Tiers are an alternate form of rankings that concerns itself less with parsing individual players and more with denoting the biggest drop-offs. Players whose value is essentially the same are bundled together to help you prioritize which position to draft next. If the goal in a draft is to maximize the return of each pick, then a simple way to do so is to target a position that's nearing a drop-off and wait on a position that isn't. By crossing off names as you go, your path to victory should become clear.
- Position Strategies: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP
- Position Previews: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP
- Position Tiers: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP
Below are the outfield tiers for 2024, depicting a position that will dominate Round 1 but endure some serious droughts thereafter. The Also-Elite tier is completely vacant, and The Next-Best Things tier could quickly pass you by. If you don't have three outfielders by the time the top 28 are gone, you may be in for a world of hurt.
You'll notice several DH-only players are included here, denoted by the parentheses. There aren't enough to tier independently of every other position, so I typically tier them at the position where they're most likely to gain eligibility, however unlikely it may be (see Ohtani, Shohei). It just so happens this year that every DH-only player is, for tiering purposes, an outfielder. Don't let it fool you into thinking the position is deeper than it is.
The Unmatched: Ronald Acuna
The First-Rounders: Julio Rodriguez, Corbin Carroll, Mookie Betts, Kyle Tucker, Fernando Tatis, Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, (Shohei Ohtani), Yordan Alvarez
The Also-Elite -- none
The Near-Elite: Luis Robert, Mike Trout, Cody Bellinger, Adolis Garcia, Michael Harris, Randy Arozarena, Kyle Schwarber, Nolan Jones^, Joshua Lowe^, Jazz Chisholm^, Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio^
The Next-Best Things: Wyatt Langford, Bryan Reynolds, Spencer Steer, Seiya Suzuki, George Springer, Teoscar Hernandez, Evan Carter
The Fallback Options: Lane Thomas, (Marcell Ozuna), Jordan Walker, Nick Castellanos, Jorge Soler, Chas McCormick, Cedric Mullins, (Eloy Jimenez), Anthony Santander, Riley Greene, Ian Happ, Brandon Nimmo, TJ Friedl, James Outman^, Tommy Edman, (J.D. Martinez), Esteury Ruiz^, Kerry Carpenter, Jarren Duran, Lars Nootbaar, Steven Kwan, Masataka Yoshida, Jung-Hoo Lee, (Byron Buxton)
The Last Resorts: Tyler O'Neill, Jarred Kelenic, Sal Frelick, Christopher Morel, Starling Marte, Giancarlo Stanton, Alex Verdugo, Daulton Varsho, Lourdes Gurriel, Taylor Ward, Whit Merrifield, Nelson Velazquez, Jake Fraley, Jeff McNeil, Kris Bryant, Garrett Mitchell, Matt Wallner, Leody Taveras, Hunter Renfroe, Austin Hays, MJ Melendez, Jack Suwinski, Henry Davis, Brendan Donovan
The Leftovers: Charlie Blackmon, Alex Kirilloff, Brent Rooker, Max Kepler, Wilyer Abreu, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Parker Meadows, Adam Duvall, Bryan De La Cruz, (Heston Kjerstad), Jose Siri, Luke Raley, Mitch Haniger, Willi Castro, Luis Rengifo, Ezequiel Duran, Ryan O'Hearn, Johan Rojas, Tommy Pham, Jasson Dominguez, Ceddanne Rafaela, Colton Cowser, Andrew Benintendi, (Joey Meneses), Brandon Marsh, (Andrew McCutchen), Joc Pederson, Jake McCarthy, Will Benson, LaMonte Wade, Edward Olivares, Harrison Bader, Jason Heyward, Joey Gallo, Brenton Doyle, Michael Conforto, Mike Yastrzemski, Mike Tauchman, Randal Grichuk, Alec Burleson, Mickey Moniak, Joey Wiemer, Alek Thomas, Hunter Goodman, Jesus Sanchez, Seth Brown, Mark Canha, Aaron Hicks
^ one tier lower in points leagues
() DH-only
