I know it is a little bit late to be publishing a top prospect list, but these lists have the long term in mind, so what’s a couple days overdue, right?

The following list is our ranking of the top 101 fantasy baseball prospects for dynasty leagues. It attempts to balance upside, risk, proximity, floor and positional value, with standard 5x5 leagues being the measuring stick, so if your league uses 2 catchers instead of one, or OBP instead of AVG, you’ll need to adjust accordingly.

To be included in these rankings, players must still have rookie eligibility, meaning they have not exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the majors and have not accumulated more than 45 days on an active major league roster.

You probably won’t get very far into this list before you notice the absence of Yu Darvish and Yoenis Cespedes. For the purposes of this exercise I am not treating them as prospects because of their professional experience. If you’re wondering, I would place Darvish 4^th, after Moore, and Cespedes 25^th, replacing Bubba Starling in the top 25.

NL-only fantasy baseball rankings and dollar values

AL-only fantasy baseball rankings and dollar values

RotoSummit's fantasy baseball tiered rankings. Players may be listed at multiple positions, but only if it would make sense to play them at either position, therefore you will not see catcher eligible players like Carlos Santana or Mike Napoli rank as a first baseman.

Catcher | First Base | Second Base | Third Base | Shortstop | Outfield | Starting Pitcher | Relief Pitcher

Since we are so close to spring training, this list shouldn't change much unless an injury, trade, or an expected playing time adjustment occurs. Here is my updated list of the top fantasy baseball relief pitchers for 2012.

1. Craig Kimbrel: Kimbrel was incredible in 2011, saving 46 games with a 2.10 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and 127 strikeouts. His strikeout rate was outstanding at 14.8 strikeouts per 9. The strikeout totals are really what separates him from the rest, as most closers usually get between 60 and 70 in a season. We do have to expect him to regress some as hitters adjust to him, but he is still the number one closer going into 2012.

Since we are so close to spring training, this list shouldn't change much unless an injury, trade, or an expected playing time adjustment occurs. Here is my updated list of the top fantasy baseball starting pitchers for 2012.

(I may reference some sabermetric statistics in this article, for more clarification on what these statistics mean, you may want to take a look at my Sabermetric Principles article)

1. Roy Halladay: Halladay is simply the most consistent pitcher in fantasy baseball. There might be one or two pitchers who finish above him each year, but he is consistently in the top five among starting pitchers. All of Halladay's underlying stats are encouraging. His 2.35 ERA should probably be a little bit higher in 2012, as his career low 5% HR/FB rate should rise some (not much). He did post an 8.5 K/9 rate last season, the highest of his career, and there is absolutely nothing in his numbers that suggest a decline in skills in 2012. Halladay is the safest pitcher in baseball, bid confidently.