Previews of Top 10 at each position?

[AtlBraves09]

Re: Previews of Top 10 at each position?

I'm surprised I haven't had anyone criticize me for not listing Jason Heyward in RF.

- Jason has not been in the league long enough to be considered an elite outfielder.

- Not every Braves fan is a raging mad-man or mad-woman... Come on, give us civil ones some credit!!!

[JoeCoolMan24]

Re: Previews of Top 10 at each position?

- Jason has not been in the league long enough to be considered an elite outfielder.

- Not every Braves fan is a raging mad-man or mad-woman... Come on, give us civil ones some credit!!!

I agree, which is why I am surprised to see Jonny Venters on his list. I assume he left Heyward off because he only has done it for one 1, but Venters is the exact same thing, and yet he was his #2 RP.

[BatsareBugs]

Re: Previews of Top 10 at each position?

Venters was knocked down awhile ago. I'll requote the RP (I made the change probably two or three hours ago). Again, this is still assuming Thorton is going to be a CP, but if not, he'd slot in number 2 with an A- or number 2 or number 3 with a B+.

Relievers
1 - NYY - Rafael Soriano A-
2 - CWS - Matt Thorton B+
3 - SDG - Mike Adams B+
4 - ATL - Peter Moylan B+
5 - BOS - Daniel Bard B+
6 - SDG - Luke Gregerson B+
7 - TEX - Darren O'Day B+
8 - LAD - Hong-Chih Kuo B+
9 - ATL - Jonny Venters B+
10 - WAS - Tyler Clippard B+

Ah what the hell, I might as well include Thorton and assume Chris Sale will be the closer.

[JoeCoolMan24]

Re: Previews of Top 10 at each position?

Venters was knocked down awhile ago. I'll requote the RP (I made the change probably two or three hours ago). Again, this is still assuming Thorton is going to be a CP, but if not, he'd slot in number 2 with an A- or number 2 or number 3 with a B+.



Ah what the hell, I might as well include Thorton and assume Chris Sale will be the closer.

Wow, I totally forgot about Soriano. He gets paid $12M a year, and you forget he isn't closing.

[BatsareBugs]

Re: Previews of Top 10 at each position?

Wow, I totally forgot about Soriano. He gets paid $12M a year, and you forget he isn't closing.

Nah, Soriano has always been on my list as a reliever. He was fifth or sixth earlier with a B+, but since he did close the past two years, he's probably going to be an A- if not an A in overall.

[Mad dog 31]

Re: Previews of Top 10 at each position?

- Jason has not been in the league long enough to be considered an elite outfielder.

- Not every Braves fan is a raging mad-man or mad-woman... Come on, give us civil ones some credit!!!

I agree with not listing Heyward.....no where near proven, obviously time will tell. Great season for a rookie with all the hype though.

[JoeCoolMan24]

Re: Previews of Top 10 at each position?

Well, apparently Chris Sale is the team's closer in 2011, so Thornton resumes his SU job.

[BatsareBugs]

Re: Previews of Top 10 at each position?

Well, apparently Chris Sale is the team's closer in 2011, so Thornton resumes his SU job.

Thank you very much for that information.

[SomeRandomDude]

Re: Previews of Top 10 at each position?

My List: (NOT IN REAL LIFE, IN THE GAME!!)

Starting Pitching:
1 - PHI - Roy Halladay
2 - SFG - Tim Lincecum
3 - SEA - Felix Hernandez
4 - NYY - CC Sabathia
5 - PHI - Cliff Lee
6 - STL - Adam Wainwright
7 - BOS - Jon Lester
8 - SFG - Matt Cain
9 - STL - Chris Carpenter
10 - FLA - Josh Johnson

Relievers

1 - NYY - Rafael Soriano
2 - BOS - Daniel Bard
2 - SDP - Mike Adams
4 - CWS - Matt Thorton
5 - TEX - Darren O'Day
6 - BOS - Bobby Jenks
7 - LAA - Scott Downs
8 - ATL - Peter Moylan
9 - OAK - Brian Fuentes
10- DET - Joaquim Benoit

Closers
1 - KCR - Joakim Soria
2 - SFG - Brian Wilson
3 - NYY - Mariano Rivera
4 - SDP - Heath Bell
5 - OAK - Andrew Bailey
6 - CHC - Carlos Marmol
7 - TEX - Neftali Feliz
8 - BOS - Jonathon Paplebon
9 - MIN - Joe Nathan
10 - CIN - Fransisco Cordero

