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Shuffle Up: A.J. Pollock makes the leap

Shuffle Up: A.J. Pollock makes the leap

Here are your outfielder Shuffle Up prices. We're trying to figure how the players will perform from here on out. What's happened to this point is an audition, nothing past that.

Assume a 5x5 scoring system, as always. Players at the same prices are considered even. I reserve the right to tweak the list on the weekend.

When I do these lists, they're composed completely from scratch. I don't care where I ranked everyone in March. I'm not one of those rankers who moves a handful of guys and calls it a day.

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You're going to have some disagreements, and that's good. That's why we have a game and why it's fun. I look at someone else's list and I see things I don't understand, too. If you did a list, you'd encounter the same thing. That's how these things work.

Remember, a player doesn't gain or lose bonus value just because you like him; you drafted him; you saw him at the driving range; he wouldn't sign an autograph for your nephew; whatever. Try not to get personal about the stock, Gekko told us that. We just want the numbers. (And no, I don't hate your favorite team.)

The injury ranks are for courtesy. I will not debate them. If you're a better doctor than I am, that's fine. I'm generally very cautious with hurt players and it's served me well over the years, but you are welcome to play differently.

I didn't rank players in the minors. I also skipped the shortstops who carry OF eligibility (Hanley, for one), since no one would use them here. Ditto for Stephen Vogt, Oakland's fun catcher.

$32 Mike Trout
$31 Bryce Harper
$28 Giancarlo Stanton
$27 Michael Brantley
$27 Justin Upton
$25 Nelson Cruz
$25 Carlos Gomez
$25 Ryan Braun
$25 Andrew McCutchen
$22 Adam Jones
$22 Starling Marte
$20 Jose Bautista
$19 Josh Reddick
$18 Hunter Pence
$18 Brett Gardner
$18 A.J. Pollock
$17 Matt Holliday
$16 George Springer
$16 J.D. Martinez
$16 Lorenzo Cain
$16 Charlie Blackmon
$16 Dexter Fowler
$15 Yoenis Cespedes
$15 Joc Pederson
$15 Mookie Betts

It’s frustrating to see Pollock occasionally rested, because he’s a plus defender and should be in his prime years at age 27. Nonetheless, he’s on a .311-110-15-59-37 pace despite the lineup jockeying. The Arizona lineup card gets more complicated when Jake Lamb returns - that probably pushes Yasmany Tomas into the outfield - but Pollock’s combination of skills should turn into him playing most of the time.

Yes, I feel good about that Reddick price. He's showed this pop before. He's controlling his at-bats, the K/BB rate shows you that. And he's locked into the No. 3 spot on a plus lineup. The average isn't completely real, but it's plausible he could improve into the .270-.280 range. I wish I had him on a single team, I do not - but I suffered through 2013-2014 along with many of you. So it goes.

Finally, Fowler has picked up the art of stolen bases. We know he can be an OBP factor. And look at the monsters hitting behind him in the lineup. This is the year . . . The Betts average is a mess, but the Red Sox haven't soured on him and the category juice remains fine. The .240 BABIP has to be seen as unlucky, given Betts's running ability (though he does have a low line-drive rate). And he's actually improved his contact rate this year. Be patient.

What's become of Kemp? (Getty Images)
What's become of Kemp? (Getty Images)

$13 Matt Kemp
$13 Alex Gordon
$12 Jason Heyward
$12 Billy Hamilton
$12 Carlos Gonzalez
$12 Torii Hunter
$12 Kole Calhoun
$12 Jay Bruce
$10 Chris Carter
$10 Mark Trumbo
$10 Ryan Zimmerman
$10 Denard Span
$10 Avisail Garcia
$10 Rusney Castillo

If it feels like forever since Kemp helped your fantasy team, you’re not far off. Other than Martin Maldonado of the Brewers - a non-fantasy factor - Kemp has been the worst regular hitter in the month of May, posting a minus-7.9 grade for Fangraphs’s Offensive War. He’s walked 3.4 percent of the time, struck out 23.6 percent of the time, stolen a base, hit nary a homer. What makes me especially nervous here is the fact that Kemp’s arthritic hips were such a discussion point before the season. Perhaps he’s not healthy. I probably have him ranked less optimistically than most in the industry, because I’m not thrown by the name. An extended performance this messy could be the signs of a collapse season. Do you see a significant turnaround coming? I’m all ears, tell me about it.

