I had to make this Top 100 List a Top 101 list for one week to make room for Jorge Soler. Let’s get this typical jibber-jabber out of the way: Former top prospect blah blah blah bust? blah blah blah traded! blah blah blah post-hype blah blah blah. Now that you’re up to speed let’s get into the nitty, then the gritty. Not every prospect is going to immediately live up to what they did in the minors. There’s usually a reason most people who play baseball don’t make the majors. After not immediately exploding upon his debut — Soler is now making his expected impact. He is walking and striking out at the rates he showed in the minors now which is probably the most important development you can take from Soler so far this year. He’s got a sexy .321 average with a .976 OPS. He even has 7 multi-hit games in his last 14 games. Perhaps more important than anything, he’s going to be getting the ABs he needs to fully develop and reach his massive potential. He’s still unowned in in almost 50% of ESPN leagues. You’re the one who can change that — he can be a fantastic OF4/OF5 or UTIL bat for your championship bound team.
Risers:
Nomar Mazara: The most impressive statistic about Nomar Mazara might be that he only just turned 23 a few weeks ago. At 10 HRs as of May 10th he’s already halfway towards his career high. His three plate discipline rates (walk, strikeout, contact) are all about on par to his career numbers. His BABIP is a reasonable .323. His hard hit percentage has, however, reached a new high at 40.4% (up from 32.6% last year.) The only numbers that concern me are his ground ball/fly ball numbers. He’s hitting way too many balls on the ground (52%) at the expense of fly balls (24%.) If he can return to the 34% fly balls he hit last year with these improved hard contact numbers Mazara could reach an even higher level this season. Like going from facing Goro to Shang Tsung.
Nick Markakis: We need to talk about Nick Markakis. After his first three seasons over a decade ago we were all salivating about what Markakis would become. A .299 hitter over those three years who averaged 92 runs, 20 HRs, 87 RBI and 10 SBs. This is an annual MVP candidate in the making! Then he somehow just got worse. Not bad necessarily — just not what we all expected. After hitting back-to-back 20 HR seasons in 2007 and 2008 he hasn’t hit 20 HRs in a season since. Hell, last season in 593 ABs he hit 8 HRs. This offseason Markakis subscribed to that Launch Angle Quarterly magazine I keep talking about and has dropped his ground ball rate to the lowest of his career. He’s hitting more line-drives and fly balls and is maintaining his all fields approach. In what is sneakily one the best offenses in baseball, Markakis is hitting clean-up and is having the most unexpected breakout 34 year old season.
Fallers:
Paul Goldschmidt: After making a lot of threats in the comment section in last week’s top 100 article — I finally did it. I pulled the trigger on Goldschmidt and dropped him in my rankings. This after a particularly bad 12 game stretch that saw him only slap 4 singles and 1 double in 42 at bats. I wish I could tell you exactly what’s going on with Goldy, but I’m not a professional swing coach. Not anymore anyway. I can tell you that his contact rate is down to 64% after having contact rates of 75, 76, 73, 73, 74, and 74 over his last 6 seasons. His strikeout rate is 7% higher than his career numbers. Worst of all — I think he let all this humidor talk get into his head. He is hitting only .150 at home with 0 HRs while still hitting .294 on the road with all 4 of his HRs. I’m no psychiatrist (again, not anymore anyway) but there seems to be something mentally going on with Goldy. I get the feeling this could be a good buy low opportunity from a frustrated owner.
Kyle Seager: What’s happened to this guy? He was one of the most predictable safe hitters for 5 straight years. In the past two years he’s been struggling. He still ended up with 27 HRs/88 RBIs last season but with a career low .249 average. This year, he’s reaching even lower lows with a .235 average. His contact rate has always been over 80% (even this year and last year) but his BABIP last year was .262 and this year it’s at .264 after typically being in the .280-.290 range. So what’s changed this year? Well maybe the launch angle revolution isn’t for everyone. Last year Seager hit 51.6% of his balls in the air and this year he’s sitting at 45%. Prior to 2017 his fly ball percentage was in the low 40’s with a higher line drive percentage. This change of approach for Seager seems to not be working and hopefully for him (and his owners) he goes back to his pre-2017 work.
