ESPN releases their shitty all-time top 100 list

[navamind]

Top 100 MLB players of all time

From No.100 to No. 1 -- plus snubs, active players destined to crack the list in the future, and more -- we present our ultimate ranking.

www.espn.com

All-Time MLB Top 100​

* Bold denotes active player

100. Barry Larkin

99. Phil Niekro

98. Jim Thome

97. Adrian Beltre

96. Charlie Gehringer

95. Duke Snider

94. Bryce Harper

93. John Smoltz

92. Roy Halladay

91. Ryne Sandberg

90. Ivan Rodriguez

89. Shoeless Joe Jackson

88. Willie Stargell

87. Carlton Fisk

86. Roberto Alomar

85. Jim Palmer

84. Paul Molitor

83. Roy Campanella

82. Eddie Collins

81. Mike Piazza

80. Robin Yount

79. Hank Greenberg

78. Chipper Jones

77. Vladimir Guerrero

76. Cap Anson

75. Rod Carew

74. Juan Marichal

73. Willie McCovey

72. Justin Verlander

71. Al Kaline

70. Harmon Killebrew

69. Ozzie Smith

68. Manny Ramirez

67. Brooks Robinson

66. Cal Ripken Jr.

65. Max Scherzer

64. Eddie Mathews

63. David Ortiz

62. Mel Ott

61. Carl Yastrzemski

60. Whitey Ford

59. Miguel Cabrera

58. Steve Carlton

57. Pete Alexander

56. Dave Winfield

55. Reggie Jackson

54. Lefty Grove

53. Oscar Charleston

52. Clayton Kershaw

51. Ernie Banks

50. Bob Feller

49. Frank Thomas

48. Nap Lajoie

47. Warren Spahn

46. Ichiro Suzuki

45. Wade Boggs

44. Tony Gwynn

43. George Brett

42. Nolan Ryan

41. Satchel Paige

40. Jimmie Foxx

39. Yogi Berra

38. Jackie Robinson

37. Joe Morgan

36. Tris Speaker

35. Josh Gibson

34. Pete Rose

33. Bob Gibson

32. Sandy Koufax

31. Mariano Rivera

30. Albert Pujols

29. Johnny Bench

28. Derek Jeter

27. Roberto Clemente

26. Alex Rodriguez

25. Christy Mathewson

24. Randy Johnson

23. Rickey Henderson

22. Tom Seaver

21. Cy Young

20. Rogers Hornsby

19. Frank Robinson

18. Mike Schmidt

17. Roger Clemens

16. Joe DiMaggio

15. Mike Trout

14. Greg Maddux

13. Ken Griffey Jr.

12. Honus Wagner

11. Pedro Martinez

10. Stan Musial

9. Walter Johnson

8. Barry Bonds

7. Mickey Mantle

6. Lou Gehrig

5. Ted Williams

4. Ty Cobb

3. Hank Aaron

2. Willie Mays

1. Babe Ruth

 

[Pure Steel]

Jimmie Foxx at #40 jumps off the page.......

 

[Carnzo]

Wel the top 10 look good

 

[California Creme Puffs]

Bonds at 8 is an absolute joke.

 

[navamind]

my complaints:

• Ortiz shouldn't be anywhere near the top 100, especially with no Edgar Martinez. I think Manny should be in there but probably somewhere in the 80-100 range.
• Nor should Rivera. Sorry, but I just don't think a relief pitcher can be a top 100 player.
• Rose is way too high at 34 (great player, but his peak isn't that great. More of a compiler)
• Pedro Martinez at 11 is a little high. Has no business being ahead of Clemens, Maddux or The Big Unit (Pedro has the flashier peripherals and ERA+ but the gap in innings is too much IMO). And Clemens should be higher than 17.
• Dave Winfield shouldn't be in there (borderline HOFer IMO)
• Jeter at 28 is high, especially when Ripken who has about 24 more WAR than him comes in at #66.
• Koufax probably shouldn't be in there (brilliant peak but very short career and outside of 61-66 he was pretty average; the Ralph Kiner of pitchers)
• Beltre should be much higher
• Banks too high (great run from 55-60 but the rest of his career is meh)
• Ichiro too high (one of the most important players of all-time IMO but I think he's pretty overrated as a hitter. Great contact hitter but his .355 OBP is more good than great and it came with minimal power. A 107 OPS+ isn't particularly good for an OF and he never had an OPS+ higher than 130. A lot of Ichiro's value comes from his great baserunning and fielding and he comes in at 60.0, which comes in at 124th all-time among position players. If this was including his performance in Japan then I'd have no objections to putting him that high.
• Ott should be higher
• Speaker should be higher
• Killebrew shouldn't be in there
• Ford probably shouldn't be in there.
• Niekro should be higher
• Ryan should be lower
• Spahn should be higher
• Eddie Collins should be much higher
• no Arky Vaughan
• no Dan Brouthers
• no Roger Connor
• Harper is nowhere close to being a top 100 player

