The New York Mets know they have a superstar in outfielder Juan Soto, but where does he rank on ESPN's Top 100 Players list for 2026?
The best unofficial holiday in the sports world is just a few short weeks away: Major League Baseball Opening Day.
Spring training has been underway for a couple of weeks and players are gearing up for a long 162-game season that begins March 25, with the lone matchup between the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants marking “Opening Night” before a 14-game slate on March 26.
In the buildup to what will be an incredible season amid 2027 lockout rumors, ESPN’s MLB experts, as many as two dozen, took the time to rank the top 100 players in 2026 and each list was averaged out to create the final list.
Everyone knows the New York Mets have a bona fide superstar in outfielder Juan Soto, but how does he rank compared to his peers? On MLB Network’s list, Soto ranked as the sixth-best player right now. On ESPN’s list, he was ranked fifth, behind only Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani, Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge, Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal.
“The baseball world is rightly excited about Konnor Griffin, the Pirates' star prospect who turns 20 in April, and his ascension helps put Soto's journey into perspective,” Buster Olney wrote Wednesday. “Before he turned 20, Soto had already posted a .923 OPS in his rookie season and been intentionally walked in a World Series game en route to a title. He's 27 now, and he'll reach two career benchmarks this year: 250 home runs and 1,000 walks. An inner-circle Hall of Famer in the making.”
There’s a reason the Mets signed Soto to a 15-year, $765 million contract last offseason: the guy rakes. Still only 27-years-old, Soto has a career slash line of .282/.417/.531 for a legendary .948 OPS to go with 1,086 hits, 244 homers, 697 RBI, 896 walks, 95 stolen bases and a 160 OPS+ in 1,096 regular season games.
Soto has already accumulated 42.6 WAR and has all the accolades except for the illustrious Most Valuable Player award that he hopes to steal from Ohtani this season. Although he’s poised to win his first MVP, Ohtani won’t let that happen easily, and Olney predicts that Soto will come up just short yet again.
“He'll give Ohtani a run for National League MVP, as he has talked about, but will ultimately finish second or third. And along the way, he'll pick up career steal No. 100 (he needs only five more).”
Soto would have to do some incredible, out of this world things to beat out Ohtani, but he has the tools to put together a phenomenal season. Soto has six top 10 MVP finishes, including four in the top five, so he’s been about as close as he could possibly be without taking it home.
Soto is a four-time All-Star, six-time Silver Slugger, World Series champion and batting champion.