who's the best baseball player in the MLB right now?

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sjwaste

Diamond Member
Aug 2, 2000
8,760
12
81
I have to say this - as a Phillies fan you can't truly appreciate Halladay yet. Just wait for 2-3 years from now when you realize just what consistency means.

I don't think I've ever been more upset when an athlete left Toronto.

I fully agree, I don't think we've seen anything yet, and the guy threw a no hitter in the playoffs. We haven't had a guy like that in Philly, well, ever. Maybe Carlton, but that's before my time.
 

sjwaste

Diamond Member
Aug 2, 2000
8,760
12
81
Utley is the 2nd best player? Are you his brother or something?

Yup, Utley, and no I'm not related. I'm a little bit of a homer, but Utley is a pure gamer. He'll do whatever it takes to win, and he comes through in the clutch.

Yep, I'll take him over Ichiro.
 

sjwaste

Diamond Member
Aug 2, 2000
8,760
12
81
Pujols could walk out there and wear his glove on his foot and he's still the best player in baseball. His offensive production is unequaled. The guy is a winner and a complete class act.
 

rcpratt

Lifer
Jul 2, 2009
10,433
110
116
1. Pujols
2. Halladay
3. Tulo
4. Miggy Cabrera
5. Utley
6. Lincecum
7. Hamilton
8. Mauer
9. Zimmerman
10. Verlander
 
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SP33Demon

Lifer
Jun 22, 2001
27,929
142
106
1. Pujols
2. Halladay
3. Tulo
4. Miggy Cabrera
5. Utley
6. Lincecum
7. Hamilton
8. Mauer
9. Zimmerman
10. Verlander

My 10 most valuable (no pitchers):

1) Albert "The Machine" Pujols - Has just as many top 3 MVP finishes as Barry Bonds in half the time. The Adjusted OPS+ king, noone active is even in his stratosphere. He's like a modern day Bonds but even better by 30+ batting average points. He will finish as the greatest hitter of all time, health permitting. Defensively, has finished very high in dWAR ever year but the last where he was slightly below average... which could be indicative of a decline but this year will be a good indicator.

2) "Ichiro" - Best leadoff man of all time. Only person above him in career batting average is Pujols, and noone is close to him in total hits or defense in right field (speed + arm). Prolific athlete with 10 straight gold gloves + 10 straight 200+ hit seasons is something we will never see again. Averages 38 steals per year (42 last year), is in the top 5 every year. Even being on the last offensive team in history didn't slow him last year as he still led the league in hits. At age 37, there is no indication he is even slowing yet.

3) Joe Mauer - gold glove defense with the chance to become the greatest hitting catcher of all time. He has won the batting title in 3 of 4 years to already set the record for the position. On base% monster: finished in the top 3 every year he has played. Health could be a factor.

4) Adrian "Gonzo" Gonzalez - only played full time since 2006 but has already put up impressive homerun numbers in the worst hitter's park. 2nd youngest player in the top 15 in intentional walks, and most intentional walks per game which tells you that managers fear him. Defensively, 2 Gold Gloves and no slouch with the leather. Should put up monster numbers at Fenway. While not a .300 hitter, he has improved every year and came close last year. Scarily, not even in his prime yet and upside will be huge.

4a) Miguel "Miggy" Cabrera - Put slightly behind Gonzo because of his off the field issues and below average defense (first in errors committed in 2010) but one of the most feared hitters in the game. Youngest player in the top 15 in intentional walks, 2nd youngest per game behind Gonzo. Rare .300+BA/.900+OPS hitter who is an extremely tough out.

5) Kevin "The Greek God of Walks" Youkilis - An on-base% monster, even higher than Miggy Cabrera but with much better defense. Falls into the rare .300+/.900+OPS category who plays with above average defense (1 gold glove). Has had some injury issues but is irreplaceable when healthy: a mentally tough, old school grinder who always gives 110%. One of the hardest outs in baseball, very underrated and should be in everyone's top 10.

6) Mark "Big Tex" Texeira - ARod offensive numbers with 4 gold gloves as one of the best fielding 1B. Even in his "off year" last year, he posted 33/108... only issue is batting average, but .285 lifetime isn't stingy. He does need to improve from last year (.256), however. One "off year" isn't taking him out of my top 10 though.

7) Joey "Vottomatic" Votto - While not great on defense (below average dWAR the past 2 years), like Miguel Cabrera, his bat alone puts him in my top 10. Averaged 152 OPS+ over three seasons, and while not a large sample size, has gotten better every year. .317 career batting average means he is always an extremely tough out. He should come back to earth after last year but if he gets even better than last year, holy crap - watch out.

8) Chase "Ut" Utley - If he ever gets healthy again, he will remind us why he's the best 2nd baseman in baseball. Lifetime OPS+ of 129, and career .290+BA/.900~OPS. Defensively, has led the NL in Range Factor 2 of the past 3 years and is defensively still the best of 2B sluggers (such as Cano/Kinsler). Cut from the same cloth as Youkilis, old school mentally tough grinder who always gives 110%... sometimes to a fault playing through injuries.

