The Yankees Offensive Players in Fantasy Baseball: Draft 'Em or Ditch 'Em

March is Spring Training but it is also fantasy baseball time. I do four fantasy baseball leagues a year, one head to head and three rotisserie leages. I'll admit I'm prone to valuing Yankees players higher when there are comparable players on the boards. That being said after my first draft I went through the Yankees roster on FantasyPros to see if they players should be drafted or ditched.

C: Brian McCann - McCann is ranked as the 3rd best catcher even with a slight drop of in statistics (home runs and RBI's) but he still has the best power of any catcher and will again be a solid pick. 

Verdict: Draft him as a starter

1B: Mark Teixeira - Teixeira had a bounce back season until a broken leg sidelined him late in the season. FantasyPros has him ranked as the 17th best First Basemen and his Zeile Consensus has him taking a step back in home runs, average, and RBI's. First base is one of the deeper positions in fantasy and sleepers and breakouts can be found throughout the league.

Verdict: Draft him in the late rounds, if he's your starter you're in trouble

2B: Starlin Castro - Castro is actually ranked higher as an SS than as a 2B (14 to 17). He is projected to have better stats across the board but none of them high enough to stand out as major reasons to draft him. Shortstop and second base are two fantasy positions without a ton of depth but there are still players you can acquire as starters before drafting him.

Verdict: Draft him for his versatility as a middle infield backup

3B: Chase Headley - The only reason Headley wasn't the worst 3B in the AL East was because Pablo Sandoval was horrendous. Headley is projected to have more home runs but his at-bats, average and hits are all projected to take a hit. He is ranked as the 29th best 3B behind Yangervis Solarte and Martin Prado which I found ironic. The only silver lining with Headley is that of the 11 fantasy gurus polled 10 think he'll outperform is Average Draft Position (ADP) of 316.

Verdict: Ditch him

SS: Didi Gregorius - Just like with arbitration defense doesn't pay in fantasy baseball. Didi is ranked as the 39th best shortstop and his projected starts are about the same as his actual 2015 stats. His value isn't in his offensive and that is something to avoid

Verdict: Ditch him

OF: Brett Gardner - Gardner is the 33rd ranked outfielder. In a 12 team league 36 outfielders are drafted for the position so he makes the cut as a starter. However his ranking indicates that he shouldn't be your first or even your second OF pick. 37 of 42 (88%) Fantasy Experts believe that Gardner will outperform his ADP. 

Verdict: Draft him as your 3rd or bench OF

OF: Jacoby Ellsbury - Ellsbury is ranked as the 27th outfielder in FantasyPros which I found surprising considering his past two seasons. He is projected to be better across the board. His average ADP is 90 which would put him in the 5th round. I find it hard to believe that he'll stay healthy the entire year so be sure to draft bench players you'd feel comfortable starting for a month or two.

Verdict: Draft him as your 2nd or 3rd OF

OF: Carlos Beltran - The days of Beltran's fantasy relevance are long gone. Beltran is currently ranked as the 70th OF he is likely to be drafted in some leagues but overall there are better options as back up OF's.

Verdict: Ditch him

DH: Alex Rodriguez - While researching FantasyPros I found it strange that he is projected to have a worse season but all 41 of the Fantasy Experts who reviewed him believe he will outperform his ADP. Rodriguez is currently the 12th ranked DH. The concern with drafting Rodriguez is that he is strictly a DH which means you lose some versatility by having him on your roster, just like the real Yankees!

Verdict: Draft him if you don't mind only be able to use him as a DH

How do you think the Yankees offensive players will do this year?