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Post by sansterre - Milwaukee Brewers on Mar 6, 2018 22:53:08 GMT -5
PBL All-Time Player Rankings, 21-40
#40 (#15 SP) Bruce 'Smalls' Pinnock, 2027-present (40 years old), CHNHall Rating 43.7, 1 Cy Young, 1 Gold Glove, 3 All-Stars 3189 IP, 79 FIP-, 1.0 / 1.9 / 9.7, 8 WAR x 1, 6 WAR x 2, 5 WAR x 5, 4 WAR x 4, 3 WAR x 1 I'm coming to appreciate that, for whatever reason, starting pitchers face wildly higher competition for All-Star spots. It seems like if a pitcher doesn't break 6 WAR they likely won't make the all-star team, which makes all-star spots much rarer for pitchers. 79 FIP- is excellent, and the fact that Pinnock could average that with over three thousand innings pitched is a great achievement. That said, he's got a low peak for such a strong pitcher. I mean, an 8 and two 6s is very good, but Pinnock's real contribution lies in his depth of performance, with twelve seasons above 4 WAR, and eight seasons above 5 WAR. Pinnock had a bit of a strange resurgence at age 33 when his strikeout rate jumped higher than his career average. From ages 33-38 he put up seasons of: 6.0, 5.2, 4.4, 6.2, 8.7, 5.1 and 4.2 WAR. By those last two years his strikeouts had dropped from 10 per 9 to 8 per 9. In 2044 they dropped further to 6.8 K/9, and this year they dropped to 5.1 K/9. He's probably done. If PBL history is any guide he may struggle to make the Hall. His JAWS is average for MLB HoF members so he merits inclusion. But he's not terribly distinctive. Just very very good for a long time. #39 (#4 3B) Ryan Zimmerman, 2005-2022, ATLHall Rating 43.8, 2 Gold Gloves, 2 All-Stars 10345 PA, 120 OPS+, 277 / 354 / 469, 7 WAR x 2, 6 WAR x 2, 5 WAR x 5, 4 WAR x 1, 3 WAR x 2 #38 (#14 SP) Markus 'Music Man' Price, 2029-present (39 years old), BOSHall Rating 43.8, 5 All-Stars, 1 Ring 2921 IP, 76 FIP-, 0.7 / 1.3 / 7.0, 7 WAR x 2, 6 WAR x 1, 5 WAR x 2, 4 WAR x 6, 3 WAR x 2 Price is 39 but still going strong. His stuff is down to 6 but his pitch assortment looks diverse enough to keep him as an SP for the foreseeable future. In fact, there's every reason to think he has another several strong seasons in him. He's a serious control pitcher like Warren Smith (but better) who can throw up 4+ WAR seasons without a K/9 north of 6. He had two great years of 7 WAR (would you believe both were achieved with a K/9 averaging 6.9?). His numbers at 39 are not terribly different from where they were in his prime. It's hard to think of him as being dominating; even in his 7 WAR seasons he never struck a lot of batters out. It's just a reminder of how strong a pitcher can be without great stuff. He's very much like Greg Maddux, just with almost two thousand less innings. #37 (#5 LF) Arturo Rivera, 2026-present (42 years old), SDNHall Rating 44.3, 2 MVPs, 3 Gold Gloves, 1 Silver Slugger, 7 All-Stars, 1 Ring 10892 PA, 134 OPS+, 271 / 325 / 508, 7 WAR x 2, 6 WAR x 2, 5 WAR x 3, 4 WAR x 1, 3 WAR x 6 Rivera's been a force ever since he broke into the league at 22. His reputation as a heavy hitter is a bit overblown; 134 OPS+ is a solid number for a HoF corner outfielder but nothing crazy. His highest OPS+ in a season have been 190, 164, 160, again, impressive but not great. His secret strength has been his fielding; his glove has been worth over 120 runs over his career. He might have had an even better career but by age 36 he started losing PA, between a combination of injuries and an increasing inability to hit lefties. His JAWS puts him as the 6th LF in MLB history and his Hall Rating puts him as the 5th best LF in PBL history. Very strong argument for the Hall. #36 (#1 RF) Richard Washington, 2016-2038, PIT, Hall of Fame 2042Hall Rating 44.8, 1 MVP, 1 Gold Glove, 8 All-Stars 11361 PA, 135 OPS+, 291 / 368 / 484, 8 WAR x 1, 6 WAR x 3, 5 WAR x 4, 4 WAR x 4, 3 WAR x 1 Again, it's weird how certain positions have such density of talent and others don't. RF, 2B and SS barely have any strong players; the best RF is only the 36th best in the league while the best 2B is 30th and the best SS is 41st. Among RF Richard Washington is definitely the best. He had a long career, hit well, fielded sufficiently and made the Hall in 2042. Nothing terribly sexy, but you can do a lot worse than a strong career like this.