Carlos Correa is one of the most talented shortstops in the game and under normal circumstances, you'd feel comfortable spending one of your early 2021 Fantasy baseball picks on him. However, Correa has posted an OPS of .728 or lower in two of his last three seasons and expressed displeasure with the Astros after they offered him a six-year, $120 million extension that he believes is below market value. Given that information, where should you place Correa in your 2021 Fantasy baseball rankings?
A reliable set of Fantasy baseball rankings 2021 can help you tackle difficult questions. With the coronavirus pandemic still raging and significant Fantasy baseball injuries befalling players like Eloy Jimenez, Zac Gallen, George Springer and Carlos Carrasco, identifying potential 2021 Fantasy baseball sleepers who can help you build a deep roster is critical. Before you go on the clock, check out the 2021 Fantasy baseball cheat sheets and rankings from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
Last season, SportsLine's Projection Model identified several top Fantasy baseball sleepers, including Dodgers catcher Will Smith. The 25-year-old was No. 6 catcher in Fantasy baseball last year, outperforming Yasmani Grandal, Mitch Garver and Gary Sanches, who were all drafted well ahead of him on average. Smith wound up hitting eight home runs with 25 RBIs and posting a .980 OPS that was over 70 points better than in his breakout season in 2019.
The team at SportsLine was all over Smith as a Fantasy sleeper from the start. Their model had him listed much higher than expert consensus rankings, and anyone who listened to their advice was well positioned for a league title.
Their model is powered by the same people who powered projections for all three major Fantasy sites. And that same group is sharing its 2021 Fantasy baseball rankings and cheat sheets over at SportsLine, helping you find Fantasy baseball sleepers, breakouts and busts long before your competition. Their cheat sheets, available for leagues on many major sites, are updated multiple times every day. Any time an injury occurs or there's a change on a depth chart, the team at SportsLine updates its Fantasy baseball cheat sheets.
In fact, when it came to ranking players in Fantasy football, SportsLine's Projection Model beat human experts last season when there were big differences in ranking. And the model was the closest to the hole overall, meaning it best pinpointed where every player would finish each week. That could literally be the difference between winning your league or going home empty-handed.
Now, the model has simulated the entire 2021 MLB schedule 10,000 times and revealed its top 2021 Fantasy baseball sleepers, breakouts, and busts. You can get its Fantasy baseball cheat sheets 2021 here.
Top 2021 Fantasy baseball sleepers
One of the 2021 Fantasy baseball sleepers the model is all over: Giants left fielder Alex Dickerson. He is slashing .273/.342/.493 in his career with 26 home runs and 92 RBIs. He's also coming off a shortened 2020 season in which he had a career-high .947 OPS.
Dickerson's .313 BABIP in 2020 was 18 points lower than it was in 2019 and he posted career-highs in average exit velocity (90.9 mph), barrel rate (10.7 percent), average launch angle (17.8 degrees) and hard-hit contact rate (44.3 percent). That's why the model favors him over left fielders like Jeff McNeil and Austin Meadows, who are being drafted at least four rounds earlier on average.
Another sleeper that SportsLine's Fantasy baseball rankings 2021 are extremely high on: Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas. He is 32 years old and practically a veteran, but his effort during the coronavirus-shortened season shows the kind of potential he has flashed at times since 2014. Rojas hit .304 with four home runs, 20 RBIs and 20 runs scored in just 40 games.
Rojas also posted stellar peripheral numbers in 2020, drawing walks in a career-best 11.2 percent of at-bats and notching a career-best 11.9-degree launch angle. That equals a better batting average, better on-base percentage and more power into the gaps. SportsLine's is high on his 2021 prospects, ranking him 13th in the majors and above shortstops like Adalberto Mondesi, Tim Anderson and Didi Gregorius despite a 2021 Fantasy baseball ADP that places him around the 21st round.
How to find proven 2021 Fantasy baseball rankings
SportsLine is also high on a first baseman with a Fantasy baseball ADP 2021 barely inside the top 10 who finishes ahead of studs like defending AL MVP Jose Abreu and Yankees first baseman Luke Voit. This pick could be the difference in winning your league or going home with nothing. You can see who it is here.
So which 2021 Fantasy baseball sleepers should you snatch in your draft? And which undervalued first baseman can help you win a championship? Visit SportsLine now to get Fantasy baseball rankings for every single position, all from the model that called Will Smith's huge breakout last season, and find out.