Ranking the top 100 players in Major League Baseball right now – CBSSports.com

Since we’re roughly a month into the 2016 season, let’s revisit our preseason rundown of top 100 players. This time, though, the criteria are different.

When we did this coming into the season, the rankings were based upon reasonable expectations — using things like age and recent performance history — to make educated guesses at which players would provide the most value in 2016. Now, though, it’s all about the season to date. As such, the rankings you’re about to see reflect nothing more than who’s been the best in 2016 so far. In coming up with these rankings, the author paid no heed to what may and may not be sustainable. Some of the names will be very much at home among the game’s best, while others belong to players who have wildly over-performed. Although we’ll provide a quick, thumbnail rundown of what the future may hold for these players, we’re not worried about whether the performances are sustainable or not. It’s all about what’s happened thus far in 2016 and 2016 alone.

As for what matters, with position players it’s a mix of batting, defense, and baserunning. On offense, we’re not concerned with things like RBI. Getting on base and hitting power matter above all, as do playing time, context of the player’s home ballpark, production relative to positional peers (e.g., the offensive bar is lower for shortstops and catchers than it is for first basemen and DHs). For pitchers — and since this a backward-looking assessment of value provided — run prevention and workload will be the drivers, but we’ll also give some consideration to underlying fundamental indicators. Again, this is all about the season to date, and the rankings suggest nothing about whether the player in question can maintain the current level of performance. As such, the next you see this list, it’ll probably look very different.

Also, we’re going slap an “Outlook” label on each player that gives, in general terms, our best guess as to what the rest of 2016 will hold for the ranked baseball-ist in question. Here are the Outlook categories …

Outlook: Should be even better – This player has already been quite good in 2016 (as made evident by his presence on this list), but his baseline is such that he can expect to climb these rankings the season deepens and the sample size grows. This category will obviously be reserved for true superstars who figure to perform at an MVP/Cy Young level.

Outlook: Sounds about right – He’s ranked about where you’d expect. Note: This doesn’t mean the player in question is going to slug .850 or maintain an ERA of 0.71 for the entire year. Rather, it’s that his current tier in the rankings where he figures to remain going forward.

Outlook: Good but not this good – This is a useful player who helps his team win, but right now he’s overshooting reasonable expectations. Expect him to settle back into being good, but maybe not great.

Outlook: Over his head – Coming into the season, you’d probably never guess this guy would wind up on a top 100 list. Sure, maybe there’s genuine skills growth or needle-moving adjustments underpinning his 2016 season to date, but the smart money says he’s going to regress — pretty heavily and very soon.

Click on each player’s name for his year-to-date stats.

And with that out of the way, let’s take a look at the 100 players who have been the best thus far in 2016 …

	100. Melky Cabrera, White Sox
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	99. Brian McCann, Yankees
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	98. John Axford, Athletics
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	97. Josh Harrison, Pirates
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	96. Seth Smith, Mariners
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	95. Jake Lamb, Diamondbacks
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	94. Carlos Martinez, Cardinals
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	93. Martin Prado, Marlins
Good but not this good.
	92. Nelson Cruz, Mariners
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	91. Buster Posey, Giants
Outlook: Should be even better.
	90. Danny Salazar, Indians
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	89. Garrett Richards, Angels
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	88. Salvador Perez, Royals
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	87. Joe Panik, Giants
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	86. Stephen Piscotty, Cardinals
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	85. Carlos Correa, Astros
Outlook: Should be even better.
	84. Drew Smyly, Rays
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	83. Rick Porcello, Red Sox
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	82. Jackie Bradley, Red Sox
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	81. Brett Lawrie, White Sox
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	80. Carlos Ruiz, Phillies
Outlook: Over his head.
	79. Matt Kemp, Padres
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	78. Adam Eaton, White Sox
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	77. Kevin Kiermaier, Rays
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	76. Eric Hosmer, Royals
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	75. Mark Trumbo, Orioles
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	74. Elvis Andrus, Rangers
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	73. Starlin Castro, Yankees
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	72. Erasmo Ramirez, Rays
Outlook: Over his head.
	71. Todd Frazier, White Sox
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	70. Zack Cozart, Reds
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	69. Kris Bryant, Cubs
Outlook: Should be even better.
	68. Francisco Lindor, Indians
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	67. Tanner Roark, Nationals
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	66. Anthony Rizzo, Cubs
Outlook: Should be even better.
	65. Andrew Miller, Yankees
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	64. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Tigers
Outlook: Over his head.
	63. Joc Pederson, Dodgers
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	62. Paul Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks
Outlook: Should be even better.
	61. Hunter Pence, Giants
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	60. Michael Saunders, Blue Jays
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	59. Taijuan Walker, Mariners
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	58. Nick Castellanos, Tigers
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	57. Trevor Story, Rockies
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	56. Yasmani Grandal, Dodgers
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	55. Masahiro Tanaka, Yankees
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	54. Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins
Outlook: Should be even better.
	53. Joe Ross, Nationals
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	52. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	51. Ian Kinsler, Tigers
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	50. Travis Shaw, Red Sox
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	49. Adrian Beltre, Rangers
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	48. Joe Mauer, Twins
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	47. Neil Walker, Mets
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	46. Noah Syndergaard, Mets
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	45. Robinson Cano, Mariners
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	44. Gio Gonzalez, Nationals
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	43. Colby Rasmus, Astros
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	42. Odubel Herrera, Phillies
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	41. Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	40. Tyler Chatwood, Rockies
Outlook: Over his head.
	39. Johnny Cueto, Giants
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	38. Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	37. Stephen Strasburg, Nationals
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	36. Jon Lester, Cubs
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	35. Chris Carter, Brewers
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	34. Vince Velasquez , Phillies
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	33. Jean Segura, Diamondbacks
Outlook: Over his head.
	32. Steven Wright, Red Sox
Outlook: Over his head.
	31. Ryan Braun, Brewers
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	30. Mike Moustakas, Royals
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	29. Starling Marte, Pirates
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	28. Welington Castillo, Diamondbacks
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	27. Victor Martinez, Tigers
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	26. Francisco Cervelli, Pirates
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	25. Mat Latos, White Sox
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	24. David Ortiz, Red Sox
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	23. Daniel Murphy, Nationals
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	22. Yadier Molina, Cardinals
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	21. Yoenis Cespedes, Mets
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	20. Jason Hammel, Cubs
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	19. Jose Quintana, White Sox
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	18. Christian Yelich, Marlins
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	17. Felix Hernandez, Mariners
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	16. Mike Trout, Angels
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	15. Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	14. Gregory Polanco, Pirates
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	13. Kenta Maeda, Dodgers
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	12. Chris Sale, White Sox
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	11. Michael Conforto, Mets
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	10. Logan Forsythe, Rays
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	9. Nolan Arenado, Rockies
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	8. Josh Donaldson, Blue Jays
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	7. Bryce Harper, Nationals
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	6. Dexter Fowler, Cubs
Outlook: Good but not this good.
	5. Jake Arrieta, Cubs
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	4. Aledmys Diaz, Cardinals
Outlook: Over his head.
	3. Manny Machado, Orioles
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	2. Jose Altuve, Astros
Outlook: Sounds about right.
	1. Jordan Zimmermann, Tigers
Outlook: Good but not this good.

Objections? Of course not. Instead, the comments section below is available for all of your lovingly composed compliments.