Who are the best players in the game?

[The 24th Letter]

I am REALLY trying to get into baseball this year....I was just trying to get an idea of some exciting players\ teams to check out....Who are some superstars that just put on a show nightly that can really get me into the game...

Any input would be great......

[bravosfan]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

As far as teams, Tampa Bay would be up there. And the champion Phillies are just sound all the way around.

Players - Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, Grady Sizemore, Chase Utley, Cole Hamels, Tim Lincecum, Albert Pujols, Manny Ramirez, Josh Hamilton, Ryan Braun, Evan Longoria, Ichiro. That's a start anyway.

[theaub]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

Roy Halladay

Cheer for the Blue Jays if you want to need anti-depressants by mid-May every year.

[Speedy]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

Roy Halladay

Cheer for the Blue Jays if you want to need anti-depressants by mid-May every year.

Sizemore has a good shot of joining the 40/40 club this year.

[OSUFan_88]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

As far as teams, Tampa Bay would be up there. And the champion Phillies are just sound all the way around.

Players - Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, Grady Sizemore, Chase Utley, Cole Hamels, Tim Lincecum, Albert Pujols, Manny Ramirez, Josh Hamilton, Ryan Braun, Evan Longoria, Ichiro. That's a start anyway.

I'll add a few more I guess.

Jimmy Rollins, CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, Ian Kinsler, Vlad Guerrero, Brandon Webb, Carlos Zambrano, Lance Berkman, Chipper Jones, David Wright, Ryan Howard.

Teams would be Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, Twins, Indians, White Sox, Angels, Rangers, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Cubs, Brewers, Cardinals, Mets, Phillies, and the Braves. Those are going to, most likely, be the main contenders with random teams like the Tigers, A's or Giants may crash the party.

[AlexBrady]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

Albert Pujols
Alex Rodriguez
Joe Mauer

[OSUFan_88]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

Albert Pujols
Alex Rodriguez
Joe Mauer

One of these things are not like the other...:wink:

Mauer isn't on the same level as those two.

[Ewing]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

Who are the best players in the game?

I'll add a few more I guess.

Jimmy Rollins, CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, Ian Kinsler, Vlad Guerrero, Brandon Webb, Carlos Zambrano, Lance Berkman, Chipper Jones, David Wright, Ryan Howard.

[Dice]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

A guy with 48 HR and 146 RBI's for a championship team gets no consideration for best player in baseball? What are you smoking?

[Ewing]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

A guy with 48 HR and 146 RBI's for a championship team gets no consideration for best player in baseball? What are you smoking?

A guy who struck out more than he got on-base against lefties last year is not in consideration for the best in the game. Are you really gonna use RBI's as a reason for including someone? Jeff Francouer had back to back 100 RBI seasons recently, nobody sane ever put him into the discussion for the best player. Really, RBI's mean absolutely nothing when evaluating a player.

Anyway, to answer the original poster's question. The list goes as follows:

1. Pujols
2-999. Everyone else
Worst: Tony Pena Jr.

[Dice]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

A guy who struck out more than he got on-base against lefties last year is not in consideration for the best in the game. Are you really gonna use RBI's as a reason for including someone? Jeff Francouer had back to back 100 RBI seasons recently, nobody sane ever put him into the discussion for the best player. Really, RBI's mean absolutely nothing when evaluating a player.

Anyway, to answer the original poster's question. The list goes as follows:

1. Pujols
2-999. Everyone else
Worst: Tony Pena Jr.

Look, I’m not saying Howard is the best player in baseball. Matter of fact, I agree with you that Pujols might be the best player in baseball today. However, you dismiss Howard like he’s a nobody. This guy finished 2nd in MVP voting last year and won the MVP in 2006. He's finished in the top 5 in MVP voting the last 3 seasons. Howard is one of the better 1st basemen in baseball today.

Yeah, he strikes out a lot against lefties. BUT I guess you forgot that he’s second in major league baseball in RBI’s against lefties(49) and leads baseball in home runs against lefties(14).

RBI’s aren’t the end-all-be-all for player evaluation. However, it is an important stat to consider. And if your going to compare Jeff Francouer’s back-to-back 100+ RBI years against Howard’s back-to-back-to-back 100+, then you need to pass on what ever your smoking. Francouer barely cracked 100 RBI’s in those years with 105 and 103. Howard in his 3 time 100+RBI years basically crashed the barrier with 149, 136 and 146. Let’s see Francouer do that!

