http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/15049204/ten-players-left 93. George Springer 2015 rank: NR | 2016 fantasy rank: 37 2015 Stats -- .276 BA, .826 OPS, 16 HRs, 41 RBIs, 16 SBs ESPN says: After a slow start in April to his sophomore season, Springer had turned things around in May and June before Edinson Volquez fractured his wrist with an errant pitch in July. Springer returned to hit .304 in September, but look for more power in 2016 with a healthy wrist. Given his nine percent improvement in his strikeout rate and power/speed combo, look for him to become the majors' first 25 HR/25 SB guy since Mike Trout in 2013. Springer appears set for a big breakout season. -- Schoenfield By the numbers: Springer's 36 home runs are the second most by an Astros player within the first two seasons of his major league career. The only Astros player with more is Hunter Pence, who hit 42: 17 as a rookie in 2007 and 25 in his second season, 2008. 29. Jose Altuve 2015 rank: 31 | 2016 fantasy rank: 6 2015 stats -- .313 BA, .812 OPS, 15 HRs, 66 RBIs, 38 SBs ESPN says: Expect more of the same from Houston's 5-foot-6 energizer. He finished 10th in the MVP voting after leading the American League in hits and steals for the second straight season and winning his first Gold Glove, while also hitting 15 home runs -- more than the two previous years combined. And get this: He is signed for the next four years at $20.5 million total. -- David Schoenfield, ESPN.com Sweetspot blogger By the numbers: Since his first full season in 2012, Altuve leads all AL players with 162 stolen bases. Altuve trails only Dee Gordon (164) for most stolen bases in MLB in that span. Altuve is no one-trick pony, though, as his .308 batting average in that span is fifth in MLB. 16. Carlos Correa 2015 rank: NR | 2016 fantasy rank: 11 2015 stats: .279 BA, .857 OPS, 22 HRs, 68 RBIs ESPN says: He is only 21 and heading into his first full season, but some believe the talented shortstop has MVP ability -- this year. Hey, prorate his 2015 numbers over 155 games, and you get 34 home runs, 106 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. Did we mention he's only 21? -- Schoenfield By the numbers: Correa went from star prospect to star player in his breakout 2015 campaign. In 99 games after being called up in early June, Correa hit 22 home runs (one every 17.6 at-bats). His 22 home runs were the most by a rookie shortstop since Troy Tulowitzki hit 24 in 2007. The only two rookie shortstops in the modern era to hit more home runs than Correa and Tulowitzki were Nomar Garciaparra (30) and Cal Ripken (28). 13. Dallas Keuchel 2015 rank: NR | 2016 fantasy rank: 53 2015 stats: 33 GS, 20-8, 2.48 ERA, 216 Ks ESPN says: No pitcher has improved as much over the past two seasons as Keuchel, who went from a 5.15 ERA to Cy Young winner after going 20-8 with a 2.48 ERA and league-leading 232 innings. He gets ground balls, he increased his strikeout rate to more than 5 percent, he limits the running game, and he has proved he can carry a big workload. He'll be in Cy Young contention again. -- Schoenfield By the numbers: Keuchel had a 5.20 ERA over the first 239 innings pitched in his career, and in his first 47 appearances, he lost 18 times and won only nine times. Over the past two seasons, Keuchel has a 2.69 ERA and has won 32 times in 62 starts. A big change for him has been his ground ball rate, which has been above 60 percent each of the past two seasons, after it was 52 percent and 56 percent the previous two.
I'm surprised that Carlos Gomez was omitted. Also Ken Giles. Otherwise I have no problem with the list. I'd put Springer a bit higher but it's understandable considering he's yet to play a full season due to injuries.
Well... Dallas was the ninja on the far right, but they are by far the most skilled ninjas in the MLB and deserve to be on the list.
One bad year should not have been enough to drop Gomez all the way out of the top 100. He was a top 50 player the previous 3 years, and I expect he will be back close to that level this year. I assume health was the reason Springer was so low. They prorated Correas stats, if you do the same for him, he is a lot higher than 93.
Yet they didn't do that do Stanton, who was top 10. I can't complain too much. Giles lack of inclusion when Betances was #35 kind of seems ridiculous to me. Not a huge gap between those two, but I also think very highly of everyone on the list.
I know you're a Cubs fan, so Arrieta is probably your homeboy. He's definitely top 5 pitchers in baseball, just top 10 baseball players period? Uh...maybe in your list and apparently ESPN.
