Jim Bowden, ESPN Baseball Analyst 9y

Ranking the World Series players, 1-50

With the start of the World Series just two days away, let's take a look at both rosters. Every year someone rises to the occasion and has a profound impact. It could be one of the team's stars, or it could be a role player called upon to do a specific task.

Here is my annual ranking of the 50 World Series players, putting all active players from the Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants on one handy list. They are ranked based on their potential positive impact in the World Series only (not on their regular-season performances or their future potential). One final note: Position designations are pretty standard. However, I use RHR and LHR for relievers and RHS and LHS for starting pitchers.

1. Buster Posey, C, Giants
He's won the Rookie of the Year award in 2010 and the NL MVP award in 2012, and this is already his third World Series. He entered the poststeason on a tear, posting a .354/.403/.575 slash line in the second half.

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