As evidenced by the 2013 version of MLB Network’s annual Top 100 players list, trying to rank the best in baseball is no easy feat. With so many different stars with different skill sets at different points in their careers, every opinion on such lists will be, well…different.
Bleacher Report’s own MLB Lead Writer Zachary Rymer compiled a fantastic, comprehensive, sabermetric-heavy list of his top 100 players earlier this month. But I wanted to take a poll of many separate rankings, much like MLB awards are tabulated, to create a more concise list of the top 10 hitters and pitchers in baseball today.
I anonymously surveyed 32 other B/R MLB Featured Columnists and asked them to rank their top 10 hitters and top 10 pitchers, then added up all the vote totals (10 points for being ranked first, nine points for being ranked second, etc.) to come up with the following results. I asked each voter to comment on a couple of their choices to provide further context.
Everyone is encouraged to comment, debate and argue away. However, please keep in mind that this is a compilation of many different opinions, so pinning a selection you don’t like on any writer whose comments are on that player’s slide may not be representative of their personal overall rankings.
Here are B/R’s top 10 hitters and pitchers in baseball right now.
Stats taken from Baseball-Reference.com.