Top Shortstops for 2015

Tulowitzki is far and away the best shortstop in baseball (Denver CBS Local)

Thinking about Ernie Banks and his place among shortstops all-time got me thinking about the best shortstops in the game today. Here's the list I came up with.

1. Troy Tulowitzki
There's no doubt that when healthy, Tulowitzki is one of the best all-around players in baseball. "When healthy" is the key phrase there, as Tulo has played 130 games once in the past five seasons, but even last year when he missed 71 games he was still worth 5.5 bWAR. The four-time All-Star turned 30 last October and is still in his prime, as evidenced by last year's ridiculous first half. He also gets to play half his games in Coors Field.

2. Ian Desmond
Quick, name the only player to go 20/20 in each of the past three years. It's not Mike Trout, Andrew McCutchen, or Carlos Gomez. It's Desmond, who's earned the NL Silver Slugger award three years running. Hard to believe it's the same guy who batted .262/.304/.387 (87 OPS+) through his first three seasons and 1,300 big league plate appearances. Desmond did regress a bit last year, whiffing 183 times as his batting line fell to .253/.313/.430, but at 29 that power-speed combo probably isn't going anywhere.

3. Jose Reyes
Reyes isn't the game-changing stolen base threat he was during his younger days, but he's still a very good one (30/32 in stolen base attempts last year) and has retained his double-digit home run pop. He hasn't been a plus defender for a while now, but he does enough as a table-setter (gets on, steals, scores runs) to be an elite shortstop when healthy.

4. Starlin Castro
Castro's coming into his prime at 25 and is already a three-time All-Star. He rebounded from an abysmal 2013 to bat .292/.339/.438 (114 OPS+) with 14 home runs last year, putting him back on the Hall of Fame track. Castro's defense remains atrocious, but he might be the only shortstop not named Tulowitzki capable of batting .300 with 15-20 homers.

5. Alexei Ramirez
Ramirez flies under the radar despite playing everyday and having good power/speed numbers for a shortstop. He's hit at least 15 home runs in four of his six seasons and notched double digit steals every year except one. The result is a durable, decent defensive shortstop with close to league average power/on-base skills and solid speed. That might not be sexy, but it's a pretty good ballplayer, even if he is 33.

6. Jhonny Peralta
Peralta played outstanding defense last year in addition to popping 21 home runs, clubbing 38 doubles, and hitting .268/.336/.443 (116 OPS+). He was rewarded with MVP consideration for the first time in his 12 seasons. His bat and glove have both held steady with age, which is why I don't predict a major drop-off coming in his age-33 season. Peralta's also surprisingly durable for someone of his size and build, as he's played at least 140 games in all but one of the past 10 seasons.

7. J.J. Hardy
Hardy has a great glove (three straight Gold Gloves) and solid bat (96 OPS+), though his stick might be slipping if last year's power outage was any indication. He's already 32, so I wouldn't bank on him bouncing back to his 25-homer days, but 15 or so should be reasonable in that ballpark. If he's truly a single-digit home run guy from now on, though, that doesn't bode well for the Orioles, as he's just a .260 hitter who hardly walks and strikes out a fair amount. Given his age the defense is probably headed south soon as well, but for now he's still a comfortably above average shortstop.

8. Andrelton Simmons
Winner of back-to-back NL Gold Gloves, Simmons is hands-down the best defensive shortstop in the game, but his bat slipped from usable in 2013 to a black hole last year (.617 OPS). His glove makes him an asset no matter how poorly he hits, but if he can just be mediocre at the plate rather than cringe-worthy, he'll be a borderline All-Star.

9. Erick Aybar
Aybar's another one who doesn't stand out but consistently plays well. He's as steady as they come, a lock to bat .280 with around 20 steals and 30 doubles despite playing in a tough hitter's environment. Throw in decent defense and you've got yourself a capable if uninspiring shortstop.

10. Jimmy Rollins
Now 36, Rollins refuses to break down. He was worth almost four bWAR last year after socking 17 homers, stealing 28 bases in 34 tries, and putting up a 101 OPS+. He also played not terrible defense, which is always a pleasant surprise from a veteran shortstop in his mid-30s. His bat might finally crumble now that he's moving from a hitter's heaven in Philly to a pitcher's paradise in LA, but it seems equally likely that Rollins will just continue to roll on.


Honorable Mention: Alcides Escobar, Jed Lowrie, Xander Bogaerts, Elvis Andrus

14 Best Baseball Players of 2014

Clayton Kershaw reigned supreme in 2014 (BlackSportsOnline)

Here is my list for the 14 best ballplayers of 2014. Their 2013 rankings are in parentheses.

1. Clayton Kershaw (8)
The National League MVP and Cy Young winner claims the top spot after his historic season, which saw him lead both leagues in bWAR, wins, winning percentage, ERA, ERA+, complete games, WHIP, FIP, and strikeout rate.

