Top center fielders: Where J-Rod, Crow-Armstrong, Buxton rank

Spring training camps are underway, which means it is time to look at the state of baseball. As part of our 2026 MLB season preview, ESPN's Buster Olney surveyed those around the industry to help him rank the top 10 players at every position as part of his annual positional ranking series.

Today, we rank the best of the best in center field.

The objective of this exercise is to identify the best players for the 2026 season, not who might be best in five years or over their career. We will roll out a position per day over the next two weeks. Here's the rest of the schedule: starting pitchers (Feb. 16), relief pitchers (Feb. 17), catchers (Feb. 18), first basemen (Feb. 19), second basemen (Feb. 20), third basemen (Monday), shortstops (Tuesday), corner outfielders (Wednesday), designated hitters (Friday).

Byron Buxton is coming off his healthiest season -- and perhaps best -- since 2017 and is entrenched among our top 10 center fielders -- yet the 32-year-old is caught in a weird baseball purgatory, which could be referred to as life with the Minnesota Twins.

The Twins have slashed their payroll by about 35% over the past three years, down to $106 million, after unloading a small army of players at the trade deadline in 2025 en route to a 92-loss season. Tom Pohlad has now become the controlling owner of the Twins, and recently delivered the organization's new messaging: He wants to win this year.

As with all new owners, there seems to be a learning curve in effect for Pohlad. As this past offseason began, industry members expected Minnesota to continue last summer's teardown and deal Joe Ryan and perhaps Buxton, following the deep budget cuts. But early in the winter, the team effectively pulled Ryan out of trade consideration, around the incongruent thought that it aimed to contend this year. Then, mere weeks away from the start of spring training, Derek Falvey, the head of baseball operations for Minnesota, departed the organization over philosophical differences.

Typically, a franchise going through this steep transition would trade a player like Buxton, who is owed about $50 million over the next three years. But Buxton has a no-trade clause, and what he has heard from Pohlad is that the Twins are going to try to win. If Buxton remains, he's likely to go through the best part of his career watching others compete in October.

But minds can be changed. If the roster reality manifests this summer -- ahead of what might be a costly labor situation when the current CBA expires in the winter -- Pohlad could try to move Buxton's contract, and Buxton could reverse course, ask to be moved to a contender and waive his no-trade clause. He has noted that, while he says he wants to stay, the people in power within the Twins' organization haven't flatly and loudly said that Buxton won't be dealt.

"All it takes is for somebody at the top to go to the media -- 'We're not trading you,'" Buxton told The Athletic (and others) after arriving at the Twins' spring training camp. "Trade rumors stop."

Until that happens, Buxton will continue to drift into an uncertain future, as one of MLB's best center fielders. Here are the top 10.

Top 10 center fielders

1. Julio Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners

He just turned 25 years old, and he seems on the verge of evolving from a star to something more than that. Rodriguez had an OPS of .900 after the All-Star break last season, slugging .560 while hitting 18 of his 32 homers in that span. He still seems to be learning, as many young players do, how to adjust to the waves of opposing pitchers that work through games in this era. He fared very well against starting pitchers last year, generating an .858 OPS, but didn't have nearly as much success against relievers, posting a .701 OPS with six homers in 277 plate appearances.

2. Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs

His monthly offensive performance last season ranged from a nearly 1.000 OPS (.984 in July) to under .500 (.446 in August), but all the while, he was a plus-plus defender and baserunner who accumulated 72 extra-base hits (including 31 homers), 35 steals, 91 runs and 6.0 WAR. Cubs manager Craig Counsell suggested last season that PCA might be the best overall defender in baseball, and while Ceddanne Rafaela, Patrick Bailey and Bobby Witt Jr. each might have some claim to that title, Crow-Armstrong's impact for his pitchers is undeniable. PCA's acute splits vs. lefties and righties are a concern:

Vs. right-handers: .271/.315/.523
Vs. lefties: .188/.217/.372

3. Daulton Varsho, Toronto Blue Jays

In the 71 games he played during the 2025 regular season, Varsho had 35 extra-base hits, including 20 homers, and a career-best OPS+ of 122. He continues to be one of the best defenders at this position; if PCA's strength is gliding into the gaps, Varsho seems to excel in retreating to the warning track and making plays around the wall.

4. Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins

He destroyed left-handed pitching last year, blasting a .676 slugging percentage in 123 plate appearances. Both his success and his struggles were reflected in the Twins' wins and losses: Buxton hit .332/.396/.692 in Twins' victories last year but just .213/.272/.444 in the losses in which he played. Of his 126 games last year, he played 118 in center field.

