Every fantasy baseball season, there are always a handful of outfielders grabbed within the first round. The position is constantly loaded with fantasy studs and this year’s draft will be no different.
Among all the top-ranked outfielders, though, one option that seriously concerns me is OF Carlos Gomez of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Gomez has been ranked inside the top-10 outfielders everywhere on the web and has even been drafted within the first round in some formats. Now I’m not saying he isn’t a talented player or that he shouldn’t be drafted as a starter, but there are several outfielders that I would draft ahead of him. I would take Adam Jones, Jacoby Ellsbury, Ryan Braun, Bryce Harper, Carlos Gonzalez, and Shin-Soo Choo all ahead of Gomez. All of these players are more proven than Gomez and will put up much better all-around fantasy numbers.
Obviously, Gomez has become a reliable contributor on the bases, as his 41 steals last year were sixth among MLB outfielders. He has swiped 77 bags over the last two years alone and truly has 50-steal potential. Despite the steals, though, Gomez doesn’t add much else and can be rather one-dimensional at times.
Gomez has never hit for average in his professional career. He has hit .255 throughout his seven-year career, and before he shockingly hit .284 last season, the veteran never had a batting average over .260 . His average will likely regress towards his career average this season and a .275 average would be more appropriate of a prediction in 2014.
Considering all the options in the outfield this year, Gomez is simply too risky to draft as a first outfielder and has fantasy bust written all over him. If you are looking for an outfielder to build your roster around, don’t reach for Gomez in the first two rounds.
Adam McGill is the Senior Fantasy Sports Writer at Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @adammcgill83, like him on Facebook, or add him to you networks on Google here or here.