The two-year, $14 million contract Hernandez signed with Boston ended up being one of the best bargains of the 2020-21 free-agent market. They've responded with an MLB-best 3.05 ERA. I like that he didn't change teams, and he retains the buoyancy of the New York lineup and park . Previous picks: Michael Brantley (hit), Nelson Cruz (power), Trea Turner (run), Kevin Kiermaier (defense). All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and accurate through Monday's games. The Bulldogs and Sooners are joined by California (which is off to a strong 6-1 start) and Ohio State (a . Kolten Wong -- Best Defensive Second Baseman (NL) Francisco Lindor -- Best Defensive Shortstop (AL/NL) Bob Melvin -- Best Manager (AL) Below are the 2021 winners, followed by voting results. We're going to try something a little different. 1 guy is pretty obvious, through the compilation of thought from folks around the industry. Standings. The league may have changed the rules on shifting . The 31-year-old is hitting .337/.413/.543 with 15 home runs and 41 RBI in 74 games since the beginning of June, and his 3.5 WAR on the year ranks fifth among all first basemen. He has been nominated for two SABR Analytics Research Award for Contemporary Analysis and won it in 2013 in tandem with Bill Petti. (Worth noting: Second on that list was DJ LeMahieu, who had a 92.9% in-zone contact rate, then Anthony Rendon and Tommy La Stella tied at 91.2% each.)". Despite playing only eight seasons, Jackson managed to rack up 49 assists. has him drawing comparisons to Hall of Famer Ted Williams. . Welcome to Bleacher Report's final positional rankings of the 2021 MLB season! The identity of the No. Infielder Tyler Hardman also finds himself in the top 30, but unlike Fitts, he wasn't even ranked ahead of the 2022 season. Ramon Laureano, Oakland A's Need more power? Soto has created a mountain of crazy numbers already, but here's one of my favorites: When he led off an inning in 2020 -- when pitchers might've been most likely to challenge him -- Soto went 13-for-25, with four doubles, four homers, eight walks, one hit by pitch and one strikeout. Among players with at least 200 plate appearances last season, the 23-year-old had the fourth-highest chase rate, the third-highest whiff rate and the sixth-highest strikeout rate, making him a high-risk, high-reward pick in the early rounds. The former Red Sox great and six-time Gold Glove winner is known for his arm. As a rail-thin rookie, Bonds managed to accumulate 10 assists. Here are this years top fantasy outfielders, broken down into tiers. With club control through the 2025 season, he is a long-term building block for the O's. In the short 2020 season, he had more walks (49) than strikeouts (43). He led the National League in outfield assists twice in his career. best outfield arms in mlb 2021 This is the best team in baseball. The longtime utility man split his time between center field (93 games) and second base (47 games), and he posted a 107 OPS+ with 58 extra-base hits in a career-high 585 plate appearances. Joey Gallo, Texas Rangers/New York Yankees. With the unique 2020 season behind us, it's time to turn our attention to the hot stove season. His OPS+ is 176 -- a standard surpassed by only four players: Babe Ruth (206), Ted Williams (191), Barry Bonds (182) and Lou Gehrig (179). So how do you rank a player who didn't have his first 2020 plate appearance until Aug. 30, but may have been the first- or second-best player in October, depending where you want to stack Corey Seager? There's no doubting that the Chicago Cubs farm system is vastly improved from where it was in 2021. Walker was known for his abilities at the plate, but he also had a gun for an arm. Now it's time to finalize those rankings while expanding the list out to the 25 best at each position on the diamond, which means each position is going to get its own article. even despite missing a good chunk of 2021 . The wild card in this tier is Kelenic, MLB Pipelines No. He also has a career-high 16 steals in 18 attempts and provides Gold Glove-caliber defense. This week, MLB.com is tasking five reporters with building the ultimate five-tool Superman, by picking the best examples of each tool from the talented pool of current big leaguers. Before he retired in the middle the 2010 season, Junior was the active leader in outfield assists with 154. While a member of the Indians minor league team in San Diego, he once threw a ball from home plate and