The ***** League players are tough to figure out, but Gibson and Charleston should probably be higher

 

[Cedrique]

Oscar Charleston at 53 sticks out to me. Like who the fuck is that? I have heard of 99 out of 100 of those players.

 

[navamind]

Oscar Charleston at 53 sticks out to me. Like who the fuck is that? I have heard of 99 out of 100 of those players.

Oscar Charleston Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Oscar Charleston. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com

www.baseball-reference.com

 

[Cedrique]

Oscar Charleston Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Oscar Charleston. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com

www.baseball-reference.com

Yeah I see now. Looks interesting. Hopefully there's a movie coming out.

 

[nynasty]

Rickey Henderson only the 23rd best player ever?


Alrighty then.

 

[Cedrique]

Rickey Henderson only the 23rd best player ever?


Alrighty then.

He was top 5 in athletes referring to themselves in the 3rd person, behind Hershel Walker, Deion Sanders and The Rock.

 

[nynasty]

He was top 5 in athletes referring to themselves in the 3rd person, behind Hershel Walker, Deion Sanders and The Rock.

Go to Cooperstown and go into the room where they have the plaques of all time leaders.


He's #1 in runs, steals, and walks


Putting him at #23 is laughable. No one impacted a game more than that motherfucker.

 

[Cedrique]

Go to Cooperstown and go into the room where they have the plaques of all time leaders.


He's #1 in runs, steals, and walks


Putting him at #23 is laughable. No one impacted a game more than that motherfucker.

No doubt he was one of the all-time greats. But where do you put him? The top 8 look extremely good also. The way they came up with this list was by doing thousands of "who is better" comparisons between 2 players. I really have no idea how you compare Rickey Henderson to Pedro Martinez. It also depends on how much you value longevity vs "prime".

 

[Janus]

Pedro ahead of the rocket?, even that far ahead of Koufax?, nah.

 

[calsnowskier]

No doubt he was one of the all-time greats. But where do you put him? The top 8 look extremely good also. The way they came up with this list was by doing thousands of "who is better" comparisons between 2 players. I really have no idea how you compare Rickey Henderson to Pedro Martinez. It also depends on how much you value longevity vs "prime".

Ricky is one of the main reasons I hate looking at career rate stats. He stayed WELL beyond his “sell by” date. Not because he needed to, but because he absolutely loved the game and was never going to leave. I believe his last professional game was actually in the minors. In an independent league, no less.

Almost certainly my favorite non-Giants player of all time.

 

[Clayton]

Clemens should probably be 10-12 and Bonds should be 2-3. Or they shouldn't be on the list. Dropping them 6 spots or so feels like they're picking favorites.

 

[calsnowskier]

I am OK with their top 2. I would probably put Mays #1, but I am ok with him at #2.

But not even having Bonds as a primary backup in your OF? Seriously? Aaron is an inner-circle all time great, but he is, in no sane universe, #3 overall all time. I wouldn’t even put him top 6 OF all time (Ruth, Mays, Bonds, Williams, Henderson, Robinson just to name the first 6 off the top of my head whom I would rate higher than him).

Anyway, lists are 100% subjective to begin with and ultimately only there for clicks. I feel dirty just giving ESPN the single click they got from me for that page.

 

[Cyder]

I never take top whatever lists seriously and won't with this one.

 

[Cyder]

You won't find a bigger Jeter backer than me but 28 is ridiculous

 

[broncosmitty]

Rickey Henderson only the 23rd best player ever?


Alrighty then.

That might be a little low, I’d say 18-20.

 

[Clayton]

Ken Griffey Jr is #57 in the all time WAR list. I get that everyone loves Griffey and his tools but he didnt have the career to get to #13.

Sign me up for the 'Henderson needs to be higher' fanclub, too