Spring Training 2021 – Top 500 Dynasty Rankings

Baseball is back! There were Spring Training games on television yesterday, Trey Mancini kicked cancer’s ass with a single, and the calendar turned to March. Hope springs eternal!

This is especially true in dynasty baseball, where there is always the next great wave of prospects on which you can build a foundation for dominating your league.

Now that most – not all – of the free agents have landed and we think we have some idea of what’s going on in 2021 (I’m personally looking forward to the announcement on Opening Day that we will, after all, have an NL DH this season), I have gone through the process of updating my Top 500 Dynasty Rankings.

A few general notes on my approach to dynasty that give you context on the rankings:

1. This assumes traditional 5×5 roto dynasty leagues. You’ll need to make adjustments for OBP leagues, QS leagues, etc.

2. Do not use this – or any dynasty list for that matter – as a straight draft list. The depth of your league, the drafting tendencies of your leaguemates, and other factors will influence your draft.

3. My general dynasty approach (that informs these rankings) is to play for the next three years when you draft. Going for broke and drafting as if you’re in a redraft league in the first year of a dynasty league is dangerous. On the flipside, drafting all prospects and ignoring proven MLB players in their prime is a recipe for disaster.

4. The dynasty community is ageist. Yes, you want younger players who can contribute to your team for a long period of time. But productive players in their 30s have value too. You will see me ranking 28-31 year olds higher here than many other dynasty lists.

5. I probably don’t like pitchers – especially pitching prospects – as much as you do. Early on in dynasty drafts, I tend to stack young bats. I’ll get pitching later. Established aces are arguably the most valuable commodity in redraft fantasy leagues, but how many top fantasy arms in 2021 do you have confidence in for the next three years?

6. The market matters. This list doesn’t necessarily reflect how well I think each of these players will perform. This is for keeper and dynasty league purposes, which means trade value is king. There are plenty of instances, especially with prospects, where I personally assign a lesser value to players than the roto-sphere does. I’m happy to draft them and trade them for players I like more than the crowd.

7. The closer is the most unpredictable “position” in fantasy baseball. They are considerably lower on this list than in a redraft league. You are betting on their long-term consistency at your own risk.