MLB Top 10 Infields - ESPN Insider

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Top 10 infields in MLB: Rockies No. 1 - ESPN
By Buster Olney

1. Colorado Rockies

The winter has been spent debating the value of Troy Tulowitzki, of breaking down his injury history and projecting his physical future, measuring his production and the rest of his contract against the high number of games he has missed. But there is a truth underlying all of that: When the 30-year-old Tulowitzki plays, he is a beast, offensively and defensively. Some of the production, of course, is nudged along by the conditions in which he plays his home games, but inside or out of Coors Field, he is an All-Star-caliber player, and these days, the third baseman alongside him is the same. Nolan Arenado, 23, is viewed as one of the best defenders at his position already, and has a perfect record: two seasons in the big leagues, two Gold Gloves, which is almost unheard of; typically, it takes young players at least a year or two to establish a reputation for defense strong enough to vault them into awards.

Last year, Arenado took a step forward with his offense, accumulating 54 extra-base hits in 111 games. Justin Morneau, 33, is the first baseman, coming off a season in which he won the National League batting title, to go along with 32 doubles and 17 homers. D.J. LeMahieu won a Gold Glove for his play at second base last season, his first full season in the big leagues. The Rockies’ owner declared the other day that Tulowitzki is not being traded to the Mets. Intact, the group belongs among the best.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers

First baseman Adrian Gonzalez finished seventh in the NL MVP voting, after driving in 116 runs, and won a Gold Glove Award for the fourth time. Second baseman Howie Kendrick is seen as a solid defender, and his consistency has been worthy of envy -- in his nine seasons in the big leagues, he’s never hit lower than .279; last season, Kendrick’s play was a worth 4.6 WAR, not far behind Jose Altuve and a little ahead of Dustin Pedroia, according to FanGraphs. Among shortstops, Dodgers newcomer Jimmy Rollins ranked fourth in WAR, and third baseman Juan Uribe seems perpetually underrated, with his steady defense and personality obscured by the big hacks he takes at the plate. In 103 games last season, Uribe batted .311, with a sturdy .777 OPS. This is a great group.

3. Boston Red Sox

It’s possible that by the end of the 2015 season, the production from Boston’s infield will surpass that of all other infields, but there are some major variables in play here. Pablo Sandoval improved his conditioning going into his free-agent year of 2015 and evolved from a below-average third baseman into a pretty good defender. Will he be able to maintain his physical condition, which wavered constantly with the Giants? Will his regular-season production more closely match his postseason focus and dominance? We’ll see. And over time, we’ll know if Xander Bogaerts’ offensive regression in 2014 was another example of growing pains for a young player, and if he’ll get back to the incredibly composed plate appearances he showed playing down the stretch in 2013. We’ll see, too, if Bogaerts’ defense at shortstop improves, after a season in which he won the shortstop job, had it taken away after the signing of Stephen Drew, and then got it back again. Dustin Pedroia remains one of the best defensive second basemen, but there are questions among rival evaluators about whether the injuries he has suffered have irreparably robbed him of power. Mike Napoli has proved himself to be a very good first baseman, and like in 2013, the depth of the Red Sox lineup should help Napoli at the plate; batting in the middle of the improved Boston attack, he will get a lot of opportunities against pitchers backed into a corner.

4. St. Louis Cardinals

Late last season and into the postseason, Kolten Wong showed signs of turning the corner from being someone with great potential into a really dangerous hitter, and if that full emergence takes place in 2015, the Cardinals could have the majors’ best infield. Giants manager Bruce Bochy spoke during the National League Championship Series about how much trouble Wong gave his pitchers -- five extra-base hits in five games, with his combination of power and speed. Wong is 24 years old and has more to give. At third base, St. Louis already has a lot in Matt Carpenter, who led all NL hitters in pitches per plate appearance last season; the Cardinals are convinced that Carpenter’s decline in numbers in 2014 was a case of bad luck, with his BABIP sliding 41 points after his breakout 2013 year. Shortstop Jhonny Peralta crushed all others at his position in WAR in 2014. Matt Adams hit right-handers well but struggled against lefties, batting .190, which prompted the Cardinals to add something of a safety net, the right-handed hitting Mark Reynolds.

5. Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles have had something of a strange offseason, with Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis departing as free agents and the team fishing mostly among bargains. But Baltimore made one aggressive and smart move as its winter work began, signing J.J. Hardy to a three-year, $40 million deal, which meant that other contenders who faced a desperate need at shortstop -- the Yankees, the Mets, the Dodgers -- never had a shot at the veteran, who earned his third Gold Glove last season. Manny Machado will be coming off his second major knee injury in as many seasons in 2015, and arrived at minicamp the other day and declared that he feels good; the O’s think he’ll be ready to start the year. Chris Davis will have one more game to serve in his 25-game suspension at the outset of 2015, the last season before he reaches free agency. Unlike last year, Davis has a therapeutic-use exemption for Adderall, perhaps giving him hope for a rebound to something closer to his 2013 production, when he vied with Miguel Cabrera for the MVP Award. Jonathan Schoop, 23, hit .209 in his rookie season, but with pop -- 16 homers and 18 doubles -- and he showed off a ridiculously strong arm, especially in turning double plays.

