Every year CBS, amongst other news outlets, comes out with their list of the top 100 players in the MLB right now. That list is usually accompanied with some of the latest sample size of games that are being played at the start of the season’s schedule. With everything being put on hold, we all just have more time to scrutinize each player’s place on this latest ranking of top 100 baseball players right now.
For the New York Mets, the biggest surprise might be that Jacob deGrom is the only pitcher that cracks the top 100 list. Noah Syndergaard‘s Tommy John surgery ended his candidacy for the top 100, but Marcus Stroman‘s absence from the list is harder to explain. Especially with guys like Eduardo Rodriguez, Lance Lynn and Jake Odorizzi all finding their way on instead.
Jeff McNeil is the first Met seen on CBS’s top 100, coming in at No. 92. That ranking feels awfully low for McNeil when you consider that his 143 wRC+ was tied with Pete Alonso in 2019 for the ninth-best mark in all of baseball. McNeil finds himself five spots lower on the list then an unproven commodity, Dodgers prospect Gavin Lux.
Lux made his MLB debut in 2019, hitting .240/.305/.400 across 23 games played down the stretch. These rankings are based on projections however, and Lux is widely regarded as a top-five prospect in baseball heading into 2020. Still, McNeil is a player that seems to get overlooked, despite being an All-Star last year.
Moving on to No. 72, the next Met to crack the list was Michael Conforto, who found himself slotted one ahead of Manny Machado. CBS notes Conforto’s 131 OPS+ over the last three years as the basis for ranking, as the 27-year-old has quietly become one of the most productive corner outfielders in the game.
The Mets position player that earned the highest ranking on CBS’s list is none other than last year’s rookie sensation, Pete Alonso. The “Polar Bear” found himself ranked No. 37 in all of baseball, becoming the only Met outside of deGrom to be included in the top 50.
Alonso was ranked ahead of fellow first basemen such as Josh Bell (No. 53), Anthony Rizzo (No. 50) and Freddie Freeman (No. 41). The only first baseman that received a higher ranking was Matt Olson of the Oakland Athletics.
Now to the best player on the Mets, the reigning two-time NL Cy Young winner. DeGrom was very close to being named the best pitcher in all of baseball, although that distinction belongs to Gerrit Cole in CBS’s rankings. Cole was the highest pitcher on the list, ranked No. 3 overall, with deGrom just behind at No. 5.
Cole was snubbed from winning the AL Cy Young last year, getting beaten out by his own teammate Justin Verlander. Still, Cole lead the MLB in strikeouts (326), ERA+ (185) and in fWAR (7.4). The argument to put deGrom ahead of Cole would be that he is coming off two great seasons in a row, compared to Cole’s one, but you are really splitting hairs between the two aces at this point.
Finally Christian Yelich (No. 4), Mookie Betts (No. 2) and Mike Trout (No. 1) rounded out the top five players overall according to CBS’s top 100 rankings.
