This week, MLB Network has been counting down the best players in the Major Leagues.
In episodes of "Top 100 Right Now," which began Wednesday with Nos. 100-61, Greg Amsinger, Ron Darling and Bill Ripken have counted down the top players based on performance over the past several seasons with an emphasis on 2016 and projected '17 performance.
Network analysts pulled the curtain on another portion of the rankings Thursday night, unveiling Nos. 60-21, beginning with Carlos Gonzalez and ending with Yoenis Cespedes.
The reigning-champion Chicago Cubs contributed three more players to the list, as pitchers Jacob Arrieta, Jonathan Lester and Kyle Hendricks clocked in at Nos. 28, 29 and 59, respectively. They joined teammates Addison Russell (87), Wade Davis (85), Kyle Schwarber (72) and Benjamin Zobrist (69), and it's likely Chicago has a few more on the way with Anthony Rizzo and Kristopher Bryant still unaccounted for.

Of note were a number of considerable risers from last year's rankings, including the Nationals' Daniel Murphy, who followed up his stellar '15 postseason with a run at the National League MVP Award in '16. Andrew Miller (97 to 38), Kyle Seager (99 to 37) and Ryan Braun (86 to 32) also enjoyed similar climbs.
After going unranked in '16, Justin Verlander (43) returns to the Top 100. He finished as last season's runner-up in the American League Cy Young Award voting after his successful comeback campaign. Others who resurfaced after a year's absence were Lester and Christian Yelich (40).
Among those making their first appearance in the top 100 were Noah Syndergaard (24), Trea Turner (45), Hendricks, Zach Britton (39), Charlie Blackmon (36) and James Dozier (35).

The countdown concludes Friday evening when the final 20 are revealed on MLB Network from 9-10 p.m. ET.
Below is the complete list revealed on Thursday's show:
60. Carlos Gonzalez
59. Kyle Hendricks
58. Matt Carpenter
57. Evan Longoria
56. Justin Turner
55. Dustin Pedroia
54. Andrew McCutchen

53. Jonathan Lucroy
    
54. Albertin Chapman
    
55. J.D. Martinez
    
56. David Price
    
57. Ian Kinsler
    
58. Jacob deGrom
    
59. Johnny Cueto
    
60. A.J. Pollock
    
61. Trea Turner
    
62. Xander Bogaerts
    
63. Justin Verlander
    
64. Brandon Crawford
    
65. George Springer
    
66. Christian Yelich
    
67. Zach Britton
    
68. Andrew Miller

37. Kyle Seager
    
38. Charlie Blackmon
    
39. Brian Dozier
    
40. Nelson Cruz
    
41. Starling Marte
    
42. Ryan Braun
    
43. Daniel Murphy
    
44. Chris Sale
    
45. Jon Lester
    
46. Jake Arrieta
    
47. Adrian Beltre
    
48. Edwin Encarnacion
    
49. Corey Kluber
    
50. Noah Syndergaard

23. Madison Bumgarner
    
24. Giancarlo Stanton
    
25. Yoenis Cespedes