Welcome, RotoBallers. You may have noticed that we're rolling out a ton of rankings content for the 2016 season. Included in this effort is our Top 300 staff rankings, which you can view by clicking that link or scrolling all the way down below.

In addition to yours truly, Brad Johnson and Nick Mariano participated in the initial phase, and we're hoping to add a few more of our experts to the mix in future updates. For now, Nick and I are here to dissect the rankings. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and in the end, you'll learn something about who you really are, man. Or not.

Anyway, let's kick things off at first base.

First Base Rankings Analysis

Kyle Bishop (@amoralpanic)

Brad isn't here to defend his controversial ranking of Jose Abreu, so obviously we need to make fun of him for it. At 34, I'm actually right between his rank on Abreu (50) and yours (18), but even my ranking was seen as too low by some readers, and his early ADP and expert consensus (via FantasyPros) agree with your valuation. Abreu's hit 30 homers in each of his first two seasons and only eight qualified hitters posted a higher wOBA, so I understand the criticism. The thing is, half of those eight are first basemen. I know both of us wrestled with how much weight to give to positional considerations; it's probably the most challenging aspect of doing overall rankings, to be honest. It's possible that I overthought this in a few cases, Abreu being one of them.

It's much the same story with Adrian Gonzalez, Prince Fielder, and Albert Pujols - Brad's the negative nancy, with you the optimist and me in between. Is it becoming obvious that I'm a middle child? In Pujols' case at least, I think Brad's lower ranking is much more easily justified. Pujols hit 40 homers last year, but that was paired with a .244 average. And at 36, having looked every bit of it in 2014 and even in the early going last season, there's a lot more risk involved here.

The other first baseman I want to talk about is Lucas Duda. Brad and I both have him comfortably inside the top 100, but you've got him way down at 182 (behind Andrew friggin' Cashner, which we'll get into later). Why is that?

Nick Mariano (@NMariano53)

Greetings Kyle, cardboard cutout of Brad, and all you RotoBallers. Can I preemptively state my regret about Andrew Cashner's ranking? No? Okay, I'll just tuck that away for later.

Diving right into it, Jose Abreu and the curious case of first basemen personally has me handcuffed all up and down the top 300. I think there is really something to be said for where you throw your weight behind at the position, but just because there are a bunch of productive first basemen doesn't change how I think they'll finish. When I look at other positions I just like these tiers of 1Bs more than those. Maybe it's because I played first base in high school? Am I that biased? I need to re-think my life.

As for Abreu, I love his range of outcomes. His floor feels pretty set right around 30 home runs, though you could certainly accuse me of "playing it safe" with my Abreu ranking. His swinging strike rate dropped from 14.4% to 11.4% and his average fly ball distance actually went up from 2014, and he also gets Todd Frazier's bat in the lineup instead of relying on Tyler Saladino manning the hot corner. I'm in on him as my 1B4, which puts him right around #18 for me. You want to put him at the end of third round, maybe you can sell me on that. Brad putting him in as a fifth rounder though? I can't.

I can appreciate that stance with Pujols, I will admit to probably having some rose-tinted glasses on when it comes to his foot surgery recovery. Consider this though, his BABIP was a hilariously low .217 last year (previous three years: .282, .258, .265) and I can't see that average being that bad again even if he's legitimately hopping on one leg to first base. He posted his highest ISO (.236) since 2011. I'm cool with Phat Albert still.

Okay, so when we had our first mock draft last week Lucas Duda's name jumped out to me. I probably need to bring him (and that next tier of 1B) up a bit in the next round, I know I goofed in leaving Adam Lind ahead of him amidst Lind's trade. That said, I just don't like Duda. I don't trust his "growth" against lefties in 2015 to be real, as he had an outrageous .378 BABIP vs. lefties. He still walked only 5.3% of the time (14% vs. RHP) and struck out 31.8% of the time (22.7% vs. RHP). Not saying his lefty woes are reasons to hate him, but as that regresses, his overall line should take a step back. His BABIP vs. RHP should see some positive correction (it was .255), but nowhere near what his LHP figure should see.