it landed 436 feet away, deep over the center field fence. Tier 4: Jeff McNeil, Byron Buxton, Wil Myers, Alex Verdugo, Joey Gallo, Jorge Soler, Tommy Pham, Kyle Lewis, Ramn Laureano, Mike Yastrzemski, Michael Brantley, Ian Happ, Dylan Moore, Eddie Rosario, Ryan Mountcastle, Dylan Carlson. The 21-year-old had 23 homers and 20 steals in the Minors in 2019, but thats the only full Minor League season hes played, and the left adductor muscle strain he suffered in his fourth Cactus League game spoiled any chance he had of cracking the Mariners Opening Day roster. While one of Ramirez's most memorable moments in the field occurred when he walked into the Green Monster mid-game, it should also been noted that Ramirez has also showcased his arm in front of that very same wall. Red Sox. Williams loved to talk hitting, and through the last years of his life, he developed friendships with the likes of Tony Gwynn. Dave Roberts, Dodgers. Scott Pianowski continues his tiered positional rankings by examining the outfield landscape for 2023 fantasy baseball drafts. His strong defensive play definitely helped make up for the fact that he had a low OPS. With George Springer, Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert all missing considerable time and Cody Bellinger struggling through a down year, the Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers narrowly missed the cut for the title of MLB's best outfield unit in 2021. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 2021 Topps Series One Baseball MONTE HARRISON Rookie Base #126 Miami Marlins RC at the best online prices at eBay! Up next is the 22-year-old Soto, whose production over his first three seasons has him drawing comparisons to Hall of Famer Ted Williams. Luis Mieses OF (Prev. He . Crow-Armstrong soaking in first Spring Training with Cubs. He also improved dramatically on defense, recording +2 Outs Above Average after finishing at -13 in just 53 games in the field in 2019, so his glove is no longer a reason to keep him out of the lineup. Past production and future expectations played no part in deciding the order. Larry Walker is considered one of the best Rockies ever in the team's short existence. Bonds had a strong throwing arm even before he began to bulk up. Homegrown players Steven Duggar and Austin Slater have also seen semi-regular time in the outfield, though Duggar was recently optioned to Triple-A now that Bryant can provide corner outfield depth as well. Unfortunately for Valentine, he was only able to play 10 seasons in the majors. The Tampa Bay Rays began the offseason by declining their $4.5 million club option on catcher Mike Zunino, who logged a 50 OPS+ and minus-0.2 WAR in 118 games with the team in 2019 and 2020. Anyone paying attention to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2019 knew Bryan Reynolds was capable of the type of season he put together in 2021. Kelenic had a rough rookie year for. Even in his time in the minors, his swing-and-miss rate jumped up a few percentage points. Yelich was the 2018 NL MVP and runner-up in the MVP voting last year. "There's a nuance to disciplined hitting that needs to become a habit. He racked up 4.7 WAR despite missing 35 games early in the season with a fractured rib. The San Francisco Giants have had 16 different players tally at least 100 plate appearances this season, and that group does not count prized deadline pickup Kris Bryant. Among the four outfielders with a perfect 99 fielding rating is Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton. For your basic .520/.647/1.160 slash line. 6 player in the Razzball Player Rater, despite playing just 130 games; give him Vladimir Guerrero's 161 games and he would've topped him for the No. The 31-year-old remains one of baseballs most imposing sluggers, but he has appeared in just 41 regular season games over the past two years. He had nine assists in 2022. . Andre Dawson had a cannon for an arm. He was snubbed as a Gold Glove finalist despite tallying 11 DRS with a 5.4 UZR/150 in right field while also holding his own when he shifted to center field down the stretch. Each player was included in the rankings at the position where he played the most innings. In 2019, it was all about arm strength for Laureano. The well-rounded Betts is our second-ranked outfielder and No. In the third season of his massive 13-year, $330 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, there was no question that Bryce Harper lived up