Each and every year with publications, there are certain issues that people look forward too. Men who read Sports Illustrated for example, can tell you one of their favorite issues is the “Swimsuit” issue. Your wife will leave you a note to make dinner as she has to stop after work to pick up the People Magazine “Most Beautiful People” issue. ESPN the Magazine, unveils the athletes they feel are most likely to break out with their “Next” issue. Then there is the Sporting News. I subscribe to both ESPN and the Sporting News because they are both terrific publications and both have their own style. No issue gets me more excited than the annual “50 Best Players in Baseball” issue (on newsstands now).
Each year, I go through the list by myself and then go out and talk to my dad about it. We both debate who was left off the list and who shouldn’t have been on, as well as where the players were ranked. Anyone who knows me knows that I love to make lists and debate topics. So I thought, anyone can make a top 5o list. This year, I decided to step it up a notch and do the top 100 players in baseball.
1. Albert Pujols - 1B, St. Louis Cardinals
2. Joey Votto - 1B, Cincinnati Reds
3. Troy Tulowitzki - SS, Colorado Rockies
4. Felix Hernandez - SP, Seattle Mariners
5. Roy Halladay - SP, Philadelphia Phillies
6. Tim Lincecum - SP, San Francisco Giants
7. Josh Hamilton - OF, Texas Rangers
8. Miguel Cabrera - 1B, Detroit Tigers
9. Evan Longoria - 3B, Tampa Bay Rays
10. CC Sabathia - SP, New York Yankees
11. Joe Mauer - C, Minnesota Twins
12. Adrian Gonzalez - 1B, Boston Red Sox
13. Josh Johnson - SP, Florida Marlins
14. Robinson Cano - 2B, New York Yankees
15. Ryan Braun - OF, Milwaukee Brewers
16. Hanley Ramirez - SS, Florida Marlins
17. Cliff Lee - SP, Philadelphia Phillies
18. Jose Bautista - OF, Toronto Bluejays
19. Jon Lester - SP, Boston Red Sox
20. Justin Verlander - SP, Detroit Tigers
21. Matt Holliday - OF, St. Louis Cardinals
22. Mark Teixeira - 1B, New York Yankees
23. Carl Crawford - OF, Boston Red Sox
24. Carlos Gonzalez - OF, Colorado Rockies
25. Alex Rodriguez - 3B, New York Yankees
26. Prince Fielder - 1B, Milwaukee Brewers
27. David Price - SP, Tampa Bay Rays
28. Ryan Zimmerman - 3B, Washington Nationals
29. Chase Utley - 2B, Philadelphia Phillies
30. Mariano Rivera - CL, New York Yankees
31. Kevin Youkilis - 3B, Boston Red Sox
32. Ryan Howard - 1B ,Philadelphia Phillies
33. Ichiro Suzuki - OF, Seattle Mariners
34. Clayton Kershaw - SP, Los Angeles Dodgers
35. Jered Weaver - SP, Los Angeles Angels
36. Dustin Pedroia - 2B, Boston Red Sox
37. Buster Posey - C, San Francisco Giants
38. Dan Haren - SP, Los Angeles Angels
39. Andre Ethier - OF, Los Angeles Dodgers
40. David Wright - 3B, New York Mets
41. Brian McCann - C, Atlanta Braves
42. Ubaldo Jimenez - SP, Colorado Rockies
43. Andrew McCutchen - OF, Pittsburgh Pirates
44. Matt Kemp - OF, Los Angeles Dodgers
45. Justin Morneau - 1B, Minnesota Twins
46. Zack Greinke - SP, Milwaukee Brewers
47. Shin-Soo Choo - OF, Cleveland Indians
48. Adam Wainwright - SP, St. Louis Cardinals
49. Trevor Cahill - SP, Oakland Athletics
50. Brandon Phillips – 2B, Cincinnati Reds
51. Jayson Werth – OF, Washington Nationals
52. Adrian Beltre - 3B, Texas Rangers
53. Jason Heyward - OF, Atlanta Braves
54. Justin Upton - OF, Arizona Diamondbacks
55. Clay Buchholz - SP, Boston Red Sox
56. Asdrubal Cabrera – SS, Cleveland Indians
57. Jose Reyes - SS, New York Mets
58. Jay Bruce - OF, Cincinnati Reds
59. Curtis Granderson - OF, New York Yankees
60. Starlin Castro – SS, Chicago Cubs
61. Gio Gonzalez - SP, Oakland Athletics
62. Nelson Cruz - OF, Texas Rangers
63. Mike Stanton - OF, Florida Marlins
64. Chris Carpenter - SP, St. Louis Cardinals
65. Torii Hunter – OF, Los Angeles Angels
66. Heath Bell – CL, San Diego Padres
67. Roy Oswalt - SP, Philadelphia Phillies
68. Victor Martinez - C, Detroit Tigers
69. Carlos Santana - C, Cleveland Indians
70. Neil Walker - 2B, Pittsburgh Pirates
71. Yovani Gallardo - SP, Milwaukee Brewers
72. Jair Jurrjens - SP, Atlanta Braves
73. Josh Beckett - SP, Boston Red Sox
74. Rickie Weeks - 2B, Milwaukee Brewers
75. Lance Berkman - OF, St. Louis Cardinals
76. Jimmy Rollins - SS, Philadelphia Phillies
77. Cole Hamels - SP, Philadelphia Phillies
78. Ian Kinsler - 2B, Texas Rangers
79. Martin Prado - OF/2B, Atlanta Braves
80. Todd Helton - 1B, Colorado Rockies
81. Adam Dunn – 1B, Chicago White Sox
82. Brian Wilson - CL, San Francisco Giants
83. Shane Victorino - OF, Philadelphia Phillies
84. B.J. Upton - OF, Tampa Bay Rays
85. Michael Young - IF, Texas Rangers
86. Corey Hart – OF, Milwaukee Brewers
87. Joakim Soria - CL, Kansas City Royals
88. Tommy Hanson - SP, Atlanta Braves
89. Tim Hudson - SP, Atlanta Braves
90. Johan Santana - SP, New York Mets
91. Johnny Cueto – SP, Cincinnati Reds
92. Derek Lowe - SP, Atlanta Braves
93. Alfonso Soriano - OF, Chicago Cubs
94. Grady Sizemore - OF, Cleveland Indians
95. David Ortiz - DH, Boston Red Sox
96. Carlos Beltran - OF, New York Mets
97. Daniel Hudson - SP, Arizona Diamondbacks
98. Hunter Pence - OF, Houston Astros
99. Matt Cain - SP, San Francisco Giants
100. Bobby Abreu - DH, Los Angeles
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Written by Michael Waterloo
I'm currently pursuing my Master's degree in Communication and Journalism from Clarion University. I currently work for Ohio Valley Athletics where I serve as the West Virginia Football Beat Writer and cover West Virginia Men's Basketball as well. I'm a big Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Penguins, Pitt Panthers and Oregon Ducks fan. Follow me on Twitter at @MichaelWaterloo or visit www.ovathletics.com
Christopher Rowe Jun 1 201110:40 pm
Interesting list. What criteria do you use to rank them?
Michael Waterloo Jun 1 201111:03 pm
Thanks Chris. I did overall, their value to their team, consistency (if not Pineda, Joyce, Uganda, Correia, etc. would have been included), took injuries into consideration, decline in performance (Hunter dropped, Jeter didn’t make cut).