Evan,

It must have set your pants a-humming to rank your mancrush MY #1. The irony is that he is arguably worthy of the ranking even though you would have certainly put him there under any circumstance short of him spending the entire first half on the DL.

Of course he has NOT transitioned smoothly to 3B unless you consider being almost universally ranked as the worst defender at the position in the majors “smooth”. Hopefully by the end of the season he will be closer to league-average but I fear his defensive shortcomings at 3B will be every bit as glaring as they were at SS.

Thankfully Michael has shown improved plate discipline this year and has seemed to rediscover his power stroke.

Byrd #3 and Cruz #7? I guess you’re still buying into all that sunshine the Rangers pump out about Marlon’s clubhouse presence. Cruz has played superior D and holds a 122-108 OPS+ edge. And Byrd “has hit in team-high six different spots in the order”? Wow there’s a HOF plaque-worthy bullet point.

Otherwise a pretty good list. Thanks for the coverage and this forum. It has lapped any coverage we are getting from the traditional media.

The only glaring error is Murphy being so overlooked. He had a bad first two weeks and has been the #2 bat behind MY since then. He has definitely contributed more, and more consistently, than Blalock.

I’ve noticed that Murphy keeps getting overlooked in game write-ups, synopses, analysis, etc. by most of the local and all of the national writers. Maybe he’s getting his contributions in too early in the games. . . I dunno. This guy has all of the spunk and work ethic of Rusty, I guess he just hasn’t had the highlight reel moments yet. He’s nothing if not consistent and dependable.

Your write-up of Kinsler is spot on, and exactly why he shouldn’t be a leadoff man. In fact, if he was batting almost anywhere else, he wouldn’t be viewed as nearly the disappointment that he has been thus far.

Great stuff.

When is Harrison suppose to go out on rehab? He could certainly use 4-5 starts in AAA to get his stuff together.

Looks pretty good. Not sure about Byrd at #3, but everyone will have a small disagreement.

…blurb next to his name.

I’m afraid I haven’t seen the universally ranked worst defender this year at 3rd base yet. Chad’s world might be coming to an end.

Ehren>>> Just about every defensive metric invented has MY ranked dead last in defensive performance at 3B

@ehren: MY has the worse fielding stats (going to his left) at 3B in the league, and by far costs the team more runs defensively than anybody else. It’s not just a stat thing, but something that is obvious by watching. For example, the hot shot that MY snagged during the ASG? He’s missed that ball all year long – and balls two steps away to his left never get made, usually at times when it was needed to get the team out of the inning. I would rank MY highly on my list too, but not because of what he brings defensively.

@Chad: I tend to use more than just metrics to determine my rankings.

I look for Cruz to have a monster second half. Confidence has always been an issue with Nelson. He seems to get down too easy. He always had the talent. But being selected for the All Star game and out hitting Pujol, Howard, etc in the Derby while being watched in adoration by all the Dominican will do wonders for his confidence. You could see it in his manner during the contest. Watch Out – I bet he cracks 40+ dingers.

Right on Evan.

Subjective defensive stats, many decided on by several individuals with their own biases
are at best suspect and, at worst, useless.

@EG:

No, I don’t think we should be placing much value on lead-off power numbers. A solo homerun isn’t of much more
value to a team than a guy who gets on base, steals, and puts pressure in opposing pitchers. For me, regardless of the place in the order, that’s what drives any good offense. Heck, when you think about it, Chris Davis wasn’t that much worse than Kinsler in the power department, but his numbers look better just because he is lead-off? A bit superficial if you ask me. In fact, I think Kinsler’s RBI numbers look so good chiefly because the bottom of the lineup is getting in base for him, whereas he is hitting .323 with RISP. In fact, he’s only .210/.292/.435 in his first PA – which shows that he’s hitting out of position.

My biggest beef with Kinsler is that he is hitting .225 since May 1. That makes him pretty invaluable to this team for
all but a
month of
this year, regardless of what his place in the order is.

It’s not Max Ramirez’ fault he did not play. He should be in top 30.

Anything created by a person is subjective since a person has to set the parameters.

@EG: Having the best power numbers for a leadoff hitter is nice, but it’s not what you need out of a leadoff hitter. Otherwise, Blalock or Cruz would be just as valuable in the leadoff spot. Then you could put MY at #9 and say we rank him higher because he gets more hits and has more power than a typical #9 guy.

