The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of the 21st Century

A few weeks back, I published my top 100 players for the 2015 MLB season, and, as always, it sparked some terrific debate in the comments section.

So let's dig a little deeper.

Who are the top 100 players of the 21st century?

An interesting transition takes place when you look only as far back as the 2000 season, as we see the tail end of the steroid era transform into the pitching-dominated league we have today.

Some questions to answer before we get started:

• Which statistics counted?: Only numbers put up starting in the 2000 season were considered, not a player's full body of work. That means you won't see guys like Greg Maddux, Frank Thomas and Ken Griffey Jr. on this list. Sure, they played in the 2000s, but they were at their best in the 1990s.

• Consistency or peak production?: Both. Someone like James Shields has been a reliable and durable starter throughout his career without necessarily ever being truly great. On the other hand, someone like Brandon Webb was legitimately great for a short period of time. Both players earned a spot in the rankings.

• How were young players ranked?: It's hard to compare Mike Trout to Albert Pujols when Pujols has played 11 more seasons. As such, players with a short track record were ranked as though they were retiring tomorrow. However, someone who is considered one of the truly elite talents of the current era (like Trout or Clayton Kershaw) did receive some extra consideration.

• Are steroid users included?: Yep. This was not meant to be a steroid debate. Players were simply ranked on how their respective production stacked up to the rest of the league.

• What stats mattered most?: To put it simply, all of them. There was no one defining statistic (looking at you, WAR) that was the deciding factor. Instead, it was a matter of one player's entire body of work (offense, defense, postseason success, intangibles, etc.) compared to another.

Think that covers everything. Hopefully this will spark another intelligent debate.

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