#35 (#8 C) Bryan Anderson, 2010-2026, SEA, Hall of Fame 2032Hall Rating 45.6, 6 All-Stars 8985 PA, 132 OPS+, 7 WAR x 2, 6 WAR x 3, 5 WAR x 4, 4 WAR x 3 Bryan Anderson was not a terribly good fielding catcher. Opposing base-stealers stole at a 75.9% success rate, which is very high. Fortunately he was a hell of a hitter. Among PBL catchers with at least 5k PA (of which there are 55) he's 6th in BB%, 6th in AVG, 2nd in OBP, 15th in SLG, 6th in wOBA, 4th in RC/27 . . . His power was only about average but his batting average and patience were both exceptional. He broke out for Seattle at age 26 with a 5.4 WAR season and from that moment on never fell below 4.1 WAR all the way through age 37. And, let us remember, that this was all within the confines of SAFECO, which isn't exactly great for hitters. For that twelve year stretch he was one of the best in baseball, as evidenced by his six all-stars at the incredibly loaded catcher position. He made the Hall shortly after his retirement and he merits it. Anyone north of 45 Hall Rating had a heck of a career.#34 (#13 SP) Stephen Strasburg, 2010-2028, ATLHall Rating 46.3, 1 Cy Young, 4 All-Stars, 3695 IP, 85 FIP-, 1.0 / 2.2 / 8.0 9 WAR x 1, 8 WAR x 1, 6 WAR x 2, 5 WAR x 2, 4 WAR x 4, 3 WAR x 4 #33 (#4 1B) Prince Fielder, 2005-2023, TB, Hall of Fame 2034Hall Rating 46.3, 3 MVPs, 8 All-Stars 11642 PA, 151 OPS+, 275 / 401 / 537, 7 WAR x 1, 6 WAR x 4, 5 WAR x 4, 4 WAR x 1, 3 WAR x 4 #32 (#7 C) Martin Lemus, 2017-2034, BAL, Hall of Fame 2041Hall Rating 46.8, 7 All-Stars 10572 PA, 128 OPS+, 307 / 367 / 464, 7 WAR x 1, 6 WAR x 2, 5 WAR x 3, 4 WAR x 8, 3 WAR x 1 Lemus was a great contact hitter who put together an incredible string of strong seasons. That's fourteen 4+ WAR seasons. He made the Hall in '41 and deserved it.#31 (#4 LF) Luis Gomez, 2012-2031, NYYHall Rating 47.2, 2 Gold Gloves, 8 All-Stars, 49% HoF Voting, fell off ballot 11925 PA, 128 OPS+, 278 / 383 / 458, 7 WAR x 2, 6 WAR x 3, 5 WAR x 3, 4 WAR x 3, 3 WAR x 2 Time for another episode of Sansterre's Soapbox! Luis Gomez fell off the ballot last year. The Hall is now beyond his reach. Before I talk about Gomez I want to talk about who gets in. So far the BBWAA has inducted 128 players (we're skipping the veteran's committee) for a little more than 2500 team-seasons, a rate of a little less than 1 player per 20 team-seasons. Since its inception the PBL has generated a little over a thousand team-seasons, which suggests an induction of around 50 players. The PBL has inducted 34. Part of this may be a byproduct of having so many strong players with only 10 slots on each ballot (possible rule change?) but Gomez is listed here as the #31 player in PBL history, meriting inclusion by either standard. So let's talk Gomez:
In terms of JAWS Gomez is the fifth best left-fielder in MLB history, just ahead of Pete Rose. In PBL history he is the 4th best LF. His 128 OPS+ is not terribly remarkable among LF but his Gold Gloves are well-earned, a byproduct of his almost +110 ZR in the field (2nd in PBL history at the position). Gomez had great gap power (top 10 in doubles five times, top 10 in triples four times), incredible patience (top 10 in walks thirteen times – #1 four times) and top 10 in WAR seven times. And put it all together and he had quite the career, five seasons above 6 WAR, eight above 5 WAR and eleven above 4 WAR. And he made eight all-stars in at the same position that Vasti and Kono played at (teaser for the top 5!). It's honestly a pretty great career; so how come he never made 50% of the ballots submitted?
