2023 Dynasty Baseball Rankings – Year-End Update

After the end of yet another long fantasy baseball season, dynasty managers can finally take a breath and relax with some postseason MLB action. Of course, it’ll be a short break before it’s time to start preparing for the 2024 campaign. For the last time in 2023 — before an offseason with plenty of big free agents — it’s time to update the Top-500 Rankings. As always, we’ll start by taking a look at the biggest risers and fallers

Dynasty Baseball Risers

Cole Ragans broke out after being traded from Texas to Kansas City; he posted an impressive 2.64 ERA, 2.49 FIP and 21.7% K-BB% in 12 starts with the Royals. I was a bit slow to move Jackson Jobe up this list but he finished his stellar 2023 season with a 2.84 ERA and an unreal 84:6 K:BB through 64 innings. At just 19 years old, Samuel Basallo already reached the Double-A level and posted a .953 OPS with 20 homers this season. Jace Jung registered a .936 OPS in 47 Double-A games and went deep 28 times in 575 total plate appearances. Dustin Harris had an inconsistent year but turned in a solid .273/.382/.455 slash line with nine home runs and 17 steals after being promoted to Triple-A Round Rock.

Dynasty Baseball Fallers

After a career-high 35 jacks in 2022, Rowdy Tellez hit just 13 while registered a .667 OPS through 351 plate appearances. Brady Singer’s shaky year ended with a 5.52 ERA and a career-low 7.5 K/9. Ben Brown — who I still have some faith in — dominated Double-A but recorded a 15.8% walk rate in Triple-A, leading to a 5.33 ERA through 72.2 frames. Marcelo Mayer struggled with a .609 OPS in Double-A before another injury shut him down for the year. Jose Siri missed the last few weeks of the year and still hasn’t shown much improvement with his plate discipline (35.7% strikeout rate), though his tools are still loud.

2023 Dynasty Baseball Rankings Year-End Update

An Ode to the Unsung Heroes

In fantasy sports, especially dynasty formats, we get wrapped up in the game’s superstars. Everyone wants a Ronald Acuna or Julio Rodriguez but championships are built by deep rosters with plenty of veteran contributors that often go overlooked in the fantasy conversations. Yes, I’m guilty of this as well. After a full season of fantasy action, it’s time to show some love to a few of the under-appreciated MLB stars.

Perhaps the best example of this is Merrill Kelly. He fired 200.1 innings of 3.37-ERA ball in 2022 and remained an underrated veteran arm coming into this year. The 34-year-old followed that up with a sturdy 3.29 ERA and a career-high 9.5 K/9. On top of that, he dominated down the stretch; Kelly allowed two or fewer runs in five of his six September outings, though the other start was a seven-run hiccup. Overall, he tallied 378 innings with a 3.33 ERA and a 364:130 K:BB over the last two years.

Merrill Kelly was spectacular for the @Dbacks during the regular season. How will he fare in his Postseason debut?#EmbraceTheChaos pic.twitter.com/XjbPCy9pI0

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) October 6, 2023

After a brutal first season with the Phillies, Nick Castellanos bounced back in a big way this year. He went deep 29 times while setting new career bests with 106 RBI and 11 steals. His .788 OPS was still lacking a bit compared to what he’s done in the past but it was a dramatic improvement from his .694 number in 2022. Castellanos’ barrel rate jumped back into the 85th percentile (47th percentile in 2022) but he set new career highs with a 41% chase rate and a 35.4% whiff rate. The veteran slugger probably won’t see his 2021 heights again but will reestablished himself as a valuable fantasy asset.

Despite not making his season debut until May 6, Raisel Iglesias still racked up 33 saves over 55.2 frames. He posted a 2.75 ERA with a 22.9% K-BB% on the year. Over his last 36 appearances, he turned in a 1.54 ERA while converting 22 of his 24 save chances. The 33-year-old has now finished four straight seasons with a sub-3.00 ERA. In an environment that’s seen the rise of younger lockdown closers, Iglesias was one of the most reliable in the league in 2023.

Looking Ahead to 2024

While the fantasy season is over, there will be plenty of action that affects these rankings over the next few months. Playoff baseball plus an offseason full of transactions should provide some shakeup to this list before 2024 spring training kicks off.

Evan Carter jumped into the top 150 after his late-season promotion. As one of the top prospects in baseball, he arrived with lofty expectations and blew right past them. In just 75 plate appearances, he slashed .306/.413/.645 with 10 extra-base hits (five homers) and three steals. For some reference, Corbin Carroll posted an .830 OPS with 15 extra-base hits (four home runs) across 115 MLB plate appearances in 2022. So far this postseason, Carter has continued his torrid run; he’s gone 5-for-10 with a home run, three doubles, and a steal. The 21-year-old will be among the favorites for AL Rookie of the Year in 2024 and will continue to fly up these rankings before next year.

Evan Carter so far in the #Postseason:

4-for-5
HR
3 2B
4 BB

MLB's No. 8 prospect collects his third RBI in three games to put the @Rangers on the board. pic.twitter.com/byxrvpoyQH

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) October 7, 2023

The most important names to watch for in the next update aren’t even on the list yet. A rich crop of international free agents are expected to join the MLB this offseason, including Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shota Imanaga, and Jung Hoo Lee. Yamamoto is an absolute superstar and should be an immediate ace in the MLB. At just 25 years old, he’ll likely slide right into the top 50. Imanaga is older but still shows plenty of upside; he may transition to the MLB in a similar way that Kodai Senga did. Lee was the KBO MVP in 2022 with a .996 OPS and 5.1% strikeout rate. He suffered an injury and missed the end of the 2023 year, ending his season with a “disappointing” .863 OPS and 31 extra-base hits in 85 games.

While their spots on this list shouldn’t change much during the offseason, Wyatt Langford and Dylan Crews will be important to watch during the early parts of 2024. They’re both very advanced college bats that should debut next year, maybe even right out of spring training. Langford was incredible this season, slashing .360/.480/.677 with 10 home runs and 29 extra-base hits through 200 plate appearances while reaching the Triple-A level. It’s easy to picture an Opening Day outfield featuring him, Evan Carter, and Adolis Garcia. Crews also had a solid pro debut, posting a .845 OPS with five home runs and nine doubles in 159 plate appearances. We won’t have to wait much longer to see him and James Wood form a terrific outfield tandem in Washington.