2. Mike Trout (1)
There's no shame in finishing second to this generation's Sandy Koufax. Trout topped the American League in bWAR and RBI while pacing the majors in oWAR, runs scored, runs created, total bases, and extra base hits. Throw in his 16 steals and center field defense for the team with the best record in baseball, and it's easy to see why he was the AL's first unanimous MVP since Ken Griffey Jr.

3. Andrew McCutchen (4)
The NL's best hitter led the Senior Circuit in OPS, OPS+, oWAR, runs created, and extra base hits in addition to an ML-best .410 OBP, all while manning center field for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

4. Giancarlo Stanton (UR)
Rivaled McCutchen in terms of offensive production, leading the National League with 37 home runs, 299 total bases, a .555 slugging percentage, 14.6 AB/HR ratio, and 69 extra base hits. Had his season not been cut three weeks short by a beanball, he may well have finished first on this list. The recent recipient of a 13-year, $325 million contract, he'll be worth every penny.

5. Michael Brantley (UR)
The AL version of McCutchen was worth 7.0 bWAR after batting .327/.385/.506 with 20 home runs, 23 steals in 24 attempts, and almost as many walks (52) as strikeouts (56). He and Brian Dozier were the only American Leaguers to go 20/20, while he Jose Altuve were the only two men in baseball to exceed 200 hits.

6. Jonathan Lucroy (UR)
The National League's most valuable position player per bWAR. Lucroy led both leagues with 53 doubles and batted .301/.373/.465 in addition to catching more games than anyone named Salvador Perez. Toss in his excellent pitch-framing skills, and Lucroy had a legitimate MVP case.

7. Jose Abreu (UR)
The AL's answer to Stanton slugged 36 home runs, knocked in 107, and batted .317/.383/.581, becoming the first rookie in baseball history to finish in his league's top five for batting average, dingers, and RBI. The unanimous AL Rookie of the Year selection led the majors in slugging percentage and OPS+ (169). Like Stanton, had he not missed time he would have finished significantly higher on this list.

8. Felix Hernandez (UR))
The deserving AL Cy Young winner finished a close second to the next guy on this list. King Felix was the AL ERA and WHIP champion after a season in which he set the record for most consecutive starts of seven innings pitched and two earned runs allowed or fewer (16).

9. Corey Kluber (UR)
Kluber upset Hernandez, the 2010 AL Cy Young recipient, but earned the award on the srength of his league-leading 2.35 FIP, 7.4 pitching bWAR, and 18 wins, not to mention a lights-out second half that saw him post a 1.81 ERA and 161 strikeouts over his final 19 starts (139 innings).

10. Jose Bautista (UR)
Joey Bats didn't get nearly enough credit for a monster offensive campaign in which he batted .286/.403/.524 (159 OPS+) with 35 home runs and over 100 runs, RBI, and walks. All told, he finished second in the AL in walks and OBP, third in oWAR and runs, fourth in OPS and runs created, and fifth in long balls.

11. Buster Posey (HM)
Posey continued his Joe Mauer-ish run, capping his season with a huge second half  that helped him hit .311/.364/.490 (143 OPS+) with 22 home runs and 89 RBI. His big bat (fourth in the NL in oWAR, fifth in OPS+) combined with everyday presence behind the plate (only Lucroy and Miguel Montero caught more games among NL receivers) made him one of baseball's best in 2014.

12.Jose Altuve (UR)
The 5'6 Altuve surpassed Dustin Pedroia as the best short player in baseball by leading the majors with 225 hits and a .341 batting average. The Astros second baseman also stole 56 bases--most in the AL--and socked 47 doubles in what turned out to be a six-win season.

13. Victor Martinez (UR)
Martinez might have been the best hitter in baseball. V-Mart's .974 OPS was tops in baseball and his .409 OBP was .001 behind McCutchen's MLB-leading .410 mark. The Tigers DH also finished second in hitting (to Altuve), slugging (to Abreu) and OPS+ (also to Abreu), resulting a second-place MVP finish and a fat new contract.

14. Miguel Cabrera (2)
Cabrera added another excellent season to his Hall of Fame resume by batting .313/.371/.524 (146 OPS+) with 25 home runs, 109 RBI, 320 total bases, and a league-leading 52 doubles. Not quite the monster numbers we've come to expect from Cabrera, but still pretty darn incredible.