Catchers
1 - MIN - Joe Mauer
2 - ATL - Brian McCann
3 - DET - Victor Martinez
4 - SFG - Buster Posey
5 - STL - Yadier Molina
6 - PHI - Carlos Ruiz
7 - CWS - A.J. Pierzynski
8 - BAL - Matt Wieters
9 - CHC - Geovany Soto
10 - TOR - Mike Napoli

First Basemen
1 - STL - Albert Pujols
2 - CIN - Joey Votto
3 - BOS - Adrian Gonzalez
4 - DET - Miguel Cabrera
5 - MIN - Justin Morneau
6 - NYY - Mark Teixeira
7 - MIL - Ryan Howard
8 - MIL - Prince Fielder
9 - LAA - Kendry Morales
10 - CWS - Adam Dunn

Second Basemen
1 - PHI - Chase Utley
2 - NYY - Robinson Cano
3 - BOS - Dustin Pedroia
4 - CIN - Brandon Phillips
5 - TEX - Ian Kinsler
6 - MIL - Rickie Weeks
7 - ATL - Dan Uggla
8 - TOR - Aaron Hill
9 - PIT - Neil Walker
10 - BAL - Brian Roberts

Shortstop
1 - COL - Troy Tulowitzki
2 - FLA - Hanley Ramirez
3 - NYM - Jose Reyes
4 - NYY - Derek Jeter
5 - PHI - Jimmy Rollins
6 - CWS - Alexei Ramirez
7 - TEX - Elvis Andrus
8 - AZD - Stephen Drew
9 - LAD - Rafael Furcal
10 -TOR - Yunel Escobar

Third Basemen
2 - NYM - David Wright
2 - TBR - Evan Longoria
3 - WAS - Ryan Zimmerman
4 - BOS - Kevin Youkilis
5 - NYY - Alex Rodriguez
6 - TEX - Adrian Beltre
7 - CHC - Aramis Ramirez
8 - BAL - Mark Reynolds
9 - SFG - Pablo Sandoval
10 - MIL - Casey McGehee

Left Fielder
1 - TEX - Josh Hamilton
2 - STL - Matt Holliday
3 - MIL - Ryan Braun
4 - BOS - Carl Crawford
5 - MIN - Delmon Young
6 - CHC - Alfonso Soriano
7 - NYY - Brett Gardner
8 - LAA - Bobby Abreu
9 - NYM - Jason Bay
10 - TBR - Manny Ramirez

Center Fiedler
1 - LAD - Matt Kemp
2 - PIT - Andrew McCutchen
3 - NYY - Curtis Granderson
4 - PHI - Shane Victorino
5 - TBR - B.J. Upton
6 - LAA - Torii Hunter
7 - HOU - Michael Bourn
8 - CIN - Drew Stubbs
9 - STL - Colby Rasmus
10 - LAA - Vernon Wells B

Right Fielder
1 - COL - Carlos Gonzalez
2 - LAD - Andre Ethier
3 - WAS - Jayson Werth
4 - TEX - Nelson Cruz
5 - TOR - Jose Bautista
6 - CLE - Shin-Soo Choo
7 - NYY - Nick Swisher
8 - CIN - Jay Bruce
9 - MIL - Corey Hart
10 - SEA - Ichiro

[gator3guy]

Re: Previews of Top 10 at each position?

I doubt Ichiro will be the tenth best right fielder

[capnharry]

Re: Previews of Top 10 at each position?

I wouldn't say that Pujols and Votto are too far off at all. I would probably give a slight nod to Pujols since he didn't regress because of injury, so it is much easier for him to bounce back and have another MVP year. Reyes got injured and then had an average year, showing that the injury may have actually effected him. But I really don't think Pujols and Votto are too far off at all. Pujols just had his 2nd straight year of regression, while Votto has improved each of the past 3 years.

I don't get where the Vlad vs. Bruan thing is coming from. Braun only had 1 year of regression (which doesn't constitute a trend), and it was still considerably better than Vlad who only had 1 year of improvement (again, not a trend) after 5 years of regression, yes 5 years. So that one makes no sense at all actually.

