AL West

Best of the Decade: Shortstop

What makes picking the top shortstop of the past decade so difficult is that there isn’t even a WAR consensus between the two websites; Baseball Reference has Andrelton Simmons as the top shortstop of the 2010s but Fangraphs hands Troy Tulowitzki that honor. I actually think that neither of the above was the top shortstop of the decade—it was Francisco Lindor.

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Best of the Decade: Third Base

Any conversation about third basemen in the 2010s should start with the one and only Adrian Beltre. Depending on who you ask, the margin by which Beltre was the best varies but both Baseball Reference and Fangraphs agree that he was the most valuable third baseman in the decade. Aside from his on-field antics…

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Musings: Coronavirus and Baseball

The whole sitting-around-and-doing-nothing thing has gotten me thinking about a handful of things related to baseball and the coronavirus, though. I’m going to run through some thoughts and discussions I’ve had over the past few weeks and if you disagree with any of it, my Twitter handle is @metsfanmax. Please let me know if you think I’m dead wrong—I’d love nothing more than to talk baseball with you right now.

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Yes, Mike Trout is Actually Underrated

I know it sounds ridiculous, but it’s true. Mike Trout, the best player in the history of baseball, is underrated.

The seven-time All-Star selection, two-time MVP, and six-time Silver Slugger is underrated.

Mike Trout is the highest-paid player in the game of baseball. He just inked a 12-year, $430MM contract extension. That money doesn’t do justice to just how good he’s been.

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2017 Recap: AL West

During the season, the Astros got some high-quality production out of their regulars, and though young phenom SS Carlos Correa missed around two months with a torn ligament, Swiss Army knife Marwin Gonzalez was able to fill in admirably for Correa. Shockingly, Marwin’s .303 BA was only the fourth-best on the team out of any regulars, which is not actually all that shocking when you consider that the team’s batting line as a whole improved from .247/.319/.417 in 2016 to .282/.346/.478 in 2017, a 21% increase in productivity.

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