Fantasy Baseball OF Rankings, Dollar Values 2023: Top players, sleepers at outfield

When preparing your strategy for fantasy baseball draft day, ranking outfielders can be the most overwhelming process of them all. Many standard leagues feature five OF spots and five-to-seven bench spots, so you're analyzing anywhere from 85 to 100 players at the position while also taking into consideration multi-positional eligibilities. Our 2023 OF rankings and projected dollar values will reduce your stress and help you harness an understanding of the position so you're ready to grab the studs, sleepers, and breakout candidates on your league's big day. 

Not everyone will be a no-brainer like AL home run king Aaron Judge, Braves power-speed star Ronald Acuña Jr., or Mariners reigning Rookie of the Year Julio Rodriguez. We could see any of these three going first in drafts this spring. We could also see about eight different outfielders being viable top-five picks, and a quick check on FantasyPros shows us that 13 different OFs have been ranked in the top nine by at least one fantasy site. 

Translation: you'd better get at least one stud outfielder early. You can find your second and third OF in the range of Rounds 5-8, but waiting until Round 3 or 4 for your first one could be a grave mistake. Let's face it: the drop-off from Mookie Betts, Yordan Alvarez, Mike Trout, and even Michael Harris II to Randy Arozarena and Luis Robert is steep. That's why I plan on selecting one outfielder, one second baseman, one third baseman, and one shortstop in the first four rounds — with a strong emphasis on OF by the late first or early second. 

2023 FANTASY RANKINGS & DOLLAR VALUES:
Cs | 1Bs | 2Bs | 3Bs | SSs | SPs | RPs | Top 300

Now, none of this is to suggest that outfielder isn't deep — of course it's deep! -- but those top-tier, across-the-board producers give fantasy squads a massive leg up on owners who passed on them. If you grab one established stud around the beginning of the draft, there will be plenty of high-upside sleepers and under-the-radar value plays down the line who could break out into the next batch of stars. 

2023 FANTASY SLEEPERS & VALUES:
Cs | 1Bs | 2Bs | 3Bs | SSs | OFs | SPs | RPs

Baltimore's Cedric Mullins always intrigues us in the fourth or fifth round, especially with the Orioles lineup getting better each year. Players we're targeting in the seventh and eighth rounds include Twins per-game beast Byron Buxton and Diamondbacks breakout candidate Corbin Carroll. If Buxton can stay healthy for once and Carroll puts it all together, these could be league-winning commodities. We're also huge on spring training stud Andrew Vaughn and would draft him 10-20 picks before his early of 138.

With the pitch clock regulations in place, we find ourselves going back to Rockies outfielders Kris Bryant and Charlie Blackmon, both of whom have struggled mightily at times over the past few years. We also think the pickoff rules should greatly benefit the mid-tier speedsters like Thairo Estrada, Steven Kwan, and Jake McCarthy.

Always consider how the game within the game affects each player's fantasy value. Past results and trends as well as variables like current rule changes can help determine the likelihood of a player outperforming his draft position. 

Fantasy Baseball OF Rankings 2023: Top players, sleepers at outfield

Position eligibility based on Yahoo's default settings

Fantasy Baseball OF Projected Dollar Values

Dollar values courtesy of Fantasy Pros and based on a 12-team mixed league with a $260 budget (70 percent allocated for hitting)

All other players valued at $0