10 years of history says you're wrong. Betting against Pujols based on the first 8% of the year is a sucker's bet.
The question wasn't "who has been the best baseball player over the last few years". Its "who's the best RIGHT NOW"
Pujols is off to a terrible start this year, he might have a bad year the whole year for all you know.
He's answering the up-and-coming players question posed by someone else.
The question wasn't "who has been the best baseball player over the last few years". Its "who's the best RIGHT NOW"
Pujols is off to a terrible start this year, he might have a bad year the whole year for all you know.
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).
Also: You know the Gold Gloves have absolutely nothing to do with Defense and are a joke, right?
Just to mix things up a bit, of players who were either a rookie last season, rookie this year, or likely to be called up this year, who do you expect to be a star in 3-5 years? For my M's (ugh), I would say Michael Pineda. He is only 21, and in about 400 innings of minor league ball has a 4-1 K-BB ratio, and a WHIP of 1.083. So far this year in the majors he has 11-3 ratio, and a WHIP of 0.98.
For your team, who would you wager to be contributing at a very high level soon?
I have a feeling this will be Tulowitzski's breakout season as long as he stays healthy.
The question wasn't "who has been the best baseball player over the last few years". Its "who's the best RIGHT NOW"
Pujols is off to a terrible start this year, he might have a bad year the whole year for all you know.
Good list and well thought out, but I'll be honest... giving everyone nicknames just pissed me the fuck off. I really wish you hadn't done that.
I really think this thread should have ended at Pujols.
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I would agree if you said the best offensive baseball player.
uh...redundant?
lol. as if the "best defensive player" is ever in consideration for MVP. so retahded!
Thanks, nice post and exactly what I am after. What positions does Herrera play?
No, not redundant.
Best != Best Offensive
Best = Best combination of offense and defense. I am assuming position player, not pitcher. Pitchers need their own category of best.
The Phillies broke out of their slump when Utley came back, and he's getting hot. I still say Pujols is in a category of his own, but Utley is at least the most important player on his team and in the conversation.
Verlander is having a great season too.