Two Gators make ESPN's top-100 MLB list
ESPN on Wednesday revealed its annual MLB ranked list of the top 100 players in baseball and two Florida Gators greats made it — Pete Alonso and Wyatt Langford. Here is what ESPN said about each:
61. Pete Alonso, 1B, New York Mets
Alonso’s first stint as a free agent didn’t play out as he expected. He waited and waited for a long-term contract, exasperating the Mets in the process — to the point that owner Steve Cohen went public with his frustration. The long-term deal never came — teams proved reluctant to invest that much in a 30-year-old first baseman with declining numbers over three years — but Alonso landed where he wanted to, back in Queens (for at least one more year), completing an offense that should light up the scoreboard. Alonso will look to improve upon his worst season as a major leaguer — he set career lows in slugging, OPS and home runs for a full season in 2024 — before likely reaching free agency again. Hitting behind Soto should help.
Season prediction: A motivated Alonso bounces back to bang 40 home runs with 110 RBIs and an .860 OPS, putting himself in position to sign a long-term contract in the winter.
65. Wyatt Langford, LF, Texas Rangers
Langford went fourth overall out of Florida in the summer of 2023, blitzed through the Rangers’ system in his first two months of professional baseball, tore it up in his first spring training the following year and cracked the 2024 Opening Day roster. The expectations could not have been higher. Then, Langford experienced just how difficult it is to hit in the major leagues. By the end of August in his rookie year, he was slashing .241/.309/.366 with eight home runs in 108 games. September, though, offered encouragement. He slashed .300/.386/.610 over the regular season’s final month, equaling his home run output in just 26 games.
Season prediction: Langford wasn’t just good in September — he was really good in June, too. But April, July and August were a struggle. It’s clearly in there; he just needs to tap into more consistency. And he’ll do just that, finishing with an OPS of about .790 — 50 points higher than last year.
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Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter/pitcher Shohei Ohtani is No. 1 on the list. He has won MVP awards in three of the past four years.
Alonso completed his Gators career in 2016, his junior year. That season, he hit .374/.469/.659 with 14 home runs and 60 RBIs and then was selected by the Mets in the second round with the 64th overall pick. Now in his seventh MLB season, Alonso has hit 227 home runs.
Langford played for UF from 2021-23. He slashed .373/.498/.784/1.282 with 21 home runs and 57 RBI in his final season. Texas drafted him fourth overall.
