ESPN Top 500 players

[Sammy Sofa]

Garza must be 501 then

 

Forgot Garza. Top 100.

 

WSR is still mad at Garza over that tweet.

[UMFan83]

They did 201-250 on Monday and 151-200 today. Only 2 Cubs in that batch of 100: Geovany Soto at 200 and Ryan Dempster at 247. Former Cubs include: 160. Sean Marshall, 214. Ricky Nolasco (technically didnt play for Cubs but included him anyways), 230. Carlos Pena, 240. Scott Downs, 246. Ted Lilly

[UMFan83]

Also, Keith Law predicted who would be the 10 best players in baseball in 5 years (2017) and Starlin Castro was 8th. Here is what he said about our favorite little rapist:

 

We know Castro is an extremely gifted hitter with the potential to win the batting-average title (please, it doesn't make a player the "batting champion" any more than frying an egg makes you Top Chef) and the potential for a 50 doubles/20 homers peak. And we know he'd probably be a solid-average defender at third or at second if he had to move off short, which, while not a lock, is at least a possibility after a year and a half of below-average defense. As long as he stays in the infield, his bat is going to keep him in the upper echelon of big leaguers, and while he's not any kind of a runner, he's athletic enough that he might become a fringe-average (or better) defender at short, at which point he'll supplant Derek Jeter as the "player whose glove is most overrated because of his bat."

 

Top 10:

 

1. Justin Upton

2. Andrew McCutchen

3. Matt Weiters

4. Giancarlo Stanton

5. Eric Hosmer

6. Evan Longoria

7. Mike Trout

8. Starlin Castro

9. Bryce Harper

10. David Price

[Guest]

Keith Law is going from antagonist stathead to unreadable contrarian at an awfully fast pace.

[imb]

matt wieters is no. 3?

[TruffleShuffle]

matt wieters is no. 3?

 

it's somewhat defensible if you assume that catchers develop late. wieters made some big breakthroughs last year... reduced his K rate and beefed up his power, and still plays really good defense at a premium position.

 

that being said, i wouldn't make a future top 10 without matt moore's name on it, and he's probably writing off too many guys who are good right now. clayton kershaw is 24 years old FFS.

[Guest]

matt wieters is no. 3?

 

it's somewhat defensible if you assume that catchers develop late. wieters made some big breakthroughs last year... reduced his K rate and beefed up his power, and still plays really good defense at a premium position.

 

that being said, i wouldn't make a future top 10 without matt moore's name on it, and he's probably writing off too many guys who are good right now. clayton kershaw is 24 years old FFS.

Position players only

[Guest]

David Price

[treebird]

David Price

 

keith law is such a badass that he knows price will have ankieled and be playing cf by then, and almost as valuable as no. 3 superstar matt wieters.

[Guest]

huh...that'll teach me not to look at all ten of the top ten.

[TruffleShuffle]

David Price

 

keith law is such a badass that he knows price will have ankieled and be playing cf by then, and almost as valuable as no. 3 superstar matt wieters.

 

hey according to fangraphs wieters was a 5 win player last year.

 

i've been heavily on the wieters bandwagon but i certainly wouldn't rank him #3. that being said, i sure as hell would rather have drafted him than josh vitters.

[Little Slide Rooter]

240. Scott Downs

 

I haven't remotely followed the career of Scott Downs, in fact I forgot that he was ever a Cub. He's been a pretty shut down guy for the past 5 years. But hey, he did get us Rondell White, who I also forgot was briefly a Cub.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Also, Keith Law predicted who would be the 10 best players in baseball in 5 years (2017) and Starlin Castro was 8th. Here is what he said about our favorite little rapist:

 

We know Castro is an extremely gifted hitter with the potential to win the batting-average title (please, it doesn't make a player the "batting champion" any more than frying an egg makes you Top Chef) and the potential for a 50 doubles/20 homers peak. And we know he'd probably be a solid-average defender at third or at second if he had to move off short, which, while not a lock, is at least a possibility after a year and a half of below-average defense. As long as he stays in the infield, his bat is going to keep him in the upper echelon of big leaguers, and while he's not any kind of a runner, he's athletic enough that he might become a fringe-average (or better) defender at short, at which point he'll supplant Derek Jeter as the "player whose glove is most overrated because of his bat."