It's a guess but it's predictable. Gomez' skill set was diverse and not sexy. Let's imagine that instead of walking a ton he walked barely at all (way down at Benson level). Let's make his OBP 300 and replace the difference in value with home runs (you'd need about 208). Suddenly he's hit 539 home runs with an SLG of 541. Now let's scrap his fielding and make him league average; 110 ZR converts into about 67 homers (1.65 runs per home run per linear weights). So now he's hit 606 home runs with a slg of 568. Do you think an outfielder with 606 home runs and a 568 slugging would make the Hall? Now let's make him like Manny Ramirez and scrap his fielding to -100 ZR, but turn that into home runs, so now he's hit 665 home runs and slugged 591. Now let's convert half of his silly doubles and triples into homers; that's another 193 home runs so he's hit 858 home runs, though still slugged 591. There's no way he could be denied the Hall, not like that. And yet I haven't actually changed his WAR at all; I've just moved his value into the stats that are the most eye-catching.
You could argue that this exercise is self-indulgent, and you'd be right. But my point is, a +110 ZR fielder with 383/458 splits (only 331 homers) has the same value as a -100 ZR fielder with 300/591 splits and 858 home runs. But the second seems eminently more inductable than the first. Luis Gomez should have made the Hall. He just happens to have an unsexy skillset. I hope that the next time another Luis Gomez comes along we can do better by him.#30 (#1 2B) Dustin Ackley, 2011-2033, ATL, Hall of Fame 2037Hall Rating 47.2, 14 All-Stars 13050 PA, 135 OPS+, 327 / 373 / 487, 7 WAR x 1, 6 WAR x 3, 5 WAR x 3, 4 WAR x 4, 3 WAR x 4 Dustin Ackley is the best contact hitter in PBL history. He's the best 2B the PBL has ever seen and by a good margin. He made the Hall and deservedly so. But why isn't he ranked higher? Honestly, because his fielding and patience were pretty weak. His power was solid (7th among 34 qualifying 2B) but his BB% was 28th of 34 and his glove was worth -61 runs over his career. Curiously, his glove in the infield was fine but he played CF for over eight thousand innings and his glove at center was worth -82.6 runs. Extremely low walks and weak play at center keep him only the 30th best player in PBL history. Take out his stint at center, keep him at second, and suddenly he's in the high teens-low twenties. Still. Great player. #29 (#12 SP) Felix 'King Felix' Hernandez, 2005-2024, SEA, Hall of Fame 2034Hall Rating 47.9, 1 Cy Young, 6 All-Stars 3829 IP, 83 FIP-, 0.8 / 2.7 / 7.8, 7 WAR x 1, 6 WAR x 2, 5 WAR x 4, 4 WAR x 6, 3 WAR x 2 #28 (#11 SP) Jake Peavy, 2002-2023, SDNHall Rating 48.0, 1 Cy Young, 1 Gold Glove, 3 All-Stars 4193 IP, 85 FIP-, 0.9 / 2.9 / 8.2, 7 WAR x 1, 6 WAR x 3, 5 WAR x 2, 4 WAR x 4, 3 WAR x 8 #27 (#10 SP) Jhoan 'Goldie' Brown, 2036-present (32 years old), LAAHall Rating 48.6, 4 Cy Youngs, 8 All-Stars, 1 Ring 1960 IP, 62 FIP-, 0.5 / 2.5 / 9.8, 10 WAR x 1, 9 WAR x 1, 8 WAR x 3, 7 WAR x 2, 6 WAR x 1 I don't really know what I can say about Jhoan Brown. At age 32 he's already the tenth best pitcher in PBL history and is coming off a 9.1 WAR season (with a 23-3 record). He is the youngest player ranked this high by a good margin. How far can he go? Pretty far, guaranteed top 5 (barring catastrophe) and quite possibly top 3. But his success isn't unprecedented. Here's a list of the most WAR accrued by an SP by age 31:
