https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id...CaPrVmZVu0Z4mRVS_ExVkv5XavjRNElermQTsbfYGoNh8
ESPN Top 100:
1. Shohei Ohtani
2. Mike Trout
3. Aaron Judge
4. Manny Machado
5. Freddie Freeman
6. Juan Soto
7. Julio Rodriguez
8. Trea Turner
9. Mookie Betts
10. Nolan Arenado
13. Jose Ramirez 3B | Cleveland Guardians
Mr. Consistency. Ramirez is a baseball player in the way grizzled old scouts might describe a player who isn't the strongest or the fastest or the biggest or the flashiest. Other than an inexplicable slump in the first half of 2019, he has been one of baseball's best hitters -- and best all-around players -- since 2017. We can see that respect in his results in the MVP voting: third, third, second, sixth and fourth in five of the past six seasons. Ramirez already has 2.54 MVP Award Shares in his career -- more than Rickey Henderson, Chipper Jones or Cal Ripken Jr.
He's durable, he steals 20 bases every year, he strikes out fewer than 100 times a season, he swats doubles and home runs and he's a solid defender. Nobody ever seems to call him one of the top 10 best players in baseball, but at the end of the season, he's always right there.
Season prediction: This one is easy. Ramirez hits 32 home runs (give or take a few), drives in over 100 runs, leads the league in doubles for the third time and finishes in the top six in MVP voting. -- Schoenfield
30. Shane Bieber SP | Cleveland Guardians
The 2022 season brought with it an evolution for Bieber, the AL's Cy Young Award winner in 2020. Bieber had seen the velocity on his four-seam fastball continually diminish, from 94 mph in 2020 to 93 mph in 2021 to 91 mph in 2022. But he has altered his pitch mix in order to combat it, beginning to use his slider more often than his curveball, and he has seen results. Bieber finished the 2022 season seventh in Cy Young voting, posting a 2.88 ERA and reaching precisely 200 innings. Alarm bells were ringing in Cleveland when Bieber got shelled by the Blue Jays on May 7, allowing seven runs with a fastball that barely cracked 90 mph. From that point forward, he posted the 10th-lowest ERA in the sport.
Season prediction: You probably wouldn't be surprised to learn that Bieber's strikeout rate has dropped over time, from 41.1% in 2020 to 33.1% in 2021 to 25% in 2022. But his walk rate last season, 4.6%, was barely more than half what it was the year before. Bieber is a different pitcher, but still a very effective one. Expect that to continue. -- Gonzalez
48. Andrés Gimenez 2B | Cleveland Guardians
The 24-year-old second baseman put together a breakout season in 2022, hitting .297/.371/.466 with a 7.2 bWAR. Gimenez's defense catapulted him into one of the game's more valuable players, but there are some questions about whether the Guardians' infielder can repeat the success given the 40-point differential in his expected batting average (.257) and actual average (.297). While his 17 homers last season look like an outlier compared to his career numbers, expect him to make an impact on the basepaths after stealing 20 bases in 2022.
Season prediction: Gimenez will still be an above-average hitter but expect his power numbers to take a step back while his production equalizes with the expected sabermetric numbers given his contact rate and exit velocity. -- Lee
59. Emmanuel Clase RP | Cleveland Guardians
In the original incarnation of our rankings, there were but two relievers so dominant that they earned a spot on the list. Edwin Diaz then suffered that devastating knee injury in the WCS, so now Clase, who won last year's Mariano Rivera AL Reliever of the Year award, stands alone as baseball's top fireman entering the season. He's earned that status by becoming one of the rarest of baseball phenomenons: The consistent reliever.
In his case, Clase isn't just consistent -- he's consistently dominant. Over the last two seasons, Clase has a surreal 1.33 ERA over 142⅓ innings. In 2022, he saved 42 games in 46 chances and earned wins in two of the games in which he blew the save. He does this with a cutter-slider combination so unhittable that to describe it as "nasty" hardly seems sufficient. The cutter in particular is almost -- dare we say? -- Rivera-esque.
Season prediction: There is zero reason to think that Clase's game is going to tail off any time soon, especially when a "bad" season for him at this point would be a two-something ERA. -- Doolittle
76. Triston McKenzie SP | Cleveland Guardians
By trying to do a little less in 2021, McKenzie accomplished a whole lot more in 2022. His strikeout rate dropped from 27.5% to 25.6% of opposing batters, but he more than offset that dip by slicing his walk rate and managing his effort to work deeper into games. He averaged 4.8 innings per start in 2021 but that figure soared to 6.3 last season as he finished with 191⅓ innings pitched and doubled his quality start count. McKenzie leaned less frequently on his fastball, even though he still has just a three-pitch mix. Even without a deep arsenal, McKenzie's numbers remain strong even as he gets into the third time through an opposing lineup.
Season prediction: From here, it's a matter of fine tuning the command. While McKenzie was much better at attacking the strike zone last season, he did go through spates where he caught the middle of the plate too often, and his homer rate would spike. Given his rate of improvement so far, the Guardians can look to further gains in this area. -- Doolittle
79. Steven Kwan LF | Cleveland Guardians
We've been so indoctrinated by today's power-driven game that sometimes we forget that players like Kwan can not only still exist but excel, too. He hit .298/.373/.400 and won a Gold Glove in left field despite one of the lowest hard-hit rates in the game. His 5.5 bWAR was the best by a Cleveland rookie since Kenny Lofton in 1992. He makes it work because of impeccable strike-zone judgment -- he swung and missed just 91 times out of 1,006 swings. Only Luis Arraez had a better contact rate.
The projection systems forecast regression, however, his contact ability, defense, speed and plate discipline give him a high floor of 3 WAR even if the average drops 20 points. But here's betting on .300 in 2023.
Season prediction: Hey, I just said .300! Let's go with .304 with 100 runs scored and another Gold Glove. -- Schoenfield
But you mixed it.
