Tonight MLB Network will continue the 2013 iteration of their āTop 10 Right Nowā series at each position capped off with a āTop 100 Overallā. They will air both theĀ left and right fieldĀ shows on Friday evening. I always enjoy this series and generally look forward to it after the New Year since I eat up just about any fresh baseball content I can as we wait for pitchers & catchers to report. Instead of putting up my lists after they air their selections, Iāll post mine ahead of time and then compare notes after the shows air.
This is not a fantasy list!!
I felt I was getting a little verbose on these lists given that theyāre really just about having some off-season fun, so Iāve cut the explanations down a bit on these.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
My first HM was 11th on my list and Iām fairly certain he will be on every list during the RF episode. He is just too big of a name and I think his bat will carry the day with the MLBN folks. Andre Ethier just missed for me. While not a premium defensive position, itās an important one and quality defense can have a big impact so he came up just short despite a great bat.
I really wanted to find a way to get Norichika Aoki into my list, but it just wasnāt feasible. His MLB debut was a bit under the radar, but it was quite strong as he displayed bits of all five tools, the speed perhaps being the most surprising as heād notched just eight stolen bases in Japan in 2011.
THE LIST
10. Jayson Werth (WAS) ā I saw enough from Werth in 2012 in his half season that I would take him over Ethier right now. It wonāt be a popular opinion, but he looked great after returning from his broken wrist and I expect the power to tick back up after an offseason rest and shift back into the heart of the order where he can sell out for it a bit more.
9. Torii Hunter (DET) ā The power dipped from a consistent low-20s homer total to just 16 last year, but he shifted his value distribution to batting average by hitting .313. If his plan is to have another .389 BABIP en route to a big offensive season, heāll want to reassess. His defense remains excellent so he can afford some regression at the dish and remain a force in rightfield.
8. Nick Swisher (CLE) ā Mr. Consistent hasnāt veered from his stretch of excellent seasons but once back in 2008 when he was with the Chicago White Sox. Of course we all thought his power would explode moving from Oaklandās cavern to Chicagoās bandbox and instead he was just a bust with them. Thatās well in the past and heās been great ever since. Heās leaving the friendly confines of Yankee Stadium, but his splits show that his power plays everywhere.
7. Josh Reddick (OAK) ā Rarely does a guy breakout offensively with a big 32-home run season and end getting more pub for his defense, but that was Reddickās 2012. He tied Jeff Francoeur for the major league lead with 10 kills including three dummies who thought itād be a good idea to run on him from second on a flyout with fewer than two outs. Idiots. If he can improve his offensive profile and add to the home runs, he will shoot up this list next year.
6. Carlos Beltran (StL) ā His career hasnāt been appreciated nearly enough. Thankfully itās not over and he remains one of the best in the game at his position even at 36 years old. He is still a multi-faceted threat with only batting average lacking from the five tool profile, and even that was present in 2011 when he hit .300 on the button for 142 games. Such an amazing player.
5. Jay Bruce (CIN) ā I still donāt think weāve seen the best of Bruce, but itās coming. He still has 40+ homer potential and at 26, he is just entering his physical prime. He also plays a pretty rightfield, especially in the throwing game.
4. Jose Bautista (TOR) ā He was just hitting his groove when he got injured for the remainder of the season. He had a 14 homer June putting his season back on track poised for a huge summer, but heād only play 14 more games the rest of the way. By the way, this is the injury concern built into his ranking. Heād probably be a slot or two higher if heād play 150 in 2012.
3. Josh Hamilton (LAA) ā Since I only honorably mentioned him in the centerfield list, I decided to include him here on the rightfield list. Iāve written plenty about him this offseason both after he signed in LA and in the aforementioned CF list.
2. Jason Heyward (ATL) ā There are a lot of āJā named rightfielders. Heāll probably take the top spot on a lot of lists tonight which I canāt really argue with, but I prefer someone else (obviously). Remember when everyone (hyperbole) gave up on Heyward in 2011 labeling his 2010 a fluke and his prospect status busted? Cool brains. He was 21. He could reasonably have another down in the next year or two before settling at an elite level. As Iāve said a million times here, prospects donāt grow in a linear fashion. For the record, I donāt think heāll have that lull in 2013. I think heās a borderline late-first round pick in anything bigger than 10 teams.
1. Giancarlo Stanton (MIA) ā 23 year old with 80 grade power + 80 arm = baseball porn. Oh, and this:
Baseball By Paul 