Our position-by-position MLB player rankings will once again be a monthly staple throughout the upcoming season, and it’s time for our first update roughly three weeks removed from Opening Day.
The preseason edition of these rankings was published March 4, and that will serve as a jumping-off point for our first update.
Similar to the way expectations still play a major role in our weekly team power rankings early in the year, an individual player’s track record and past success are still weighted heavily in the following rankings.
Simply basing these rankings off what guys have done so far in 2016 would not paint an accurate picture of who the 10 best players currently are at that position, and that was the ultimate goal.
With that in mind, it was much tougher for a player to push his way into the top 10 with three strong weeks than it was for a player to drop out of the top 10 as a result of a slow start.
Positional depth also played a role, as it was easier to climb into the shortstop rankings than it was to earn a place among the top first basemen.
There’s obviously some level of subjectivity with an exercise like this, and chances are no one will agree entirely with these rankings, but hopefully this can provide an overview of where things currently stand at each spot on the diamond.