Fantasy baseball dynasty rankings: Top 300 players for 2020 and beyond

Fantasy baseball season never really comes to a close.

Many fantasy managers have already begun preparing for next year, even with the 2019 regular season only days from its conclusion. Those who look forward the soonest do the most to boost their 2020 championship hopes, and those who do so in dynasty or keeper leagues tend to field the most competitive teams year over year.

If you could use some help getting your dynasty team up to full speed for 2020 and beyond, there's good news: Welcome to the latest edition of my tri-annual Dynasty 300 rankings. It serves an effective "price guide" for dynasty or keeper leagues, whether you've got a pre-existing one or plan to start one from scratch in 2020.

The rankings formula

The Dynasty 300 uses the following player valuation formula:

• 2020 performance: 20 percent.

• 2021 performance: 20 percent.

• 2022 performance: 20 percent.

• 2023 performance: 20 percent.

• 2024 performance and beyond: 20 percent.

The rationale behind these weights is to provide a long-term projection of player values, in order to help fantasy managers in dynasty/keeper leagues who are weighing trades or making keeper decisions. For those in redraft/single-year leagues, there will be rankings specific to 2020 shortly. This page, however, is aimed at fantasy managers who need to project further into the future.

Bear in mind that other factors influence these values, beyond simply your league's scoring system. Here are some of the other things to consider:

• Number of keepers: How many players can you keep each year, and must every team keep the same number?

• Player pricing: Is your league draft or auction format, and do you price players by draft round, for a dollar amount, or is price not part of the keeper equation?

• Contract factors: Are there limits on the number of years you can keep a player and/or are there guaranteed contracts, and is there price inflation?

• Farm teams: Does your league include minor league/farm team slots and how are these players factored into the keeper system?

• Team competitiveness: Are you a contender, rebuilder or something in between?

Dynasty 300

Note: "Elig. Pos." is the player's projected eligible position(s) at the onset of the 2020 season. Position eligibility is determined based upon a minimum of 20 games, otherwise the position the player appeared at most, in 2019, or a minimum of 10 games in 2020. "Pos. Rank" is the player's ranking at his most-played position in 2019. Players' projected future positions -- 2021 and beyond -- are considered in the ranking. Player ages are as of Opening Day (March 26) 2020.

Players' peak rankings in past keeper lists ("Prv. Peak") are also provided: These lists have been published semiannually since 2010 and tri-annually since 2014, with preseason ("Pre"), midseason ("Mid") and end-of-season ("End") designated to differentiate the different times of the years in question. For example, Freddie Freeman is listed with a peak of 10 in "Mid 14," meaning that his best all-time rank was 10th, in the 2014 midseason list. A "--" means that the player has never before made the cut.

Dynasty 300

Catcher

First base

Second base

Shortstop

Third base

Outfield

Designated hitter

Starting pitcher

Relief pitcher