Before every season, baseball writers talk about the strength up the middle of every team. This seems to imply that the only way a team ca win is to be strong up the middle (meaning catcher, second base, shortstop, and center field). While this is a viable theory, I don't think it's necessarily true. Without further ado, this is who you should vote for if you're voting for the all-star teams today or until next week.
American League:
Catcher:
1. Alex Avila Detroit Tigers- Averaged WAR: 2.1. .288/.349/.535/.380. In case you were curious, he was drafted in the 5th round of the 2008 draft by the Detroit Tigers. He has only played in the Major Leagues for three years and is having a great season at the perfect time, Mauer is injured, not a whole lot of other great catchers.
2. Matt Wieters Baltimore Orioles- Averaged WAR:1.5. .270/.330/.400/.324. He played college baseball at Georgia Tech and was drafted in the first round. His minor league numbers were so otherworldly that there were some websites promoting his ascent into a deity Chuck Norris style.
3. Carlos Santana Cleveland Indians- Averaged WAR: 1.4. .228/.362/.386/.336. He was traded by the Dodgers for Casey Blake so that the Indians would cover the rest of Blake's salary the year he was traded. Totally a fair trade, I mean anytime you need to get a mid-30's thirdbaseman, you always trade a potential franchise catcher.
4. Russell Martin New York Yankees- Averaged WAR: 1.35. .238/.346/.439/.359. If you have been an avid reader of this blog, you know how much I've enjoyed Martin's season. However, he's been struggling the last couple of weeks and has dropped to 4th place in this space now.
5. Kurt Suzuki Oakland A's- Billy Beane told him to stay away from collisions at home plate to avoid injury, similar to the GM of the Jets to tell Mark Sanchez to avoid getting sacked because Tom Brady tore his ACL from a sack.
Second Base:
1. Ben Zobrist Tampa Bay Rays- Averaged WAR: 2.35. .259/.331/.474/.355. Took over the top spot from Kendrick this week. A fantastic player and can fill in around the field if need be. One of my favorite players to watch.
2. Howie Kendrick Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim- Averaged WAR: 2.25. .301/.366/.490/.376. Dropped out of the top spot finally. Kendrick has always been touted as a player who could compete for batting titles if healthy. He's batting over .300, at least, but not really competing for a batting title.
3. Ian Kinsler Texas Rangers- Averaged WAR: 2. .235/.356/.407/.352. Kinsler has a BABIP of .237 which is really low, second lowest that I can find among secondbasemen this year (just behind Brian Roberts). He kind of alternates betwen high BABIP's and low ones.
4. Dustin Pedroia Boston Red Sox-- Averaged WAR: 1.95. .247/.361/.338/.326. Pedroia has a higher OBP than Slugging Percentage, this is rare and it's getting rarer as the season gets longer.
5. Robinson Cano New York Yankees- Averaged WAR: 1.55. .273/.314/.502/.355. I would have wagered that the All-Star Spot for American League secondbasemen would be between Pedroia and Cano for the next several years.
Shortstop:
1. Alexei Ramirez Chicago White Sox- Averaged WAR: 2.35. .295/.352/.439/.347. Dave Cameron author of Fangraphs mentioned in a chat that he thinks Alexei Ramirez is one of the more underrated players in the game today.
2. Asdrubal Cabrera Cleveland Indians- Averaged WAR: 2.35. .302/.353/.532/.391. The reason I place Ramirez ahead of Cabrera is that I trust fWAR a bit more than rWAR, fWAR has Ramirez at 2.9 and Cabrera at 2.3.
3. Jhonny Peralta Detroit Tigers- Averaged WAR: 2. .313/.372/.516/.380. The top 3 shortstops in the American League are all in the American League Central. While the Twins haven't had great shortstops they should have a shortstop above replacement players. I'm just bitter. But there is a great post from The Platoon Advantage that suggests that maybe it wasn't completely Bill Smith's fault. I'm inclined to believe them but Smith could have done a much better job.
4. Elvis Andrus Texas Rangers- Averaged WAR: 1.95. .284/.327/.364/.328. Out of the top 5 shortstops in the league, 3 are in the American League Central (two with at least minimal experience with the Cleveland Indians) and the other two were at least developed for the most part by the Atlanta Braves. Not exactly a good sign for the rest of the American League.
5. Yunel Escobar Toronto Blue Jays- Averaged WAR: 1.95. .286/.364/.438/.354. In an alternate universe, the Braves never traded Escobar for Gonzalez because of attitude problems and would be set at shortstop for years to come.