6. Cincinnati Reds

If Joey Votto bounces back, this should be a good unit, with third baseman Todd Frazier coming off the best season of his career; last summer, he ranked sixth among all at his position. Shortstop Zack Cozart is an elite defender. While Brandon Phillips is 33 years old and on the back side of his career, he is still a good player when ranked among his peers. But so much for the Reds’ infield -- the whole franchise, for that matter -- depends on Votto.

7. Toronto Blue Jays

Josh Donaldson is arguably the best third baseman in the game, with his power and strong defense. Rival evaluators say the defensive play of Jose Reyes is in regression and that his once-frenetic speed game is diminished into something more measured, perhaps to help him stay on the field. But he had 175 hits last season and scored 94 runs. The Jays will have a second-base competition in spring training, and first base and DH duties could wind up being split by All-Star Edwin Encarnacion and Toronto newcomer Justin Smoak.

8. Washington Nationals

It’s really not out of the realm of possibility that Washington’s infield could contribute three All-Stars to the National League squad in 2015, but there really is a lot of uncertainty right now. Rival executives still have doubts about whether Ian Desmond -- who is eligible for free agency after the upcoming season -- is going to be traded before the first pitch of the year is thrown. The Nationals’ plan of the moment is -- and as Bill Clinton once said in a deposition not far from Washington’s home ballpark, this depends on what the meaning of the word "is" is -- to have newcomer Yunel Escobar play second base, with Desmond at shortstop. Anthony Rendon played second base mostly in 2014, but he is shifting to third, where he will be among the game’s best at his position, and Ryan Zimmerman is expected to move to first base. Given Zimmerman’s work ethic and attention to detail, nobody should be surprised if he becomes very adept in his glove work.

9. Chicago Cubs

Third baseman Kris Bryant is going to be in the big leagues sometime in the second or third week of the 2015 season, in all likelihood, and when he makes that jump, a lot of rival evaluators fully expect that he will immediately become one of the game’s most dangerous power hitters in an era in which there are few of those. Anthony Rizzo is already among the best first basemen, and while there are questions about just how good Starlin Castro is and whether he could be traded, he got better last year and is still just 24. Javier Baez finished last season with a burst of jaw-dropping power and strikeouts, with some scouts becoming convinced that he’s so aggressive that he’ll never make the adjustments necessary to be an every-day MLB player. The Cubs’ thought in promoting him last season was that his late-season failures might clearly demonstrate to him what he needs to do to get better, and if that process takes a while, Chicago has built-in safety nets in place, with Tommy La Stella and some of its other infield depth. This group, Bryant included, could provide a lot of power.

10. Texas Rangers

There’s a chance that this ranking will turn out to be absurdly low if Prince Fielder can bounce back from his neck surgery and get back to being a 35-homer type of hitter, because Texas seems pretty solid in the other spots. Adrian Beltre will open 2015 just 396 hits away from 3,000, and last year, he batted .324, with 53 extra-base hits. The Rangers are greatly pleased by the offseason work of Elvis Andrus, and they liked what they saw in young second baseman Rougned Odor last summer. But Fielder would be the difference-maker if he rebounded.

 

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Part 2 of 2

Honorable mention

Seattle Mariners. Robinson Cano and Kyle Seager are All-Stars, but the Mariners have been unsettled at first base and shortstop. Last year, six different players started at first base.

Chicago White Sox. Jose Abreu can make any infield extraordinary.

Detroit Tigers. Ian Kinsler is coming off a strong season, but Miguel Cabrera is recovering from ankle surgery and Jose Iglesias missed all of 2014 with shin problems.

Miami Marlins. They turned over three-quarters of the group, with first baseman Mike Morse, second baseman Dee Gordon and third baseman Martin Prado added.

Oakland Athletics. They would fully join this conversation if Brett Lawrie blossomed and stayed on the field for 145-150 games.

San Francisco Giants. Brandon Crawford is among the best defenders at his position, the Giants think that Joe Panik will hit for some power eventually, and Brandon Belt has the chance to fully blossom this season.

Kansas City Royals. A bounce-back season from Omar Infante and a breakout season from Eric Hosmer would be needed for the Royals’ infielders to climb into the top 10.

Notables

• The Phillies continue to lay the groundwork for the inevitable departure of Ryan Howard, with general manager Ruben Amaro openly talking about how it might be better for the team to move forward without the slugger, words interpreted as a warning. Among some of the teams that would seem to have reason for interest in Howard -- his power potential -- there is a lot of concern that he will never again be an effective hitter. If the Phillies eventually release Howard, which seems very possible given the lack of interest in the trade market, he may have surprisingly few opportunities to even make a roster. It seems strange to say about a player who is owed $60 million on his current deal and is coming off a year in which he hit 23 homers, but Howard may be nearing the last ledge of his career, unless he’s willing to bounce around the minors for a while.

