MLB Network’s Top 100 Players Right Now Entering 2014
As I did last year, and the year before, I’ll be keeping a running list of the Top 100 Players Right Now as they are revealed on MLB Network, eventually compiling the entire list.
They will have revealed all 100 by the end of Friday, February 21st. I’ll update this same space as they reveal the remaining entries.
As always, I will understandably highlight the Brewers players on the list. There were six Brewers on the list entering 2012. Rickie Weeks was 83, John Axford was 77, Yovani Gallardo was 72, Aramis Ramirez was 66, Zack Greinke was 64, and Ryan Braun was too low at number 9. Last year, the Brewers only had three players featured on the list (at the time it was revealed). Yovani Gallardo repeated his position at 72, Aramis Ramirez jumped all the way up to 32, and Braun settled in at 6. Kyle Lohse made last year’s list as well.
My early prediction? The Brewers could have six (6) this year (Braun, Ramirez, Kyle Lohse, Carlos Gomez, Jean Segura, Jonathan Lucroy) but I think Garza falls short for sure. (UPDATE: Looks like the Brewers will only have three again. Ramirez and Lohse both fall off the list and Lucroy gets no love either.)
The criteria for the list remains the same:
- Emphasized stats from the last three (3) seasons, weighting 2012
- Projected 2014 performance
- Defensive position
- Accolades
- Intangibles
Here now are the Top 100-1* Players as listed by MLB Network:
100. Derek Jeter – SS – New York Yankees
99. Brandon Phillips – 2B – Cincinnati Reds
98. Torii Hunter – RF – Detroit Tigers
97. Andrelton Simmons – SS – Atlanta Braves
96. Shane Victorino – RF – Boston Red Sox
95. Ian Kinsler – 2B – Detroit Tigers
94. Gerrit Cole – SP – Pittsburgh Pirates
93. Shelby Miller – SP – St. Louis Cardinals
92. Michael Wacha – SP – St. Louis Cardinals
91. Trevor Rosenthal – CL – St. Louis Cardinals
90. Patrick Corbin – SP – Arizona Diamondbacks
89. Clay Buccholz – SP – Boston Red Sox
88. Matt Cain – SP – San Francisco Giants
87. Josh Donaldson – 3B – Oakland Athletics
86. Joe Nathan – CL – Detroit Tigers
85. Matt Wieters – C – Baltimore Orioles
84. Billy Butler – DH – Kansas City Royals
83. Jon Lester – SP – Boston Red Sox
82. Koji Uehara – CL – Boston Red Sox
81. Chase Utley – 2B – Philadelphia Phillies
80. Albert Pujols – 1B – Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
79. Pedro Alvarez – 3B – Pittsburgh Pirates
78. Salvador Perez – C – Kansas City Royals
77. Carlos Santana – C/3B – Cleveland Indians
76. Josh Hamilton – RF – Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
75. Eric Hosmer – 1B – Kansas City Royals
74. Hunter Pence – RF – San Francisco Giants
73. Michael Cuddyer – RF – Colorado Rockies
72. Justin Upton – LF – Atlanta Braves
71. Anibal Sanchez – SP – Detroit Tigers
70. Jason Kipnis – 2B – Cleveland Indians
69. Gio Gonzalez – SP – Washington Nationals
68. Madison Bumgarner – SP – San Francisco Giants
67. Greg Holland – CL – Kansas City Royals
66. James Shields – SP – Kansas City Royals
65. Matt Carpenter – 3B – St. Louis Cardinals
64. Brian McCann – C – New York Yankees
63. J.J. Hardy – SS – Baltimore Orioles
62. Ian Desmond – SS – Washington Nationals
61. Jose Reyes – SS – Toronto Blue Jays
60. JEAN SEGURA – SS – MILWAUKEE BREWERS
59. Matt Kemp – CF – Los Angeles Dodgers
58. Alex Gordon – LF – Kansas City Royals
57. Cole Hamels – SP – Philadelphia Phillies
56. Jordan Zimmermann – SP – Washington Nationals
55. Hisashi Iwakuma – SP – Seattle Mariners
54. Cliff Lee – SP – Philadelphia Phillies
53. Allen Craig – RF – St. Louis Cardinals
52. Adrian Gonzalez – 1B – Los Angeles Dodgers
51. Jacoby Ellsbury – CF – New York Yankees
50. Jose Bautista – RF – Toronto Blue Jays
49. Jayson Werth – RF – Washington Nationals
48. Ryan Zimmerman – 3B – Washington Nationals
47. Carlos Beltran – RF – New York Yankees
46. Prince Fielder – 1B – Texas Rangers
45. Freddie Freeman – 1B – Atlanta Braves
44. CARLOS GOMEZ – CF – MILWAUKEE BREWERS
43. Wil Myers – RF – Tampa Bay Rays
42. Shin-Soo Choo – LF – Texas Rangers
41. Matt Holliday – LF – St. Louis Cardinals
40. Victor Martinez – C/DH – Detroit Tigers
39. Edwin Encarnacion – 1B – Toronto Blue Jays
38. Zack Greinke – SP – Los Angeles Dodgers
37. Stephen Strasburg – SP – Washington Nationals
36. Jay Bruce – RF – Cincinnati Reds
35. Aroldis Chapman – CL – Cincinnati Reds
34. Joe Mauer – 1B – Minnesota Twins
33. Justin Verlander – SP – Detroit Tigers
32. Adam Wainwright – SP – St. Louis Cardinals
31. Yu Darvish – SP – Texas Rangers