GREEN: Rising | BLUE: New Additions | RED: Falling
Top 100 Hitters:
| RANK | NAME | TEAM | POSITION | LAST WEEK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Trout | LAA | OF | 1 |
| 2 | Jose Altuve | HOU | 2B | 2 |
| 3 | Bryce Harper | WAS | OF | 3 |
| 4 | Mookie Betts | BOS | OF | 4 |
| 5 | Trea Turner | WAS | SS | 5 |
| 6 | Nolan Arenado | COL | 3B | 6 |
| 7 | Charlie Blackmon | COL | OF | 7 |
| 8 | Carlos Correa | HOU | SS | 9 |
| 9 | Kris Bryant | CHC | 3B | 10 |
| 10 | Manny Machado | BAL | 3B | 11 |
| 11 | Aaron Judge | NYY | OF | 12 |
| 12 | Giancarlo Stanton | NYY | OF | 13 |
| 13 | Francisco Lindor | CLE | SS | 14 |
| 14 | Freddie Freeman | ATL | 1B | 15 |
| 15 | Joey Votto | CIN | 1B | 16 |
| 16 | Anthony Rizzo | CHC | 1B | 17 |
| 17 | J.D. Martinez | BOS | OF | 18 |
| 18 | Jose Ramirez | CLE | 2B/3B | 19 |
| 19 | George Springer | HOU | OF | 20 |
| 20 | Cody Bellinger | LAD | 1B/OF | 21 |
| 21 | Paul Goldschmidt | ARI | 1B | 8 |
| 22 | Jose Abreu | CHW | 1B | 23 |
| 23 | Dee Gordon | SEA | 2B | 24 |
| 24 | Ozzie Albies | ATL | 2B | 35 |
| 25 | Gary Sanchez | NYY | C | 25 |
| 26 | Christian Yelich | MIL | OF | 26 |
| 27 | Justin Upton | ARI | OF | 27 |
| 28 | Josh Donaldson | TOR | 3B | 28 |
| 29 | Alex Bregman | HOU | SS/3B | 29 |
| 30 | Andrew Benintendi | BOS | OF | 30 |
| 31 | Rhys Hoskins | PHI | 1B/OF | 31 |
| 32 | Starling Marte | PIT | OF | 32 |
| 33 | A.J. Pollock | ARI | OF | 33 |
| 34 | Brian Dozier | MIN | 2B | 22 |
| 35 | Robinson Cano | SEA | 2B | 36 |
| 36 | Anthony Rendon | WAS | 3B | 37 |
| 37 | Edwin Encarnacion | CLE | 1B | 38 |
| 38 | Khris Davis | OAK | OF | 39 |
| 39 | Didi Gregorius | NYY | SS | 40 |
| 40 | Yoenis Cespedes | NYM | OF | 41 |
| 41 | Buster Posey | SF | C/1B | 34 |
| 42 | Eric Hosmer | SD | 1B | 43 |
| 43 | Nelson Cruz | SEA | DH | 44 |
| 44 | Tommy Pham | STL | OF | 45 |
| 45 | Jean Segura | SEA | SS | 46 |
| 46 | Javier Baez | CHC | SS/2B | 56 |
| 47 | Lorenzo Cain | MIL | OF | 47 |
| 48 | Xander Bogaerts | BOS | SS | 48 |
| 49 | Mike Moustakas | KC | 3B | 55 |
| 50 | Nicholas Castellanos | DET | 3B/OF | 49 |
| 51 | Mitch Haniger | SEA | OF | 50 |
| 52 | Whit Merrifield | KC | 2B | 51 |
| 53 | Andrew McCutchen | SF | OF | 52 |
| 54 | Ender Inciarte | ATL | OF | 53 |
| 55 | Ronald Acuna | ATL | OF | 54 |
| 56 | Marcell Ozuna | STL | OF | 42 |
| 57 | Nomar Mazara | TEX | OF | 66 |
| 58 | Jonathan Schoop | BAL | 2B | NR |
| 59 | Trevor Story | COL | SS | 57 |
| 60 | Travis Shaw | MIL | 3B | 58 |
| 61 | Rafael Devers | BOS | 3B | 59 |
| 62 | Gregory Polanco | PIT | OF | 60 |
| 63 | Joey Gallo | TEX | 3B/1B | 64 |
| 64 | Hanley Ramirez | BOS | DH | 70 |
| 65 | Justin Smoak | TOR | 1B | 68 |
| 66 | Carlos Santana | PHI | 1B | 69 |
| 67 | Ryan Braun | MIL | OF | 71 |
| 68 | Eugenio Suarez | CIN | 3B | 72 |
| 69 | Jose Martinez | STL | 1B | 62 |
| 70 | Brett Gardner | NYY | OF | 73 |
| 71 | Adam Jones | BAL | OF | 67 |