• The ball is in the Blue Jays’ court in their pursuit of Orioles GM Dan Duquette. Toronto’s leadership knows that it will take extraordinary return to get Duquette, and short of that, the Orioles intend to move along, with Duquette under contract for four more years.

Again, it’s worth remembering that when Orioles owner Peter Angelos speaks of Duquette’s contractual obligation, as he did a month ago, this is not just the usual talk of a baseball executive. Angelos is a lawyer who has made his fortune in making arguments, and the discussion of binding agreements is his oxygen. He is also really stubborn, and at the same time, fully content with proceeding with Duquette in his current role, and will only be displaced from that position if he gets what he wants from the Blue Jays. Angelos holds all the leverage in this matter and will use it.

The uncertainty with Duquette has gone on long enough, writes Peter Schmuck. From his piece:

The smart money says Duquette isn't going anywhere, at least not this season. Angelos is a tough customer who isn't known for drawing meaningless lines in the sand. He is under no obligation to let Duquette out of that contract and Duquette's long-term interests would not be well-served by publicly trying to force his hand.

He has to know that history has proven there's little upside to engaging in a war of wills with Angelos, who does not easily back down from a fight and is proving that again with the nasty television rights dispute that is ongoing with Major League Baseball and the Washington Nationals.

• Nori Aoki agreed to a deal with the Giants.

• The Pirates finished their deal with Jung-ho Kang -- a calculated risk, as GM Neal Huntington acknowledged. It’s a signing that makes sense, writes Ron Cook. This is a plus for the Pirates, writes Bob Smizik.

• David Schoenfield writes about the worst defensive seasons ever. I covered Sheffield’s 1993 season, before his trade to the Marlins, and given all the rumors swirling at him at the time -- and a lot of happiness among the veteran players on that team -- Sheffield seemed to completely shut down on defense in his last 10 weeks with the Padres. He’d stand at third base, a lean, really, with the body language of someone completely disinterested.

• Friday was the deadline for filing arbitration numbers for teams and players, leading to a flurry of signings. David Price set a record.

• The Jays haven’t been through arbitration in almost 20 years, but they’re headed to hearings with Josh Donaldson and Danny Valencia.

• Lance Lynn got a three-year deal.

• The Nationals avoided arbitration with a handful of players.

• Mike Leake and Zack Cozart worked out new contracts.

• Rick Porcello got a nice deal.

• The Indians’ payroll is all but set.

• The Rays finished their arbitration cases, as Marc Topkin writes.

• The Rockies agreed to a new deal.

• The Marlins worked out four deals.

• The Dodgers settled some cases.

• The Mariners worked through five deals.

• The Royals agreed to terms with a couple of guys.

• With Dillon Gee’s price tag now set, other teams are pursuing him.

• The waiting game may pay off for Max Scherzer.

Moves, deals and decisions

1. The Phillies claimed Jordan Danks.

2. The Yankees finalized the Stephen Drew contract.

3. The Astros are still looking for starting pitching, writes Evan Drellich.

AL East

• R.A. Dickey talked about chemistry with his catchers.

• The Orioles’ interest in Colby Rasmus remains in place, writes Roch Kubatko.

• The Red Sox have been selling low with their top prospects lately.

• The Boston prospects are far from green, writes Michael Silverman.

• Some Red Sox prospects have seen improvement in their changeups.

AL West

• The Rangers could raid their farm system to get Cole Hamels, and Gerry Fraley wonders if they would.

• The Athletics change shortstops a lot, notes Bruce Jenkins. Oakland has had an unusual offseason.

NL East

• The Mets would be foolish to rent Ian Desmond at a premium price, writes Ken Davidoff.

• Matt Harvey needs to downshift, writes Bob Klapisch.

• The Braves’ moves have John Coppolella’s fingerprints.

• Jeff Schultz isn’t counting on a lot of Atlanta wins next season.

NL Central

• Adam Wainwright is throwing pain-free, he says.

• Jason Heyward was a crowd-pleaser in St. Louis.

• The Brewers are still searching for relief help.

• Gordon Wittenmyer wonders if the Cubs have another big move left in them this winter.

Lastly

• There are better ways than a pitch clock to speed up the game, writes Klapisch.

But here’s the common denominator with the alternatives: The umpires would be expected to police the players, and they already have enough responsibility without being required to dole out the baseball equivalent of parking tickets to players making 10 or 100 times more than they make. The implementation of a pitch clock is inevitable; it’s not a matter of "if," but when, and the sooner everybody in the sport embraces that reality, the better.

• Doug Glanville writes about what Hall of Famers taught him.

• A Mets farmhand was suspended.

• With the way the Penn State situation played out, there can be no middle ground in their handling of the matter. Either they blew it badly in 2012 or they’re blowing it now, and accountability is essential.

• Randy Johnson will enter the Hall of Fame with a Diamondbacks cap.

• San Jose lost its appeal the other day.