1. Tim Lincecum, 76.9 2. Jhoan Brown, 67.9 3. Jameson Taillon & Lou Martin, 63.1 4. Orlando Perez, 62.4 5. Chris Bryant, 59.1 6. Dino Williamson, 59.0 7. Gary Price & Danny Hayes, 52.3 8. Will Taylor, 50.3
Pretty impressive company. How did the nine pitchers do after age 31? (I realize that some of these players are still playing and doing well despite being 39+, but we're just estimating here)
1. Tim Lincecum, 53.9 2. Orlando Perez, 53.3 3. Will Taylor, 47.3 4. Chris Bryant, 34.1 5. Jameson Taillon, 31.4 6. Danny Hayes, 30.8 7. Gary Price, 26.6 8. Dino Williamson, 22.9 9. Lou Martin, 15.1
That's quite a range of possibilities. Let's just say that we're looking at a range from top 3 starter all-time to 5th best starter all-time. The ceiling is pretty damned high.#26 (#9 SP) Lou 'Prexy' Martin, 2015-2032, OAK, Hall of Fame 2042Hall Rating 48.8, 1 Cy Young, 6 All-Stars 3073 IP, 78 FIP-, 0.8 / 2.0 / 8.2, 7 WAR x 4, 6 WAR x 3, 5 WAR x 1, 4 WAR x 3, 3 WAR x 3 The above tables already tell the story fairly well, but here goes. Lou Martin accrued 70 WAR by the end of his age 32 season, which is an incredible number and the third highest in PBL history in that timeframe. The next season his K/9 dropped from 9.1 to 7.4, then 6.8 year after (still a pair of 3.5 WAR years, but still). Martin caught on with Cincinnati, had his K/9 drop further to 6.1 at age 35 (2.0 WAR). By age 36 Martin couldn't even start or exceed 5 K/9 and it was all over. From age 33 on he didn't even make 10 WAR. You know those times when I say “and thus and such will happen unless they get hit by a meteor”? This is what it looks like.
Incidentally, 'Prexy' means 'President', usually of a society or fraternity or something. #25 (#3 1B) Terrence 'The Hoosier Thunderbolt' Henderson, 2031-present (37 years old), TBHall Rating 48.9, 2 MVPs, 6 Silver Sluggers, 11 All-Stars 9205 PA, 165 OPS+, 289 / 410 / 537, 8 WAR x 1, 7 WAR x 2, 6 WAR x 4, 4 WAR x 4, 3 WAR x 2 Terrence Henderson is so good that the state of Indiana executively claimed a boy from California as their own. He's pretty much the quintessential first baseman; just a massive bat, great patience, great peak, great career. He has no shot of catching Gian Guzman but he's a Hall of Famer for sure. #24 (#8 SP) David 'Dino' Williamson, 2023-2038, CHN, Hall of Fame 2042Hall Rating 49.0, 2 Cy Youngs, 7 All-Stars 2934 IP, 73 FIP-, 0.6 / 1.5 / 7.7, 7 WAR x 4, 6 WAR x 5, 5 WAR x 2, 4 WAR x 1, 3 WAR x 1 Dino Williamson had a very similar career to Lou Martin. He was a little behind at age 32 but took longer to slow down, accruing 15.5 WAR past his age 32 season. Look at that peak though. Nine seasons at 6 WAR or above, four seasons at 7 WAR+? When Dino was on his game he was damned hard to stop. #23 (#7 SP) Gary 'Ugly' Price, 2013-2028, NYYHall Rating 50.2, 1 Cy Young, 6 All-Stars, fallen off of ballot 2977 IP, 76 FIP-, 0.6 / 2.5 / 7.7, 6 WAR x 6, 5 WAR x 6, 4 WAR x 1, 3 WAR x 1 Gary Price was never as dominating as Martin or Williamson but made up for it by being consistently excellent. With a whopping twelve seasons at 5 WAR or higher he was incredibly reliable. Showing that, perhaps, Hall Rating should be even more top-loaded in its baseline, Price will never make the Hall despite being the #7 ranked SP in PBL history. You won't find many pitchers on this list with a better twelve-year stretch of quality.