Third Base Rankings Analysis

Nick Mariano (@NMariano53)

Let's stick with those corner infielders and kick on over to the other side of the diamond at third basemen. Todd Frazier apparently sent me roses during the offseason to bribe me into giving him a high ranking. My optimism continues to attract the spotlight, as I've got him 19 spots above you and an insane 36 on Brad here. I know he isn't the first half stud muffin we saw lift the trophy at the Home Run Derby, but he also isn't "cable" Todd Frazier from the second half either. He's a durable guy who now joins a White Sox lineup that many slate for a collective step forward. I love the steals that he chips in too.

Another big name here that demands a chat is Adrian Beltre. You have him at #45 while Brad and I are both much cooler on him at #62 and #68, respectively. FantasyPros thinks we all have our heads in the clouds, with the current consensus ranking of Beltre checking in at #97. His ISO is slipping, his average fly ball distance is dropping, and I can't see anything but further slippage here. As the unofficial president of the Beltre fan club, what is your statement?

Kyle Bishop (@amoralpanic)

Steamer projections aren't gospel, of course, but here's what they look like for Pujols and Duda:

Pujols: 584 PA, .260 BA, 27 HR, 72 R, 86 RBI, 4 SB

Duda: 545 PA, .238 BA, 23 HR, 64 R, 70 RBI, 2 SB

Those seem pretty reasonable to me, and definitely don't justify ranking one guy 120 spots lower than the other. Even if you don't trust Duda's improvement against southpaws - I don't either - he's still managed to finish eighth among qualified first basemen in both homers and OPS over the past two seasons. I expect the two to provide similar production in 2016.

Beltre fan club president? I don't think I've ever been president of anything, and I don't aim to start now. That said, I probably was a bit overzealous in my ranking on him. As consistently excellent as he's been this decade, he'll be 37 in April and is coming off his worst season since his days in Seattle. In my defense, however, he was an absolute monster down the stretch after scuffling in the first few months. I'm just not ready to write the guy off because of a couple of subpar months, especially since he turned it around despite a torn thumb ligament. His current ADP seems to imply that this puts me in the minority, but that just means more profit potential.

I could perhaps swap Beltre with Frazier in the next update and be content, but I can't justify bumping the Toddfather up any further than that, and there are solid arguments for revising downward. His batted ball distance actually fell by six feet last season, and a whopping 12 of his 35 homers were classified as "Just Enough" by HitTracker. Another 30 homer season seems unlikely. As for the steals, given his poor success rate and middling speed scores, I'm not betting on more than 10. Frankly, it wouldn't be that much of a surprise to see Kyle Seager outproduce him, and we all have Seager ranked around 70.

Middle Infield Rankings Analysis

Kyle Bishop (@amoralpanic)

Moving into the middle infield, there are a couple of young second basemen I seem to like more than either you or Brad: Rougned Odor, Jonathan Schoop, and Starlin Castro. Odor is the most surprising guy in that group to me; I thought he'd get more love. He was a popular sleeper and deep league target in drafts last season, only to face plant out of the gate. After a brief demotion to the minors, he returned and tore it up to the tune of a .295/.335/.461 line with 15 homers and 52 RBI in just 367 plate appearances.

He needs to get better at stealing bases (just 10-for-24 in his major league career so far) but he has the tools to steal 10-15. Pair that with legitimate 20 homer pop, and that's quite a bit of value from a 2B. Speaking of pop, that's something Schoop can definitely provide. He's gone deep 32 times in 774 MLB at-bats. His plate discipline isn't polished enough for me to believe his .279 BA from a year ago is sustainable, but when you can get 20 - 25 dingers from a middle infielder, that covers for a lot of flaws.

