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Who are the best players in Major League Baseball heading into the 2012 season? ESPN formed a panel of MLB writers, analysts and contributors to rank the top 500. The countdown from No. 500 to No. 1 began March 20 and ends April 3. The results are being announced on ESPN.com, on Facebook and on Twitter (@ESPN_MLB). Fans can use the hashtag #ESPN500 to join the discussion or to follow along. To compile a top-500 ranking, 34 ESPN experts started with a list of the top 600 players projected to play in the majors in 2012. Using a 0-to-10 scale, they evaluated only the quality of each player for the 2012 season. Players who are expected to miss 2012 with an injury, such as Victor Martinez, were not included. But Arodys Vizcaino (No. 376) was included because he was injured after the voting. Ages are listed as of July 1, 2012. Panelists were polled over the final two weeks of February. Dan Szymborski's ZiPS system, which projects 2012 performance, was used to break ties to the fourth decimal point. RANK
PLAYER
SCORE 101 Johnny Cueto
@JohnnyCueto
RHP | @Reds | Age: 26 | Stats 6.38 102 Jose Valverde
RHP | @Tigers | Age: 34 | Stats 6.35 103 Ubaldo Jimenez
@UbaldoJimenez22
RHP | @Indians | Age: 28 | Stats 6.34 104 Miguel Montero
Catcher | @Dbacks | Age: 28 | Stats 6.33 105 Andre Ethier
Right Field | @Dodgers | Age: 30 | Stats 6.31 106 Jason Heyward
@JasonHeyward
Right Field | @Braves | Age: 22 | Stats 6.28 107 Ervin Santana
RHP | @Angels | Age: 29 | Stats 6.26 108 Daniel Hudson
@DHuddy41
RHP | @Dbacks | Age: 25 | Stats 6.25 109 Clay Buchholz
RHP | @RedSox | Age: 27 | Stats 6.25 110 Dan Uggla
Second Base | @Braves | Age: 32 | Stats 6.25 111 Tim Hudson
RHP | @Braves | Age: 36 | Stats 6.24 112 Carl Crawford
@CarlCrawford_
Left Field | @RedSox | Age: 30 | Stats 6.23 113 Andrew Bailey
@AndrewBailey40
RHP | @RedSox | Age: 28 | Stats 6.22 114 Joakim Soria
@joakimsoria
RHP | @Royals | Age: 28 | Stats ***OUT FOR THE SEASON*** 6.22 115 Derek Jeter
Shortstop | @Yankees | Age: 38 | Stats 6.21 116 Mike Adams
RHP | @Rangers | Age: 33 | Stats 6.19 117 Trevor Cahill
RHP | @Dbacks | Age: 24 | Stats 6.19 118 Doug Fister
RHP | @Tigers | Age: 28 | Stats 6.19 119 Joel Hanrahan
@hanrahan52
RHP | @Pirates | Age: 30 | Stats 6.18 120 Shin-Soo Choo
Right Field | @Indians | Age: 29 | Stats 6.16 121 Jair Jurrjens
RHP | @Braves | Age: 26 | Stats 6.16 122 Chris Young
@CY24_7
Center Field | @Dbacks | Age: 28 | Stats 6.15 123 David Freese
@dfreese23
Third Base | @Cardinals | Age: 29 | Stats 6.14 124 Alexi Ogando
RHP | @Rangers | Age: 28 | Stats 6.13 125 Howard Kendrick
@HKendrick47
Second Base | @Angels | Age: 28 | Stats 6.12 126 Michael Morse
Left Field | @Nationals | Age: 30 | Stats 6.10 127 Jeremy Hellickson
RHP | @RaysBaseball | Age: 25 | Stats 6.09 128 Jordan Zimmermann
RHP | @Nationals | Age: 26 | Stats 6.08 129 Derek Holland
@Dutch_Oven45
LHP | @Rangers | Age: 25 | Stats 6.07 130 Shaun Marcum
RHP | @Brewers | Age: 30 | Stats 6.06 131 Adam Jones
@SimplyAJ10
Center Field | @Orioles | Age: 26 | Stats 6.06 132 Tommy Hanson
@TommyHanson48
RHP | @Braves | Age: 25 | Stats 6.03 133 Aramis Ramirez
Third Base | @Brewers | Age: 34 | Stats 6.03 134 Mark Buehrle
LHP | @Marlins | Age: 33 | Stats 6.02 135 John Danks
LHP | @WhiteSox | Age: 27 | Stats 6.01 136 Hiroki Kuroda
RHP | @Yankees | Age: 37 | Stats 6.01 137 Freddie Freeman
@FreddieFreeman
First Base | @Braves | Age: 22 | Stats 6.00 138 Nick Swisher
@NickSwisher
Right Field | @Yankees | Age: 31 | Stats 6.00 139 Jaime Garcia
LHP | @Cardinals | Age: 25 | Stats 6.00 140 Max Scherzer
@Max_Scherzer
RHP | @Tigers | Age: 27 | Stats 5.99 141 Brett Gardner
Left Field | @Yankees | Age: 28 | Stats 5.99 142 Michael Bourn
Center Field | @Braves | Age: 29 | Stats 5.98 143 Peter Bourjos
@pbourjos
Center Field | @Angels | Age: 25 | Stats 5.97 144 Corey Hart
Right Field | @Brewers | Age: 30 | Stats 5.94 145 Dustin Ackley
Second Base | @Mariners | Age: 24 | Stats 5.94 146 Brandon McCarthy
@BMcCarthy32
RHP | @Athletics | Age: 28 | Stats 5.93 147 Carlos Marmol
RHP | @Cubs | Age: 29 | Stats 5.91 148 Justin Masterson
RHP | @Indians | Age: 27 | Stats 5.91 149 Nick Markakis
Right Field | @Orioles | Age: 28 | Stats 5.90 150 Michael Cuddyer
@mcuddy3
Right Field | @Rockies | Age: 33 | Stats
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