9) Evan "Longo" Longoria - when debating Longoria vs Zimmerman vs Wright, it came down to defense. Longoria's sparkling dWAR in the past two seasons is in direct contrast to Wright's horrid past two years. Zimmerman is slightly above the league average but Longoria is by far the best. Offensively, Wright has the edge with his great OBP and average but is coming out of his prime. Longoria has gotten significantly better every year and is even a year younger than Zim. You can't go wrong with either, but I give Longoria the edge because he's above everyone on defense and is more of a threat to steal than Zim (10 vs 4 per year). OPS wise, they are very similar.

10) Hanley "El Nino" Ramirez - needs to improve his defense and is prone to immaturity ego lapses, but offensively the best shortstop in baseball. Scary career .300+BA/.900+OPS with speed to boot, he finished in the top 10 in steals as well as Power/Speed top 5 every year he's played.

Honorable mention: Ryan Braun (.300/.900, the "Hebrew Hammer" is in my top 15), Robinson Cano (great defense + .300/.800 would make top 15), Ryan Howard (RBI machine, would make top 15), Ryan Zimmerman (top 15), Jayson "Werewolf" Werth (coming out of his prime but top 15), Tulo (only two great seasons but top 20), Carl Crawford (needs to improve On-base% but top 20), Hamilton (only two great years + injured so much, top 20), Cargo (only one great season), Shin Soo Choo (only 2.5 great seasons but top 20), Adrian Beltre (too inconsistent), David Wright (coming out of his prime and defensively declining, still top 20).
 
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Capt Caveman

Lifer
Jan 30, 2005
34,547
651
126
My 10 most valuable (no pitchers):
2) "Ichiro" - Best leadoff man of all time. Only person above him in career batting average is Pujols, and noone is close to him in total hits or defense in right field (speed + arm). Prolific athlete with 10 straight gold gloves + 10 straight 200+ hit seasons is something we will never see again. Averages 38 steals per year (42 last year), is in the top 5 every year. Even being on the last offensive team in history didn't slow him last year as he still led the league in hits. At age 37, there is no indication he is even slowing yet.

Ichiro can maybe hold Ricky Henderson's jockstrap at being the Best leadoff man of all time. Ichiro would be a better number 2 hitter.
 

BudAshes

Lifer
Jul 20, 2003
13,920
3,203
146
I think joey votto is the closest thing to albert pujols around. In cincinnati's tiny park he might put up better than pujols numbers this year.

You guys are also forgetting about hanley ramirez. He's on a terrible team but if you put him on the yankees or red sox he would be one of the biggest stars in baseball.
 

Numenorean

Diamond Member
Oct 26, 2008
4,442
1
0
Honorable mention: Ryan Braun (.300/.900, the "Hebrew Hammer" is in my top 15), Robinson Cano (great defense + .300/.900 would make top 15), Ryan Howard (RBI machine, would make top 15), Ryan Zimmerman (top 15), Jayson "Werewolf" Werth (coming out of his prime but top 15), Tulo (only two great seasons but top 20), Carl Crawford (needs to improve On-base% but top 20), Hamilton (only two great years + injured so much, top 20), Cargo (only one great season), Shin Soo Choo (only 2.5 great seasons but top 20), Adrian Beltre (too inconsistent), David Wright (coming out of his prime and defensively declining, still top 20).

If we are talking RIGHT NOW in baseball, Tulo is the best shortstop in the game, period. He helped set the MLB fielding record for a team in 2007.

What other shortstop can do this consistently?

http://colorado.rockies.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=13689155

I have seen so many of these plays it's almost routine for him now. That ball was thrown all the way to 1B in the air while he was jumping away from 1B. Cannon of an arm.

So I don't think you can have him not in the top 10. And defensively only he's in the top 5.

.315, 27HR, 95 RBIs last season in only 122 games.

And the only person to hit more HR's than he did in September of last year in MLB history was some guy named Babe Ruth.

His biggest problem was playing with Colorado. He was overlooked because of the market here, though people are finally paying attention to what goes on.
 

D1gger

Diamond Member
Oct 3, 2004
5,411
2
76
2) "Ichiro" - Best leadoff man of all time. Only person above him in career batting average is Pujols, and noone is close to him in total hits or defense in right field (speed + arm). Prolific athlete with 10 straight gold gloves + 10 straight 200+ hit seasons is something we will never see again. Averages 38 steals per year (42 last year), is in the top 5 every year. Even being on the last offensive team in history didn't slow him last year as he still led the league in hits. At age 37, there is no indication he is even slowing yet.

Got to agree with this one, although I may have bumped him up to #1 on my list.
 

SP33Demon

Lifer
Jun 22, 2001
27,929
142
106
Ichiro can maybe hold Ricky Henderson's jockstrap at being the Best leadoff man of all time. Ichiro would be a better number 2 hitter.

