Who were the best of best baseball players in 2007? Here’s the final position — catcher.
1B | 2B | SS | 3B | DH | LF | CF | RF | CA
A quick review of the stats presented: RAR is offensive runs above replacement, FAA is fielding runs compared to positional average, TVAR is total value (the important one), and wOBA is a rate stat measuring offensive performance on the OBP scale. For more complete explanations, check out the original article.
Catcher defense is a strange beast. Instead of being responsible for turning balls in play into outs, the main responsibilities of a catcher are preventing passed balls and helping the pitcher control the running game. Therefore, fielding grades can’t be computed in the same way as for other positions. I don’t have a way of rating catchers, but Justin came up with a basic system a couple weeks ago. Do I think it’s more accurate than sliced bread? No. Do I think it’s better than assuming all catchers are league-average? Definitely. Of course, if you disagree, feel free to ignore the fielding ratings. (Blanks mean the player wasn’t listed on Justin’s chart due to lack of playing time.)
2007’s Top Ten Catchers
10 - Carlos Ruiz (6 RAR, 6 FAA, 19 TVAR, .298 wOBA)
19 total runs above replacement is probably a touch low, to be honest. I’m using a positional adjustment of 10 runs over the course of a full season, when it really should be more like 15. Either way, Carlos Ruiz is the most boring player to make the top ten players at any position.
9 - Yadier Molina (3 RAR, 11 FAA, 20 TVAR, .302 wOBA)
Here’s a Flying Molina Brother that lived up to his defensive reputation in 2007. Who needs hitting?
8 - Chris Snyder (10 RAR, 6 FAA, 21 TVAR, .317 wOBA)
Snyder’s another Diamondback secret weapon, producing at better than league average. He’s also the only guy other than Eric Byrnes I don’t expect to take a step forward next year.
7 - Brian McCann (15 RAR, -2 FAA, 22 TVAR, .318 wOBA)
Did the Braves trade the wrong young catcher? It’s tough not to love McCann’s 2006 performance, but 2008 will go a long ways towards showing whether it was a fluke or not.
6 - Kenji Johjima (10 RAR, 10 FAA, 28 TVAR, .326 wOBA)
We’re getting to the part of the catcher list bordering on All-Star level. Really. When you consider the unique skill set for catchers, there aren’t a lot of guys who can play the position. And when you consider that playing catcher likely causes a decrease in hitting, guys like Johjima are quite valuable relative to the alternatives.
5 - Jason Varitek (18 RAR, 7 FAA, 33 TVAR, .327 wOBA)
The Captain isn’t the stud he used to be, but he’s still earning his salary.
4 - Joe Mauer (28 RAR, 10 FAA, 45 TVAR, .344 wOBA)
You know, even if this is a typical Joe Mauer season going forward, it’s still huge. Other guys who are 45 runs above replacement: Ryan Howard, Brian Roberts, and Alex Rios.
3 - Russell Martin (34 RAR, 7 FAA, 50 TVAR, .366 wOBA)
Up until two hours ago I firmly believed Martin was over-hyped and over-rated. Not any more, although he’s no MVP candidate.
2 - Victor Martinez (48 RAR, 6 FAA, 64 TVAR, .364 wOBA)
He’s probably overrated by a few runs relative to other catchers thanks to playing first base one game per week. But he and Grady Sizemore were the two most valuable Cleveland position players in 2007.
1 - Jorge Posada (62 RAR, -2 FAA, 68 TVAR, .408 wOBA)
This guy IS an MVP candidate, if you define candidate as a player who belongs on the ballot, probably top five.
Here are the guys who finished in spots 11 through 25:
Player/TM RAR FAA TVAR wOBA Napoli,MikeALAA 15 -2 17 0.342 Bard,JoshSD 18 -8 16 0.336 Zaun,GreggTOR 13 -3 15 0.308 Schneider,BrianWAS 2 6 15 0.289 Buck,JohnRKC 9 -1 14 0.312 Molina,BengieSF 5 -1 13 0.306 Castro,RamonRNYN 11 13 0.377 Shoppach,KellyBCLE 7 3 12 0.332 Rodriguez,IvanDET 0 3 12 0.302 Hernandez,RamonBAL 5 0 11 0.311 Suzuki,KurtKOAK 7 0 10 0.321 Soto,GeovanyCHN 8 9 0.450 Paulino,RonnyLPIT 1 -1 8 0.306 Treanor,MattAFLA 6 -2 7 0.335 Pierzynski,A.J.CHA 0 -2 6 0.292
Ivan Rodriguez just might be one of the most overrated players in the game. Evidently Josh Bard isn’t just bad at catching Tim Wakefield’s knucklers. Geovany Soto deserves to be the Cubs starting catcher in 2008, unless the Rays can snag him as part of a Carl Crawford deal.
Finally how about the worst catchers of 2007 — those that played poorly, yet enough to really hurt their teams? Here are the bottom five:
Player/TM RAR FAA TVAR wOBA Nieves,WilNYA -7 -6 0.17 Bako,PaulBAL -9 -6 0.241 Hall,TobyCHA -9 -6 0.203 LaRue,JasonKC -10 0 -7 0.225 Kendall,JasonOAK -15 -2 -12 0.244
Jason Kendal was just horrible in 2007. How many more years will teams allow him to be their starting catcher? Can he rival Brad Ausmus for whatever dubious honors Ausmus has accumulated?
The rest of the best baseball players by position:
1B | 2B | SS | 3B | DH | LF | CF | RF | CA
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Sky is a baseball fan and racket sport afficianado living in upstate NY. His favorite color is orange and is just about ready to give up on his life-long dream to become the next Magnus ver Magnuson (World's Strongest Man). His favorite baseball teams are the Yankees and Red Sox, proving that there's hope in the Middle East.