I don't see a logical place for Billy Hamilton. Obviously he's terrific at one roto thing, and at least he'll hit the occasional homer. And his defense is good enough to keep him on the field. But his horrendous bat has pushed him to the bottom of the order, and stolen bases are generally the easist category to fill with waiver picks and minor deals.

$9 Brandon Moss
$9 Marcell Ozuna
$9 Josh Harrison
$9 Curtis Granderson
$8 Norichika Aoki
$8 Jorge Soler
$8 Melky Cabrera
$7 Billy Burns
$7 Gregory Polanco
$7 Andre Ethier
$7 Steven Souza
$7 Ender Inciarte
$7 Angel Pagan
$6 Cameron Maybin
$6 Shin-Soo Choo
$6 Anthony Gose
$6 Rajai Davis
$6 Yasmany Tomas
$6 Christian Yelich
$5 Ben Revere
$5 Jacob Marisnick
$5 Delino DeShields
$4 Michael Cuddyer
$4 Steve Pearce
$4 Marlon Byrd
$4 Kevin Pillar
$3 Carlos Beltran
$3 Will Venable
$3 Leonys Martin
$3 Adam Eaton
$3 Michael Taylor
$3 Colby Rasmus
$3 David DeJesus
$3 Odubel Herrera
$3 Mark Canha

Burns has the Oakland leadoff spot to himself and they're letting him run any time he wants. And I doubt Coco Crisp will be back anytime soon. I wish I had Burns on all of my rosters; he could easily develop into a double-digits player . . . Souza's category juice keeps him in the discussion, but he's also dealing with a balky wrist and a major strikeout problem . . . I really hope the Rangers keep playing DeShields regularly; he can absolutely fly and doesn't mind taking chances. DeShields is a Rule 5 player, so he has to stick with the Rangers, unless they decide to offer him back to the Astros. I think he's a favorite of manager Jeff Banister . . . I took a flyer on Venable in one league, recognizing that Myers is already on the DL and no one knows where the Kemp story is headed. Venable was a handy pop-speed player in 2013, and he's recently been making amends for that awful 2014 campaign.

Choo is probably done as a stolen-base guy, and he's been a .243 hitter since the Rangers signed him. A few homers are nice, but he doesn't look anything like the offensive weapon we saw in the Ohio days. Also note he's swinging more often outside the zone, and making less contact in general. These are not good things . . . It’s a good thing Polanco is stealing all those bases, because there isn’t much else going on. Walks are down a spec, strikeouts have jumped 4.3 percent, isolated power has collapsed. Polanco turned down an extension offer worth $50 million last year, and reportedly he shot down another offer this spring. I respect Polanco's faith in his abilities, but the Pirates have gained a notable chunk of leverage over the last year or so.

$2 Kevin Kiermaier
$2 Peter Bourjos
$2 Chris Young
$2 Nick Markakis
$2 David Peralta
$2 Darin Ruf
$2 Juan Lagares
$2 Gerardo Parra
$2 Brandon Guyer
$2 Scott Van Slyke
$2 Seth Smith
$1 Khris Davis
$1 Michael Morse
$1 Brock Holt
$1 Alejandro de Aza
$1 Gregor Blanco
$1 Ichiro Suzuki
$0 Travis Snider
$0 Michael Saunders
$0 Ryan Raburn
$0 Justin Maxwell
$0 Michael Bourn
$0 David Murphy
$0 Delmon Young
$0 Jon Jay
$0 Randal Grichuk
$0 Shane Victorino
$0 Grady Sizemore
$0 Jeff Francoeur
$0 Jonny Gomes

Courtesy Injury Ranks

$15 *Corey Dickerson
$15 *Jacoby Ellsbury
$14 *Yasiel Puig
$12 *Wil Myers
$7 *Ben Zobrist
$6 *Jayson Werth
$6 *Alex Rios
$5 *Josh Hamilton
$4 *Desmond Jennings
$2 *Oswaldo Arcia
$2 *Austin Jackson
$1 *Kelly Johnson
$1 *Coco Crisp
$1 *Carl Crawford

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