Is Joe Mauer the Best Player in Baseball?

[joepepsi]

Excellent defensive catcher. Leads the league is batting average (.380), obp, (.446), slugging, (.637).

 

Winning this triple crown is more impressive than the "true" triple crown.

[Fatter than Joey]

Winning this triple crown is more impressive than the "true" triple crown.

 

I am not sure that this is true -- Winning the batting title while hitting the most HRs, is pretty impressive as well.

 

I'd be curious how many players have ever won BA/OBP/OPS -- my guess more have won this than the "true" one.

 

EDIT:

 

Ruth -- 1 times

Cobb -- 3 times

Bonds -- 2 times

Williams -- 5 times

Hornsby -- 7 times (6 in a row!)

Wagner -- 4 times

Musial -- 2 times

Foxx -- 1 time

Pujols -- 1 time.

 

So I don't think it is harder to do than the "true" one-- It may be more sensible of an award though

[joepepsi]

Good point. I was thinking RBI are team dependent, so it's somewhat beyond the hitter's control whether he leads the league in RBI. It does make it harder to win the traditional triple crown. I agree with you, leading the league in batting average and home runs is impressive.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

This year? That is a valid argument. It might just be a career year though because he wasn't this good last year or in any previous year. He picked a good time to bust out though because he's going to get paid a lot of money from a large market team after 2010.

[Baldkin]

He already should've won at least 1 MVP.

 

I'd say if you were picking a guy for this season, he'd go second, behind Pujols. With Hanley Ramirez a close third.

[Ennder]

WAR says Pujols just barely edges out Mauer who barely edges out Hanley. 4th is surprisingly Zimmerman.

[brewjihad]

Realize though that Fangraphs WAR does not have a way of evaluating catcher defense. If you think Mauer is a +10 defensive catcher then he's #1. All catchers are just considered average.

[TooLiveBrew]

I think Mauer might be the most valuable player in all of baseball, since he's a C (& a dang good one, too). I don't think he's necessarily the best overall player, though... if that makes any sense.

[joepepsi]

Well if loses the MVP award to some middle infielder on an East Coast team we'll know the fix is on.

[cwolf2012]

I think Mauer might be the most valuable player in all of baseball, since he's a C (& a dang good one, too). I don't think he's necessarily the best overall player, though... if that makes any sense.

Kind of. But I would think if you call it "overall," that would adjust for position, defense, and offense.

 

It's extremely difficult to quantify defense without adjusting for position. If best overall implies offense compared to the entire league and defense compared to the entire league (not just the position that player plays), then there really isn't a good means to even judge it.

[Funketown]

If Joe Mauer really is a +10 catcher, then I'd argue that this year he has been the best player in baseball. In the future though, I just don't expect Mauer to maintain his .450/.650/.1100 line, while Pujols has shown the ability to consistently hit like that. He may well be the second best position player in the game (cue the Longoria debate), but I've got to say Pujols still trumps him, in my opinion.

 

Note: I just looked on Fangraphs, and Nyjer Morgan has a UZR of 28.7! I don't want to turn this into a UZR argument, but that's ridiculous.

[joepepsi]

Pujols obp/slg: .445/.683 *OPS+ 193

Mauer obp/slg: .446/.637 *OPS+ 189

 

Baseball-reference.com gives Mauer credit for 104 runs created, Pujols, 125.

 

So, is Mauer's 104 + defense <, >, or = Pujols' 125 + defense? How do you factor in the supposed weaker NL?

[Pioneers3]

Mauer is the best hitter in baseball. And he isn't having a career year, he already won a batting title, the only thing keeping him from hitting .400 is being a catcher

[topper09er]

Pioneers3[/b]]Mauer is the best hitter in baseball. And he isn't having a career year, he already won a batting title, the only thing keeping him from hitting .400 is being a catcher

I think it is pretty much unanamous the Pujols is the best hitter in baseball, maybe not best overall player but certainly best hitter. There is really nothing that Mauer does better than Pujols at the plate. Pujols strikes out less, walks more, hits for a higher average with more power and even steals more bases.

