Last season, Angels outfielder Mike Trout hit 33 home runs, collected 72 RBI, walked 94 times, stole 22 bases, hit .306 and had an OPS of 1.071 … and that was his worst full season in the major leagues.
In MLB circles, Trout is roundly considered to be the top player in MLB and, at just 26, he projects to occupy that spot for years to come.
Or does he?
Before this season began, ESPN asked a panel of nearly 40 MLB writers, analysts, contributors and Insiders to select and rank the top 100 players in baseball this year from a list of 300.
To make the list – which has Trout at the top spot – even more informative ESPN included Dan Szymborski’s preseason ZiPS projected WAR for every player and their rank from last year.
Behind Trout, has Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw at No. 2, Astros second baseman Jose Altuve at No. 3, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer at No. 4 and Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper at No. 5.
Considering he is a year younger and is still improving, Harper, who won the NL MVP in 2015 with a .330 batting average, 1.109 OPS and 10.0 WAR, could eventually usurp Trout at No. 1.
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