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| TODAY: Monday, May 15 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player ratings: Shortstop | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Welcome to the ESPN.com player ratings. Our panel of baseball authorities will rank the top 10 players at each position. The basic question is this: Which player do you want at that position for the 2000 season?
For more about our panel, check the the catchers page. The numbers used in the chart below are explained at the bottom of the page.
Other positions: C | DH | 1B | 2B | 3B | LF | CF | RF | SP | CL
Position comments Keith Law: The Trinity: Sure, they're all great hitters -- in fact, all three look Hall of Fame-great right now, which would mean we're watching a very special time in baseball history. However, all three have serious problems afield -- Nomar has ranked near the bottom of major-league shortstops in double plays for the past two years -- and neither Nomar nor A-Rod walks very often. They're great, but we forget that they're young and are still improving. Underrated: Deivi Cruz is a far better fielder than Saint Rey, but without the fan club. Overrated: Rey Ordonez, natch. Rany Jazayerli: Edgar Renteria is poised on the brink of stardom. Just 24 years old -- and some say he's really just 23 -- Renteria hit 36 doubles last season, nearly doubling his career high, and hit 11 homers after hitting just 12 in his entire career prior to 1999. He's a great defender, an excellent basestealer, his walk totals have gone up every season and he has the security of a new four-year contract. Barry Larkin's reign as the top shortstop in the NL is just about over. Underrated: Jose Valentin. How many shortstops can say they contribute to their team's offense when they're hitting .220? Valentin has as much power as any shortstop outside the Trinity, draws walks, has above-average range, and grounds into double plays less often than any player in baseball. Sure beats the heck out of Mike Caruso. Overrated: Mike Bordick is an adequate shortstop, with a late-in-career power spike making up for a lack of speed. But adequate shortstops have no business being mentioned in the same breath with the likes of Omar Vizquel and Edgar Renteria, as Bordick frequently is. Graham Hays: Maybe there's hope for Rey Ordonez's bat yet. It used to seem like Mike Bordick had fewer hits than Thomas Dolby, but the habitual defensive wizard has finally found an offensive game. His new and improved .334 OBP and .403 slugging won't impress the new breed of slugging shortstops, but with the way he plays in the field it's more than enough to justify a place in Mike Hargrove's lineup. Underrated: Neifi Perez. His offense might be a product of Coors Field, but his defense is a product of hard work and outstanding athleticism. Overrated: Alex Gonzalez (Marlins). Plenty of time for improvement at 23 years old, but last year's All-Star selection overestimated his value. Racking up 113 strikeouts while drawing only 15 walks isn't the best way to start a career. He's a flashy defender but doesn't make enough plays to live on that side of the game alone. Brandon Funston: Only in an era that has blessed us with Alex Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra and Derek Jeter would we go relatively unfazed by the power numbers Miguel Tejada posted last year (21 home runs, 84 RBI). Only 23 years old, Tejada has shown steady refinement of his five-tool skills. This could be the year that Tejada gets mentioned in the same breath with the game's elite shortstop triumverate. Underrated: Mark Loretta. So he doesn't hit towering moon shots or make whirlwind plays deep in the hole. What Loretta gives you is a rock-steady effort. He's a master at the plate -- impossible to strike out and easy to walk. Plus, he's a reliable fielder, who rarely makes a mistake (just four errors at short last season). Overrated: Alex Gonzalez (Marlins). Regardless of whether it was a sad reflection of the Marlins or the NL shortstop pool, somehow Alex Gonzalez made the All-Star team last season. This for his .308 OBP, 113:15 strikeout-to-walk ratio, 27 errors and NL-worst .955 fielding percentage for a shortstop. David Schoenfield: Only one member of our panel placed Rey Ordonez in his top 10 and it wasn't me. We all know Rey doesn't hit, although he did push is OBP up to .319 last season. However, check this number out, courtesy of our friends from the Baseball Prospectus (www.baseballprospectus.com): Assists per nine innings, 1996-1999: Ordonez, 3.02 Assists per nine innings, 1996-1999, other Mets shortstops: 3.08 Underrated: Only Barry Larkin was a better offensive shortstop in the NL last season than Rich Aurilia (21 HR, 80 RBI). Aurilia far from Ozzie Smith, but his offense makes up for defensive shortcomings. Overrated: Tony Womack. Yes, he was eligible for this list. And yes, he didn't make the top 10. The numbers We've avoided most of the traditional numbers in favor of "sabermetric stats": Pts: Total points from our panel (10 for first, etc.) G: Games played OBP: On-base percentage SLG: Slugging percentage OPS: On-base + slugging RC: Runs created. Using all of a player's offensive statistics, tells how many "runs" a player was responsible for. Added together, individual runs created match closely with a team's overall run total. OW%: Offensive winning percentage. The percentage of games a team would "win" with nine of that player in the lineup, given average defense and pitching. |  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||