Kinsler was great overall and at leadoff in April, but since then he has been a liability at leadoff. His numbers fit a #5 or #6 hitter.

Would it be such a bad thing to switch up the lineup a bit? Why is Kinsler so entrenched at leadoff? Why not switch Murphy and Kinsler? If you look at their stats only, it makes sense to me, but I’m sure I’m missing something.

You won’t believe this Evan, but the LSB’ers are now saying that Kinsler has hit as well as Young this year. Ah, the MY hate has surely reached epic and irrational levels.

query. What’s up with Hurly and benoit?

CJ is overated. Four losses and four blown saves would mean at least six more wins. Millwood is most over-rated player in baseball. Playing for contract and is not a number one starter. Number 4 like he was with Atlanta. I get so tired in hearing how he is having a good season. I would play great if I only had to pitch a paltry 185 innings to get an automatic 14 million. As for Mr. Over-Rated , Over- Paid, in 7 years as a season ticket holder and him being grumpy and walking by, it took me hanging at Albert Pujois restaurant at 2am tuesday morning to get an autograph. He is all smiles with the media and a camera or mike in front of him. I have seen him walk by kids at the ballpark. I would drop those 3 to the bottom. Remember, he is really not a team player as he asked to be traded. it is all fake. Tough to trade that contract is why he is here. Daniels talked to boston about him but the contract scared them too.When the incident happened, Ian offered to move to third and let Mr. Overated go back to second. It is one thing to like your team but it is more to be honest and call a spade a spade. Otherwise, Ranger fans will become like Cowboy fans, living in a planet with crazy dreams. That is, I am sure Cowboy fans think they are going to the super bowl, an unrealistic dream.

“CJ is overated. Four losses and four blown saves would mean at least six more wins.”

C.J. Wilson has 4 losses and 2 blown saves.

One of the blown saves was in a game the Rangers won anyway. Another one of the blown saves was in a game where he also got the loss, so you would be counting that twice.

So that leaves us with 4 losses that you say should be wins, not 6.

There was the Easter Day meltdown. You can blame him for that loss.

There were two games he got the loss in where he came in during a tie game, which means that even if he is perfect there — which you seem to expect he should be — there’s no guarantee the Rangers win.

And the other loss was one where the Rangers scored one run all game.

People need to get realistic about C.J. and quit acting like he’s the reincarnation of Gary Mielke. He’s been a pretty damn good reliever this year.

board beginning to sound too much like the DMN board. As i’ve said before, I fall in the middle of the scouting/stats spectrum. I watch the games with my eyes and I read the box scores and I know a good player when I know one.

I think some of the “clubhouse/leadership” things on MY are a bit absurb (whining on the move to 3rd, trying to claim AROD never used – come on), but I also think some of the bashing of him for his performance is absurb.

For one thing, I think we’ve gotten too far away from some of the basic stats. It bothers me that people try to discount RBIs or batting avg. Last time I checked, if you were driving in a lot of runs, you are PUTTING RUNS ON THE SCOREBOARD. If you have a low ERA, than you ARE KEEPING RUNS OFF THE SCOREBOARD. If you have a high B.A., than you are getting a lot of hits.

There are cetain other stats that I think offers a strong mearsure of a player:

1. B.A. RISP
2. B.A. RISP 7th inning and later
3. B.A. RISP 2 outs
4. Winning percentage after a losing streak.
5. Homeruns when the score is within 3 runs
6. % of runners brought home from 3B with less than 1 out.

For a very long time, MY has been one of the best at some of these “clutch” hitting stats.

This year, Millwood has been money at #4.

I don’t have these stats handy. I do watch just about every game and I remember ABs from 23 years ago, so I have my pretty good little computer sitting in my head.

MY is a good ballplayer and has been one of the more clutch hitters to come through here. The last few years his range had become a big liability at SS (made more glaring by the the beast that was playing in FFrisco). He is NOT killing us at 3B and has improved in going to his left. He is terrific at coming in on balls (which happen far more than balls down the line in any given game).

I just don’t get the venom over the guy’s play.

