This article is part of our The Z Files series.
Fantasy Baseball Writing 101: Everyone loves lists. When searching for a topic, think of some players you want to write about, then concoct a theme common to all the players and voila, you have a piece.
Fortunately, I don't need to stretch to come up with topics. I've been asked for my position rankings. Ask and you shall receive. Beginning with starting pitching, I'll share my top 20 at each position with commentary. I'll probably go top 60 with starting pitching and outfield, once some free agents sign and the rankings settle.
Today we start with starting pitching. The list is subject to change since it's likely I'm missing something. There's so much information out there and not enough time to digest it, at least not by the end of October. However, with the National Fantasy Baseball Championship and Fantrax running pay drafts in November (Fantrax has already started), there's a thirst for information, as evidenced by several of my brethren already posting their rankings. I don't want to speak for them, but I'm willing to bet mine are the only rankings driven by projections, converted to expected earnings.
1. Jacob deGrom, New York Mets
This may be a surprise, but with Gerrit Cole's 2020 destination unknown, deGrom leads the pack. The key is assuming he finally logs wins commensurate with his run prevention, entailing a total in the upper teens. Wins aren't the crapshoot everyone narrates. Sure, there's more variance, but a sage expectation considers the expected
