Top 10 by Position for 2014

[mr.hockey4242]

I'd take Mauer over Belt, but Belt's been pretty underrated. He quietly had a nice 2013 year, batting .289/.360/.481 with a 139 wRC+. He's not a bad defender either. Even his 2012 season was pretty decent.

Brandon Belt future All Star? 2014 Giants Fantasy Outlook: First Base

Yeah I guess he wasn't too shabby last year but even with decent power numbers he didn't drive in many.

Mauers RBI last year were an anomaly as twins top 2 spots were a disaster for most of the year.

 

[navamind]

Yeah I guess he wasn't too shabby last year but even with decent power numbers he didn't drive in many.

Mauers RBI last year were an anomaly as twins top 2 spots were a disaster for most of the year.

He was splitting time between batting 3rd (198 PA), 5th (75 PA), and 6th (221 PA). Also had 63 PA between batting 7th and 8th. Belt did bat .309/.413/.528 in 151 PA with RISP, so it's not like he was shitting the bed.

 

[Cedrique]

How is Anthony Rizzo even on that list? Am I missing something?

 

[navamind]

How is Anthony Rizzo even on that list? Am I missing something?

He's predicting a Rizzo breakout?

 

[Clayton]

Needs more Matt Carpenter

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Needs more Matt Carpenter

This times over 9000.

 

[Cedrique]

He's predicting a Rizzo breakout?

Yeah, my bad. Somehow I missed the word "predictions" in the original post. Now that I look at his stats I guess I can see that happening. Rizzo had decent plate discipline with 76 walks last year and a low babip so you would think a few more hits will fall in this year and he's still young enough to be developing some power. As a matter of fact, if you look at his numbers in 2013 they look a lot like Freddie Freeman of 2012, so it is certainly possible this could be a good year for Rizzo.

 

[thedddd]

If you are predicting breakouts Pedro Alvarez should be a top 10 3B after the playoffs he had.

Trust me I don't expect it but still might be better than some if he hits 30+ homers again and raises the avg/obp.

 

[Chef99]

Yeah, my bad. Somehow I missed the word "predictions" in the original post. Now that I look at his stats I guess I can see that happening. Rizzo had decent plate discipline with 76 walks last year and a low babip so you would think a few more hits will fall in this year and he's still young enough to be developing some power. As a matter of fact, if you look at his numbers in 2013 they look a lot like Freddie Freeman of 2012, so it is certainly possible this could be a good year for Rizzo.

If Rizzo can learn to hit lefties a little bit better, he should be a good one.

 

[Lions=TeHsUcKs]

Simmons if number 2 based on defense alone.. If that were the case I bet Iglesias makes the top 10 by seasons end..

 

[romeo212000]

No group for starting pitchers?

 

[navamind]

No group for starting pitchers?

I thought about that too. I guess he's making a separate thread for pitchers?

 

[Fountain City Blues]

No group for starting pitchers?

Would be nice to see someone do some detailed work with that on here. Like the top 30 pitchers being the #1's. The next 30 being the #2's, etc. Or top 10 LHP and RHP. So on and so forth.

 

[gregrey972]

How does Prince not make the top 10 at 1st but Abreu does?

 

[StanMarsh51]

How does Prince not make the top 10 at 1st but Abreu does?

If Prince has another disappointing year like he did in 2013, he may not be top 10. It's based on predictions, so it's certainly possible that Abreu has a Puig like year where he's red hot until pitchers start to figure him out later on.

 

[gregrey972]

I get that...maybe I'm being a homer here, but I would put a lot more weight in my future predictions on consistent past performances...he did have a down year last year in a pitcher's park, but that down year will be better than what I think Abreu will do this season...that's just my opinion. The rest of the rankings I thought were plenty fair.

 

[StanMarsh51]

I get that...maybe I'm being a homer here, but I would put a lot more weight in my future predictions on consistent past performances...he did have a down year last year in a pitcher's park, but that down year will be better than what I think Abreu will do this season...that's just my opinion. The rest of the rankings I thought were plenty fair.

Well therein lies part of the issue....Comerica's not a pitchers' park anymore after they moved in the fences a few years back....it's been rated a hitters' park in each of the past 3 seasons, so I don't think the excuse is there for Prince (and he didn't hit well on the road either last year).

I haven't looked closely at the numbers, but part of his struggles in 2013 may be that for the first time in a long time, he played in a division that had good pitching overall....only 1 staff in the AL Central was below average last year. There wasn't a single division rival that he could feast off in 2013 like he could in prior years when the divisions he played on weren't strong pitching-wise.

And even if you look at prior performances, he's not very consistent from year to year.....2 of his last 4 years and 3 of his last 6 weren't anything special by 1B standards.

 

[Chef99]

Well therein lies part of the issue....Comerica's not a pitchers' park anymore after they moved in the fences a few years back....it's been rated a hitters' park in each of the past 3 seasons, so I don't think the excuse is there for Prince (and he didn't hit well on the road either last year).

I haven't looked closely at the numbers, but part of his struggles in 2013 may be that for the first time in a long time, he played in a division that had good pitching overall....only 1 staff in the AL Central was below average last year. There wasn't a single division rival that he could feast off in 2013 like he could in prior years when the divisions he played on weren't strong pitching-wise.

And even if you look at prior performances, he's not very consistent from year to year.....2 of his last 4 years and 3 of his last 6 weren't anything special by 1B standards.

All good points, but come on...Brandon Belt? In a year or two, maybe. But not yet.

 

[StanMarsh51]

All good points, but come on...Brandon Belt? In a year or two, maybe. But not yet.

It wasn't my original list (so I didn't list any of the players), but Belt's a lot better than you seem to think.....he had the 9th best OPS+ and 10th most extra base hits in the entire NL last year.

Out of the 27 players with 300+ plate appearances at 1B last year, Belt was:
7th in AVG
8th in OBP
7th in SLG
7th in runs
5th in extra base hits
16th in HR
14th in RBI

And that's while playing in an extremely pitcher friendly park...

So you could make a solid case he's borderline top 10.

 

[Chef99]

It wasn't my original list (so I didn't list any of the players), but Belt's a lot better than you seem to think.....he had the 9th best OPS+ and 10th most extra base hits in the entire NL last year.

Out of the 27 players with 300+ plate appearances at 1B last year, Belt was:
7th in AVG
8th in OBP
7th in SLG
7th in runs
5th in extra base hits
16th in HR
14th in RBI

And that's while playing in an extremely pitcher friendly park...

So you could make a solid case he's borderline top 10.

No, I agree that he's good and is getting better. Perhaps I'm just old school, but I'll take the HRs and RBIs from Prince over Belt at this point. Like I said, that will probably change in another year or two, but for now, I"ll take Fielder.