#22 (#6 C) Matt Wieters, 2009-2026, PIT, Hall of Fame 2040Hall Rating 50.2, 2 Gold Gloves, 6 All-Stars 9301 PA, 131 OPS+, 294 / 362 / 506, 7 WAR x 4, 6 WAR x 3, 5 WAR x 3, 4 WAR x 3, 3 WAR x 2 #21 (#3 3B) Marcos Pena, 2029-present (39 years old), CARHall Rating 51.4, 4 Silver Sluggers, 2 Gold Gloves, 6 All-Stars, 10602 PA, 127 OPS+, 273 / 378 / 420 8 WAR x 2, 7 WAR x 1, 6 WAR x 2, 5 WAR x 4, 4 WAR x 2, 3 WAR x 3 Marcos Pena is about as good as a player can be with no serious power. He was an excellent fielder at 3rd, made good contact, walked a ton and just generally excelled in every facet of the game. He had two, count 'em two, 8 WAR seasons at his best. If history is any indicator, Pena will have a hard time making the Hall, given that he was good at everything besides hitting home runs. He shouldn't. Look at these seasons. He had a hell of a peak with a lot of strong seasons behind them. Look at those awards for crap's sake. Pena may well crack the top 20 (maybe) all-time and retire as the third best third baseman in history. He's earned it.
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Post by sansterre - Milwaukee Brewers on Mar 7, 2018 19:22:10 GMT -5
PBL All-Time Player Rankings, 7-20
#20 (#6 SP) Danny 'Scranton Bill' Hayes, 2028-present (39 years old), LANHall Rating 51.7, 8 All-Stars, 2 Rings, 3103 IP, 74 FIP-, 0.9 / 1.2 / 8.8 7 WAR x 2, 6 WAR x 3, 5 WAR x 6, 4 WAR x 4 It's hilarious that we're in the part of the rankings where I can call five seasons above 6 WAR a low peak. Danny Hayes (born a measley 1277 miles from Scranton) has the lowest BB/9 in PBL history of any pitcher with at least 30 innings (Gary Price is number 2). For an all-time great Hayes actually allows a decent number of home runs. His solution, of course, is to have a career K/BB of 7.5, highest by far among all relevant pitchers (Will Taylor is next at 5.8). Hayes' last five seasons have been 4.6, 6.6, 4.0, 5.4 and 5.3 and he's 39 with no sign of slipping. He's already the #6 SP of all-time; we'll see how far he can go. #19 (#3 LF) Jimmy 'Goose' McIntosh, 2023-2044, LANHall Rating 51.7, 1 MVP, 1 Silver Slugger, 3 Gold Gloves, 7 All-Stars, not yet voted on 12606 PA, 135 OPS+, 252 / 370 / 471, 8 WAR x 1, 7 WAR x 1, 5 WAR x 7, 4 WAR x 3, 3 WAR x 5 Jimmy McIntosh has had a great, consistent career. His batting average is very low for a Hall of Famer, but he makes up for it with incredible patience and solid power (over 500 homers). He supplemented this quality hitting with fantastic glovework, over 148 runs worth. He didn't have much of a peak; at this level only two seasons above 6 WAR is pretty weak. But having 9 above 5 WAR is very good, 12 above 4 WAR is quite good, and sixteen above 3 WAR is excellent. 7 All-Stars is a healthy number at LF, though he was in the NL for most of it, away from Vasti and Kono (there I go blurting out the top 2 LF. Surprise!)