[Ewing]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

Look, I’m not saying Howard is the best player in baseball. Matter of fact, I agree with you that Pujols might be the best player in baseball today. However, you dismiss Howard like he’s a nobody. This guy finished 2nd in MVP voting last year and won the MVP in 2006. He's finished in the top 5 in MVP voting the last 3 seasons. Howard is one of the better 1st basemen in baseball today.

Yeah, he strikes out a lot against lefties. BUT I guess you forgot that he’s second in major league baseball in RBI’s against lefties(49) and leads baseball in home runs against lefties(14).

RBI’s aren’t the end-all-be-all for player evaluation. However, it is an important stat to consider. And if your going to compare Jeff Francouer’s back-to-back 100+ RBI years against Howard’s back-to-back-to-back 100+, then you need to pass on what ever your smoking. Francouer barely cracked 100 RBI’s in those years with 105 and 103. Howard in his 3 time 100+RBI years basically crashed the barrier with 149, 136 and 146. Let’s see Francouer do that!

Terry Pendleton won MVP in 1991, really the BBWAA's opinion is irrelevant to reality. They've constantly contradicted themselves and made incredibly stupid choices. I'm not saying Howard sucks at all, but he's not in the discussion for the best player in the sport, or even top ten for that matter.

As for his RBI and HR numbers, RBI's mean absolutely nothing and you know it. HR, yeah, that's impressive, but raw numbers mean little unless they are put into context. Raw data can be very misleading about a player's talent. Want proof?

Hank Aaron amassed more total bases in his career than anyone, 6856 to be exact. That's an impressive accomplishment... but was he the best at amassing bases? We have to consider the amount of at-bats he had in contrast with others. Slugging percentage is a total bases divided by at-bats. Hank Aaron's career slugging percentage is .555, very impressive, but it's not the best all-time. That belongs to Babe Ruth with an incredible .690 slugging percentage.

Again, this isn't a shot at Aaron saying he's a terrible player. That would be pure insanity. What is though is applying raw numbers to context.

[Speedy]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

As for his RBI and HR numbers, RBI's mean absolutely nothing and you know it. HR, yeah, that's impressive, but raw numbers mean little unless they are put into context.

Team wins if outscores opponents. Team then must score runs. Team then needs somebody to bat in runs.

[Dice]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

Terry Pendleton won MVP in 1991, really the BBWAA's opinion is irrelevant to reality. They've constantly contradicted themselves and made incredibly stupid choices. I'm not saying Howard sucks at all, but he's not in the discussion for the best player in the sport, or even top ten for that matter.

As for his RBI and HR numbers, RBI's mean absolutely nothing and you know it. HR, yeah, that's impressive, but raw numbers mean little unless they are put into context. Raw data can be very misleading about a player's talent. Want proof?

Hank Aaron amassed more total bases in his career than anyone, 6856 to be exact. That's an impressive accomplishment... but was he the best at amassing bases? We have to consider the amount of at-bats he had in contrast with others. Slugging percentage is a total bases divided by at-bats. Hank Aaron's career slugging percentage is .555, very impressive, but it's not the best all-time. That belongs to Babe Ruth with an incredible .690 slugging percentage.

Again, this isn't a shot at Aaron saying he's a terrible player. That would be pure insanity. What is though is applying raw numbers to context.

It isn't like Pendleton didn't deserve the MVP. Were there players who could have won it besides Pendleton? Of course. Remember, the NL was weak that year. Pendleton lead the NL with a .319 average on a 94 win/World Series bound team. I agree the baseball writers don't always pick the favorites but the ones they do pick you can't argue that they shouldn't be there. Even if Pendleton didn't win the MVP in 91, he still would have been in the top 3 in voting that season.

Why do you keep thinking that I hold RBI numbers as the highest form of accomplishment for a baseball player? like I stated, it's not the end-all-be-all but it has to be factored in.

Let me playback again what I said when I first responded to your post:

A guy with 48 HR and 146 RBI's for a championship team gets no consideration for best player in baseball? What are you smoking?

I stated, not only his RBI totals but also his HR totals. But most importantly, he's doing it for a championship team. There to me is when you start to see number differently when you do it when it counts. And since you seem impressed with slugging PCT. Howard slugged for .762 in the World Series last year.

[wwharton]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

Aren't you the same guy that said the Nats would win the WS in the next 2 or 3 years? Is that thought based on Adam Dunn (strikes out more than Howard with a horrible BA) or is there something else that would bring validity to that opinion while not contradicting this one?