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dded some interesting depth pieces to a strong core it s the al wild card race that s truly interesting i ve got toronto taking the first one largely thanks to their pitching aaron sanchez and marcus stroman are top 100 players and seattle taking the second despite their pitching or at least questions about felix hernandez and hisashi iwakuma at the front of the rotation texas has a similarly strong front of the rotation yu darvish and cole hamels and a solid lineup but i feel like this is the year when the regression fairy takes her generous gifts back it s foolish to predict short series that will happen six months in the future but for the permanent record i see cleveland beating the cubs in a world series rematch after they dispense with boston and washington in their respective lcs here are my picks for the individual awards al mvp 1 mike trout angels 2 francisco lindor cleveland 3 manny machado orioles nl mvp 1 corey seager dodgers 2 kris bryant cubs 3 nolan arenado rockies al cy young 1 corey kluber cleveland 2 lance mccullers astros 3 chris sale red sox nl cy young 1 noah syndergaard mets 2 clayton kershaw dodgers 3 robbie ray diamondbacks posted in uncategorized leave a comment 2017 baseball preview posted on april 2 2017 by bryan whether you believe opening day happens when two teams play on espn while your kids are in bed or when your favorite team takes the field on monday it s close enough that we can pretend our yards aren t coated in evil white dust and dream of baseball as i have the past few years i d like to celebrate the proximity of baseball by ranking the 100 players i expect to make the biggest impact on their teams abilities to win games in 2017 rather than boring you with my method i ll point you here in case you care and move on to the rankings i gave honorable mentions to 24 players just outside the top 100 each of whom i have pegged for about 3 wins above replacement in 2017 the group includes one highly touted rookie alex bregman several rising star pitchers kevin gausman jerad eickhoff carlos rodon danny salazar kenta maeda aaron nola a few veterans who may have something left in the tank ben zobrist troy tulowitzki rich hill the game s best relievers andrew miller kenley jansen aroldis chapman dellin betances edwin diaz and a few other guys jose abreu joc pederson charlie blackmon jean segura kevin pillar joe panik marcel ozuna yasmani grandal and jordan zimmermann here are the top 100 in ascending order 100 dj lemaheiu rockies an infielder defending a batting title may seem ranked a little low at number 100 but lemaheiu s value is mostly tied up in his batting average which is unlikely to fly so high again in 17 99 carlos santana cleveland who needs a position when you rake like santana 98 jonathan gray rockies 97 michael pineda yankees 96 danny duffy royals 95 marcus stroman blue jays four pitchers here with very different profiles the last two just helped the usa to their first wbc title while the first could make a name for himself this year and the second has been on a strange rollercoaster ride his whole career 94 cesar hernandez phillies among nl second basemen only daniel murphy and jean segura were more valuable last year than hernandez he and jp crawford may well form the middle infield of the next contending team in philly 93 collin mchugh astros 92 julio teheran braves 91 cole hamels rangers 90 yu darvish rangers another lot of pitchers with little in common though the last two wear the same uniform 89 wil myers padres 88 todd frazier white sox two sluggers whose careers moved in opposite directions in 2016 both may find themselves in new uniforms by the end of 2017 87 andrelton simmons angels the game s best defensive player could be a superstar with a little more stick 86 jt realmuto marlins if you don t know this name you re not alone when i picked him for my war only fantasy team i almost called him jp before looking him up at 26 though he s one of the game s best catchers with his bat glove and even legs 12 steals in 16 85 aledmys diaz cardinals who diaz is a 26 year old shortstop who hit 300 as a rookie last year 84 neil walker mets a veteran second baseman with a solid track record hopes to make a name for himself with a big season in new york 83 zack greinke diamondbacks how do you rank a guy who s been the best pitcher in baseball twice including two years ago but was barely worth 2 war last year 82 dexter fowler cardinals 81 jason heyward cubs two centerfielders who have recently played for both the cubs and cardinals in a couple years we ll all think they were traded for each other and forget they coexisted on the 2016 cubs fowler s game is mostly offense heyward s mostly defense but you can expect similar overall value this year 80 robbie ray diamondbacks based on his 8 15 record and 4 90 era in 174 innings last year fans may not expect huge things from ray in 17 but his 218 strikeouts make me wonder if he s about to go all max