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 counted down from No. 100 to No. 1, 20 players per day, this week.
To compile MLBRank, we collaborated with Microsoft Research and The Wharton School and polled 65 ESPN experts on a list of 167 players. Here's the final list as well as some trends in the top 100.
• This year's list had a few more unfamiliar faces than 2016 did. Twelve of the top 50 for 2017 were not ranked in the previous year, while just eight of the top 50 from 2016 were unranked previously. Overall, 37 previously unranked players made this year's list; 31 made the cut in 2016.
• A few notable risers: Rookie Aaron Judge and Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon got top-20 nods after finishing outside the rankings in 2016 -- and in Judge's case, this is his first season. Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager, a rookie last season, rose from No. 97 to No. 13, just ahead of Judge. And two other young stars, Mookie Betts (56 in 2016) and Francisco Lindor (65), also went from outside the top half to top-15 players.
• On the other end of the spectrum is Andrew McCutchen. The No. 5 player in 2016 fell out of the rankings this year. Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta took a big dip as well, going from No. 9 to No. 66, and Boston lefty David Price fell from 15 to 61.
