Who are the best players in Major League Baseball right now?
To determine this, ESPN formed a panel of MLB writers, analysts, contributors and Insiders to rank the top 100, which we'll count down from No. 100 to No. 1, 20 players per day for five days.
To compile MLBRank, we collaborated with Microsoft Research and The Wharton School and polled 65 ESPN experts on a list of 167 players. After seven days of voting in June, we have our results.
We begin our countdown with Nos. 100-81, which features 13 players who weren't in our #BBTN Top 100 for 2016, 12 All-Stars and former MVPs from the American and National leagues.
Justin Upton
Position(s): Left field
Team: Detroit Tigers
Honors: National League All-Star (2009, 2011 -- Arizona Diamondbacks; 2015 -- San Diego Padres), Silver Slugger (2011 -- D-backs; 2014 -- Atlanta Braves)
Twitter: @JUST_UP
Career stats (through 2016 season): .268/.347/.472, 819 OPS, 1,315 hits, 221 HRs, 703 RBIs
2016 Rank: 75
ZiPS Projected 2017 WAR: 3.6
Did you know? Only three players have amassed 200 home runs, 225 doubles and 100 stolen bases since 2009: Ryan Braun, Matt Kemp and Justin Upton. -- Kevin Pulsifer, ESPN Stats & Information
Michael Pineda
Position(s): Starting pitcher
Team: New York Yankees
Honors: American League All-Star (2011 -- with Seattle Mariners)
Twitter: None; team: @Yankees
Career stats (through 2016 season): W-L: 32-37, 583.2 innings pitched, 3.99 ERA, 595 strikeouts, 1.174 WHIP
2016 Rank: Not ranked
ZiPS Projected 2017 WAR: 3.0
Did you know? Michael Pineda is the definition of a power pitcher; last season, only four pitchers struck out 200 or more hitters while allowing at least 1.2 HRs per 9: Max Scherzer, Chris Archer, Robbie Ray and Pineda. -- Pulsifer
Billy Hamilton
Position(s): Center field
Team: Cincinnati Reds
Honors: None
Twitter: @BillyHamilton
Career stats (through 2016 season): .248/.297/.334, .631 OPS, 348 hits, 13 HRs, 94 RBIs, 184 stolen bases
2016 Rank: Not ranked
ZiPS Projected 2017 WAR: 1.1
Did you know? Billy Hamilton has 15 games with three or more steals since his major league debut in 2013. Dee Gordon is the only other player with at least 10 such games over that time. -- Pulsifer
Dellin Betances
Position(s): Relief pitcher
Team: New York Yankees
Honors: American League All-Star (2014, '15, '16)
Twitter: @DBetances50
Career stats (through 2016 season): W-L: 14-10, 22 saves, 254.2 innings pitched, 2.16 ERA, 404 strikeouts, 1.001 WHIP
2016 Rank: 35
ZiPS Projected 2017 WAR: 2.0
Did you know? From 2014-16, Dellin Betances was second in MLB with a 1.93 ERA (minimum 240 innings). The uber-dominant Clayton Kershaw sat just a tick lower at 1.89. -- Pulsifer
Zack Cozart
Position(s): Shortstop
Team: Cincinnati Reds
Honors: None
Twitter: None; team: @Reds
Career stats (through 2016 season): .246/.289/.385, .674 OPS, 537 hits, 58 HRs, 217 RBIs
2016 Rank: Not ranked
ZiPS Projected 2017 WAR: 4.2
Did you know? Zack Cozart hit .347 in the first two months of the season, third-best in the majors behind that of Ryan Zimmerman and Buster Posey. Last season, Cozart hit .361 in April but followed it with a .247 May. -- Pulsifer
Jason Kipnis
Position(s): Second base
Team: Cleveland Indians
Honors: American League All-Star (2013, '15)
Twitter: @TheJK_Kid
Career stats (through 2016 season): .272/.345/.423, .768 OPS, 808 hits, 76 HRs, 354 RBIs
2016 Rank: 66
ZiPS Projected 2017 WAR: 1.5
Did you know? Since his first full season in the bigs in 2012, Jason Kipnis is one of just four players in all of baseball to have 75 home runs, 100 stolen bases and a .335 on-base percentage in that span. You might have heard of the others: Mike Trout, Paul Goldschmidt and Charlie Blackmon. -- Brendan DeAngelis, ESPN Stats & Information
Ender Inciarte
Position(s): Center fielder
