NL Central Smackdown
NL Central Smackdown: The Aces
Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 05/07/2008 - 1:55pm.
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Left Fielders | Poll |
I had to take a little break to bash Brenneman yesterday, but NL Central Smackdown is back. I was going to just try and cover all the pitching in one post and have you guys vote on the pitching staffs as a whole. But who really want to decide between Brandon Backe vs Braden Looper. On the other hand, the crown for the best staff ace is worthy of discussion.
Let's see how it breaks down...
NL Central Smackdown : Left Fielders
Submitted by Rob G. on Mon, 05/05/2008 - 1:01am.
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Right Fielders | Poll |
Before we examine left field, I remind you to check out and vote on center field and right from this weekend if you missed it. As for the left fielders, I think it's an intriguing group and something that should really test the "homer" vote that's been going around in the previous installments. I think Soriano is as good as they get out there in the division, but he seems to be quickly falling out of fans' good graces as of late.
Let's see how it breaks down...
NL Central Smackdown : Right Fielders
Submitted by Rob G. on Sun, 05/04/2008 - 8:48am.
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Center Fielders | Poll |
I'll save the left fielders for Monday since it's a pretty and talented group. Your right--field warriors after the break...
NL Central Smackdown : Center Field
Submitted by Rob G. on Sat, 05/03/2008 - 8:33am.
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Catchers | Poll |
I'm jumping to center field because it's a bit of a mess and not nearly as interesting as left or right, which I'd like to save at least one of those for Monday.
NL Central Smackdown : Catchers
Submitted by Rob G. on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 1:01am.
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Third Basemen | Poll |
Before we head to the outfield, we take on the field generals. A difficult position to evaluate with the numbers just because there's just no great way to numerically measure a catcher's defense, leadership and ability to work with his pitching staff...but we'll do our best. I did want to note, I'll keep going with these through the weekend just so we can finish this up by early next week. If you take the weekends off from TCR, be sure to check back Monday and vote on the polls you missed.
The backstops after the jump...
NL Central Smackdown: Third Basemen
Submitted by Rob G. on Thu, 05/01/2008 - 11:30am.
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Shortstops | Poll |
It may seem I've been a bit down on our Cubbies in the first three installments, but do not fret, the Cubs and Aramis Ramirez runaway with the third base honors.
The hot corner after the jump...
NL Central Smackdown: Shortstops
Submitted by Rob G. on Wed, 04/30/2008 - 1:02am.
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2nd Basemen | Poll We march on around the diamond. Today it's the double play partner of yesterday's vote. The Cubs so far have the 2nd best first basemen and second basemen in the division. Can Ryan Theriot keep the streak going? Answer - no! |
Your scrap-tastic contenders after the jump....
UPDATE: Thanks to you wonderful readers, it was brought to my attention to check Tejada's projections since he revealed his true age. His WARP-3 three year projection is updated in the chart and went down from 4.13 to 3.2. I'd still rate him first though even though he now drops behind Hardy and Wilson in the WARP-3 projections.
NL Central Smackdown: 2nd Basemen
Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 04/29/2008 - 1:03am.
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I started off with the first basemen yesterday and I'll leave the poll up until I get through all the positions. If you need a primer on all this, be sure to check out that first post as well on the first basemen. Today though we move to the second basemen. While Hendry tries to win by sheer numbers, it's about quality, not quantity. Your contestants after the jump.... |
NL Central Smackdown: 1st Basemen
Submitted by Rob G. on Mon, 04/28/2008 - 11:42am.
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I was going to try and get this up before the season started, but that clearly didn't happen for a variety of reasons. But that's no excuse to let the work go to waste. Basically I thought it would be fun to go through each position player in the division and the starting pitchers and see how we rank them. Who’s the best now? Who will be the best over the next 3 years? I'll be using Baseball Prospectus's WARP-3 numbers for the most part, which includes both offense and defense and most importantly for this exercise, projections for the next three years. Once we get through the eight positions and the starting pitchers, I'll finish it off with a Bill Simmons inspired (ripped off) trade value chart. |
Here are the ground rules. We're trying to figure out who you'd rather have on your team. Do your best to take your Cubs bias out of the equation if possible (that shouldn't be hard for some of you). But we're also trying to figure out who has the best players on the their team right now, so I'm going to use the players projected to get the most playing time this year. Sure, Jay Bruce will eventually take over center field duties in Cincinnati, but who knows when. The chart after the jump includes their 3-year WARP-3 averages (2005-2007) and their projected 2008-2010 averages.The final column, appropriately labeled "Rob's Rankings", are simply how I ranked them before looking at any stats. For the most part I was pretty close to what the numbers bear out. I should also note that I did my rankings before the season started.
We'll start off with the toughest and most talented position, the first basemen. Your gladiators after the jump....
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