MLB Network is a great place for all things baseball but even they can make the wrong assessment on some of baseball's best players.
Earlier in the offseason, they periodically released their list of the top 10 players at each position right now. When it came to the top 10 best second basemen in baseball, they inexplicably left Atlanta Braves infielder Ozzie Albies off the list, for the second year in a row.
It would be one thing to have him low on the list and fans could argue his placement on the list but to leave him completely off the list was a wildly wrong decision. Objectively, Ozzie Albies is one of the best second basemen in the game.
However, MLB Network is either confused or they decided to change their tune as when they released their list of top 100 players for the 2024 season, Ozzie Albies landed at 66th. He is getting love for being one of the best in the game but also being left off the list of the top 10 best second basemen which makes little sense.
Ozzie Albies set the tone for the 104-win @Braves last season, slugging 33 HR and collecting 109 RBI.
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) February 8, 2024
The 3x All-Star comes in at #66 on this year's #Top100RightNow. pic.twitter.com/58dI06XxHx
He's ranked just ahead of former Atlanta Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson and what's even crazier is names from the top ten second basemen list aren't even featured on the top 100, yet Ozzie is left off of one but included on the other.
It seems the folks over at MLB Network can't make up their minds if they think Ozzie Albies is a good player or not. Braves fans know very well that he is a great player and should get National recognition. It also seems pretty obvious that if a player is worthy of being in the top 100, they probably should be at least in the top 10 at their position.
Albies is coming off of a season where he batted .280/.336/.513 with 167 hits including 30 doubles, 33 home runs, 109 RBI, a .849 OPS, and a 124 wRC+. He set career bests in multiple areas and earned a third All-Star game appearance.
If there's any knock against Ozzie in 2023 it was his defense being a bit sub-par but despite the struggles, he was still a competent defender for the Braves. However, that will likely improve in 2024 and maybe that will put Albies back in the conversation.
Atlanta Braves fans know how special of a player Albies is and he's very similar to Jose Altuve who was featured on MLB Network's list of top 10 second basemen. They need to put some respect on Albies' name as he has earned the right to be one of baseball's best infielders.
At the end of the day, these lists don't matter much because they do little to impact a player's performance on the field. Albies has shown Atlanta fans that he is an incredible player and that's all that matters. The individual accolades aren't the end goal for Albies and the Braves, they'd rather perform well on the field and take home another World Series title.