Center Field:
1. Denard Span Minnesota Twins- Averaged WAR: 2.95. .294/.361/.385/.338.
2. Curtis Granderson New York Yankees- Averaged WAR: 2.35. .263/.337/.570/.394.
3. Jacoby Ellsbury Boston Red Sox- Averaged WAR: 2.35. .307/.366/.475/.378.
4. Peter Bourjos Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim- Averaged WAR: 1.5. .245/.302/.384/.305
5. Melky Cabrera Kansas City Royals- Averaged WAR: 1.25. .273/.316/.441/.336.
Notes: I got tired of writing individual player notes plus I had an idea for my other blog so I need to hurry this up to get to my other idea before I forget. Bourjos makes his first appearnce on the top 5 list, he was mentioned by a lot of Angels fans as a reason that they could survive with Vernon Wells in the outfield/how excited they were to have such a great defensive outfield.
National League:
Catcher:
1. Chris Ianetta Colorado Rockies- Averaged WAR: 1.65. .231/.380/.456/.370.
2. Brian McCann Atlanta Braves- Averaged WAR: 1.6. .305/.376/.473/.363.
3. Buster Posey San Francisco Giants- Averaged WAR: 1.6. .284/.368/.389/.341.
4. Miguel Montero Arizona Diamondbacks- Averaged WAR: 1.55. .266/.357/.440/.359.
5. Yadier Molina St. Louis Cardinals- Averaged WAR: 1.5. .314/.368/.445/.345.
Notes: Posey is finally passed by other players. It's interesting that Ianetta is having such a good seson yet, it took him years to take control of the starting catcher spot in Colorado. Advance stats have shown that Ianetta is better then people would originally think.
Second Base:
1. Rickie Weeks Milwaukee Brewers- Averaged WAR: 2.25. .278/.354/.484/.368.
2. Danny Espinosa Washington Nationals- Averaged WAR: 1.7. .218/.317/.436/.336.
3. Brandon Phillips Cincinnati Reds- Averaged WAR: 1.4. .283/.346/.399/.335.
4. Neil Walker Pittsburgh Pirates- Averaged WAR: 1.25. .263/.332/.424/.335.
5. Kelly Johnson Arizona Diamondbacks- Averaged WAR: 1.15. .229/.306/.458/.341.
Notes: Kelly Johnson is hurt the worst by my averaging between fWAR and rWAR. His fWAR is 1.5. Phillips is also hurt by my way of averaging the WAR's. Phillips fWAR is 2.0. His ranking does not get changed though as he is the 3rd best second base if you just use fWAR or if you average the two of them.
Shortstop:
1. Jose Reyes New York Mets- Averaged WAR: 2.9. .341/.391/.516/.400.
2. Troy Tulowitzki Colorado Rockies- Averaged WAR: 2.35. .261/.335/.478/.351.
3. Stephen Drew Arizona Diamondbacks- Averaged WAR: 1.8. .289/.370/.438/.357.
4. Alex Gonzalez Atlanta Braves- Averaged WAR: 1.35. .266/.296/.391/.304.
5. Jamey Carroll Los Angeles Dodgers- Averaged WAR: 1.15. .304/.368/.364/.334.
6. Clint Barmes Houston Astros- Averaged WAR: 1.15. .219/.320/.344/.304.
Notes: Carroll is ranked slightly higher than Barmes based on fWAR but only by 0.1, so I allowed for a tie in this special case. Not that it matters, Reyes, Tulowitzki, and Drew are far and away the best shortstops in the National League.
Center Field:
1. Matt Kemp Los Angeles Dodgers- Averaged WAR: 3.25. .323/.402/.595/.432.
2. Andrew McCutchen Pittsburgh Pirates- Averaged WAR: 3.2. .282/.376/.489/.383.
3. Drew Stubbs Cincinnati Reds-Averaged WAR: 2.35. .265/.334/.423/.350.
4. Colby Rasmus St. Louis Cardinals-Averaged WAR: 1.65. .265/.362/.434/.357.
5. Shane Victorino Philadelphia Phillies-Averaged WAR: 1.55. .270/.340/.472/.364.
Notes: Kemp or McCutchen would be solid selections for the center field all-star spot in the National League. I prefer Kemp just a bit more because his offense is better than McCutchen's. McCutchen has a better defense. McCutchen will make the all-star team as he is the best player on the Pirates and every single team gets an all-star bid. I just don't know if he's worthy of being the starter though.
No comments:
Post a Comment