Shuffle Up: Mookie, Trout, everybody else in the outfield

Ah, the outfield. Land of all the fun stats. If you can keep your players on the field, you might just get somewhere.

The numbers don’t matter in a vacuum; what matters is how the player prices relate to one another. Assume a 5×5 scoring system, as always. Everyone listed here has outfield eligibility in the Yahoo game at the current time. Players at the same cost are considered even. I’m not ranking the injured guys; it just becomes a silly game of “Who has the most injury optimism?”

And I’m not a doctor. (Somebody get me a doctor.)

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Have some disagreements? Have some major disagreements? That’s good! That’s why we have a game. I welcome your respectful disagreement anytime: @scott_pianowski on Twitter.

Just the prices for now. Commentary Monday, and maybe some slight tweaks. Enjoy the baseball, enjoy your holiday. Let’s seize the day.

$46 Mookie Betts
$46 Mike Trout
$42 Charlie Blackmon
$39 Aaron Judge
$39 J.D. Martinez
$37 Kris Bryant
$36 Bryce Harper
$36 George Springer
$35 Giancarlo Stanton
$32 Starling Marte
$29 Tommy Pham

Trout versus Betts is a fun MVP discussion, if the season ended on Memorial Day. Betts wins in average, slugging, offensive WAR, baserunning metrics. Trout has the better OBP, the better defensive WAR (ha ha, defensive metrics), and obviously has a park disadvantage. If I had to pick one or the other, I’d lean Betts (if healthy) because of his park and supporting cast. But Trout is obviously a force of nature and is never a bad pick at No. 1 overall. The Angels really need to rethink their lineup, get more OBP guys in front of Trout. Andrelton Simmons is being wasted in the middle of the order.

$27 Andrew Benintendi
$23 Scooter Gennett
$22 Eddie Rosario
$22 Odubel Herrera
$21 Lorenzo Cain
$21 Christian Yelich
$20 Brandon Belt
$20 Nomar Mazara
$19 Michael Brantley
$19 Whit Merrifield
$18 Justin Upton
$18 Cody Bellinger
$18 Ender Inciarte
$17 Rhys Hoskins
$17 Mitch Haniger
$16 Nick Castellanos
$15 Adam Jones
$15 Kyle Schwarber
$14 Nick Markakis
$14 Gregory Polanco
$13 Joey Gallo

I’ve been highly critical of Schwarber over his brief career, but time to accept the reality. He’s grown into a nice player; ironically, by trimming down. Walks up, strikeouts down, and he’s no longer a pylon in left field, either. He might never fully solve lefties, but it’s a right-handed world anyway. Heck, he’s even stolen a couple of bases. Well played, player . . . The power could vanish on Markakis at any time. Everything else in his profile makes sense. It’s also a stacked lineup, though it looks like Ronald Acuna might be out for a while . . . I get why Mazara’s pop bustout concerns people, because he’s hitting less fly balls and he’s not making more contact. But his hard-hit rate is increased and he’s pulling the ball more. Tie that to his experience level (Year 3) and maybe he’s learning how to drive the ball when he gets a pitch he wants or a favorable count. Knowing how fun Arlington can be in the summer, I’m still very bullish here.

$13 Matt Adams
$13 Chris Taylor
$13 Kevin Pillar
$13 Carlos Santana
$13 Marcell Ozuna
$13 Ryan Braun
$13 Nelson Cruz
$12 Jorge Soler
$12 Delino DeShields (initially way too high, agreed)
$11 Corey Dickerson
$11 Jose Martinez
$11 Brett Gardner
$11 Shin-Soo Choo
$10 Matt Kemp
$10 Aaron Hicks
$10 Michael Conforto
$8 Franchy Cordero
$8 Denard Span
$8 Teoscar Hernandez
$8 Mark Canha
$8 Yasiel Puig
$8 Adam Duvall
$8 Juan Soto
$7 David Peralta
$7 Matt Olson
$7 Andrew McCutchen
$7 Trey Mancini
$7 Carlos Gonzalez
$7 Max Kepler
$7 Byron Buxton
$6 Austin Meadows
$6 Mark Trumbo
$6 Brian Anderson
$6 Jurickson Profar
$6 Marwin Gonzalez
$6 Chad Pinder
$6 Josh Harrison
$6 Tyler O’Neill

Buxton needs to clear his head and get some confidence back. He’s unlikely to ever be a batting-average guy, but he’s automatic on the bases and does have some power. You can only push him so far down this list, because he’ll always have plausible upside. The Twins might want to stop pinch-hitting for him as often as they do, because it might be messing with Buxton’s head . . . If the Pirates had a full-time opening for Meadows right now, he’s into double digits . . . The Pumpkin Risk is high on Gonzalez. He’s striking out six percent more often and having a slightly-unfavorable BABIP season after a fortunate one. He won’t run enough to push the needle. He’s not a pylon in the field, but he has no plus position . . . As usual, I’d go a lot higher on Adams if his team would commit to him. He could be Schwarber-East, if Washington will let it happen.

$5 Travis Jankowski
$5 Matt Joyce
$5 David Dahl
$4 Niko Goodrum
$4 Ian Happ
$4 Mallex Smith
$4 Leonys Martin
$4 Daniel Descalso
$4 Jonathan Villar
$4 Scott Kingery
$4 Jay Bruce
$3 Derek Dietrich
$3 Ian Desmond
$3 Gerardo Parra
$3 Michael Taylor
$3 Scott Schebler
$3 Jose Pirela
$3 Albert Almora
$3 Billy Hamilton
$3 Curtis Granderson
$3 Brandon Nimmo
$3 Ben Zobrist
$3 Dexter Fowler
$3 Eduardo Nunez
$3 Danny Valencia
$3 Daniel Palka
$3 Carlos Gomez
$3 Jesse Winker
$2 Jon Jay
$2 JaCoby Jones
$2 Max Muncy
$2 Domingo Santana
$2 Alex Gordon
$2 Kike Hernandez
$2 Stephen Piscotty
$2 Jason Kipnis
$2 Ben Gamel

Gamel is quietly on a .339/.423/.435 month, with three steals in the last week. Batted second Sunday, had three hits. Unfortunately, the Mariners actually think Denard Span will help them, so Gamel is just a deeper-league guy for now . . . Maybe pump up Dietrich a little bit for his versatility. And the Marlins have to play him, for better or for worse. He’s more of a boring stat-counting player in leagues where at-bats are high currency, but in deeper mixed we need some of those guys, too . . . I thought Fowler would be reasonable productive before he broke down inevitably. Instead, he was awful, and now he’s dinged up. Everyone’s steady and reliable, until they’re not. The Cardinals fancy themselves contenders and need to do better.

$1 Gorkys Hernandez
$1 Aaron Altherr
$1 Harrison Bader
$1 Adam Engel
$1 Nick Williams
$1 Joc Pederson
$1 Jarrod Dyson
$1 Hernan Perez
$1 Manuel Margot
$1 Mac Williamson
$1 Rajai Davis
$1 Lewis Brinson
$1 Dustin Fowler
$0 Jason Heyward
$0 Jackie Bradley
$0 Kole Calhoun

There’s no reason to rank injured guys; it’s so heavy on context and injury optimism. So call them anything you want.

AJ Pollock
Dee Gordon
Khris Davis
Yoenis Cespedes
Josh Reddick
Ronald Acuna (Sunday was a depressing day)
Leury Garcia
Howie Kendrick
Eric Thames
Alen Hanson
Steve Pearce
Bradley Zimmer
Wil Myers
Avisail Garcia
Kevin Kiermaier
Steven Souza