Regarding Kinsler? My favorite ball player and only the 4th I’ve ever had. But his year has been largely horrible and I think his own frustration after most ABs tells you he feels the same way. His April was unreal and I don’t know what happened. I think he tried to carry this thing when Josh went down and things turned south. The fact that he has good power #s from the lead off position? Who cares. After the 1st inning, he’s not a leadoff hitter. When he does bat leadoff (in the 1st inning), you want that guy to see as many pitches as possible so the next few guys can see what the pitcher has. Its not in his DNA to do that, and that’s fine, but let’s call it what it is.

His defense has been amazing (and saved more than a few games, including the 1st two LAA games in Arlington).

Sorry for the rambling on.

AJM hate to tell you it scares me and other poeple when he comes in just because you throw 98 does not make you a good pitcher. he is not one. there are way better pitchers in the organization that if giving 5 years to perform could do as well. That is instead of giving them 6 games to learn give them an average of 45 games a year could be better. why people and this organization keep giving ht ball is beyond my understanding, and i did make a mistake on the 2 extra blown saves but i will research his wins one day

C.J. aka Head Case Wilson in the top 10? No way ever. If the first guy gets on with a one run lead its a blown save and or loss. Top 10????? give me a break.

@Jack: Yea kind of agree with keeping the “heroes” as “heroes”. I’m in Richardson right now. Not liking the drive. I’m hoping that the autograpgh fest doesn’t happen. Really wanted to meet Murphy and JD. Maybe I’ll hit up JD for a job. Sorry I missed ya at the first get together.

MLB website has MY batting .176 this year with RISP.

@jed e – i know. to me, one of the 2 biggest head-scratchers this year (along with Ian’s swoon since may).

Kinsler may be the worst lead-off man in baseball. Swings at the first pitch, pops up more times than not, and is a terrible situational hitter. Yes, Kinsler’s numbers look good, but a leadoff man isn’t supposed to WOW you with 30 homers, but hit .250. He’s supposed to take pitches, let his other hitters get a feel for the pitcher; as well as GET ON BASE!!! Not fly out to left.

Guardado ahead of Jennings? You have got to be kidding!

Wow. Lots of strong opinions. Having watched the Rangers for a number of years, not all of which were winning years, I often decide this question by asking who do I want to see play on the nights I go to a game? Who is the guy that makes me buy a ticket? There are several on this team, but Michael Young is at the top of the list. A Leader. A Man. The Godfather of this team. I think the top 10 here could always be rearranged in different ways, but they are all guys I would pay to see play. Now if some get hot in the 2nd half, all the better!

Terry,
Michael Young a leader, now that’s a stretch. Mr. Young avoids anything close to leadership like the plague. Keep drinking that Kool-aid and let me know when the Rangers win something while he’s still in town.
Don’t be blinded by his base hits. Watch the other things he does, better yet watch the things he doesn’t do.
Will Clark, Mickey Tettleton, Rusty Greer, Mark McLemore would eat him alive.

@eddy – couple of things:

1. Have at the autographs. simply said I wouldn’t be there. I think its great they’re putting this one (did i ever say they didn’t)?
2. notice the quotes around heroes. The point i was making is that I like to keep the “mystique” or “aura” or whatever you want to call it with the ballplayers that I watch on tv. when i have tended to meet them, I routinely discover that they aren’t that “neat” or impressive.
3. I’m surprised your being critical of the use of the word “heroe” when your chasing their autograph. Clearly you distinguish them from the guy that works at Jersey Mikes and makes your sandwiches. Unless of course you chase his autograph also.
4. If you find out where they are having a vogue modeling session in town, let me know –sounds awesome.

Man, after reading some of these comments you’d think we’re accustomed to winning baseball for years.

My only other thought on Young is that to call him overrated is to say that players and managers all over this league don’t know what they’re talking about. He is the #1 guy at his position in that vote every year. He’s not getting in on a popularity contest. He deserves it, according to a whole bunch of guys that know a ton more about baseball than us.

About Kinsler..worst lead off? I’ll have to disagree with that. Is he your average powerless hitter? No. Can he hit? Yes. Does he have power? Yes. So you want him to change how he plays because he hits 1st? No. You don’t change how you play because of where you hit. You play your game and let your manger place you where he sees fit. As I’ve said before, I don’t think Kinsler’s swing has changed. I don’t think he goes up there trying to hit homeruns. That’s now how he plays. I think he’s shown signs of coming out of the slump so hopefully with rest that continues.