to his salary. The sport needs to have him back on the postseason stage in the next few years. This is Just Baseball's staff consensus ranking of the top 15 corner outfielders in baseball. Realmuto, C, PhilliesKey stat: 46.7 percent caught stealing rate in 2019. From Jimenez's first season to his second, his wRC+ jumped from 116 to 141. And it would be a crime not to grab Bellinger in this five-tools exercise somewhere. In his 10 years, Valentine did manage to win one Gold Glove and he recorded 85 assists. For a boost in the batting-average category, target McNeil, Verdugo or Brantley. Now the #20 prospect in the Yankees' organization, Hardman posted a 109 wRC+ across High-A and Double-A last season with 22 HRs in 111 games, but his over 30% K% is alarming for his projectability long-term. Honorable Mentions: Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants. Here are the players who just missed the cut, listed alphabetically: 25. It's partially controllable. Ken Griffey Jr. may have been the greatest player in baseball history had injuries not plagued him during his career. The two-time Gold Glove winner had five seasons in which he had more than 10 assists. . MLB fans were up in arms on Friday afternoon because of an absurd shift used during a Spring Training game. Here are five options going much later in drafts than they should based on their . With Charlie Morton and Blake Snell both departing during the offseason and Tyler Glasnow lost to Tommy John surgery, more pressure has fallen on the relief corps to prop up the pitching staff. Tier 5: Anthony Santander, Victor Robles, Clint Frazier, Max Kepler, Kyle Schwarber, Jesse Winker, Trey Mancini, Andrew McCutchen, Jarred Kelenic, AJ Pollock, Andrew Benintendi, Mark Canha, Chris Taylor, Nick Solak, Mitch Haniger, Aaron Hicks, Brandon Nimmo, Lorenzo Cain, Joc Pederson, Garrett Hampson. He has also done a solid job handling the staff with a 3.87 ERA behind the plate. He had such a good showing last year that as some rival executives kick around the idea of a possible Toronto match in a Francisco Lindor trade, they think Gurriel could anchor the package of players going from the Jays to Cleveland. Trent Grisham, San Diego Padres With the Astros first pick the 2021 draft, they took a prospect who fell right in their laps. With three more home runs from Albies, the 2021 Braves will become only the second team in MLB history to have all four primary infielders tally 25 home runs, per ESPN Stats & Information's Jared Berson, joining the 2008 Florida Marlins. Between a breakout 2021 campaign and 2022, the journeyman reliever dropped his strong 9.6% walk rate to a miniscule 2.5%, good for best in the league. Jackson is known most for his alleged participation in the Black Sox Scandal and the fact that he was banned from baseball by commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis following the 1920 season. Non-tendered by the Chicago Cubs at the start of last offseason, Schwarber signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Nationals. It's possible that Merrifield will move back to the infield if Nicky Lopez struggles in his effort to establish himself as the Royals' second baseman. Through Williams's age 21 year -- two seasons -- he had 203 walks, 54 homers and an OPS of 1.041 in 293 games. Whitaker was ranked the #37 prospect by MLB. The MLB Tonight panel breaks down the components of a good outfield arm. No other infielder came close to matching his average arm strength on Statcast-measured throws. Three-time AL MVP Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels definitely ranks in the top 10 outfielders, along with Mookie Betts and Charlie Blackmon. He struggled in 2020, with his slugging percentage (.312) matching his on-base percentage. Robles struggled in 2020, but he had 17 homers, 28 steals, 65 RBIs and 86 runs in '19 and has no competition for playing time this season. After bouncing around the infield over his first five seasons, Bez settled in as the Cubs starting shortstop last year and was one of the best defensive players in all of baseball. Let's keep our 2021 MLB Player Rankings series rolling with a look at the top 25 outfielders. The Tampa Bay Rays bullpen has chewed through an MLB-leading 533.1 innings this season. Top Outfield Defense in the Minor Leagues: Kevin Kiermaier ( Tampa Bay Rays) Though Kiermaier wasn't the unanimous winner in this category, his defense earned universal praise across the scouting community.