| 72 | Matt Olson | OAK | 1B | 61 |
| 73 | DJ LeMahieu | COL | 2B | NR |
| 74 | Delino DeShields | TEX | OF | 92 |
| 75 | Chris Taylor | LAD | 2B/OF | 75 |
| 76 | Jed Lowrie | OAK | 2B | 76 |
| 77 | JT Realmuto | MIA | C | 77 |
| 78 | Eddie Rosario | MIN | OF | 88 |
| 79 | Corey Dickerson | PIT | OF | 78 |
| 80 | Kevin Pillar | TOR | OF | 81 |
| 81 | Kyle Schwarber | CHC | OF | 79 |
| 82 | Yangervis Solarte | TOR | 2B/SS/3B | 80 |
| 83 | Nick Markakis | ATL | OF | 85 |
| 84 | Adrian Beltre | TEX | 3B | NR |
| 85 | Kyle Seager | SEA | 3B | 65 |
| 86 | Yasiel Puig | LAD | OF | NR |
| 87 | Salvador Perez | KC | C | 82 |
| 88 | Brandon Belt | SF | 1B | 84 |
| 89 | David Peralta | ARI | OF | 86 |
| 90 | Domingo Santana | MIL | OF | 87 |
| 91 | Andrelton Simmons | LAA | SS | NR |
| 92 | Eduardo Escobar | MIN | 3B/SS | 100 |
| 93 | Josh Bell | PIT | 1B | 91 |
| 94 | Tim Anderson | CWS | SS | 93 |
| 95 | Cesar Hernandez | PHI | 2B | 94 |
| 96 | Michael Brantley | CLE | OF | 95 |
| 97 | Odubel Herrera | PHI | OF | NR |
| 98 | Teoscar Hernandez | TOR | OF | 97 |
| 99 | Marcus Semien | OAK | SS | 98 |
| 100 | Matt Adams | WAS | 1B | 99 |
| 101 | Jorge Soler | KC | OF | NR |
As always leave a comment below — let me know your thoughts!
Is domingo santana someone who I should try to trade for? I was thinking he is a buy low, but looking at his advanced stats, he is hitting the ball on the ground a lot more, swinging strikes are up, hard contact down. His babip is actually higher than it was last year. Not sure what is wrong with him. Thanks
@Scott: if he gets pt, he’ll be fine
@Scott: I’m actually kicking myself for not grabbing him when he was dropped in my main league. Don’t be like me.
@Kerry Klug:
I literally checked the date stamp of this reply. Are we talking about this year’s or last year’s model? Who’s kicking who’s self for Domingo being dropped? Outside of the deepest leagues, he should be left swimming with the waiver chum, no?
@Keith: I meant because I think he’s about to turn it around.
Puig or Teoscar in dynasty? Thanks
@David: as long as they play every day, same ros imo
Razzball bots are high on Puig tho
@David: teoscar is actually only two years younger but puigs randomness makes me lean teoscar.
12 team, H2H, 6X6..My catching always suck, spend a buck at end of draft. Please rank these ROS. Alfaro, Hedges, Chirinos, Barnhardt ?? Thanks.
@happyharry: tucker will get you AB’s… stream catchers for matchups if this is you situation
@happyharry: Barnhardt, Chirinos, Alfaro, Hedges
H/H points league ROS……..Healy or Soler
@Cable: I’d go with Soler.
I don’t hate the addition of Soler. But I thought I should point out Max Kepler as a comp. The interesting thing is that xstats suggests that they ought to swap their respective stat lines. I am also just now noticing that you cheated, and added a 101st spot in your rankings to fit Soler in. I guess its not a top 100 list, afterall. Not anymore, anyway.
