The Cubs have one of the most talented rosters in all of baseball, so it should be no surprise they’re well-represented in ESPN’s ranking of MLB’s top 100 players. Third baseman Kris Bryant leads the way for the North Siders at 12th overall on the list, and he’s joined by six of his teammates.
ESPN say it polled “almost 40 experts” in order to determine its list, which is topped by Angels outfielder Mike Trout. Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw, Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer and Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper round out the top five.
Here are the Cubs who join Bryant in the top 100: First baseman Anthony Rizzo (No. 21), right-hander Yu Darvish (No. 43), left-hander Jon Lester (No. 62), right-hander Kyle Hendricks (No. 68), catcher Willson Contreras (No. 74) and left-hander Jose Quintana (No. 75). Key Cubs such as Javy Baez, Addison Russell and Ben Zobrist were left off the list.
The White Sox expectedly weren’t as popular among the experts. First baseman Jose Abreu comes in No. 41, the only member of the team on the entire list. Yoan Moncada, Eloy Jimenez, Tim Anderson and others will look to crash the party sooner than later.
