ESPN 500: Players No. 11-25

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Comments0
• Email
• Print

Who are the best players in Major League Baseball heading into the 2012 season? ESPN formed a panel of MLB writers, analysts and contributors to rank the top 500. The countdown from No. 500 to No. 1 began March 20 and ends April 3.

The results are being announced on ESPN.com, on Facebook and Twitter (@ESPN_MLB). Fans can use the hashtag #ESPN500 to join the discussion or to follow along.

To compile a top-500 ranking, 34 ESPN experts started with a list of the top 600 players projected to play in the majors in 2012. Using a 0-to-10 scale, they evaluated only the quality of each player for the 2012 season. Players who are expected to miss 2012 with an injury, such as Victor Martinez, were not included. But Arodys Vizcaino (No. 376) was included because he was injured after the voting. Ages are listed as of July 1, 2012.

Panelists were polled over the final two weeks of February. Dan Szymborski's ZiPS system, which projects 2012 performance, was used to break ties to the fourth decimal point.

RANK	PLAYER	SCORE
11	CC Sabathia @CC_Sabathia LHP | @Yankees | Age: 31 2011 STATS G K W-L ERA BAA 33 230 19-8 3.00 .255	8.82
12	Mariano Rivera @MarianoRivera RHP | @Yankees | Age: 42 2011 STATS G K SV ERA BAA 64 60 44 1.91 .215	8.71
Mariano Rivera at #12 must be a career achievement award because he isn't even a top 50 player anymore #ESPN500 — Daniel Jensen (@dsjensen12) April 2, 2012
Wayyyy To LOW! WTF RT @espn: Mariano Rivera (@MarianoRivera) is ranked at #12 in #ESPN500. Too high or too low?  es.pn/HP8W0p — Jesus Shuttlesworth (@Muzikal_Kidd) April 2, 2012
13	Matt Kemp @TheRealMattKemp Center Field | @Dodgers | Age: 27 2011 STATS GM HR RBI BA OBP 161 39 126 .324 .399	8.68
@ESPN_MLB Matt Kemp deserves to be in the top 10.. he has 40-40 ability and nearly won the Triple Crown last year and could in 2012 #ESPN500 — Ryan Schember (@Schember_REX) April 2, 2012
14	Jose Bautista @JoeyBats19 Right Field | @BlueJays | Age: 31 2011 STATS GM HR RBI BA OBP 149 43 103 .302 .447	8.65
@espn If Jose Bautista is #14, who is #1? Superman? JESUS? #ESPN500 — Robin Leacock (@robinleacock) April 2, 2012
15	Adrian Gonzalez @adriangon28 First Base | @RedSox | Age: 30 2011 STATS GM HR RBI BA OBP 159 27 117 .338 .410	8.64
16	Evan Longoria @Evan3Longoria Third Base | @RaysBaseball | Age: 26 2011 STATS GM HR RBI BA OBP 133 31 99 .244 .355	8.62
17	Prince Fielder First Base | @Tigers | Age: 28 2011 STATS GM HR RBI BA OBP 162 38 120 .299 .415	8.61
18	Cliff Lee @TheRealCliffLee LHP | @Phillies | Age: 33 2011 STATS G K W-L ERA BAA 32 238 17-8 2.40 .229	8.53
19	Joey Votto First Base | @Reds | Age: 28 2011 STATS GM HR RBI BA OBP 161 29 103 .309 .416	8.50
@Reds How is Joey Votto as low as 19 on #ESPN500 ?? There aren't five guys who mean more to their team. He is consistency personified. — Cory Collins (@CoCoCoryCollins) April 2, 2012
20	Cole Hamels @TheHamels LHP | @Phillies | Age: 28 2011 STATS G K W-L ERA BAA 32 194 14-9 2.79 .214	8.21
21	Justin Upton @JUS10UP10 Right Field | @Dbacks | Age: 24 2011 STATS GM HR RBI BA OBP 159 31 88 .289 .369	8.18
22	Dustin Pedroia Second Base | @RedSox | Age: 28 2011 STATS GM HR RBI BA OBP 159 21 91 .307 .387	8.17
I wasn't going to say anything up to this point but I have a hard time seeing Pedroia #22 this far ahead of Kinsler #44. #ESPN500 — Troy Irwin (@TroyIrwin) April 2, 2012
23	Jacoby Ellsbury @jacobyellsbury Center Field | @RedSox | Age: 28 2011 STATS GM HR RBI BA OBP 158 32 105 .321 .376	8.16
24	Jered Weaver @realJeredWeaver RHP | @Angels | Age: 29 2011 STATS G K W-L ERA BAA 33 198 18-8 2.41 .212	8.09
25	Josh Hamilton Left Field | @Rangers | Age: 31 2011 STATS GM HR RBI BA OBP 121 25 94 .298 .346	7.97
@ESPN_MLB Josh Hamilton below Cole Hamels haha let's ask Rangers fans about how important he is to that team, what a joke #espn500 — Thomas Scibbe (@tscibbs) April 2, 2012

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Comments0
• Email
• Print
• Subscribe