Team: Atlanta Braves
Honors: Gold Glove (2016)
Twitter: @Enderdavid18
Career stats (through 2016 season): .292/.337/.385, .722 OPS, 427 hits, 13 HRs, 101 RBIs
2016 Rank: Not ranked
ZiPS Projected 2017 WAR: 3.7
Did you know? Since his debut in 2014 through 2016, Ender Inciarte led all NL outfielders in defensive WAR with 6.8 and was second only to Jason Heyward in Defensive Runs Saved with 64. He won his first Gold Glove last season. -- DeAngelis
Jean Segura
Position(s): Shortstop
Team: Seattle Mariners
Honors: National League All-Star (2013 -- Milwaukee Brewers)
Twitter: None; team: @Mariners
Career stats (through 2016 season): .280/.319/.396, .716 OPS, 685 hits, 43 HRs, 208 RBIs
2016 Rank: Not ranked
ZiPS Projected 2017 WAR: 2.3
Did you know? In 2016, Jean Segura became one of eight players in MLB history to record a season with a .300 batting average, 100 runs scored, 200 hits, 40 doubles, 20 home runs and 30 stolen bases. -- DeAngelis
Gerrit Cole
Position(s): Starting pitcher
Team: Pittsburgh Pirates
Honors: National League All-Star (2015)
Twitter: None; team: @Pirates
Career stats (through 2016 season): W-L: 47-30, 579.1 innings pitched, 3.23 ERA, 538 strikeouts, 1.205 WHIP
2016 Rank: 32
ZiPS Projected 2017 WAR: 2.4
Did you know? Even though Gerrit Cole has struggled this season, there's plenty of reason to believe that he'll turn things around. From his debut through last season (2016), Cole's 2.98 FIP ranked fifth in MLB among all pitchers who threw at least 500 innings (behind that of Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Corey Kluber and Jake Arrieta). -- DeAngelis
Marco Estrada
Position(s): Starting pitcher
Team: Toronto Blue Jays
Honors: American League All-Star (2016)
Twitter: None; team: @BlueJays
Career stats (through 2016 season): W-L: 45-43, 898 innings pitched, 3.86 ERA, 804 strikeouts, 1.144 WHIP
2016 Rank: Not ranked
ZiPS Projected 2017 WAR: 3.2
Did you know? Opponents hit .203 last year against Marco Estrada, the lowest mark by any AL pitcher to qualify for the ERA title. It was the second straight season that Estrada held opponents to that batting average. The only Blue Jays starter to hold opponents to a lower average was Roger Clemens in 1998. -- DeAngelis and Mark Simon, ESPN Stats & Information
Yasmani Grandal
Position(s): Catcher
Team: Los Angeles Dodgers
Honors: National League All-Star (2015)
Twitter: @yazmanianDVL08
Career stats (through 2016 season): .238/.348/.428, .776 OPS, 333 hits, 67 HRs, 213 RBIs
2016 Rank: Not ranked
ZiPS Projected 2017 WAR: 3.2
Did you know? Yasmani Grandal has increased his home run total in each of the past three seasons, and he led all catchers with 27 in 2016. Among 23 backstops with at least 300 plate appearances last year, only Jonathan Lucroy and Wilson Ramos had a better OPS+. -- Zach Mariner, ESPN Stats & Information
Eric Thames
Position(s): First baseman
Team: Milwaukee Brewers
Honors: None
Twitter: @EricThames
Career stats (through 2016 season): .250/.296/.431, .727 OPS, 158 hits, 21 HRs, 62 RBIs
2016 Rank: Not ranked
ZiPS Projected 2017 WAR: 2.5
Did you know? Eric Thames has cooled off a bit since his outstanding April, but he looks like he could be for real. He has been atop the NL leaderboard in home runs and consistently ranked among the top 10 in OBP, slugging percentage, walks, runs and extra-base hits. One crucial component for Thames' success has been his plate discipline; his chase rate ranks in the top 10 percent among qualified hitters. -- Mariner
Jake Lamb
Position(s): Third baseman
Team: Arizona Diamondbacks
Honors: None
Twitter: @JakeLamb18
Career stats (through 2016 season)
.251/.323/.448, OPS -- .772, hits -- 251, HRs -- 39, RBIs -- 136
2016 Rank: Not ranked
ZiPS Projected 2017 WAR: 3.2
Did you know?
