Baseball Wednesdays

In today's edition of "the stache," I'm going to give a little love to my baseball fans out there. I am going to start breaking down position-by-position every Wednesday until baseball season begins. So you can mark it on your calendar, baseball Wednesdays. Today's positions will be catcher, 1st base, and 2nd base. I will give you my top ten or so at each position in the major leagues and give a little breakdown on the overall strengths of the individuals and the group as a whole. These are my own personal rankings based on statistics from recent seasons and how I project they will play this year. Parentheses indicate players age on April 1, 2009. So here goes.....

Catcher
1. Joe Mauer (25)-Minnesota Twins
2. Brian McCann (25)- Atlanta Braves
3. Russell Martin (26)- Los Angeles Dodgers
4. Victor Martinez (30)- Cleveland Indians
5. Jorge Posada (37)- New York Yankees
6. Geovany Soto (26)- Chicago Cubs
7. Bengie Molina (34)- San Francisco Giants
8. Ryan Doumit (27)- Pittsburgh Pirates
9. A.J. Pierzynski (32)- Chicago White Sox
10. Yadier Molina (26)- St. Louis Cardinals

Mauer and McCann are nearly interchangeable, I give Mauer the slight advantage because he's the defending AL Batting Champion and won a Gold Glove last year, while McCann has yet to win a batting title or Gold Glove. After that there is a bit of a drop off, Martinez was injured most of last year but has produced in the recent past. Posada could slip to the bottom of the list, depends on how his old bones hold up this year. I am giving him the benefit of the doubt for now. Soto put up a good year last year for the Cubs, if he does it again he will be moved up. Bengie Molina led all Catchers in RBI's last year while the younger Molina brother hit over .300 last year. Overall the position isn't the best but it has improved recently with the emergence of Mauer, McCann, and Martin.

1st Base
1. Albert Pujols (29)- St. Louis Cardinals
2. Lance Berkman (33)- Houston Astros
3. Miguel Cabrera (25)- Detroit Tigers
4. Ryan Howard (30)- Philadelphia Phillies
5. Justin Morneau (27)- Minnesota Twins
6. Mark Teixeira (28)- New York Yankees
7. Adrian Gonzalez (26)- San Diego Padres
8. Kevin Youkilis (30)- Boston Red Sox
9. Derek Lee (33)- Chicago Cubs
10. Prince Fielder (24)- Milwaukee Brewers

Arguably the deepest position in baseball right now. I had to leave off such guys as Carlos Delgado and Carlos Pena, who both drove in over 100 runs last year. Prince Albert is simply the best pure hitter in the game. This man has hit over .300, 30 home runs, and 100 RBI's since he joined the league in 2001. He has also has accumulated 2 MVP's and won a Gold Glove for his defensive work. After him follows a ton of sluggers who can for both power and average. Berkman and Cabrera are very close in statistical analysis. Howard is a pure slugger, his average, defense and strikeouts are what brings him down slightly on this list. Morneau, is a former MVP, Teixeira is a switch-hitting, 2 time Gold Glover who has amassed 5 straight 100 RBI seasons, but many say his numbers are hollow in that he does not perform well in clutch situations, otherwise he might be a little higher. Adrian Gonzalez is a smooth swinging lefty who is on the rise and last years Gold Glove winner at 1B for the National League. Derek Lee gets on this list for his defense and high batting average, he could slip off this list if his offense continues to be average for 1B. Prince Fielder, is hurt a little by his his defense, but if he keeps his weight down he should move up the list.

2nd Base
1. Chase Utley (30)- Philadelphia Phillies
2. Ian Kinsler (26)- Texas Rangers
3. Dustin Pedroia (25)- Boston Red Sox
4. Brian Roberts (31)- Baltimore Orioles
5. Brandon Phillips (27)- Cincinnati Reds
6. Placido Polanco (33)- Detroit Tigers
7. Dan Uggla (29)- Florida Marlins
8. Robinson Cano (26)- New York Yankees
9. Jose Lopez (25)- Seattle Mariners
10. Kelly Johnson (27)- Atlanta Braves

Overall a pretty weak position, but there are a lot of up and coming talent at this position that do not yet have the experience or track record of success. Utley is far and away the best player at his position. He has posted 4 consecutive 100 RBI seasons and plays solid defense. Kinsler is a player who keeps getting better. He hit .319 last year while hitting 41 doubles in only 121 games last season. Pedroia, last years A.L. MVP and Gold Glove winner could move up if he continues at his current production levels. The only thing hurting him is his lack of experience, having only been in the majors a little over 2 seasons. After these 3 it drops off considerably, a lot of solid guys but no one that will blow you away. Roberts consistent production over his career is why he sits at 4 for now. There are some young guys that could make a move up the charts, Robinson Cano, who hit .271 last year down 35 points from 2007, has the biggest potential to move into the top 5 of 2B. Jose Lopez a young emerging player out in Seattle was 3rd in RBI for 2B last year while hitting .297. I don't trust Dan Uggla as he is a very hot and cold hitter. His batting average each month looked like this: .255(in April), .347(in May), .264 (in June), .190 (in July), .217 (in August), and .258 (in September). Big slugger but very inconsistent.

I hope all you baseball fans out there enjoyed this, for those that aren't big baseball fans, this probably bored the heck out of you, but welcome to the passion of my life. I have been ranking players in teams for baseball probably since my freshman year in high school. It is fun to me and I love to do it. Throughout the season at random times I will update the rankings on my computer to reflect the current state of the game. Check back in next Wednesday as I will give you a preview of the shortstops and third baseman. Take care, its getting warm out there, bring out the lotion and lather up the skin for the wonderful warm air of spring is on its way.
Hugs and handpounds.

mb