Honorable Mentions: Anthony Rendon, Adrian Beltre, Josh Donaldson, Robinson Cano, Adam Wainwright, Johnny Cueto, Carlos Gomez, Jon Lester, Hunter Pence, Yasiel Puig, Chris Sale

Off the list: Chris Davis (3), Paul Goldschmidt (6), Matt Carpenter (7), Joey Votto (9), Yadier Molina (12), Evan Longoria (13)

Ranking Baseball's Best First Basemen

More than 70 years after his premature death, Gehrig is still the best

Writing about Jim Thome's recent retirement got me thinking about where he rates on the list of all-time great first basemen. Here's my top-10 list:

1. Lou Gehrig
75 years since the Iron Horse played the last of his 2,130 consecutive games, Gehrig is still the greatest first baseman of all time. Larrupin' Lou leads the position in OPS, OPS+, and JAWS score with both the highest career and peak WAR of any first sacker.

2. Albert Pujols
Pujols is very much the modern day Foxx. Their career OPS+ scores are dead even at 163 and bWAR has them less than half a win apart (in Foxx's favor). But since Pujols has played fewer games, he's been slightly more valuable on a per-game basis. He also comes out ahead in peak bWAR, which I believe since the numbers suggest he was a better baserunner and defender than Foxx while matching him with the bat. Thus, I give the nod to the Machine.

3. Jimmie Foxx
Double X was the righthanded Gehrig. When he hung up his spikes for good in 1945, his 534 home runs were the most by any man not named Babe Ruth.

4. Jeff Bagwell
Until Pujols came along, Bagwell had been the best first baseman of the post-World War II era. A tremendous all-around player, the 1994 NL MVP combined great power and plate discipline with speed and strong defense.

5. Frank Thomas
Thomas was a better hitter than Bagwell, but played more than half his games at DH. A career National Leaguer, Bags had no such luxury. It might very well have extended his career, which ended abruptly in 2006 spring training because of an arthritic shoulder. But even without the extra time at the back end of his career, Bagwell was still the superior ballplayer, which is reflected in his better bWAR (career and peak) totals.

6. Jim Thome
The recently-retired Thome has the most home runs and walks of any first baseman. A terrific slugger and on-base machine for many years, Thome was just a notch below Thomas.

7. Eddie Murray
Steady Eddie enjoyed two decades of uninterrupted productivity, from his Rookie of the Year campaign in 1977 through his final full and penultimate season in 1996. In between he made eight All-Star teams and won a trio of Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers. And while he never won a Most Valuable Player award, he was runner-up twice and finished in the top-eight eight times. He was a better defender than Thome and was a good player for a very long time, but Thome's sizable superiority as a hitter more than made up for Murray's advantages elsewhere.

8. Johnny Mize
The Big Cat had the equivalent of Joe DiMaggio's career--seven phenomenal seasons prior to World War II and a few more big ones afterwards--but has never received his due for it. Such a shame that his name has largely been forgotten to history, because this Hall of Famer was one of baseball's best players for more than a decade. In fewer than 7,500 plate appearances, he still managed to contribute more on offense than Willie McCovey, Harmon Killebrew and Willie Stargell did, which is really impressive considering all of them made at least 9,000 trips to the plate.

9. Mark McGwire
Steroids aside, Big Mac did some amazing things as a hitter. There are the 583 home runs, of course, the four conseutive seasons of over 50 including back-to-back campaigns with 70 and 65. His .982 career OPS is the fifth-highest of any first baseman who played at least one full big league season and, oh yeah, he holds the best HR/AB ratio of all-time. It's impossible to know how much PEDs helped him, but there's no denying that he reached heights nobody had ever reached before.

So why did I rank him below Mize? An interesting question, especially given how close many of their numbers are:

Mize: 1,884 G 7,370 PA 1,118 R 1,337 RBI .959 OPS 157 wRC+ 3,621 TB 809 XBH 71 bWAR
Mac: 1,874 G 7,660 PA 1,167 R 1,414 RBI .982 OPS 157 wRC+ 3,639 TB 841 XBH 62 bWAR

Both had extraordinary peaks but otherwise brief careers, were tremendous sluggers who never won an MVP. As hitters they come out about even, with the slight edge probably going to McGwire. But defensively and on the bases Mize was better, and thus rates as a more valuable players according to B-R and FanGraphs. While Mize's peak wasn't quite as high as McGwire's, it was still pretty darn good and he sustained it longer despite missing three full years to the war (many of McGwire's seasons were hampered by injuries). That's why I give Mize the slightest of edges.

10. Hank Greenberg
I had a hard time deciding where to place Greenberg. How much credit should one give to him for losing almost five full seasons to military service? At his best, he was every bit as good as Foxx and Gehrig.

From 1934-1940, between them won four MVPs, five home run crowns (Foxx and Greenberg shared in 1935) and five RBI titles. One of them led the league in OPS every year (Gehrig and Foxx three times each, Greenberg once).