 

Top 10:

 

1. Justin Upton

2. Andrew McCutchen

3. Matt Weiters

4. Giancarlo Stanton

5. Eric Hosmer

6. Evan Longoria

7. Mike Trout

8. Starlin Castro

9. Bryce Harper

10. David Price

 

Man, the 2017 Yankees are going to be stacked.

[Cubs Fan Dan]

Top 10:

 

1. Justin Upton

2. Andrew McCutchen

3. Matt Weiters

4. Giancarlo Stanton

5. Eric Hosmer

6. Evan Longoria

7. Mike Trout

8. Starlin Castro

9. Bryce Harper

10. David Price

 

Man, the 2017 Yankees are going to be stacked.

 

So will the 2017 Cubs

[bukie]

Law is entirely writing off too many guys that are good right now. Kershaw is only 24. Bumgarner is only 23. Hell, even Braun and Votto are only 27 and 28 respectively, and should remain among the top 10 players five years from now (that is, assuming Braun's steroids herpes medication addiction doesn't land him out of baseball by then).

[UMFan83]

For one he makes a comment about how a list like this heavily favors hitters because pitchers can be so unpredictable. That's why there's only 1 pitcher on his list and he's 10th.

 

That said, that entire argument is damaged when you consider most of his list includes guys that have proven little to nothing in the bigs and their rankings are based on potential.

[SouthSideRyan]

David Price

 

keith law is such a badass that he knows price will have ankieled and be playing cf by then, and almost as valuable as no. 3 superstar matt wieters.

 

hey according to fangraphs wieters was a 5 win player last year.

 

i've been heavily on the wieters bandwagon but i certainly wouldn't rank him #3. that being said, i sure as hell would rather have drafted him than josh vitters.

 

YOU DON'T SAY!!

[jersey cubs fan]

Law is entirely writing off too many guys that are good right now.

 

How the hell is he writing people off by not having them in his top 10?

 

It's a top 10 list for 5 years from now. That is a very long time. There is only one player who appeared on the top ten WAR list for 2006 and 2011, Miguel Cabrera.

 

Pujols was only 26 and he didn't make the cut 5 years later. Sizemore was only 23 and he's fallen apart. Santana was 27 and he didn't even pitch last year. Vernon Wells was also only 27 then. Odds are your top 10 will be made up of mostly 26-29 year olds who were unproven up and comers five years earlier, but a couple guys make come out of nowhere, or at least surprisingly show up (Lee and Bautista this year).

[UMFan83]

1 Cub in todays update (101-150) and its Carlos Marmol at 147.

 

Who are we missing? Just Garza and Castro I think. That would leave 8 of the Cubs 25 man roster not in the top 500. I would assume that will include mostly relievers.

 

Aramis Ramirez (133) is the only former Cub in this batch.

[SouthSideRyan]

1 Cub in todays update (101-150) and its Carlos Marmol at 147.

 

Who are we missing? Just Garza and Castro I think. That would leave 8 of the Cubs 25 man roster not in the top 500. I would assume that will include mostly relievers.

 

Aramis Ramirez (133) is the only former Cub in this batch.

 

So we have 8 of the 10 worst players in MLB?

[Sammy Sofa]

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m14i1qe3VP1qz97bf.gif

[UMFan83]

Well, Castro and Garza find themselves in the 51-100 range, meaning no Cubs will be in the top 50 unless someone randomly puts like James Russell in the top 50. No surprise but there's no former Cubs either. I am assuming we won't see any of them in the top 50 either.

[Brian]

Well, Castro and Garza find themselves in the 51-100 range, meaning no Cubs will be in the top 50 unless someone randomly puts like James Russell in the top 50. No surprise but there's no former Cubs either. I am assuming we won't see any of them in the top 50 either.

 

JOSH HAMILTON (DAMN YOU HENDRY)

[SouthSideRyan]

Castro outside the top 50 is going to look really funny at the end of the year.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Well, Castro and Garza find themselves in the 51-100 range, meaning no Cubs will be in the top 50 unless someone randomly puts like James Russell in the top 50. No surprise but there's no former Cubs either. I am assuming we won't see any of them in the top 50 either.

 

JOSH HAMILTON (DAMN YOU HENDRY)

 

Don't forget Tim Lincecum.