The Official Site of Hanley Ramirez

Wed, May 20th 2009, 09:54

Sporting News survey ranks Hanley 5th among active players

The Marlins know what Hanley Ramirez means to them. Turns out, some of baseball’s all-time best players know how good Ramirez is, too.

Ramirez ranked fifth best among current players in a Sporting News survey of the current 50 best players. The survey was taken by a panel that included 100 Hall of Famers, award winners and baseball experts. Albert Pujols was No. 1 followed by Alex Rodriguez, Johan Santana and Manny Ramirez. After Hanley came Chase Utley, Roy Halladay and Derek Jeter.

Ramirez, 25, was the youngest player to make the Top 10.

Here’s the press release promoting the survey in the upcoming issue of The Sporting News magazine, due out this week.

St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols tops Sporting News’ list of the 50 greatest players in baseball today, as selected by a panel of 100 Hall of Famers, major award winners and other baseball personalities.

Pujols, who appears on the cover of the new magazine, was a runaway winner, picking up 55 first-place votes from SN’s panel, which includes 13 Hall of Famers, 13 Cy Young Award winners and 12 league MVPs. Among the MLB legends who filled out ballots for SN: Willie McCovey, Stan Musial, Brooks Robinson, Jim Bunning, Tony Gwynn, Ferguson Jenkins, Tom Seaver, Phil Niekro, Rollie Fingers, Dennis Eckersley, Bobby Doerr and Greg Maddux. The complete panel is below.

Pujols “is the best hitter in baseball right now,” Hall of Famer Frank Robinson told Sporting News. “But also, you could put him at any position — first, third, outfield — and he could play it like an All-Star. That’s why he’s the top player in the game.”

Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez came in second, picking up 11 votes. “He has put up some great numbers, but I don’t like to talk too much about guys who’ve had some steroids issues,” Hall of Famer Al Kaline told SN. “I don’t like to build up those players. That’s more or less glorifying somebody who has cheated.”

Rounding out SN’s top 10: 3. Johan Santana, pitcher, Mets; 4. Manny Ramirez, outfielder, Dodgers; 5. Hanley Ramirez, shortstop, Marlins; 6. Chase Utley, second baseman, Phillies; 7. Roy Halladay, pitcher, Blue Jays; 8. Derek Jeter, shortstop, Yankees; 9. Mariano Rivera, closer, Yankees; and 10. Chipper Jones, third baseman, Braves.

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