@Wile E Coyote: Yea every week I try to add a new gimmick to this column and this week I just wanted to give Soler some attention. His BABIP is too high but maybe he’s figuring his life out a bit. I feel like Kepler will never top 20 HR or 10 SB and if his average doesn’t climb over. 275 he’s just another guy to me.
Hey!
Gonna copy/past our Q&A from last weekend Re: Goldy. I’m curious to see your thoughts again, in light of the ranking adjustment. I’m looking to buy low.
Joel: 1 fer 1, based on your top 100, what number range would you comfortably give up for Goldy?
Kerry Klug: I’d say…you’d have to get a top 25 player back for him despite his struggles. Between #25 and #40 would have to be a package.
@Joel: I traded Paxton for Goldy straight up, following the no-hitter. Here’s to hoping Goldy turns it around.
@Metropolitans: awesome swap!
@@kerry klug: no thoughts?
@Joel: Like, a Rhys Hoskins? Risk reward (especially considering both players). Hoskins still on your MVP list?
@Joel: He’s definitely still my MVP — but he’s not everyone’s. That might be a fair comp as hoskins has been struggling this past week and Goldy is still viewed as superior to Hoskins.
Goldy at 21 seems ridiculous.
Where should he be ?
@Silent Heat:
21 seems good. Maybe 20 over Bellinger. Seems pretty reasonable.
This list is satire right? You have Ocuna who’s barely having s cup of coffee in the bigs at 55 and Odubel Herrera who’s currently hitting .360 barely in your top 100?!? Lol what a joke
@Doc:
Are you odubels mother? Why so upset? It’s a list!
@Justin: @Doc: If you had acuna would you trade him for Odubel?
@Papa Jean Segura:
I would take the Acuna side
@Doc: Odubel is my dude — he’s going to be rising up. But Acuna is really something special. Ask anyone who knows anything about baseball who they’d rather have — they’d choose Acuna.
Dynasty keeper league….. Goldy, Albies, Clevinger n Viscaino or Bellinger, Benintendi, Snell n E Diaz
@Alex: Goldy/Albies side.
12 Team H2H League 5 X 5 (OBP and QS) 3 OF and one Util:
C: Posey
1B: Josh Bell and Matt Olson
2B: Albies
3B: Arenado
SS: Trea Turner
OF1: Khris Davis
OF2: Nomar Mazara
OF3: Rosario
Util: Anthony Rendon / Eugenio Suarez
Bench: Brett Gardner, Michael Brantley, Chris Taylor, Josh Bell, and Eduardo Escobar.
Picked up Brantley from the wire and dropped Puig prior to today’s homer (given his extremely slow start to the season). Couple of questions for you:
-Need an SP, and am thinking E-Rod off the wire, but would need to drop one of the above mentioned players. Any suggestions on who to drop, or would you hold and try to make a trade?
-With all of the bats, specifically with my logjam at 3B in Arenado, Rendon, and Suarez, I’m hoping to upgrade my 1B and/or OF. Suggestions on a 1B to target in a trade or wire (Cron, Mark Reynolds (2 dingers tonight), Zimmerman (just hit DL), Bour, etc.)? Same goes for an OF — is there one you like ROS you think I could get with the pieces noted above? I’m hoping Rendon, Gardner, and/or Taylor could net me a solid 1B and/or OF and closer. Thoughts?
I appreciate your column each week, and look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Thanks
@Matt: I don’t like ERod better than any of those guys so I’d aim for a trade.
It’s hard to suggest who to target without knowing your league — I’d go through everyone of your opponents and see who is sucking at 3B and see what their 1B situation is. Rendon for Hoskins could be good if his owner is in need of a 3B. Or if you’re happy with Rendon — Arenado for a Freeman/Goldy/Rizzo/Votto type of player could be great as well.
@Kerry Klug: Thanks for the advice! Earlier in the season, I traded Judge (when he was leading the league in HR’s) and Greinke for Trea Turner, Rendon, and Kluber — so the guy who needs help at 3B already had Rendon and likely doesn’t want him back. What do you think a Rendon or Suarez could get on the trade market one-for-one?
Someone offered me Goldy and Kela for Arenado, but after looking deep into Goldy’s stats I didn’t want to mess with it, especially since Arenado was hot.
