals – 1B
53. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays – 3B
54. Bo Bichette, Toronto Blue Jays – SS
55. Lucas Giolito, Chicago White Sox – SP
56. Nelson Cruz, Minnesota Twins – DH
57. Eloy Jiménez, Chicago White Sox – OF
58. Aaron Nola, Philadelphia Phillies – SP
59. Jonathan Villar, Miami Marlins – 2B,SS
60. Matt Olson, Oakland Athletics – 1B
61. Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers – SP
62. Zack Greinke, Houston Astros – SP
63. Eugenio Suárez, Cincinnati Reds – 3B
64. Mike Clevinger, Cleveland Indians – SP
65. José Abreu, Chicago White Sox – 1B
66. Tommy Pham, San Diego Padres – OF
67. Eddie Rosario, Minnesota Twins – OF
68. Yoán Moncada, Chicago White Sox – 3B
69. J.T. Realmuto, Philadelphia Phillies – C

70. Luis Robert, Chicago White Sox – OF
Robert is the No. 3 prospect in all of baseball, and he appears ready to make a major impact for the White Sox right out of the gate this season. Chicago inked him to a six-year, $50 million deal this offseason with two more club options after that, which shows how certain they are about Robert’s role and eliminates the potential of service issue concerns. Robert dominated last year at three levels, hitting .328 with 32 home runs, 36 stolen bases and 108 runs scored in 122 games. He has built on that with a great Spring Training and is making a strong bid to open the season at the top of the White Sox revamped and potentially-potent lineup. If Chicago locks him in atop their lineup, he could easily be a threat for 25 stolen bases and 25 home runs. He’s not quite Robert Acuña but has similar multi-category potential. Even if he starts the year lower in the lineup, his speed and security as a key piece of the White Sox future give him a high floor as well. I’m taking him in the eighth or ninth round and embracing the upside of La Pantera.

71. DJ LeMahieu, New York Yankees – 1B,2B,3B
72. Josh Hader, Milwaukee Brewers – RP
73. Marcus Semien, Oakland Athletics – SS
74. Kirby Yates, San Diego Padres – RP
75. Aroldis Chapman, New York Yankees – RP
76. Yu Darvish, Chicago Cubs – SP
77. Matt Chapman, Oakland Athletics – 3B
78. Jorge Soler, Kansas City Royals – OF
79. Victor Robles, Washington Nationals – OF
80. Joey Gallo, Texas Rangers – OF
81. Jeff McNeil, New York Mets – 2B,3B,OF
82. Noah Syndergaard, New York Mets – SP
83. Josh Bell, Pittsburgh Pirates – 1B
84. Marcell Ozuna, Atlanta Braves – OF
85. Nick Castellanos, Cincinnati Reds – OF
86. Tyler Glasnow, Tampa Bay Rays – SP
87. Max Muncy, Los Angeles Dodgers – 1B,2B,3B
88. Trevor Bauer, Cincinnati Reds – SP
89. José Berríos, Minnesota Twins – SP
90. Josh Donaldson, Minnesota Twins – 3B
91. Tim Anderson, Chicago White Sox – SS
92. Corey Kluber, Texas Rangers – SP
93. Michael Conforto, New York Mets – OF
94. Andrew Benintendi, Boston Red Sox – OF
95. Sonny Gray, Cincinnati Reds – SP
96. Roberto Osuna, Houston Astros – RP
97. Carlos Correa, Houston Astros – SS
98. Michael Brantley, Houston Astros – OF
99. Mike Moustakas, Cincinnati Reds – 2B,3B

100. Gary Sánchez, New York Yankees – C
It’s easy to see what everyone loves about Sanchez–the slugging catcher hit over 30 home runs in two of the past three seasons and is part of a great lineup at a position where hitting is hard to come by. However, Sanchez has two major issues that make him too risky at his ADP for me. The first concern with Sanchez is his durability. He has had multiple injuries the past two seasons playing only 89 games in 2018 and 106 games in 2019. He also seemed to run out of gas at the end of the Yankees’ playoff run, so they may rest him even more often to keep him fresh. The second major issue with Sanchez is that he can be an anchor for your batting average. Last season, he improved to a still-dreadful .232 after hitting just .186 in 2018. His high strikeout rate makes him an all-or-nothing at-bat. While I acknowledge the power potential, his one-dimensional contributions even when healthy drop him down in my rankings considerably.

