To close the 2025 MLB season, we brought more than 60 ESPN baseball experts together To rank 100 best players in the game,
After more than four months, some things remained more or less the same … and some things have changed considerably. In that spirit, we decided Stop the top 50 againDepending on what we have seen so far this season – and what we expect to see the stretch.
So … how did we do? We asked some voters who participated in both rankings to criticize the new list and re -evaluate the original one.
Excavation in the update list in-season
Who is too much in our update list?
Olney: This is a little bonfire that we have Nick kurtaz Above Freddy FreemanWhich dominated the biggest incident of baseball less than a year ago, or Peat alonsoWho tied only the franchise record of the mates for the run of the house.
Kurtaz’s career is 285 plate showing; Freddy has 357 career home runs. Every spring, I take my top 100 list to show the players and get their comments. I think if I took that particular ranking around the clubhouse, I would be thrown out.
David sconfield: Is Juan Soto Has been the 12th best player in baseball many times in the past? Yes. Is he the 12th best player so far in 2025? Absolutely not. He is hitting domestic runs and pulling his walk, but the average of the batting is below, defense is not good and his hit in the clutch – which is not a factor in the war – is tyrannical.
He is hitting .190 with RISP and .181 with runners. Their opes in low-foot conditions are about 200 digits more than high and medium-curvishing conditions. Statistics seem fine, but even overstate the value she has provided mets.
Who is very low rank?
Jessie Rogers: there are He Many pitches will be on the mound in a big game instead of you Nathan EwldiI don’t think so. Yes, he missed the time with injuries, but it makes his weather even more impressive. He returned after a month’s absence and did not remember a beet, compiling 1.93 ERA in his last eight beginnings (it was 1.08 ERA, before he was scoring five runs in his most recent outing), including eight-inning shutouts Mani. New York Yankis On August 5. Overall, it is 10–3 with 1.71 ERA. He is better than number 39.
Bradford Dualital: Christopher Sanches has come strong and fast. He has gone back Tariq scubble And Paul scanus In the season value, but their trajectory may indicate more rapidly upwards. I do not know if he can overtake the scan in NL Sai Young Chase – it is difficult to pass someone who never leaves any run – but Skan, Zack Wheeler And the rest of the fields should avoid any laps better. I will have a moth in 10 to 12 range.
Which player who missed the cut, we can look silly in the next two months?
Alden Gonzalaz: As soon as he returned from each other knee surgery, it was very clear Ronald Ekuna JuniorSurely remained the most electrification player in the game. During 55 Games from the end of May to the end of July, he dropped .306/.429/.577, hit 14 domestic runs, 2.6 fangraphs conquered replacement and turned into a classification of plays on defense and at the locations that left us in Awe.
Now Ekuna is out again, this time with a calf stress. His lack of play time was definitely the reason that he did not crack the list. But Ekuna is prime to return to the end of this month – and we may look absurd to look absurd in the top 50.
Rogers: Brandon woodroofAfter all missing last season, Brucers Right returns to shoulder surgery with 4–0 to 2.29 ERA. In addition to a topical mistake pitch – he has allowed seven domestic runs in 35 innings – he has been fantastic. Out of those long balls, he has given just 10 other hits, exiting the strike zone, which exits 45 to six batsmen so far.
And remember, he is doing this in the middle of a penant race – not always the easiest circumstances to reduce their way after injury. If and when his velocity is fully returned, see out: Bruers will have another option for the top of their rotation. and if Logan web – Which is 3.70 ERA outside San Francisco- is ranked 38th on the list, Woodroof is also on it.
Look back at the presiden edition
With some obstacles, what did we get in the original list?
Kelly McDaniel: Manny macdo The 61st best war in baseball in 2024 was the output of about 2023 seasons. We placed him in 39th position, even though he was turning 33 during the season. Machado has rewarded our trust with a boom-back season, already 2024 and 2023 to go to the season with another month-plus from both 2024 and 2023 to go to number 17 in the update.
Schoenfield: Corbin Carroll In our update, our President was list and number 18 on number 18, so I think it is qualified as being correct. Remember, he was coming out of a disappointing Sophomore campaign, in which his average was submerged from .285 to .231 and lost about two wins in the war.
It was somewhat optimistic to guess that he would bounce back to be a top -20 player, and he has, although his game size is slightly different from 2023 (his average is still low, but he is hitting more domestic runs).
What went wrong with us?
Doolettle: You can do the park effect, defensive support and all that, but sometimes a number is so eye-popping that you just have to let you take it away. One of those numbers is the shrinking era of the Evaldi.
There are probably four either pitchers based on volume, but we have launched it Max FriedLogan Web, Joe Ryan, Frame Waldez And some others. If we are talking about a right-now player ranking, Eovaldi should be more than number 39 on the current list, and he was not even on the season-opening version.
Gonzalez: There is not a single reliever in this list. No Josh HaderWhich changed 25 continuously to start this season. No Arldis chapmanWho are originally untouchable in their age -37 season. No more Adrian austerzone Or Cad SmithWhich both have been the major setups in San Diego and Cleveland respectively.
Relievers do not get workload and thus do not have measurements in war. No one will be more important if the most matters in October.
What is the most amazing change in midson update from our Presiden list?
McDenial, Kyle StoversYou fought a career of -0.9 to enter this season and was dealt with as a half of the return from Baltimore. Trever Rogers Last summer. The stools have one of the biggest breakouts of the season, with 25 homers .286/.364/.544 and up-to-average defense in the left area. While they always have equipment to do something like this, if everything is clicked, no one saw it coming in this season.
