best baseball player ever?

[Jack of Arcades]

HEAD. HURTING.

He's 29, declining, and playing 3B. Give him 5 more seasons and we'll see, but it's not likely.

[Dead]

He's playing 3B because Jeter is not as versatile defensively as A-Rod, and because Steinbrenner wasn't about to move a Yankee legend for the new guy in town.

Playing 3B doesn't make his defensive ability any less impressive. Didn't you see some of the plays he made at 3B last season?

[Jack of Arcades]

Yes, I did. That doesn't matter. His defensive value is less than it would be at shortstop, just as his offensive value is less.

[bugstud]

[ QUOTE ]
Which is why A-Rod will eventually be considered one of the greatest players, if not the greatest, ever.

He is the only true 40-40 guy in the game. He combines awesome power with blinding speed, and a fantastic glove to boot.

[/ QUOTE ]

hello beltran, and maybe abreu

EDIT: soriano wasn't too bad a couple years ago either

[sam h]

[ QUOTE ]
This isn't something I've done statistically, although I imagine the way to do it would be to measure the gap between the top x% hitters and bottom x% hitters, same with pitchers. A large gap would indicate a weak league. I haven't looked into it.

[/ QUOTE ]

It seems to me that a large gap could indicate either a weak league or an especially dominant player. In general, what is important is the average strength of players not the variance between them.

So I'm open to the idea that the league was weaker but have yet to hear convincing evidence for that being the case.

[James282]

[ QUOTE ]
Which is why A-Rod will eventually be considered one of the greatest players, if not the greatest, ever.

He is the only true 40-40 guy in the game. He combines awesome power with blinding speed, and a fantastic glove to boot.

[/ QUOTE ]

Barry Bonds did 40/40, and came very close another year(before all the steroid speculation). But if A-rod gets back on track and plays til he's 40 he could very well surpass the best players in history. But, as Jack pointed out, he is showing steady decline and his other weaknesses(like mental makeup) are coming to the forefront now that he is in a major market. I think the A-rod stock is falling.


Btw, great posts Jack. Really intriguing stuff.
-James

[Dead]

Barry Bonds did it with the help of roids. Same as Canseco.

Like Schilling said, A-Rod is the only true 40-40 guy in the history of baseball.

[Jack of Arcades]

I've already gone into great detail. Small population, only whites, bad training, bad medicine, etc.

[ QUOTE ]

It seems to me that a large gap could indicate either a weak league or an especially dominant player.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is why I proposed something like the top 10% vs the bottom 10%. If the league is weaker, it'll be reflected in the worst players, not the best ones.

[ QUOTE ]
In general, what is important is the average strength of players not the variance between them.

[/ QUOTE ]

There's just no way to do this using averages.

[Jack of Arcades]

You think Bonds was juicing in 1996?

[morello]

Not a single mention of a pitcher yet. I don't follow baseball, are they really that much less important than position players?