Freddie Freeman is the 25th best player in Major League Baseball. Ender Inciarte is the 98th best.
At least that’s where they stand in an ESPN ranking of MLB’s top 100 players, unveiled this week.
ESPN said the rankings are based on a poll of about 40 “MLB writers, analysts, contributors and insiders.” Ballots went out in late February/early March.
Freeman and Inciarte are the only Braves ranked.
Three ex-Braves made the list: relief pitcher Craig Kimbrel at No. 35, outfielder Justin Upton at No. 58 and shortstop Andrelton Simmons at No. 59. All were traded by the Braves for prospects and/or payroll relief. Kimbrel is now with the Boston Red Sox, while Upton and Simmons are teammates with the Los Angeles Angels.
The No. 1-ranked player in the top 100 is, of course, Angels center fielder Mike Trout.
See the ESPN panel's ranking of the Nos. 1-50 players here and the Nos. 51-100 players here.
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TODAY’S LEADOFF LINKS
> Freeman left Wednesday's game after being hit by a pitch. See Gabriel Burns' report here.
> The Braves signed Jose Bautista to a minor-league contract to play third base. Burns has the story on how and why that happened.
> Why might Mike Budenholzer prefer coaching the Suns to coaching the Hawks? Michael Cunningham offers three reasons.
> Ken Sugiura has the story on why Georgia Tech's spring game won't be broadcast.
> The Dansby Swanson story has a happy ending – or at least a happy new beginning, Jeff Schultz writes.
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