#18 (#5 C) Jose Rivera, 2023-present (37 years old), MIAHall Rating 54.7, 1 MVP, Rookie of the Year, 8 Silver Sluggers, 11 All-Stars, 1 Ring 8768 PA, 153 OPS+, 285 / 368 / 543, 7 WAR x 4, 6 WAR x 3, 5 WAR x 4, 4 WAR x 2, 3 WAR x 1 Jose Rivera is, by far, the best hitting catcher. Ever. A 153 OPS+ is fantastic; Mike Piazza had a 142 OPS+, even Bryce Harper only has a 142 OPS+. The downside is that his fielding at catcher was never particularly great so by age 29 he was playing first far more than catcher. The funny bit is that he hit better at first (and with more PA) than at catcher so his value stayed about the same whichever position he played. He's only 37 and his skills remain considerable; he's got a few good years left. #17 (#4 C) Joe Mauer, 2004-2021, MIN, Hall of Fame 2024Hall Rating 56.4, 1 MVP, 4 Gold Gloves, 10 All-Stars 10318 PA, 133 OPS+, 315 / 406 / 475, 7 WAR x 3, 6 WAR x 4, 5 WAR x 4, 4 WAR x 2, 3 WAR x 1 #16 (#2 CF) Giralldo 'I Should Be In the Hall of Fame' Croner, 2016-2037, SEAHall Rating 59.1, 5 Gold Gloves, 7 All-Stars, 11706 PA, 123 OPS+, 275 / 376 / 428, 64.7% HoF 9 WAR x 1, 8 WAR x 1, 7 WAR x 2, 6 WAR x 3, 5 WAR x 3, 4 WAR x 4 Croner's OPS+ is fairly low for a HoF centerfielder and his strengths as a hitter are more in his patience than power. I do confess, it feels counter-intuitive to list someone with a 428 SLG as a no-doubt Hall of Famer. But his OBP is excellent and Croner has the most valuable glove in PBL history, worth 246 runs by itself. The next closest fielder in value is Ricardo Aranda at 188 runs. Croner had a nine-WAR year, four years above 7 WAR, and fourteen years above 4 WAR. His JAWS is between Ken Griffey Jr. and Mickey Mantle. He's got the 16th highest Hall Rating of anyone in PBL history and is its best fielder. And for that matter, he's the best fielding outfielder in MLB history too. Andruw Jones was #1 at 236 runs for his career. Croner isn't sexy, but his quality and contribution are way, way beyond reproach.#15 (#2 1B) Gian Guzman, 2012-2035, PIT, Hall of Fame 2039Hall Rating 59.4, 5 MVPs, 1 Gold Glove, 10 All-Stars 14062 PA, 153 OPS+, 314 / 404 / 530, 7 WAR x 5, 6 WAR x 4, 5 WAR x 1, 4 WAR x 2, 3 WAR x 2 Guzman has a claim to be the best first baseman in PBL history; why he isn't ranked so here will be discussed in the next entry. Look at that resume. 5 MVP's, 10 All-Stars, 8 different years all above 6 WAR . . . That's the real deal. So why does Hall Rating have him as being only slightly better than Joe Mauer? Because while he did have a fairly monstrous 8-year peak, his performance really falls off after that. Take away Prince Fielder's top 8 years and he still has 8 years above 3 WAR. Guzman only has 5. Hall Rating basically sees Guzman has having an excellent peak and a surprisingly weak roster of strong years after that. He was still a rightly-elected first-ballot Hall of Famer.#14 (#2 3B) Raymond Harrington, 2022-2044, MON, not yet voted onHall Rating 60.4, 1 MVP, Rookie of the Year, 5 Silver Sluggers, 7 All-Stars, 1 Ring 13395 PA, 141 OPS+, 282 / 381 / 483 8 WAR x 2, 7 WAR x 1, 6 WAR x 2, 5 WAR x 6, 4 WAR x 3, 3 WAR x 2 Harrington's JAWS puts him 3nd behind Mike Schmidt (and the next 3B on this list) for the best third baseman ever. He was not a particularly good fielding 3B in his prime and by his early thirties he became a bit of a liability with his glove. That said, his bat was so good that it didn't matter. His 141 OPS+ is the best in PBL history for a 3B and it's tied for fourth ever for the MLB. Combine that with playing a whopping 23 seasons (16 of them above 3 WAR, 11 of them above 5 WAR) and he's had a career that's hard to match. No-brainer Hall of Famer.