Quote:
Originally Posted by dawgfan
I guess your definition of "close" differs from mine:
OPS+: Thomas = 156, Martinez = 147
RC/G: Thomas = 8.8, Martinez = 8.3
oWAR: Thomas = 79.8, Martinez = 66.4
No question that Thomas was a better hitter, but it wasn't a huge gulf. And where Martinez closes that gap is his defense wasn't as bad as Thomas, and being a DH more often, he was also not putting as much drain on the fielding numbers for his teams as Martinez, hence the smaller gap of overall WAR figures.
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Frank Thomas - 2 MVP's, 3 other top 4 finishes. Edgar Martinez - 1 3rd place finish. Even acknowledging that people consistently underestimated Martinez's skill set, there was never a time I thought he was a top 5 player in the game. I know he's your binky, and you'll argue he should have been considered in 1995, but Frank Thomas unquestionably was for a few years there. Being one of the best players in the game at your peak level matters a lot to me, probably more so than counting stats.
(Frank Thomas is also one of 4 HoF level guys I unquestionably think did not do steroids, along with Pedro, Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson. Ken Griddey gets close too, but I wouldn't be shocked if he dabbled in the early 2000's when they were at their most prevalent and injuries were ruining his career.)