 

When some is having the best year they have ever had, then they are infact by definition having a career year, like Mauer this year.

 

Why does being a catcher prevent him from hitting .400? If anything, it may help him a little bit because the days off give him fewer ABs making it easier to hit .400. It is easier to hit .400 over 500 PAs than 600+PAs just because it is difficult to keep that high level of play up for a long time.

[dadofandrew]

If any current player hits .400, I think it will be Mauer. I think he's the best player in the game.

[cwolf2012]

Mauer is the best hitter in baseball. And he isn't having a career year, he already won a batting title, the only thing keeping him from hitting .400 is being a catcher

As said before, Pujols is a better hitter in pretty much everything but batting average.

 

This most definitely is a career year for Mauer right now. Here's some basic slash stats:

 

2006: .347/.429/.507

2007: .293/.382/.426

2008: .328/.413/.451

2009: .380/.446/.637

 

2009 is clearly the outlier here. He hadn't batted anywhere near this effectively (not saying he wasn't anything but great the last 3 years if you factor in position) before this season. I suspect the power spike is not permanent, but he's certainly shown he can hit for more power than he has the 2 years before this.

[dadofandrew]

He's still young. He's getting better.

[zzzmanwitz]

I'm not too sure how he's going to look in a red sox uniform....

[TooLiveBrew]

I'm not sure why everyone assumes BOS. I think the Yankees will back up the Brinks truck as well, along with any big-market team that doesn't feel 100% set at catcher... which basically only rules out ATL.

[Gobias Industries]

It's close, but I'd still go with Pujols. I feel hopeless when that guy comes up. The only time I recall him looking bad during an at-bat was last year vs. CC.

 

Mauer plays the more valuable position, but I've always felt 1B defense is pretty underrated. A guy like Pujols makes his infielders look a lot better than a guy like Prince does.

[JimH5]

Mauer's terrific, but he's not Pujols.

 

But there should be no shame in that.

 

Plus, the nature of the position is going to keep him out of some games, and he's missed several others on his own.

[Baldkin]

It's close, but I'd still go with Pujols. I feel hopeless when that guy comes up. The only time I recall him looking bad during an at-bat was last year vs. CC.

Sheets made him look pretty foolish a few times too. Pujols was one of the few guys Ben would save his changeup for.

[Pioneers3]

Pioneers3[/b]]Mauer is the best hitter in baseball. And he isn't having a career year, he already won a batting title, the only thing keeping him from hitting .400 is being a catcher

I think it is pretty much unanamous the Pujols is the best hitter in baseball, maybe not best overall player but certainly best hitter. There is really nothing that Mauer does better than Pujols at the plate. Pujols strikes out less, walks more, hits for a higher average with more power and even steals more bases.

 

When some is having the best year they have ever had, then they are infact by definition having a career year, like Mauer this year.

 

Why does being a catcher prevent him from hitting .400? If anything, it may help him a little bit because the days off give him fewer ABs making it easier to hit .400. It is easier to hit .400 over 500 PAs than 600+PAs just because it is difficult to keep that high level of play up for a long time.

 

Simply because of the wear and tear on his body. If Mauer ever moves to first base full time he would be my bet to be the next 400 hitter.

[Weirdos19]

Considering the position he plays, he is easily the best player in baseball.

 

But, watch Jeter win MVP with 7 other guys on that team making 10mil+. Makes me sick.

[The Truth]

my vote still goes to Albert Pujols. I think Pujols might be the greatest hitter of all-time, actually. Ted Williams played too much before integration to know how he would have done vs Satchel Paige et al. Willie Mays had a 10-12 year streak with similar stats as Pujols but not as great of a batting average

 

Mauer might end up the greatest catcher of all-time though, and if you put him in a time machine back to Ruth and Gehrig's era and allowed him to face only white pitchers he'd probably hit .410 every year