#13 (#5 SP) Chris Bryant, 2028-present (40 years old), MIAHall Rating 60.7, Rookie of the Year, 6 All-Stars, 1 Ring 2876 IP, 65 FIP-, 0.6 / 1.6 / 9.0, 8 WAR x 2, 7 WAR x 2, 6 WAR x 3, 5 WAR x 5, 4 WAR x 3 While technically still pitching, his career is pretty much over. And it's been a hell of a ride. Almost 3k innings with a FIP- below 70 is incredible. He had everything you'd want in a career: four seasons above 7 WAR, twelve seasons above 5 WAR. He'd have probably won a Cy Young or two but Orlando Perez happened. (By the way, did you know there was a brief window when Orlando Perez and Chris Bryant were both on the Diamondbacks? Holy hell!) It's kind of sad; were there no Perez, Bryant would have multiple Cy Youngs and would have been the best pitcher in the NL for several years. But with Orlando Perez we just remember Chris Bryant as being very good. He was better. Honestly, per inning, he's the best pitcher in PBL history (tied with Perez). He just couldn't do it for as many innings.#12 (#4 SP) Jameson Taillon, 2013-2030, PIT, Hall of Fame 2036Hall Rating 61.0, 4 Cy Youngs, Rookie of the Year, 5 All-Stars, 3606 IP, 77 FIP-, 0.8 / 2.6 / 9.1 8 WAR x 2, 7 WAR x 2, 6 WAR x 1, 5 WAR x 8, 4 WAR x 1, 3 WAR x 1 #11 (#3 SP) Will 'El Presidente' Taylor, 2029-present (39 years old)Hall Rating 63.6, 1 Cy Young, 8 All-Stars, 3501 IP, 73 FIP-, 0.9 / 1.7 / 9.6 8 WAR x 2, 7 WAR x 2, 6 WAR x 2, 5 WAR x 5, 4 WAR x 6 The curious thing about Will Taylor is that he actually didn't have that great a beginning to his career. I mean, it was great, he had 50 WAR by the time he was 31, but compared to the greats that's comparably weak. Taylor was always a great pitcher; what made him distinctive was his health. Taylor was a worse per-inning pitcher than Chris Bryant by a good margin but Taylor never missed a game and racked up many more innings in a comparably long career. Where other pitchers were felled by the spate of injuries in recent years Will Taylor just kept padding his legacy, throwing up 8.0, 7.2 and 8.6 WAR seasons for ages 37, 38 and 39. And there's no reason he won't keep on going. I don't think it probable that he will catch Perez, but it's not impossible.#10 (#1 1B) Albert 'Prince Albert' Pujols, 2001-2013, Hall of Fame 2016Hall Rating 64.0, 4 MVPs, Rookie of the Year, 3 Gold Gloves, 10 Silver Sluggers 8751 PA, 177 OPS+, 326 / 428 / 616 9 WAR x 1, 8 WAR x 2, 7 WAR x 3, 6 WAR x 4, 5 WAR x 2, 4 WAR x 2 JAWS thinks Guzman is better (75.5 vs. 72.4) but Hall Rating obviously thinks Pujols is much better. And it's not hard to see why. Pujols has the better peak (Guzman's top 8 years are 77776666, Pujols' top 8 are 98877766 with two 6's left over). What makes Guzman better in JAWS' eyes is that mound of sub-3 WAR years that pad his resume. Pujols has no 3 WAR seasons listed because he didn't have any. He has no 2 WAR seasons listed because he didn't have any. He had fourteen seasons all between 10 and 4 WAR and that was about it. That's why his OPS+ is so high; he retired at 33 before he could slip (Gehrig is the only first baseman with a higher OPS+, at 179). Who helped their teams more over their whole career? Almost certainly Guzman; he had almost eight seasons more to contribute in. But who was greater? Look at Pujols' peak. Guzman can't touch it or even come particularly close. We're talking about a player who averaged (assuming 162 games played) a 7-WAR year every year for 13 seasons. Pujols is the greatest first baseman the PBL has ever seen.