Gehrig:     .337/.457/.626/1.083 174 OPS+  349 Rbat 39.8 oWAR 14.77 AB/HR ratio
Greenberg .329/.424/.645/1.070 166 OPS+  337 Rbat 40.8 oWAR 14.81 AB/HR ratio
Foxx:       .329/.440/.633/1.072 166 OPS+  384 Rbat  46.3 oWAR 13.58 AB/HR ratio

Hammerin' Hank had a killer peak, winning two MVPs, neither one of which was given to him the year he fell one short of Gehrig's AL RBI record (1937) or the following year when he challenged Ruth's single season home run record. Greenberg finished third both times, and with better luck could have been the first player to win four MVPs. And he was still great when he returned from the war in his mid-30s too, pacing the Junior Circuit in home runs and RBI in 1946 with all of baseball's brightest stars back in uniform. There's little doubt that, health permitting, he would have continued to rake during the war years and ended up with some truly impressive career numbers. Unfortunately we'll never know for sure, and I just can't give him credit for something he didn't accomplish. In his prime he was easily a top-five, probably top-three first baseman, but I can only rank a player with fewer than 1,400 big league games so high.

Honorable Mention: Willie McCovey, Rafael Palmeiro, Harmon Killebrew

Baseball's Best Lefthanded Hitters

The Babe modeled his swing after Shoeless Joe: I'd say it worked out pretty well for him

1 Babe Ruth 206 OPS+ 197 wRC+ .513 wOBA 1,334 Rbat
Almost 80 years after he retired, Ruth still has the highest slugging percentage, OPS, and OPS+ in baseball history. His .474 OBP is second all-time (behind the next guy on this list) and his 714 home runs rank third behind Barry Bonds and Hank Aaron.

2 Ted Williams 190 OPS+ 188 wRC+ .493 wOBA 1,069 Rbat
Williams wasn't the greatest hitter who ever lived, but he came damn close. Had he not lost nearly five seasons to military service, he probably would be. His .482 career OBP will likely never be topped.

3. Barry Bonds 182 OPS+ 173 wRC+ .435 wOBA 1,129 Rbat .353 TAvg.
Whether people like it or not Bonds is the all-time home run champion. He also has more walks than anyone else. He had an OPS over 1.000 every year from 1992 through 2007 except one, and in the year he missed (2006--his age 41 season) it was .999. Most impressively, he was an above average hitter (by OPS+) in all of his 22 seasons, and was still going strong (1.045 OPS at age 42) when baseball shut him out of the game.

4. Lou Gehrig 179 OPS+ 173 wRC+ .477 wOBA 971 Rbat
Gehrig was a machine before ALS tragically curtailed his career. One can only imagine how a healthy end to his career would have played out and what his final numbers would have looked like.

5 Ty Cobb 168 OPS+ 165 wRC+ .445 wOBA 996 Rbat
Cobb's career average is .366, which he maintained for 24 seasons. He won 12 batting titles in 13 years, and in the year he didn't win he batted .371. And though he retired before the Great Depression, he still ranks second in hits, runs, and triples.

6 Stan Musial 159 OPS+ 158 wRC+ .435 wOBA 885 Rbat
The Man was the National League's answer to Ted Williams throughout the 1940s and '50s. He was so consistently dominant that he pretty much led the league in something every year into the late '50s, and his 1948 season is one of the best single season performances any hitter has ever had.

7 Tris Speaker 157 OPS+ 157 wRC+ .436 wOBA 819 Rbat
A slightly lesser version of Cobb, the Grey Eagle roped 792 doubles--most all-time--and batted .345 in his 22-year career. Had his career not overlapped with Cobb's, he certainly would have won more than one batting title.

8 Mel Ott 155 OPS+ 156 wRC+ .430 wOBA 775 Rbat
One of the best young hitters in baseball history, Ott posted a 1.084 OPS at age 20 and remained an elite hitter through his mid-30s. Few players have ever taken advantage of their home park as well as Ott, who tailored his swing to fit the Polo Grounds (where he hit 323 of his 511 home runs--63 percent) and won six home run titles in an 11 year span.

9 Johnny Mize 158 OPS+ 157 wRC+ .433 wOBA 505 Rbat
The Big Cat has been largely forgotten by baseball history, but at his peak he was one of the most lethal hitters in baseball history. He batted a Joe DiMaggio-esque.324/.409/.588 over his first ten seasons, which included a three-year interruption because of World War II. Also like DiMaggio, he hit for power (359 home runs) and rarely struck out, whiffing in just 7.1 percent of his plate appearances.

10 Shoeless Joe Jackson 170 OPS+ 165 wRC+ .443 wOBA 439 Rbat
Banned from baseball after one of his finest seasons, Shoeless Joe was well on his way to a Hall of Fame career. As it stands, his .356 batting average is third-highest of all-time behind Cobb and Rogers Hornsby. He only got to play one season in the live ball era, so it's interesting to speculate how his numbers would have turned out had he lasted through the 1920s.

Honorable Mentions: Bill Terry, Jim Thome, Eddie Mathews, Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs, Larry Walker, Ken Griffey Jr.