30. Chris Davis – 1B – Baltimore Orioles
29. Manny Machado – 3B – Baltimore Orioles
28. David Ortiz – DH – Boston Red Sox
27. Dustin Pedroia – 2B – Boston Red Sox
26. Craig Kimbrel – CL – Atlanta Braves
25. David Wright – 3B – New York Mets
24. RYAN BRAUN – RF – MILWAUKEE BREWERS
23. Yasiel Puig – RF – Los Angeles Dodgers
22. Bryce Harper – LF – Washington Nationals
21. Adam Jones – CF – Baltimore Orioles
20. Giancarlo Stanton – RF – Miami Marlins
19. Chris Sale – SP – Chicago White Sox
18. Jose Fernandez – SP – Miami Marlins
17. Buster Posey – C – San Francisco Giants
16. Hanley Ramirez – SS – Los Angeles Dodgers
15. Evan Longoria – 3B – Tampa Bay Rays
14. Yadier Molina – C – St. Louis Cardinals
13. Troy Tulowitzki – SS – Colorado Rockies
12. Max Scherzer – SP – Detroit Tigers
11. Carlos Gonzalez – CF – Colorado Rockies
10. David Price – SP – Tampa Bay Rays
9. Paul Goldschmidt – 1B – Arizona Diamondbacks
8. Joey Votto – 1B – Cincinnati Reds
7. Felix Hernandez – SP – Seattle Mariners
6. Adrian Beltre – 3B – Texas Rangers
5. Robinson Cano – 2B – Seattle Mariners
4. Andrew McCutchen – CF – Pittsburgh Pirates
3. Miguel Cabrera – 1B – Detroit Tigers
2. Clayton Kershaw – SP – Los Angeles Dodgers
1. Mike Trout – CF – Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
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So that’s the list! Sound off in the comments and let me know what you think. Did your favorite player make the list? Was he too high? Too low?
Catchers are more important than other position players. yadier and Buster should be higher, but there is so much talent that the numbering is vastly insignificant and symbolic to how it affects the true outcome of a game and season. WAR when it counts wound be a great saber metric stat!
Cespedes???
Cabrera is the best player and nobody even comes close
Sorry, your argument is invalid. He’s not even a threat on the bases and not all that sharp on defense. Sure, his offense is amazing. But I do agree that he should be 2nd, not first.
I’m sure he’ll take the mvps over the number 1 ranking
Liriano doesnt even crack the list. 16 wins 3 era and over a SO per inning. and if you take away his complete disaster at coors( 2 ip 12H 10er) his era goes from 3.02 down to 2.49 and his whip goes from 1.22 to 1.15. and his record 16-7. And thats not good enough to crack the list. Yet matt kemp, alex gordon, wil myers, and victor martinez and his whopping 13 HR are in the top 60. And greinke is in the top 40. Liriano was more dominate than greinke was last year. Not saying he should be top 10, but no way should liriano not crack the top 100. Thats ridiculous. How does Jeter make the list over him.
read the list wrong, still puig shouldn’t be in the top twenty five
this list is not even right Cespedes is NOT on here Yadi is only 14th Clayton Kershaw is 1st it should be Miguel.Paul Goldshmit should be higer then ninth AND CHRIS DAVIS is only 30th this list is HORRIBLE
There’s plenty wrong with it.
How is yasiel puig who is a complete wild card higher than the known potential of Buster posey, Miguel Cabrera is so much better than trout, trout should be around fifth place
LOL Trout should be around 5th? How much crack have you smoked today?
Whats up with ethier
The best player should be on a team that actually went to the playoffs, Trout is good but not good enough to help lead a star studded team to the playoffs
Prince Fielder at 46 is a disgrace.
I’m a Red Sox fan and you have Victorino on the list over Napoli. I don’t get that at all.
It’s not my list. I don’t agree with lots of things either.
Jose Fernandez at 18th? How is that possible? He should be in the top 10. And Mike Trout deserves to be in the top 10, but not first. It seems like they just wanted to surprise people by not putting Miguel first.
David Price at 10? Shouldn’t he be lower?
Um really??? Miguel cabrera = #1 all the way!!! Trout = #5
Why is a baseball LEGEND #100? No Liriano, Jansen, or Cespedes. BP and Torii are too low and V-Mart, Strasburg, Puig, and Harper are too high. Koji at 82?! Lester’s higher, should be near Big Game James and Mad-Bum. Braun is too high, even without factoring steroids. Machado SHOULD NOT be ahead of Chris Davis. One more year for Davis and he’ll be higher. Also Wil Myers did not deserve AL rookie of the year and DEFINITELY NOT #43.
Kind of a late comment on this one, but thanks for contributing!
And for the sake of accuracy, Braun wasn’t taking steroids.
Patrick Corbin should be top 40