First Look at 2027 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Konnor Griffin on the Rise, Crow-Armstrong Leads Outfield

We've got 198 days until next year's Opening Day. Ish. Maybe. Okay, let's address the elephant in the room.

Look, we have no idea when the 2027 MLB season will happen. We don't know whether it will happen, even with ongoing labor negotiations inexorably leading toward a lockout. Whether that lockout will be resolved before games are lost (as in 2021) or whether we're staring down another 1994-95 situation remains to be seen. That question will hover over absolutely every discussion this offseason.

But not here. At least, not yet. I'm going to address this here at the top of my first newsletter of the offseason, and then I'm going to proceed as if this is a normal offseason until I have good reason not to. Some of you are doomers who will comment, "The season isn't happening" on every discussion this offseason, and that's your right, but I'm going to keep approaching this offseason as if things are normal until they aren't.

That means I'm going to have my first rankings for 2027 right here in today's newsletter. And it means I'm going to start rolling out my "State of the Position" series for every position next week, and I'm going to react to whatever roster moves happen with the understanding that it will all matter at some point .

This won't be a normal offseason, of course. Sometime in December, there will likely be a lockout, and that will mean a shutdown of league business. And with a potentially landscape-altering CBA negotiation looming, it might be an especially slow offseason, as teams are hesitant to take big swings without knowing what the next CBA will look like. This is going to be a weird offseason; there's no way around that.

But we're not going to let that change how we operate here at FBT. Whether the MLB season opens as scheduled on March 24 or not won't be determined for months. I'm skeptical we're heading toward a 1994-95-esque shutdown that costs us games, but it's not impossible, obviously. But it isn't inevitable, and there's no reason to treat it as such.

So, with that out of the way, let's take a too-early look at the rankings for 2027. Sure, it might end up being a way -too-early look, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Before we do, I just want to say a big "thank you" to everyone who followed along with the FBT team all season long. Whether it's here in the newsletter or with our written content at CBSSports.com or with the podcast and YouTube channel , we can't do it without your support. I hope you all won your leagues, and if you were playing against other FBT listeners, well, I hope you all tied! That's what we're here for, and it's not a successful season for us unless it's a successful season for you.

I hope it was, and we're going to spend the offseason making sure you're ready for 2027 to be just as successful. We'll be right here in your inbox all offseason, usually at least twice per week, and we're going to be trying to find new ways to help out. So make sure you're subscribed to our YouTube page and following the whole FBT team, because this is when you get the edge on your competition.

Way-too-early 2027 Rankings

First, a disclaimer: These are more of a rough draft than anything, and as such, very much subject to change over the next six or so months. In fact, once I start getting feedback on these rankings, I'll likely make some changes. If you see something you disagree with or that just doesn't look right, send me an email at Chris.Towers@Paramount.com with your questions or comments. It'll help me refine my thoughts over the next few months before we really start to lock in rankings early next year. It's an ongoing process, but this is where my baseline is starting.

Scott White has already begun the process of ranking 2026 as well, touching on catcher  and  first base  here, and he goes deeper on each position and gives his thoughts on each player, so you should make sure to check that out. I'm not going as deep yet. That'll be coming in the next few months.

Catcher

I think you could go with any of the top three here for the No. 1 spot. Baldwin looked like he might be running away with the title with a hot start, but he wasn't the same after a trip to the IL, and I'm willing to give Hunter Goodman the top spot for consecutive huge seasons. Beyond the top three, things are a bit less settled than we thought they would be earlier in the season. A bunch of breakouts fizzled, and while the position still looks deeper than it has been in a while, the lower end of the C1 group didn't quite take the leap we hoped it would.

- Hunter Goodman - Drake Baldwin - Shea Langeliers - William Contreras - Gabriel Moreno - Dillon Dingler - Ivan Herrera - Cal Raleigh - Samuel Basallo - Liam Hicks - Carter Jensen - Will Smith

The toughest players to rank at catcher.

First base

This is the deepest and strongest first base class in years. Breakouts like  Luis Garcia ,  Jake Bauers ,  TJ Rumfield  and  Munetaka Murakami,  who had truly impactful seasons, didn't make the top 12, and previous stalwarts like  Josh Naylor  and  Vinnie Pasquantino  didn't even factor into the discussion. I think there might be 20 first basemen I'd be comfortable with as a starter heading into next season, which means we're going to have some excellent corner infield options for 2027. I could see five first basemen coming off the board in the first 30 or so picks, too.

- Nick Kurtz - Ben Rice - Sal Stewart - Miguel Vargas - Pete Alonso - Matt Olson - Rafael Devers - Alec Burleson - Bryce Harper - Jac Caglianone - Freddie Freeman - Vladimir Guerrero Jr .

The toughest players to rank at first base.

Second base

During the season, second base seemed quite deep, but when you look at the rankings for 2027, it doesn't look quite as strong. In part, that's because of names like Otto Lopez , Luis Garcia, and Ceddanne Rafaela not carrying eligibility over. The good news is that Fernando Tatis will, and we'll also surely have some unexpected names join the 2B ranks next season, too. That happens every year, and while you can't necessarily punt the position and wait for someone to gain eligibility, it will happen. For now, second base feels a little weak, but with the knowledge that it'll get better at some point next season.

- Fernando Tatis Jr . - Brice Turang - Ketel Marte - Jazz Chisholm Jr . - Brandon Lowe - JJ Wetherholt - Nico Hoerner - Luke Keaschall - Xavier Edwards - Luis Arraez - Ozzie Albies - Sam Antonacci

The toughest players to rank at second base.

