Who are the best players in the game?

[CMH]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

I guess what people need to ask is:

What would a lineup of nine Ryan Howards do?

Ryan Howard can drive in some runs. He hits big homeruns and he gets halfway to the century mark on power alone.

But, if the man isn't getting on-base then he couldn't drive himself in.

I don't know the answer to this question. I'd bet there's a way to calculate it and find out what nine Ryan Howards would do. I don't know the exact answer compared to another player.

That being said, I actually don't dislike Howard. He hits homeruns and I respect that part of his game. He does what he's expected. However, when anyone gets into a discussion of best players, I look for complete players, and hitting homeruns is only one of five tools in the game - Power. There's still Running, Fielding, Arm, and Average. (I think it should be six tools, actually, with Eye/Patience/Vision being that sixth one). Howard lacks dramatically in every one of those other tools.

[Ewing]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

I guess what people need to ask is:

What would a lineup of nine Ryan Howards do?

Ryan Howard can drive in some runs. He hits big homeruns and he gets halfway to the century mark on power alone.

But, if the man isn't getting on-base then he couldn't drive himself in.

I don't know the answer to this question. I'd bet there's a way to calculate it and find out what nine Ryan Howards would do. I don't know the exact answer compared to another player.

That being said, I actually don't dislike Howard. He hits homeruns and I respect that part of his game. He does what he's expected. However, when anyone gets into a discussion of best players, I look for complete players, and hitting homeruns is only one of five tools in the game - Power. There's still Running, Fielding, Arm, and Average. (I think it should be six tools, actually, with Eye/Patience/Vision being that sixth one). Howard lacks dramatically in every one of those other tools.

A lineup of nine 2008 Ryan Howards would produce an Offensive Winning Percentage of .618.

A player's Offensive Winning Percentage equals the percentage of games a team would win with nine of that player in its lineup, given average pitching and defense. The formula is the square of Runs Created per 27 Outs, divided by the sum of the square of Runs Created per 27 Outs and the square of the league average of runs per game.

By comparison, Pujols' was .833.

[OSUFan_88]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

A lineup of nine 2008 Ryan Howards would produce an Offensive Winning Percentage of .618.




By comparison, Pujols' was .833.

Just so everyone is clear, I think we can all agree that A-Rod and Pujols are in a different league as far as best players go. Only person I can think that is even close to being a hitter like those two is Manny.

[CMH]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

A lineup of nine 2008 Ryan Howards would produce an Offensive Winning Percentage of .618.




By comparison, Pujols' was .833.

This is where I think this statistic can be misleading. It's weighed against a league average ERA for the player's defense. I guess it's fair when comparing all players, but I'd like to see how Howard's defense would affect his team's winning percentage.

Also, RC/27 takes into account a lot of stats. I like it very much. But, man, Howard is definitely benefiting from the "B" portion of the RC/27 formula.

[UberA13c]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

Top Players

1. Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees - Best player in game, possibly the greatest ever. Yes he did admit to using PED's.

2. Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals - Possible best hitter, just like A-Rod will be one of the greatest ever.

3. Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins - Only a matter of time, will be baseballs next 200 million dollar man eventually.

Others, Manny Ramirez, Ryan Braun, Ichiro Suzuki, Jimmy Rollins, Grady Sizemore.

Great pitchers, Johan Santana, CC Sabathia, Roy Halladay, Jake Peavy

[Ewing]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

A-Rod is not better than Pujols by any means except for speed and man did I facepalm at the assertion of A-Rod possibly being the best ever.

[BamaBoy88]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

Manny, Prince, Jose, Jeter.

[Coug00]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

Do you know who follows my train of thought? Billy Beane. He's the best general manager in the sport. Do you know who else does? The guy who turned around the Rays, Andrew Friedman. Along with the guy who brought two championships to Boston, Theo Epstein. Do you know who thinks like you? Ned Colletti, arguably the worst GM in baseball.

Arguing using advanced statistics on OS will make you go bald. Pick your battles cause getting people here to understand there's more to life than Wins, ERA, and RBI's is like trying to paddle up Niagra Falls with a soup spoon.

[Travis40]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

Josh Hamilton is probably one of the only real 5 tool players in the Majors. He can throw the ball on a straight line to the plate from the centerfield wall, he can hit the ball 500 feet, he's got tremendous speed. He's probably the most exciting player to watch in the Majors, along with Pujols. Ian Kinsler is pretty exciting to watch play 2nd and hit, but he's not one of the best players in the Majors.

[Speedy]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

Josh Hamilton is probably one of the only real 5 tool players in the Majors. He can throw the ball on a straight line to the plate from the centerfield wall, he can hit the ball 500 feet, he's got tremendous speed. He's probably the most exciting player to watch in the Majors, along with Pujols. Ian Kinsler is pretty exciting to watch play 2nd and hit, but he's not one of the best players in the Majors.

I'm hoping he sustains that performance but I'm not ready to call him one of the bests yet.

[Speedy]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

Arguing using advanced statistics on OS will make you go bald. Pick your battles cause getting people here to understand there's more to life than Wins, ERA, and RBI's is like trying to paddle up Niagra Falls with a soup spoon.

I am a man. Men are stubborn. Therefore I am stubborn.

[OSUFan_88]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

A-Rod is not better than Pujols by any means except for speed and man did I facepalm at the assertion of A-Rod possibly being the best ever.

A-Rod, unless it is proven that he used PEDs throughout his entire career, is going to be one of the best players ever.

Arguing between Pujols and A-Rod is pointless. Either way, you win.

[Ewing]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

A-Rod, unless it is proven that he used PEDs throughout his entire career, is going to be one of the best players ever.

Arguing between Pujols and A-Rod is pointless. Either way, you win.

One of the best I agree with but "possibly the best ever" there's no way he'll ever be in the same league as Ruth, Williams or Gehrig. It's just not going to happen.

[steelcurtain311]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

Pujols is hands down the best player in the game today, he's in a league of his own, and yes, a better hitter than A-Rod. A-Rod K's far more than Albert, and isn't close to him in clutch RBI situations. Albert is the best all around player, he plays great defense at first, is the best hitter in the game in any situation, he's great in the clubhouse, he's a smart player, all around there's just no one better.

On the tier under him though, I'd rank A-Rod, Hanley, Utley, Joe Mauer the highest. Pitching-wise, Lincecum, Santana, Webb are tops.

I wouldn't put Ryan Howard near the top. I still don't understand how he's so "great" when Adam Dunn isn't. People bash Dunn for his K's and poor plate presence, while Howard is the same, if not worse in these regards, yet Howard gets so much praise and MVP talk. He never should of won MVP the year he did, Albert had a far superior season, and led his team to the playoffs. It just goes to show that HR's, being as popular as they are, are still the most important stat to people. Considering how horrendous Howard is defensively, and how poor he is at the plate, he's NOT a top player in baseball. I don't know how anyone can say that he is. You can call him a top power guy, or whatever, but not a top player.

[wwharton]

Re: Who are the best players in the game?

Don't get the love affair with Mauer (only two people mentioned him but that's two too many imo). And among MANY players that should be on a list before him, Reyes deserves mention with a lot of guys that have been put on the table.