Your sarcasm meter must be broken, because Rickey is a .279 lifetime hitter vs Ichiro's .331. Can you do math? Because if you could, you'd also see that Rickey's cumulative dWAR rating of 7.1 over 24 seasons is insanely low. Ichiro amassed 12.8 over 10 seasons. The only thing Rickey did better was run faster, he had a pathetic arm and even less power (SLG%) than Ichiro.

Rickey wasn't even close to a 5 tool player.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-tool_player

Rickey was all baserunning (1 tool) whereas Ichiro hits for average, has baserunning, fielding, and throwing (4 tools). While both aren't considered for their power, Ichiro still beats Rickey in SLG%.
 

Numenorean

Diamond Member
Oct 26, 2008
4,442
1
0
Your sarcasm meter must be broken, because Rickey is a .279 lifetime hitter vs Ichiro's .331. Can you do math? Because if you could, you'd also see that Rickey's cumulative dWAR rating of 7.1 over 24 seasons is insanely low. Ichiro amassed 12.8 over 10 seasons. The only thing Rickey did better was run faster, he had a pathetic arm and even less power (SLG%) than Ichiro.

Rickey wasn't even close to a 5 tool player.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-tool_player

Rickey was all baserunning (1 tool) whereas Ichiro hits for average, has baserunning, fielding, and throwing (4 tools). While both aren't considered for their power, Ichiro still beats Rickey in SLG%.

Ichiro has power. He just prefers to get on base and drive in runs and help his team vs. try for HR's.

In BP he hits them out a lot.
 

Capt Caveman

Lifer
Jan 30, 2005
34,547
651
126
If we are talking RIGHT NOW in baseball, Tulo is the best shortstop in the game, period. He helped set the MLB fielding record for a team in 2007.

What other shortstop can do this consistently?

http://colorado.rockies.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=13689155

I have seen so many of these plays it's almost routine for him now. That ball was thrown all the way to 1B in the air while he was jumping away from 1B. Cannon of an arm.

So I don't think you can have him not in the top 10. And defensively only he's in the top 5.

.315, 27HR, 95 RBIs last season in only 122 games.

And the only person to hit more HR's than he did in September of last year in MLB history was some guy named Babe Ruth.

His biggest problem was playing with Colorado. He was overlooked because of the market here, though people are finally paying attention to what goes on.

He's an average hitter outside of Coors.
 

Capt Caveman

Lifer
Jan 30, 2005
34,547
651
126
Your sarcasm meter must be broken, because Rickey is a .279 lifetime hitter vs Ichiro's .331. Can you do math? Because if you could, you'd also see that Rickey's cumulative dWAR rating of 7.1 over 24 seasons is insanely low. Ichiro amassed 12.8 over 10 seasons. The only thing Rickey did better was run faster, he had a pathetic arm and even less power (SLG%) than Ichiro.

Rickey wasn't even close to a 5 tool player.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-tool_player

Rickey was all baserunning (1 tool) whereas Ichiro hits for average, has baserunning, fielding, and throwing (4 tools). While both aren't considered for their power, Ichiro still beats Rickey in SLG%.

Leadoff Hitter...
 

BudAshes

Lifer
Jul 20, 2003
13,920
3,203
146
Your sarcasm meter must be broken, because Rickey is a .279 lifetime hitter vs Ichiro's .331. Can you do math? Because if you could, you'd also see that Rickey's cumulative dWAR rating of 7.1 over 24 seasons is insanely low. Ichiro amassed 12.8 over 10 seasons. The only thing Rickey did better was run faster, he had a pathetic arm and even less power (SLG%) than Ichiro.

Rickey wasn't even close to a 5 tool player.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-tool_player

Rickey was all baserunning (1 tool) whereas Ichiro hits for average, has baserunning, fielding, and throwing (4 tools). While both aren't considered for their power, Ichiro still beats Rickey in SLG%.

Ricky henderson was a much better player in his peak seasons. There's no denying it. he was just much less consistent than ichiro and played several years to long to have good career averages. Saying ichiro is a better lead off hitter is crazy when you take a look at rickys best seasons. No other player has ever put up anything close to those numbers. Ichiro is great in his consistency but considering his team has never even made the playoffs I can't really consider him that great. If you put pujols on the mariners they would have been a force in that division, so how much does ichiro really help? He's a complimentary player not the leader of a team.
 

Homerboy

Lifer
Mar 1, 2000
30,856
4,974
126
If you asked ANYONE in baseball, they would say that over the past 5+ years Pujols is the best player. His offensive stats are unrivaled, multiple gold-gold winner, and all around solid guy that has not been tied to enhancement drugs at all. When all is said and done, he should be spoken in the same breath with the all-time greats. Numbers do-not-lie (unless the player has been found guilty of drugs).

They do not universally call Pujols "The Machine" for nothing. They guy just performs... well... every year.

Small market player, but I would also toss Ryan Braun into the mix when talking about top 10s.
 

Numenorean

Diamond Member
Oct 26, 2008
4,442
1
0
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