101. Trey Mancini, Baltimore Orioles – 1B,OF
102. Mike Soroka, Atlanta Braves – SP
103. Ramón Laureano, Oakland Athletics – OF
104. Brandon Woodruff, Milwaukee Brewers – SP
105. Rhys Hoskins, Philadelphia Phillies – 1B
106. Eduardo Escobar, Arizona Diamondbacks – 2B,3B
107. Kenley Jansen, Los Angeles Dodgers – RP
108. Corey Seager, Los Angeles Dodgers – SS
109. David Dahl, Colorado Rockies – OF
110. Carlos Carrasco, Cleveland Indians – SP,RP
111. Taylor Rogers, Minnesota Twins – RP
112. Cavan Biggio, Toronto Blue Jays – 2B,OF
113. Frankie Montas, Oakland Athletics – SP
114. Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies – SP
115. Max Kepler, Minnesota Twins – OF
116. Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks – SP
117. Jorge Polanco, Minnesota Twins – SS
118. Liam Hendriks, Oakland Athletics – RP
119. Franmil Reyes, Cleveland Indians – OF
120. Madison Bumgarner, Arizona Diamondbacks – SP
121. Eduardo Rodriguez, Boston Red Sox – SP
122. Oscar Mercado, Cleveland Indians – OF
123. Brad Hand, Cleveland Indians – RP
124. Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels – DH, SP
125. Hyun-Jin Ryu, Toronto Blue Jays – SP
126. Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers – SS
127. Edwin Díaz, New York Mets – RP
128. Carlos Santana, Cleveland Indians – 1B
129. Max Fried, Atlanta Braves – SP
130. Yuli Gurriel, Houston Astros – 1B,3B
131. Robbie Ray, Arizona Diamondbacks – SP
132. Craig Kimbrel, Chicago Cubs – RP
133. Jesús Luzardo, Oakland Athletics – RP
134. Dinelson Lamet, San Diego Padres – SP
135. Raisel Iglesias, Cincinnati Reds – RP
136. Yasmani Grandal, Chicago White Sox – C,1B
137. Danny Santana, Texas Rangers – 1B,2B,3B,SS,OF
138. Amed Rosario, New York Mets – SS
139. David Price, Los Angeles Dodgers – SP
140. Lorenzo Cain, Milwaukee Brewers – OF
141. Yasiel Puig – OF
142. Lance Lynn, Texas Rangers – SP
143. Alex Colomé, Chicago White Sox-RP
144. Matthew Boyd, Detroit Tigers – SP
145. Ken Giles, Toronto Blue Jays – RP
146. Sean Manaea, Oakland Athletics – SP
147. Paul DeJong, St. Louis Cardinals – SS
148. Justin Turner, Los Angeles Dodgers – 3B
149. Luke Weaver, Arizona Diamondbacks – SP
150. Miguel Sano, Minnesota Twins – 1B, 3B

Sleeper pick

Josh James, SP, Houston Astros

I’m back on James as my sleeper SP for a second straight season. Last year, the flame-throwing righty suffered an injury early in Spring Training and ended up working mostly out of the bullpen. He went 5-1 in 49 games (only one start) and struck out 100 batters in 61 1/3 innings. With Gerrit Cole now in pinstripes, Houston has a spot in the rotation, and James looks ready to step up and fill it. He worked this offseason on improving his control, which was always been what held him back. So far the results in Spring Training are outstanding. He has thrown just five innings but has allowed just one hit and no runs while striking out five. Perhaps even more importantly, he has yet to walk a batter in Grapefruit League play. If he can harness his control and still keep his strikeout rate up, he could be a breakout SP in a rotation backed by a top-tier lineup. He’s definitely someone I’m targeting in the final round or two of my drafts.

Click on a name to see each of the rankings with additional analysis

Top 150

Steve Buchanan

Garion Thorne

Tim Finnegan

Greg Ehrenberg

Julian Edlow

Mike Barner

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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is Z.Thompson) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.