Third base

Among the infield positions, third base is probably the weakest, and the fact that Manny Machado and Jose Ramirez at least have the end of the road on the horizon now certainly didn't help. The breakout star turns from Sal Stewart and Miguel Vargas certainly do help, and five of the top 12 for 2027 likely weren't even drafted as starters last season. If you're looking for a place to play the position scarcity game in the early rounds, third base is probably it.

- Junior Caminero - Jose Ramirez - Sal Stewart - Miguel Vargas - Kevin McGonigle - Alex Bregman - Manny Machado - Kazuma Okamoto - Max Muncy - Bo Bichette - Maikel Garcia - Isaac Paredes

The toughest players to rank at second base.

Shortstop

Griffin's ranking is going to raise some eyebrows, and I could fairly easily be talked into dropping him down at least a few spots. But you should get used to seeing him this high, because I think he's going to end up a fringe first-rounder in Roto formats. The bat wasn't great as a rookie, but he didn't look overwhelmed and ran at a 45-steal pace. He'll still be just 20 years old on Opening Day, and with just normal progression, could be a 20-40 guy in his second season. And that isn't the ceiling for a player this talented. One other thing to note here is that the high end of the position does look a bit shallower than it has in the past. Where there were probably 14 or 15 shortstops I would have been happy to draft as my starter a year ago, now there might be more like 10 or 12 – and that's acknowledging the risk of trusting a declining Trea Turner , let alone whatever has happened to Gunnar Henderson 's bat the past two seasons.

- Bobby Witt - Elly De La Cruz - Konnor Griffin - C.J. Abrams - Francisco Lindor - Zachary Neto - Kevin McGonigle - Trea Turner - Gunnar Henderson - Jeremy Pena - Otto Lopez - Nico Hoerner

The toughest players to rank at shortstop.

Outfield

The depth in three-outfielder leagues feels pretty good; not so much for five-outfielder formats. Jake McCarthy 's inclusion as the No. 36 outfielder feels like it makes that point: He's coming off a huge season that he probably won't replicate (especially if the Rockies opt to trade him), but if he's your third outfielder in a three-outfielder league, you're probably in pretty good shape; if you have to start two outfielders worse than him, I'd be a little wary of it. Figuring out the No. 4 and 5 outfielder range of the rankings will be a chore this offseason.

- Pete Crow-Armstrong - Yordan Alvarez - Juan Soto - Aaron Judge - Fernando Tatis Jr. - James Wood - Jackson Chourio - Corbin Carroll - Ronald Acuna Jr . - Jackson Merrill - Julio Rodriguez - Jordan Walker - Oneil Cruz - Randy Arozarena - Michael Harris II - Bryce Harper - Roman Anthony - Kyle Tucker - Jac Caglianone - Cody Bellinger - Carson Benge - Seiya Suzuki - Riley Greene - Wyatt Langford - Andy Pages - Jake Bauers - Bryan Reynolds - Ceddanne Rafaela - Wilyer Abreu - Tyler Soderstrom - Chandler Simpson - A.J. Ewing - Byron Buxton - Brandon Nimmo - Mike Trout - Jake McCarthy

The toughest players to rank at outfield.

Starting pitcher

These are the rankings most likely to change between now and when drafts are actually happening. A bunch of these pitchers at least have a few more starts left to either help or hurt their cases (the latter being more likely than the former, simply because of injury risk). Still, the bigger risk probably comes from pitchers who won't pitch: We're going to find out at least some of these guys are going to have offseason surgery that dramatically changes their outlooks, like Carlos Rodon last season. And of course, a handful of them will show up to Spring Training and never get beyond that because of injuries. That's the nature of this position.

- Jacob Misiorowski - Tarik Skubal - Cam Schlittler - Yoshinobu Yamamoto - Chris Sale - Cristopher Sanchez - Zack Wheeler - Chase Burns - Drew Rasmussen - Jesus Luzardo - Dylan Cease - Gavin Williams - Parker Messick - Payton Tolle - Nolan McLean - Paul Skenes - Jacob deGrom - Logan Gilbert - Logan Henderson - Gerrit Cole - Cade Cavalli - Bryan Woo - Hunter Brown - Carlos Rodon - Eury Perez - Max Fried - Garrett Crochet - Joe Ryan - Sandy Alcantara - Sonny Gray - Taj Bradley - Jared Jones - Braxton Ashcraft - Reid Detmers - Walbert Urena - Michael King - Logan Webb - Blake Snell - Shota Imanaga - Kyle Harrison - Trey Yesavage - Jose Soriano - Trevor Rogers - Tyler Glasnow - Shohei Ohtani - Ranger Suarez - Mike Soroka - Kade Anderson

The toughest players to rank at starting pitcher.

Relief pitcher

When doing my RP rankings, David Bednar and Raisel Iglesias were the names to beat. If I felt good about both a pitchers' role and their skill looking ahead to 2027, I'd slot them in ahead of Bednar and Iglesias, two pitchers whose skills still look pretty solid but who carry uncertainty heading into free agency. They'll probably latch on somewhere as closers, but that isn't always a guarantee, so that seems like a good place to draw some lines here. The best pitcher who didn't make the top 12 but did clear the Bednar/Iglesias bar? Jacob Latz , who had a breakout season with the Rangers as their closer. I just don't quite know either how good he is or how likely he is to be the Rangers closer in 2027. That's one that could make me look pretty silly, especially given how shaky some of those who did crack the top 12 looked.

- Mason Miller - Cade Smith - Jos

_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/way-too-early-2027-fantasy-baseball-rankings/)._