Fantasy Funkhouser: Fantasy Baseball 2013 Ranks - Round 7

Like many Cubs fans have been saying. There's always next year. (Getty)

Fantasy Funkhouser will review all things Fantasy Baseball. After all, life is a small sample size.

Patience is a bad thing in fantasy sports. In redraft leagues, aggressiveness is what wins championships. Whether its taking leaps of faith with sleepers in the draft and not adhering to anyone's rankings or constantly working the waiver wire and trying to make trades to improve your team - those are the ways to wiiiiiiin.

There are instances in redraft leagues, however, where patience can pay off. Every year there are shiny new players poised to breakout and be the best thing for fantasy owners since Google Drive, but the thing to realize about these players is that even on the slight chance they do make you the envy of every other team in your league; you only get them for one year. The flip of that, and more likely outcome, is that the player fails to live up to the high expectations set, and is a drag on your team you can't drop because of his promise along with the high dollar or round level you've invested in him.

I used to succumb heavily to such players, but that changed last year when a lot of the hyped prospects were getting so overvalued it was insane. Guys like Eric Hosmer, Matt Moore, and Brett Lawrie were all being taken way above their pay grade, and they all struggled. Lawrie and Moore were able to piece some things together near the end of the year, but Hosmer was flat out awful. This year they're actually ranked much more in line with what they should do than last year. A little step back isn't always a bad thing for players or fantasy owners.

Now, before the 57 people that read this are screaming at their iPads about a couple of dudes named Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, they were hardly drafted at all because primarily they didn't have jobs on Opening Day 2012. The idea behind being patient is not wasting value picks on guys like the trio above. Adding from free agency is at the core of succeeding in fantasy. All Trout and Harper cost you last year was a last round pick, $4 at auction, or the energy to make a couple of clicks with your mouse.

The one instance where this plan of mine went astray was with Stephen Strasburg. Going into every draft, I knew I would never own him, and I was fine with that. I wasn't going to invest in a one year league a lot into a player who was coming off of Tommy John, had an innings cap, and hardly had a MLB track record. Strasburg went on to finish 15-6 with a 3.16 ERA, 197 K's, and a 1.15 WHIP, but while I didn't experience because I didn't own him - we all know how messy the end of his season wrapped up with the will they/won't they/should they debate around shutting him down.

In Round 7 of my rankings there are a couple of guys in here that might be a year away, but are getting a lot of buzz right now. The first guy that jumps out is Anthony Rizzo. There are a lot of mixed projections on whether Rizzo will take the leap this year or not. I'm actually leaning more that he will, but I'm not leaping up draft boards to get him. Where he's ranked right now doesn't appear to be overblown (ADP: 85), but from hearing what experts are saying, the general pop is more hesitant to jump in on these guys because the Hosmers and Lawries of 2012.

Freddie Freeman comes in a spot behind Rizzo at #82. Freeman's case is an odd one. Despite marked improvements in his counting stats his OBP dropped even though he walked more, and his SLG barely ticked up from .448 to .455. Also his average dropped almost 30 points even though he struck out less. Freeman showed flashes of greatness in 2012 tearing through Spring Training (I know, I know, but he put on a bomb show during that SSS) and he was a multiple player of the week award winner early in the season. Throughout the rest of the year though, he was inconsistent. An injury to his hand as well as eye issues didn't allow him to hit a baseball very well. So now as 2013 approaches, we are left to wonder if the injuries held him back from a true breakout year.

Another odd thing I found about Freeman is, that at age 23 he's performing about as good as virtually any scout thought he would. His power profile was never there, but last year it was mentioned that not only was he (say it with me...) in the BEST SHAPE OF HIS LIFE, he also started lifting weights for the first time ever ... apparently impressing chicks in high school was different for him than it was for me. I'm no scout, but I doubt they base their power profile on whether or not this guy can bench his weight, but perhaps there is something to this. There's also the distinct chance that Freeman just might be at his peak already. It's a weird case as Freeman's ceiling certainly appears limited.

Notes: I was scared of Sale, now not. Injuries are for keeper leagues, dudarino - let him stand and fire...I have no idea what to make of Hill - he'll get you power, and I wouldn't classify him under the FLUKE tag, just too uneven for my tastes...Motte altered his delivery slightly near the end of last season - once he did that he was scorching through the end of the season and playoffs - don't be surprised if he's the #2 closer in 2013.

