The careers of two huge names in baseball, the Texas Rangers’ Prince Fielder and New York Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez, came to their respective conclusions this week.
Qualifying the careers of both will certainly be a popular topic in baseball circles over the coming weeks.
But with much still to be determined in the 2016 season, other storylines continued to percolate. What teams and players made headlines this week?
We have reached what can be considered roughly the three-quarter mark of the 2016 MLB season, and that means it’s time for an updated look at the top 100 players in the game.
While previous editions of this list have taken into account things such as a player’s track record and future expectations, we’re far enough along that this time the only thing that matters is performance here in 2016.
It’s not about reputation—it’s about production this season. Nothing else. Can’t stress that enough.
Included alongside each player is a chart featuring their notable stats for the year, among which you’ll find their Baseball-Reference.com WAR total.
Just like any stat, WAR is a tool used to further understand the game.
It’s not the be-all and end-all stat to determine a player’s value, though. With that in mind, don’t expect this to simply be a reflection of the top 100 WAR totals around the league.
No one will agree completely with this list, and that’s the beauty of it—hopefully this will spark some levelheaded debate.
With two months to go in the 2016 MLB season, a number of teams are already looking ahead to the future after selling at the deadline.
That’s exactly what we’ll do here.
Baseball is nearly impossible to predict on a year-in and year-out basis, but what follows is an attempt at projecting how the league will look three years from now.
Included are a projected lineup and rotation/closer for all 30 teams, a reminder of where each team ranked in our latest farm system rankings and a look at notable upcoming free agents each team stands to lose between now and 2019.
Here’s how the projected rosters were assembled:
With all of that in mind, a combination of each team’s projected roster, overall quality of young talent and financial freedom factored into its final ranking.
Let’s dive right into our future MLB power rankings with a look at where all 30 teams might stand three years from now.
Unlike in the other major professional sports, there is no instant return for MLB clubs with their draft picks. Teams have to wait for their amateur selections to work their way through the minor league ranks before showing what they can do against big league competition.
That said, all draft picks aren’t created equal—and some move through their respective teams’ farm systems faster than others. While college-age players typically move the quickest due to their maturity, both mentally and physically, it’s not unheard of for a player drafted out of high school to follow suit.
It’s why you’ll find a mix of college and prep stars on the slides that follow.
Selections are based on statistics that jumped off the page. Considering how many players heard their names called during the 2016 draft, it’s possible some worthy candidates for inclusion fell through the cracks.
Which 10 recent draft picks have stood out from the pack thanks to torrid starts to their professional careers? Let’s take a look.
Now that we’ve had some time to digest what went down at the MLB trade deadline and have seen how teams are faring with their new roster additions, it’s time for another look at how all 30 teams stack up.
The Texas Rangers briefly climbed into the No. 1 spot in these rankings thanks to their flurry of deadline activity, but their stay at the top was short-lived. We have a new top team once again this week.
Further down the rankings, the Detroit Tigers have been the hottest team in baseball and have moved comfortably into the top 10, while the San Francisco Giants’ struggles continued. They are now in danger of falling out of the top 10.
The Minnesota Twins also made a nice climb after dominating the Cleveland Indians, while the Houston Astros continued to fall with another tough week.
As always, one thing remains true: These rankings are a fluid process, with teams moving up or down based on where they ranked the previous week. If a club keeps winning, it will keep climbing—it’s as simple as that.
Some might look at Mark Teixeira’s time with the New York Yankees and call him a dud, noting that the eight-year, $180 million deal that he signed in December 2008 resulted in only one World Series title. But you can’t argue with the man when he says that he “gave [Yankees fans] everything [he] had,” as he did at the press conference announcing his retirement at season’s end.
He left it all on the field, and that alone makes Tex’s career in the Bronx anything but a dud. While we might be able to say the same thing about the players who occupy this week’s All-Dud Team once they retire, some have a ways to go before we reach that point.
For others, the end is near, and weeks like the one they had in Week 18 will be forgotten when they leave the field for the last time.
We’ve picked 10 players—one per position, including a designated hitter and starting pitcher—who put together forgettable performances over the past seven days. Teixeira isn’t one of them. Can you figure out who is?
Let’s find out if you’re right.
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig has largely been a mystery since he made his MLB debut in 2013.
He has flashed unbelievable talent and athleticism that suggests he could be among baseball’s best to play the game. But off-the-field drama, injuries and a questionable work ethic have gotten in the way of that.
This past week, the Dodgers decided he will have to figure it out elsewhere, at least for the time being.
The team demoted him to Triple-A.
But this week saw other players arrive back with MLB clubs and some choose to leave them on their own accord. Who might they be?
The MLB trade deadline has come and gone, and along with some notable veterans changing teams, there was also the usual bevy of prospect talent changing hands.
With that in mind, what follows is an updated look at where all 30 farm systems rank, as well as an updated look at each team’s top 10 prospects.
The following factors helped determine the rankings of players and teams:
This time around we’ve incorporated a tier system to help differentiate between the different levels of prospects talent. Here’s a quick explanation:
That’s all capped off with a quick rundown of how the farm system changed at the trade deadline and a look ahead to the prospect most likely to make a significant impact at the MLB level in 2017.
Let’s get started.
Note: Players on the big league roster who have not yet used up their rookie status (130 AB, 50 IP, 45 days on roster) were included as prospects.
The 2016 MLB trade deadline came and went Monday afternoon. After a flurry of activity, the MLB landscape has been significantly altered.
Generally a Monday morning staple, we held off an extra day on this week’s MLB power rankings so as to include all of the deadline action in determining where teams fall this time around.
While recent performance still played a role in shifting positions, as it does in our normal rankings, the main focus this time around was on what teams did at the deadline.
A look at each club’s notable transactions recently, as well as a grade for overall activity on this year’s trade market, was provided.
As always, the focus of these rankings was on where a team currently stands compared to the rest of the league. With that being said, a club could receive an “A” grade for scooping up some good prospects at the deadline but still fall in the rankings due to the big league talent it gave up.
Just something to keep in mind.
And, as always, one thing remains true: These rankings are a fluid process, with teams moving up or down based on where they ranked the previous week. If a club keeps winning, it will keep climbing—it’s as simple as that.
Friday saw us take a look at the best that baseball had to offer in July. Now it’s time to focus on the other end of the spectrum—the worst of the worst.
Appearing on July’s All-Dud team doesn’t mean that these players are, like Donny Kerabatsos, out of their element, only that they’ve found themselves in a horrendous funk that can’t end fast enough.
The same rules that apply to our Team of the Month remain in place here. We’ve picked 10 players—one per position, including a designated hitter and starting pitcher—who have put together forgettable performances over the past 31 days.
Who are the players that can’t wait until the calendar flips to August? Let’s take a look.