scherzer on us 79 chris davis orioles dingers and strikeouts strikeouts and dingers 78 carlos martinez cardinals a rotation that looked as deep as any in 2015 might be down to martinez and pray for rain this year 77 lorenzo cain royals after looking like one of the game s best players during the royals two world series years cain came back to earth with the team last year here s a guess that 2016 was the real cain 76 andrew mccutchen pirates this pick has the feel of a devoted fan in denial about an older player s decline but i m hopeful that cutch has something left to offer 75 aaron sanchez blue jays we ll learn this season whether sanchez s al era title in 2016 was a coming out party or a fluke 74 nelson cruz mariners 73 edwin encarnacion cleveland two guys who just crush baseballs and one with an invisible pet parrot 72 matt carpenter cardinals he s a full time first baseman now but he still has the well rounded game to add value without hitting 30 homers 71 michael fulmer tigers like sanchez the reigning al rookie of the year will try to prove his brilliant 2016 wasn t a fluke 70 jonathan lucroy rangers with salvador perez banged up lucroy s only rival for the title of al s best catcher is a rookie you ll read about a few lines down 69 kole calhoun angels with a career year on offense and defense he could be the best outfielder the angels have outside of center field 68 jose ramirez cleveland the player with baseball s most generic name will play some second and some third and when the playoffs come we ll all have forgotten how good he is 67 trevor story rockies dingers and strikeouts strikeouts and dingers and all the plays nolan arenado somehow can t get to 66 carlos carrasco cleveland 65 chris archer rays 64 lance mccullers astros if he s healthy he could be much better than this i started to write that about carrasco before realizing how well it applies to archer and mccullers as well none of them is my al cy young pick but any of them could win it 63 jackie bradley red sox he s been streaky with the bat over his short career but his defense makes him a valuable player even if he hits like today s jacoby ellsbury 62 jacob degrom mets he had his turn as the mets ace now he ll settle in as the number two guy in one of the game s best rotations 61 ender inciarte braves even if dansby swanson doesn t break out this year inciarte will remind us just how ridiculous the shelby miller trade was 60 david price red sox price s peripherals were much stronger than his 3 99 era in 2016 so he may not be in the steep decline red sox fans fear but a balky elbow might keep him from throwing another 230 innings in 17 59 odubel herrera phillies quietly the best player on the phillies over the past two seasons herrera added some power and patience in 2016 and is as well rounded as any nl outfielder 58 brandon belt giants if beltre and beltran ever age belt should have a brief run as the best baseball player in the world whose surname starts with belt 57 jason kipnis cleveland he ll open the season on the dl but if kipnis plays most of the season he s part of one of the game s best middle infields 56 gerrit cole pirates 55 stephen strasburg nationals 54 kyle hendricks cubs 53 rick porcello red sox look another four pitchers in a row the last two broke out in a big way in 2016 while cole struggled and strasburg had yet another brilliant but injury shortened season 52 george springer astros 51 dallas keuchel astros here are houston s best outfielder and pitcher respectively but this juggernaut still has two names to come on this list 50 dustin pedroia red sox like just about every red sox hitter pedroia hit better than expected in 2016 even if he falls back a bit his defense makes him a likely top 50 player 49 masahiro tanaka yankees if his arm holds up there may not be a better pitcher in the american league 48 daniel murphy nationals 47 anthony rendon nationals the nationals second basemen of the past two seasons one s all bat and bigotry the other has a well rounded game that gets far less ink 46 justin verlander tigers i left him for dead a few years back but he bounced back in a big way in 2016 and could contend for the cy young again this year 45 starling marte pirates moving to center field could make marte even more valuable to the pirates 44 yoenis cespedes mets 43 justin turner dodgers the game s two best free agents this offseason both ended up back with the same team they played for last year both teams depend heavily on their offensive production while turner s glove and cespedes s arm are assets as well 42 evan longoria rays would you believe longo s still only 31 he hasn t returned to his mvp caliber peak since 2010 but he s added power and remains among the best at the game s deepest position 41 gary sanchez yankees all we ve seen sanchez do is rake he could hit a sophomore slump and make this pick look foolish but if he continues his late summer 16 rampage he could more than justify this ranking 40 xander bogaerts red sox this list is