In regards to Pujols:

Regression? Slight nod? 'Bounce back year' in '11? I normally don't get involved in these discussions but did we watch the same 2010 season? What are you basing your idea of regression on? WAR alone? I'm guessing so because that, along with UZR, is the stat you've used to defend all of your arguments. If so Pujols was still a full point higher than Votto in '10 so I don't know how he gets just a slight nod. He regressed yet still led the league in HR and RBI and came in 3rd in AVG? He won a Gold Glove at his position AND the Silver Slugger. I hope he regresses every year if that's regressing. He'll be dominating well in to his 40s if so. He is by far the best player in the game and its not even close right now. Sure he was 2nd in MVP voting but that was clearly a case of Votto leading a winning team. What does he need to do to 'bounce back' next year? The man nearly won the Triple Crown. I'm very confused.

[JoeCoolMan24]

Re: Previews of Top 10 at each position?

In regards to Pujols:

Regression? Slight nod? 'Bounce back year' in '11? I normally don't get involved in these discussions but did we watch the same 2010 season? What are you basing your idea of regression on? WAR alone? I'm guessing so because that, along with UZR, is the stat you've used to defend all of your arguments. If so Pujols was still a full point higher than Votto in '10 so I don't know how he gets just a slight nod. He regressed yet still led the league in HR and RBI and came in 3rd in AVG? He won a Gold Glove at his position AND the Silver Slugger. I hope he regresses every year if that's regressing. He'll be dominating well in to his 40s if so. He is by far the best player in the game and its not even close right now. Sure he was 2nd in MVP voting but that was clearly a case of Votto leading a winning team. What does he need to do to 'bounce back' next year? The man nearly won the Triple Crown. I'm very confused.

Pujols was not a full point higher than Votto, considering Votto has the better WAR. Pujols had a 7.3 WAR and Votto had a 7.4.

Technically Pujols is in a regression. It's his 2nd straight down year in a row. Just because he is regressing doesn't mean he isn't amazing still. And most people would argue that Votto could have a better 2011 since is is 27 and improving, and Pujols is 30 and regressing, but since it's Pujols and he has been a damn machine over his whole career, I'd still give him the nod over Votto, but the gap is not very big at all.

And to answer your "what does he need to do to have a "bounce back" year?". Well, simple, he needs to do better in 2010 than he did in 2011, that's how. HOWEVER, he could have a similar year in 2010, and still win the MVP because that's how insanely great he was a couple years ago. Remember, just because he is regressing doesn't mean he isn't one of the best players in baseball anymore. When you are heads and shoulders the best in the game, you can afford to regress and still hold the crown.

And by the way, how was he close to a Triple Crown in 2010? He was 24 pts behind CarGo in average. Yes, he led the other 2 categories, but those go hand-in-hand, while 24 pts in average is a LOT. I mean, Votto was just as close then. He was 5 HR and 5 RBI short of Pujols (HRs would take care of the RBIs), and would only be 3 pts behind CarGo in average.

[Curyy94]

Re: Previews of Top 10 at each position?

In regards to Pujols:

Regression? Slight nod? 'Bounce back year' in '11? I normally don't get involved in these discussions but did we watch the same 2010 season? What are you basing your idea of regression on? WAR alone? I'm guessing so because that, along with UZR, is the stat you've used to defend all of your arguments. If so Pujols was still a full point higher than Votto in '10 so I don't know how he gets just a slight nod. He regressed yet still led the league in HR and RBI and came in 3rd in AVG? He won a Gold Glove at his position AND the Silver Slugger. I hope he regresses every year if that's regressing. He'll be dominating well in to his 40s if so. He is by far the best player in the game and its not even close right now. Sure he was 2nd in MVP voting but that was clearly a case of Votto leading a winning team. What does he need to do to 'bounce back' next year? The man nearly won the Triple Crown. I'm very confused.

It's ok, the guy who said that also thinks Alexei Ramirez is the next Derek Jeter.

[JoeCoolMan24]

Re: Previews of Top 10 at each position?

It's ok, the guy who said that also thinks Alexei Ramirez is the next Derek Jeter.

I don't recall saying that Alexei Ramirez would be one of the worst defensive SS in the history of baseball, but whatever.

[mrhenry209]

Re: Previews of Top 10 at each position?

I don't recall saying that Alexei Ramirez would be one of the worst defensive SS in the history of baseball, but whatever.

Oh, snap!
ANYWHO...
Everyone's Top 10 list will be subjective to the way they analyze baseball. Metric freaks will likely include players that traditional fans would never dream of including in their top 10 list. In a way, SCEA is playing moderator when they release their top 10 previews.