In a game dominated by young superstars, Jake Lamb is underrated. In 2016, his 29 home runs were tied with Mike Trout for the seventh-most among players age 25 or younger. -- Mariner
Brett Gardner
Position(s): Left fielder
Team: New York Yankees
Honors: American League All-Star (2015), Gold Glove (2016)
Twitter: None; team: @Yankees
Career stats (through 2016 season): .264/.346/.338, .734 OPS, 950 hits, 63 HRs, 344 RBIs
2016 Rank: Not ranked
ZiPS Projected 2017 WAR: 3.5
Did you know? In 2015, Brett Gardner reached his first All-Star Game, and in 2016, he won his first Gold Glove. Could he notch his first 20-20 season in 2017? He'd be the first Yankee to do so since Curtis Granderson in 2011. Gardner has never hit more than 17 home runs, but his slugging percentage for much of this season has been nearly 100 points higher than his career mark entering this year (.388). -- Mariner
Dustin Pedroia
Position(s): Second baseman
Team: Boston Red Sox
Honors: Rookie of the Year (2007), American League MVP (2008), American League All-Star (2008, '09, '10, '13), Gold Glove (2008, '11, '13, '14), Silver Slugger (2008)
Twitter: @Lasershow15
Career stats (through 2016 season): .301/.366/.445, .811 OPS, 1,683 hits, 133 HRs, 662 RBIs
2016 Rank: 99
ZiPS Projected 2017 WAR: 2.0
Did you know? Despite his dwindling power, Dustin Pedroia remains one of the toughest outs in baseball. Since the start of last season, only Andrelton Simmons has a lower strikeout rate among AL players. Pedroia is also closing in on career hit No. 1,800, which would make him just the eighth Red Sox player to reach that mark. -- Mariner
Corey Dickerson
Position(s): Designated hitter, left fielder
Team: Tampa Bay Rays
Honors: None
Twitter: @MCoreyDickerson
Career stats (through 2016 season): .279/.326/.510, .835 OPS, 380 hits, 63 HRs, 194 RBIs
2016 Rank: Not ranked
ZiPS Projected 2017 WAR: 3.9
Did you know? In the past four seasons, 58 outfielders have accumulated 1,500 plate appearances (through mid-June 2017); only seven have a better OPS+ than Corey Dickerson. -- Mariner
Ryan Braun
Position(s): Left fielder
Team: Milwaukee Brewers
Honors: Rookie of the Year (2007), National League MVP (2011), National League All-Star (2008-12, 2015), Silver Slugger (2008-12)
Twitter: None, team: @Brewers
Career stats (through 2016 season): .304/.367/.544, .910 OPS, 1,597 hits, 285 HRs, 937 RBIs
2016 Rank: 86
ZiPS Projected 2017 WAR: 1.0
Did you know? Ryan Braun's .538 slugging percentage last season was his best since his MVP runner-up finish in 2012. He's closing in on becoming the first Brewers player with 300 home runs. -- Mariner
Jose Ramirez
Position(s): Third baseman
Team: Cleveland Indians
Honors: None
Twitter: @MrLapara
Career stats (through 2016 season): .275/.331/.404, .735 OPS, 311 hits, 19 HRs, 120 RBIs
2016 Rank: Not ranked
ZiPS Projected 2017 WAR: 4.9
Did you know? In 2016, three qualified hitters age 23 or younger posted a triple-slash line of .300/.350/.450: NL Rookie of the Year Corey Seager, AL MVP runner-up Mookie Betts and Jose RamÃrez. -- Mariner
Kevin Kiermaier
Position(s): Center fielder
Team: Tampa Bay Rays
Honors: Gold Glove (2015-16); American League Platinum Glove (2015)
Twitter: @KKiermaier39
Career stats (through 2016 season): .258/.313/.425, .738 OPS, 310 hits, 32 HRs, 112 RBIs
2016 Rank: Not ranked
ZiPS Projected 2017 WAR: 2.7
Did you know?
How good is Kevin Kiermaier's defense? In 2015, he joined Andrelton Simmons (2013) as the only players in MLB history to record 7.0 Wins Above Replacement with an on-base percentage under .300. Since 2015, his 77 Defensive Runs Saved are easily the most in the majors. -- Mariner
Michael Brantley
Position(s): Left fielder
Team: Cleveland Indians
Honors: American League All-Star (2014), Silver Slugger (2014)
Twitter: None; team: @Indians
Career stats (through 2016 season): .292/.348/.421, .769 OPS, 918 hits, 61 HRs, 400 RBIs
2016 Rank: 80
ZiPS Projected 2017 WAR: 1.7
Did you know? During his breakout campaign in 2014, Michael Brantley finished among the AL's top 10 in batting average, OBP, slugging percentage, hits, doubles and runs scored. He finished third in AL MVP voting that season, the first Indians player to finish top-three since Roberto Alomar and Manny Ramirez tied for third in 1999. -- Mariner and Sarah Langs, ESPN Stats & Information
MLBRank was produced in collaboration with Microsoft Research and The Wharton School.