So...what gives? Do you have a vendetta against shortstops? You're the bear by a mile on Xander Bogaerts, Brandon Crawford, and Ian Desmond...and that's before we talk about Francisco Lindor, whose 103-spot spread (between your and Brad's ranks) is easily the biggest one of any player. Is this another instance of having trouble weighting positional scarcity, or do you have serious reservations about Lindor, et. al.?

Nick Mariano (@NMariano53)

Ah, middle infielders. So this would be the counterweight to the love I have for the CIs. Rougned Odor was indeed a popular late target last year, and I was one of those owners who had to cut bait during his demotion as injuries tore me up. Maybe I hold a grudge underneath it all, but I'd like to think I'm a good guy. I like the potential he holds, but I worry that he's still young enough to endure a serious cold streak/mental lapse compared to the vets. When it comes to MIs this early, I tend to look more for consistency rather than ceiling. Perhaps it is a folly, but it's just the way I've operated.

When it gets down to guys like Schoop, I was surprised to see that I was as far behind you as I am, but I still feel rather comfortable with having Schoop's "Luis Valbuena 2.0" shtick in the 200s. Okay that was a little hyperbolic, but I just see a speculative tag on him landing after pick 200 given his allergy to contact. As for Starlin Castro, I am intrigued by him hitting in Yankee Stadium, but I've seen him mentally slip too many times to trust him. I suppose I should err on the side of seeking out upside this late, but I'd rather have someone who was on your bench at best from May through the beginning of August last year.

With regard to Bogaerts, Crawford, Desmond, and Lindor, I do have serious reservations. I do not see them as being that far ahead of the names that are going later on to justify such an early draft slot. I'll try to hit them quickly.

Xander Bogaerts might fail to be a 10/10 player, and I think his average comes down to .300 from .320 (that .372 BABIP isn'tthat far off from where I wager he stabilizes). I'm not really keen on paying for that when I can get a guy like DJ LeMahieu later. Honestly, next month I need to take him down from #3 in my SS rankings. I do like him hitting in that lineup though, it's quite nice.

Brandon Crawford did have quite the year, but I hesitate to pay for what I believe to be a career year, and not a "new Brandon". I will say that he handled change ups and cutters much better last year, but I'm wary of his fly ball rate dropping from 42% to 33.5% and his line drive rate even falling (from 20.2% to 18.8%) all while his HR/FB nearly tripled. I know he laced the ball, registering the ninth best fly ball distance (eighth was Schoop...was this an elaborate ruse to get me to see the light?), but I'm very hesitant to believe in the total package he is selling owners.

Ian Desmond was someone I disliked going into last year, mostly due to that insane strikeout rate. He looked lost so often during 2015, committing 27 errors at shortstop and somehow increasing his gaudy 28.2 K% to 29.2%! Maybe a fresh start with new surroundings and coaches will help, but again, it just feels so risky to take him on that early. I will say, for as bad as he looked, he still came this close to posting a 20/15 year. If he lands in a good park I'll have to reconsider, but for now I don't think the draft pick tied to him is 100% of the reason he is still unsigned.

This leaves Francisco Lindor, the apparent bane of my existence. I do not believe in the power yet (his 21 homers in 1,880 minor league plate appearances dissuade me), though I do acknowledge he is stronger now than he was then. His fly ball distance was 266.88, good for 241st out of 284 qualified hitters, behind respected power bats like Andrelton Simmons. When you combine that with a 50.8% ground ball rate, I just don't see where the sustainable power is. I'm sure I'm guilty of cherry picking, but I just don't like the price tag. I don't want to pay for his 20 SBs. He makes good contact, I don't think his BABIP will fall too much from that .348 figure (but do see some average regression too), he has a good eye, and an amazing glove. That's not paying this ADP bill for me though. Maybe I'll be a year late on the guy, but I'm clearly too skeptical to get him in 2016. Looks like Brad and I will just have to fight American Gladiator style to settle this (as opposed to just seeing how Lindor does, because that's no fun).

Be sure to check back tomorrow for Kyle and Nick's discussion of outfielders and pitchers, in Part 2.

Top 300 Rankings (January)

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