Braves Star Takes Issue With ESPN's 'Top 100' List

A veteran on the Atlanta Braves roster took umbrage about some placements from ESPN's writers

The Atlanta Braves have a veteran-laden clubhouse full of some of the top talent in all of baseball. 

But they've also got some players who are seemingly getting tired of all of the 'lists' that seemingly don't properly give certain players their due. Ozzie Albies being excluded from the MLB Top 10 Second Basemen list by MLB Network is the most notable example, but the vitriol isn't contained to just Braves players being in the wrong place. 

First baseman Matt Olson had some choice words for ESPN's placement of three veteran players who had down years last season in their recent 'Top 100 players in MLB' article. 

Talking to Buster Olney, Olson ripped into the placements of Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout and St. Louis Cardinals infielders Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt. 

Referencing Trout, who came in at #19 on the list, Olson had a simple explanation for his low ranking: "I know there's always recency bias," Olson said, "but I'm a little more swayed by the guys who have been there and done it for a while ... Mike Trout at 19. That's ridiculous."

Trout has been considered one of the greatest players of this generation, racking up three AL MVP wins, four 2nd-place finishes, and two other top-five vote totals in the last decade. But owing to various injuries, Trout's only played 237 games in the last three seasons, a factor Olson's attributing to Trout's low ranking. 

That recency bias also plays into Arenado and Goldschmidt's rankings, as well, with Olson exclaiming "Nolan Arenado at No. 44? Goldschmidt at 47? That's pretty wild."

Both players took steps back offensively in 2023, with Arenado batting 'only' .266, 20 points below his career average, and having his streak of Gold Glove wins broken at 10. 

Goldschmidt, the 2022 National League MVP, batted .268 with 25 home runs, both the lowest marks of any full season in his thirteen-year career. His string of eight consecutive top-twenty MVP finishes was broken, and he did not win any of the three major honorifics (All-Star, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger) for only the third time in his career. 

Several other MLB players had similar sentiments, with the consensus being that the list was too quick to discount older players who had one bad year and too quick to push up young players who had one good season.

Braves reliever A.J. Minter was mentioned in the article as doing just that, complaining that teammate Ozzie Albies was wrongly positioned behind Baltimore Orioles youngster Gunnar Henderson, who won last season's AL Rookie of the Year award. Minter was also quoted as advocating for more relievers to make the list, which only had four. 

I wished I'd see more relievers on here, more closers," Minter said. "You've got Devin [Williams, at No. 99] barely making it, and he's definitely been one of the more dominant relievers-slash-closers in the past three years."

But one young player who was consistently seen as too low in the rankings was Braves ace Spencer Strider, who should have been in the top ten but came in at #15. "Facing him is not fun," said Twins infielder Kyle Farmer. "His fastball absolutely yells at you as it comes by. He's my front-runner for Cy Young this year in the NL."