loaded with young shortstops this one can hit for average and some power while running well and playing adequate defense 39 jon lester cubs lester s 33 and coming off three of the best seasons of his career chicago s defense should help keep his era down even if he shows some signs of age 38 trea turner nationals another of those young shortstops there s no limit to what turner might do in his first full season in the big leagues 37 christian yelich marlins with all of giancarlo stanton s injuries yelich might just be the best outfielder and thus the best player on the marlins 36 addison russell cubs more young shortstops here s another with a brilliant glove and some clout who will be a superstar if he starts hitting for average 35 johnny cueto giants cueto didn t need a change of scenery but the move to san francisco didn t hurt as he put together what may have been the best season of his career in 2016 34 adrian beltre rangers the way he s going in 2037 a 57 year old beltre might be 75th on this list 33 ian kinsler tigers speaking of older players fighting valiantly against father time kinsler had his best season yet in 2016 at 33 32 adam eaton nationals driven by obscene defensive ratings eaton was among the al s most valuable players in 2016 a move to washington in 2017 comes with a move to center field where he s been more solid than stellar in the past this rating reflects my belief that his more recent right field numbers tell us more about the center fielder he ll be than his past center field numbers 31 jake arrieta cubs like cain arrieta seemed to fly higher than anyone could imagine for two years before settling in as a solid player last year unlike cain but like lester he ll benefit from the cubs defense if he struggles in 17 30 kevin kiermaier rays eaton and mookie betts put up crazy defensive numbers in right field last year but the game s best outfielder is the guy who makes all other center fielders look like hanley ramirez 29 miguel cabrera tigers the anti kevin kiermaier cabrera retains his value even at 33 by continuing to hit the cover off the baseball 28 brian dozier twins this is the year i admit that brian dozier is good at baseball 27 jose quintana white sox is this the year the world admits that jose quintana is good at baseball if it didn t happen last year i doubt it but quintana will again be one of baseball s best pitchers no matter what uniform he wears later in the year 26 brandon crawford giants when crawford found a bat to match his stellar glove he became one of the best players on one of the game s best teams and could be an mvp contender this year 25 giancarlo stanton marlins i can t think of another player who could hit 499 career home runs and be looked at as an utter disappointment it seems that every year injuries are the only thing keeping stanton from hitting 50 dingers 24 buster posey giants here s the guy that s been the giants best player throughout their remarkable run even with some signs of age he s the league s best catcher by a huge margin 23 robinson cano mariners cano seemed doa when he first got to seattle but proved last year that he s still among the game s best all around second basemen 22 joey votto reds another thirty something who just keeps mashing 21 kyle seager mariners he s already the lesser known seager brother but seager is the best player on a team that should contend in the al west this year 20 madison bumgarner giants it s hard to believe the guy who s won 56 wild card games is still only 27 but here we are 19 corey kluber cleveland he s the best al pitcher who won t have to move to the al east this year which probably makes kluber the cy young favorite 18 freddie freeman braves freeman may have been the nl s best hitter in 2016 if nothing else he s a reason to watch the braves 17 anthony rizzo cubs this is the sixth cub we ve seen on this list excluding one honorable mention and we re not done 16 nolan arenado rockies arenado added some patience to his prodigious power and flashy glove in 2016 short of running the bases well and saving his pitchers arms from the terrors of denver s altitude there s not much he can t do 15 carlos correa astros another young al shortstop and another astros infielder finish ahead of correa on this list but at 22 correa is younger than both and likely has a trophy or two in his future 14 chris sale red sox the best pitcher in the al signs with the red sox we heard that last year before david price found himself with a homerun problem and a sore elbow here s hoping sale can continue his dominance with different sox on 13 paul goldschmidt diamondbacks 2016 was a bit of a down year for the game s best first baseman he ll bounce back in 17 12 jose altuve astros the little man added power in 2016 and might just be the best player in his own infield after all 11 max scherzer nationals he now has a cy young for each eye color is this the year he adds a championship 10 corey seager dodgers as a 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