Top 32 tournament 3b Brett vs Bell

[obxyankeefan]

Top 32 players ranked by BRWAR(as of 6/18/15).

3Basemen Bracket is:

1 M Schmidt 6
32 D DeCinces 0

16 S Bando 3
17 D Evans 7

8 P Molitor 10
25 H Groh 2

9 R Santo 7
24 D Wright 1

4 G Brett 12
29 J McGraw 0

13 B Bell 6
20 J Collins 0

5 C Jones 13
28 M Williams 0

12 G Nettles 8
21 S Hack 3

3 W Boggs 13
30 D White 0

14 F Baker 9
19 R Cey 1

6 A Beltre 13
27 L Cross 0

11 E Martinez 11
22 T Harrah 1

2 E Mathews 11
31 G Gaetti 0

15 K Boyer 7
18 R Ventura 5

7 B Robinson 9
26 L Gardner 0

10 S Rolen 9
23 B Elliott 0

1 M Schmidt 15
17 D Evans 0

8 P Molitor 4 advances on seed
9 R Santo 4

4 G Brett
13 B Bell

5 C Jones
12 G Nettles

3 W Boggs
14 F Baker

6 A Beltre
11 E Martinez

2 E Mathews
15 K Boyer

7 B Robinson
10 S Rolen

1 M Schmidt
8 P Molitor

 

[obxyankeefan]

George Brett Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com
Beat John McGraw 12-0

Buddy Bell Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com
Beat J Collins 6-0

 

[calsnowskier]

Bell has the 3B longevity, but Brett was soooo much better he makes this a no-brainier.

 

[navamind]

Honestly, I'm not even sure I'd give longevity to Bell. Bell did have an easier time adjusting to the majors than Brett did. But Bell was essentially done being a quality player after 1987 (age 34) while Brett had a strong 1990 season (age 37). Not to mention Brett had 1616 more plate appearances and 302 more games played.

 

[navamind]

Besides, Brett in his peak was pretty freaking good. His best season in terms of WAR was 9.4 in 1980 (batted .390/.454/.664, 203 OPS+)... and that was in only 117 games. He also led the AL in OPS+ in 1983 (158) and 1985 (179).

 

[MilkSpiller22]

I don't think this is as easy as you guys are making this out to be... Yes, Brett had 3 or 4 seasons offensively better than any season that Bell had... But after those three seasons there offensive careers are very similar... Plus Bell was significantly better defensively...

Brett still wins, but only because his defense wasn't bad enough to make the offense irrelevant...

 

[navamind]

Ehh, not really. Brett had a lifetime OPS+ of 135. He had 10 (11 if you include 1981, which was a shortened season) with an OPS+ north of that. Bell had one (134 in 1981).



Bell should probably be in the HOF though. A career 109 OPS+ is still good for a 3B.

 

[DragonfromTO]

I don't think this is as easy as you guys are making this out to be... Yes, Brett had 3 or 4 seasons offensively better than any season that Bell had... But after those three seasons there offensive careers are very similar... Plus Bell was significantly better defensively...

Brett still wins, but only because his defense wasn't bad enough to make the offense irrelevant...

When I exclude 1980, 1983 and 1985 from Brett's career I get a triple slash line of .295/.360/.468 and an OPS+ of 128 for the remaining seasons. That is still not comparable to Bell (.279/.341/.406 and 109 for his career), and there were in fact only 3 seasons in his 18 year career where Bell had an OPS+ above 128. It's a big offensive edge that Brett has.