5. Jackson Merrill, San Diego Padres

Merrill was on the injured list three different times last season, fighting hamstring, concussion and ankle issues in his second year in the big leagues -- and yet he still managed to post decent numbers. He had a .774 OPS and an adjusted OPS of 112, compiling 47 extra-base hits and scoring 59 runs in 117 games. With a full, healthy year, he might well challenge Rodriguez for the No. 1 spot on this list next year.

6. Ceddanne Rafaela, Boston Red Sox

His tendency to swing aggressively -- even recklessly, at times -- can sometimes overshadow just how good of a player he can be. Rafaela had a strikeout-to-walk ratio of about 4-to-1 last season, for an on-base percentage of .295, but he's got power (54 extra-base hits) and speed (20 stolen bases). He plays center field in Fenway Park fearlessly, which is why he could reasonably be in the conversation for best defender in the game.

7. Trent Grisham, New York Yankees

It's kind of surprising over how much debate there was about whether the Yankees would extend a qualifying offer to Grisham, since he was a good player for them last season -- 3.5 WAR, good power, an adjusted OPS of 125, decent defense. And as the old saying goes, there's no such thing as a bad one-year contract, especially for big-money teams like the Yankees. Manager Aaron Boone will probably protect Grisham from left-handed pitching, against which he hit .182 last season. And if you assumed his gaudy 2025 power numbers were manufactured at Yankee Stadium, you'd be wrong: 22 of his 35 homers were hit on the road.

8. Michael Harris II, Atlanta Braves

The trajectory of his production is not what he wants:

2022: 5.1 WAR
2023: 3.5 WAR
2024: 3.2 WAR
2025: 2.2 WAR

Harris is about to turn 25 years old, so this feels like an important year for him to stabilize, which probably will require a little more plate discipline. Last year, he had 16 walks and 128 strikeouts -- a 0.13 walk-to-strikeout ratio, the worst among the 145 hitters who qualified for the batting title. He continues to field well, ranking seventh among center fielders in defensive runs saved and outs above average.

9. Luis Robert Jr., New York Mets

The Mets' bet on Robert might be the most telling barometer of the team's season: They believe in his upside, which we saw in 2023, when he mashed 38 homers and stole 20 bases. But that was the only season -- in a career that began in 2020 -- when Robert played in more than 110 games. Last year, Robert struggled against power pitchers (as defined by Baseball Reference), batting .193 with a .337 slugging percentage.

10. Andy Pages, Los Angeles Dodgers

Pages was on his way to a really great season, batting .280 with 19 homers through Aug. 12, but he struggled down the stretch and into the postseason, so the Dodgers will be looking for him to bounce back early in the season.

Honorable mentions

Colton Cowser, Baltimore Orioles: He mustered 3.1 WAR in 153 games in 2024, hitting 24 homers, but injuries took him off the field last year.

Jake Meyers, Houston Astros: Meyers was really good at getting on base last year, with a .354 OBP and16 stolen bases.

TJ Friedl, Cincinnati Reds: He generated an above league-average OPS+ of 106 over 152 games.

Cedric Mullins, Tampa Bay Rays: He never seemed comfortable after being traded from the Orioles to the Mets last season. He quickly re-signed to play in the AL East and could be back on the market next offseason.

Jakob Marsee, Miami Marlins: Called up at the beginning of August, Marsee put in two impressive months, generating an OPS+ of 132, hitting 18 doubles and five homers in 234 plate appearances and stealing 14 bases. Paul Hembekides dug into the underlying numbers and offered these concerns: "He had a .357 BABIP in the majors and .297 in the minors, so he had extreme batted-ball luck. PECOTA projects a .235/.324/.374 line this year."

Brenton Doyle, Colorado Rockies: With a new front office in place in Colorado, this could be a crossroads year for Doyle, a strong defender who really struggled at the plate last year with an OPS+ of 72.

Sal Frelick, Milwaukee Brewers: Jackson Chourio played the most games in center field for Milwaukee, but Frelick had some games out there as well, and we wanted Frelick somewhere in the top 10s. He was a 3-WAR player last year, with another solid season of getting on base (over 200 times) and some power and speed.

Nathan Lukes, Toronto Blue Jays: As with Frelick, it just seems as if Lukes, who played center field some last year when Varsho was hurt, deserves a mention on one of these lists.

Oneil Cruz, Pittsburgh Pirates: It's a pivotal year for him, as he nears his second swing through arbitration. He played in 135 games last year and mustered 0.3 WAR, batting .200/.298/.378.