Same guy also offered Marcell Ozuna and Kela for Rendon. I declined it given how bad Ozuna has been (he was on the waiver wire in my other league at the time). Thoughts on Ozuna and Goldy for ROS, or any of those trades you think I should pull the trigger on?
Appreciate your feedback!
@Matt: I trust Goldy more than Ozuna. Ozuna has disappointed in the past.
One for one depends on what you’re looking for — and what your trade partner is looking for. Player beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What position do you want?
have extra hitters on my bench in standard 5×5 NL $260 DEEP league.
I want keepers where we give raises $5 / year.
A team wants a hitter.
I can trade 1 of these all non keepers
ADAMS
J PEDERSON
W DEFOE
M REYNOLDS
D DEITRICH—–
for:—-
B Rogers ( stays at $ 0 in ’19 unless he makes the opening day roster then will be $15—
McMahon (col) $10 next year Soroka $7 next year or Newcomb $14 next year…
WHAT IS YOUR ORDER CONSIDERING THE SALARY FOR ’19 OF THESE 4 for the next year and the year after????
@Lovedarooks: My order of those four are: Rogers, McMahon, Soroka, Newcomb — but I don’t think any of those guys you listed will list any of these four.
@Kerry Klug: will help you get any of these four*
Thanks Grey!
Who you like this week Kinsler or Kendrick?
Kendrick-VS LADand NYY
Kinsler-vs Hou and TB
Also please pick two
Hellickson vs LAD
Weaver vs PHI
[email protected]
@Chris: Kendrick
Clev and Hell
Thanks!
Clevinger vs Houston doesn’t scare the b-jeepers out of you?
@Chris:
Nah — Clev held the Yankees to 2 runs over 7+ innings with 10 K’s last week.
Hey Grey,
I have an add/drop in my hitters keeper league coming up for just 1 player and I am looking for someone who can
A. produce points through multi-base hits/HR’s over the rest of the season (or until our ASG 2 players draft)
B. Potentially be someone I may want to keep next year as they may continue to produce at a high level or higher. (this may be more important as I watch Danial Murphy run around like the gimp to first base screaming….”It’s just a flesh wound!!!”)
I have the 4th pick for this and potentially a choice of these players who are still FA’s in our league after it was locked:
Jed Lowrie
Nick Markakis
Kevin Pillar
Asdrubal Cabrera (still not feeling it with him…BABIP is way higher then career avg..by alot)
C.J. Cron – I am leaning towards him as an upgrade for now and also a keeper with high potential…
Got any thoughts?
BTW – I’m not dropping Murphy but i got hit hard this year as Murphy, Lamb, and Turner all started on DL, and now it looks like I may have to worry about Candelario being rested multiple times a week until he gets surgery in the off season…
@Bluemeenie: not Grey’s thread/articlee
@Joel: ugg….i was reading this and then went to grey’s article and came back and accidently posted here…. /facepalm…
@Bluemeenie: based on age and potential I think Cron would be a safe bet for a potential keeper.
Would you drop Margot for Franchy?
@ET: Unfortunately, I think you have to at this point.
Week 7 DH, 6×6 OBP….Polanco, DDS, Teo, Candelario, Dahl, Odor or Alonso? Best overall offensive production this week only. No specific offense cat needed.
@Chucky: I’d go with Polanco.
Traded Chris Archer and Josh Hader for Story and Devers in a 12 team mixer. Was last in home runs and RBI’s. Decent?
@Woodrow the Impaler: Hey man — if your team can survive that hit to help you win you gotta do it.
Francisco Lindor has been consistently better across the board when compared to Carlos Correa for more than a year now. I feel like the “defensive whiz”label he had has kept people from recognizing the incredible offensive output he has shown from June of last year on. He’s knocking on top 5 overall in my book.
What would it take for you to move Frankie up given his production to this point?
@Mike: Play worse defense.
For rest of year Cespedes or E. Suarez?
Yoenis
10 team Ottanaeu scoring H2H pts. keep 10 plus 5 minor leaguers who haven’t surpassed 250abs or 100 ips. I was just offered rizzo, clevinger, Buehler for vlad. I have Arenado at 3rd….is this a good trade?