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For the next few weeks we are going to be running our staff's individual Top Ten Player lists. Leading us off is the lovely First Woman of Fantasy Baseball, Suzanne Solheim.
1. Albert Pujols: As baseball fans, we are all very fortunate to be able to witness first-hand the accomplishments of Albert Pujols. He is going to go down as one of the most complete hitters of our time and possibly of all time. Pretty sure he's not even human. 2. Joe Mauer: Mauer has one of the sweetest swings in the game. He plays an incredibly demanding position, but you wouldn't know it by his grace and gaudy numbers. Three batting titles and an MVP award by the age of 26? Ridiculous. 3. Hanley Ramirez: Ramirez still doesn't get the love he deserves. The 2006 RoY managed to hang around the top 10 in RBI, steals and runs last season, earning his first batting title. His defense at short is only getting better, too, making him a well-rounded player. 4. Mark Teixeira: Tex complemented his All-Star Yankee teammates well last season, earning a Gold Glove at first base and a Silver Slugger at the plate. He finished second behind Mauer in MVP voting and was a key ingredient to the World Champs' success. 5. Chase Utley: Utley is the best second baseman out there, offensively and defensively. He put on quite a show during the World Series last year, hitting five home runs to tie Reggie Jackson's all-time record. That's pretty good company. He didn't get busted stealing any bags in 2009 either, swiping 23 in all. Also, he has led the league in hit-by-pitches for three years now. Way to take one for the team, Chutley. 6. Derek Jeter: We saw vintage Jeter in 2009 as he continued to prove to be one of the best of his generation. He reached an impressive Yankee milestone as their all-time hits leader, and his postseason production (.305 and .407 in the World Series) was unrivaled. 7. Alex Rodriguez: A-Rod battled injuries and rumors throughout the first half of last season, but regained his swagger down the stretch. Winning his first World Series ring, he finished the year batting just like his old self, successfully shaking off the hip injury and stealing bases to boot.
9. Ryan Howard: Ryan Howard is one of the most feared hitters in the National League. He might whiff a lot (like 200 times a year) but last season he became just the third player in Major League Baseball history (joining The Babe and Sammy Sosa) to collect at least 135 RBIs and 45 home runs in four straight seasons. I'm betting he can do it again in 2010. 10. Evan Longoria: One of the things that impressed me the most about Longoria is that he has never been caught stealing in the big leagues. Not once. I guess that would be way sweeter if he'd stolen more than 16 bases in his two-year career, but whatever. It took him only 135 games to reach his 100th career RBI, finishing his second season with 113. Do you disagree with any of these picks? Let us know with a comment below. And, don't forget to join our group on Facebook! Trackback(0)
Comments (14)
  written by Larry Yocum, February 07, 2010
Sorry Sooze, but this list is far different from any that I have seen.
Let's start with the obvious with Mauer at #2. Mauer showed almost no change in his LD%, FB%, or GB% last season compared to his career norms. The only major change was that he had a spike in HR/FB%, almost doubling his career average and leading to a giant spike in HR's. Given that nothing else changed (no increase in LD% or FB%) it looks like a fluke compared to his career norms. There is a strong chance that he regulates in that area this season and then you are stuck with a #2 pick with 15 HRs. Second huge one is the one that caught everyone's eye in the first place and that is the inclusion of Jeter. Yes, he is a great player, but you are paying for last season's numbers in a soon-to-be 36-year-old. Do you really want to be stuck with his 2006 or 2007 seasons in the first round and only have 15/15 at best? Ryan Braun will outproduce Evan Longoria again this year. He has a pretty good shot at equalling Jeter and Mauer in HR/SBs this season if he duplicates his own 33/20 performance of a year ago (which could go up and is a much stronger chance than Mauer or Jeter duplicating 2009) and those two trend back to their previous two years. Why would you leave him out of the top 10? Patrick DiCaprio's piece on how to spot an expert would have been very helpful here, especially in the Mauer case. You don't reference advanced metrics once in your article. As always, rankings are subjective and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I've done rankings before and know how hard the process is.
written by Bassmaster, February 06, 2010
Why is everyone is giving this guy shit about putting Jeter in the top six. He's a gerat everyday player, gets on base, and doesn't get injured. I dare you to find a league where he doesn't get drafted by the second round. Braun should be on this list, though. Go Brewers~
written by baseballdude, February 05, 2010
I love your reasoning behind choosing him. All time Hits Leader as a Yankee, which category does that help in? Post season production batting average? Sorry my league ends at the regular season and has categories such as Batting Average, SB, RBI, HR, none of which Jeter is any good in nowadays.
written by Dave123, February 05, 2010
Jeter a top 6 pick????
written by John Doson, February 05, 2010
Heck yeah dude the premium content ROCKS
Jess www.internet-anonymity.se.tc
written by JacobT, February 05, 2010
Take off Jeter & put Ryan Braun in there somewhere to improve your list.
written by Wayne Provost, February 05, 2010
Pedroia's a chump? Give me nine Pedroia's and I'll kick your A's!
written by Wayne Provost, February 05, 2010
Pedroia's a Chump?. Give me 9 of him and I'll kick your A's!
written by Bradlee Smith, February 05, 2010
Can't see Jeter that high.
written by BorisFrom Downunder, February 04, 2010
Heh, good work Sooze, just havin' some fun. I guess I'm just jealous that, being a Cub fan, I can't consider any homer picks! Keep up the good work.
written by -Sooze, February 04, 2010
Wow, ladies first eh? Nice.
Kevin, if it were truly biased, Man Muscles would've been straight up #1. And Boris, you pretty much know what you're getting with Jeter every season, so he's generally a good pick, which is why I out him in the middle. A-Rod is on my list because I would've never fricking heard the end of it if he wasn't... and I would've been forced to put someone like Dustin Pedroia on there instead. That guy's a chump. Thanks for reading and commenting!  I stand by my Top 10.
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Tags: albert pujols joe mauer hanley ramirez mark teixeira chase utley derek jeter alex rodriguez prince fielder ryan howard top ten players MVP voting
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8. Prince Fielder: Prince is a monster. In the back of every pitcher's mind when he steps up to the plate there's a fear of an inevitable long ball. The Home Run Derby champ snagged Cecil Cooper's single-season RBI record (127) for the Brewers and even surpassed his father (133) last season with 141 to tie Ryan Howard for the NL lead, nailing 46 bombs. 
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