RANK	NAME	POSITION
73	CHRIS SALE	SP
74	MICHAEL BOURN	OF
75	MAX SCHERZER	SP
76	AARON HILL	2B
77	JOE MAUER	C/1B
78	MATT MOORE	SP
79	ALEX GORDON	OF
80	SHIN-SOO CHOO	OF
81	ANTHONY RIZZO	1B
82	FREDDIE FREEMAN	1B
83	JASON MOTTE	RP
84	MATT WIETERS	C

OVERALL RANKINGS THUS FAR

Another week, another Yankee is clipped. Mark Teixiera sprained his wrist, and he can now be expected to miss 8-10 weeks like his teammate Curtis Granderson. While this does plummet him to #125 in my overall ranks, this injury is much more concerning than Granderson's. First, Tex strained his wrist as opposed to Granderson's clean break of his bone. Bones heal, and you're back and ready to go. A wrist injury for a power hitter is shaky ground. Tex has devolved from a great all-around player to now one that only brings homers and RBI to the fantasy picnic table.

As an overall note, I've read several interesting things about starting pitcher depth on Fangraphs and ESPN. The consensus? There's no more depth now than 10 years ago. It's become popular to wait on pitchers, but in shallow leagues, that's bunk.

Elite pitchers bring it to the table, and while I too agree I'd go offense over pitching early, it's important to sure up the top of your staff. Whether your a streamer or like to spin the wheel of destiny with sleeper pitchers, make sure you build a stable staff. 

RANK	NAME	POSITION	CHANGE	PREVIOUSLY
1	MIGUEL CABRERA	3B
2	RYAN BRAUN	OF
3	MIKE TROUT	OF
4	JOEY VOTTO	1B
5	ANDREW MCCUTCHEN	OF
6	MATT KEMP	OF
7	ROBINSON CANO	2B
8	ALBERT PUJOLS	1B
9	CARLOS GONZALEZ	OF
10	JUSTIN VERLANDER	SP
11	PRINCE FIELDER	1B
12	CLAYTON KERSHAW	SP
13	JASON HEYWARD	OF
14	GIANCARLO STANTON	OF
15	DAVID WRIGHT	3B
16	FELIX HERNANDEZ	SP
17	JUSTIN UPTON	OF
18	JOSE BAUTISTA	OF
19	EVAN LONGORIA	3B
20	STEPHEN STRASBURG	SP
21	ADRIAN BELTRE	3B	↑	22
22	HANLEY RAMIREZ	3B/SS	↑	24
23	JOSH HAMILTON	OF	↑	23
24	BUSTER POSEY	C/1B	↓	21
25	ADAM JONES	OF
26	DAVID PRICE	SP
27	TROY TULOWITZKI	SS
28	EDWIN ENCARNACION	1B/DH	↑	28
29	IAN KINSLER	2B
30	MATT CAIN	SP	↓	30
31	COLE HAMELS	SP
32	STARLIN CASTRO	SS
33	DUSTIN PEDROIA	2B
34	JAY BRUCE	OF
35	JOSE REYES	SS
36	CLIFF LEE	SP
37	ADRIAN GONZALEZ	1B/OF
38	MATT HOLLIDAY	OF
39	RYAN ZIMMERMAN	3B
40	JACOBY ELLSBURY	OF
41	ADAM WAINWRIGHT	SP
42	MADISON BUMGARNER	SP
43	ZACK GREINKE	SP
44	BRYCE HARPER	OF
45	JERED WEAVER	SP
46	BRANDON PHILLIPS	2B
47	ALLEN CRAIG	1B/OF
48	YU DARVISH	SP
49	YOENIS CESPEDES	OF
50	BILLY BUTLER	1B
51	BEN ZOBRIST	2B/SS/OF
52	PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT	1B
53	GIO GONZALEZ	SP
54	PABLO SANDOVAL	3B
55	BRETT LAWRIE	3B
56	R.A. DICKEY	SP
57	CRAIG KIMBREL	RP
58	CC SABATHIA	SP	↑	62
59	B.J. UPTON	OF
60	IAN DESMOND	SS
61	YADIER MOLINA	C
62	ROY HALLADAY	SP	↑	70
63	AROLDIS CHAPMAN	SP/RP
64	MAT LATOS	SP	↓	58
65	JASON KIPNIS	2B
66	ARAMIS RAMIREZ	3B
67	AUSTIN JACKSON	OF
68	KRIS MEDLEN	SP
69	DESMOND JENNINGS	OF
70	JOHNY CUETO	SP	↓	64
71	CHASE HEADLEY	3B
72	JIMMY ROLLINS	SS
73	CHRIS SALE	SP
74	MICHAEL BOURN	OF
75	MAX SCHERZER	SP
76	AARON HILL	2B
77	JOE MAUER	C/1B
78	MATT MOORE	SP
79	ALEX GORDON	OF
80	SHIN-SOO CHOO	OF
81	ANTHONY RIZZO	1B
82	FREDDIE FREEMAN	1B
83	JASON MOTTE	RP
84	MATT WIETERS	C

The Funkman says: "I'm not old; I'm proven."