#9 (#3 C) Jae Yun Kim, 2012-2032, TBA, Hall of Fame 2036Hall Rating 64.9, 1 MVP, 10 All-Stars, 12171 PA, 139 OPS+, 302 / 363 / 508 8 WAR x 2, 7 WAR x 3, 6 WAR x 4, 5 WAR x 2, 4 WAR x 4 This guy would be the best catcher of all-time were it not for the next two people on this list. But seriously. 11k plate appearances is unprecedented. And while 139 OPS+ may not seem glitzy, it would put Kim 3rd on the all-time catcher hitting list, behind Rivera and Mike Piazza and just ahead of Gene Tenace. So combine the 4th best hitting catcher with the 2nd most plate appearances for a catcher ever and what do you expect?#8 (#2 C) Jason Wilson, 2028-present (40 years old), TBAHall Rating 65.3, 3 MVPs, Rookie of the Year, 3 Silver Sluggers, 2 Gold Gloves, 8 All-Stars 9543 PA, 139 OPS+, 259 / 367 / 483, 10 WAR x 1, 8 WAR x 4, 7 WAR x 3, 5 WAR x 3, 4 WAR x 2 Jason Wilson's peak was incredible. Five seasons above 8 WAR, including one at 10? Eight seasons above 7 WAR? Not only was he a great hitting catcher but he was great fielding as well. Spectacular career. He'd be the best catcher ever if not for #3 on this list. #7 (#1 3B) Alex 'A-Rod' Rodriguez, 1994-2017, NYY, Hall of Fame 2020Hall Rating 72.3, 3 MVPs, 2 Gold Gloves, 12 All-Stars 14429 PA, 138 OPS+, 285 / 382 / 535 8 WAR x 4, 7 WAR x 3, 6 WAR x 2, 5 WAR x 3, 4 WAR x 3, 3 WAR x 1 Before I mention #6 I want to show you guys something in a table; a list of the 3+ WAR seasons in descending order for the remaining top 6 players: #6 Player | #5 Player | #4 Player | #3 Player | #2 Player | #1 Player | 10.9 | 12.8 | 11.8 | 9.7 | 9.4 | 10.5 | 7.5 | 11.4 | 10.3 | 9.2 | 9.2 | 10.1 | 6.7 | 10.7 | 10.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 10.1 | 6.6 | 10.3 | 8.6 | 8.6 | 8.9 | 9.7 | 6.6 | 10.0 | 8.5 | 8.4 | 8.8 | 9.0 | 6.3 | 9.2 | 8.5 | 8.0 | 8.7 | 8.8 | 6.3 | 8.0 | 8.1 | 7.7 | 8.6 | 8.6 | 6.1 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 7.5 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 6.0 | 6.9 | 7.9 | 6.9 | 7.8 | 7.4 | 5.9 | 6.5 | 6.8 | 6.7 | 7.6 | 6.6 | 5.4 | 4.4 | 5.9 | 6.7 | 7.4 | 6.4 | 5.4 | 4.3 | 5.6 | 6.6 | 7.1 | 6.1 | 5.2 |
| 4.4 | 6.0 | 6.8 | 5.3 | 5.1 |
| 4.1 | 5.9 | 6.5 | 5.3 | 4.7 |
| 3.3 | 5.1 | 5.9 | 5.2 | 4.3 |
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| 4.4 | 5.3 | 4.8 | 4.2 |
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| 4.1 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 4.2 |
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| 4.0 |
| 4.1 | 3.7 |
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| 3.8 |
| 3.5 | 3.7 |
| | 3.6 |
| 3.3 | 3.4 | | | | | 3.0 | 3.3 |
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It's interesting to compare these players. How do they stack up? Player #6 has a great top season but after that he's obviously way, way behind everyone else. It isn't until other players start running out of good seasons that he starts looking better. Player #5 is all peak. I mean, all peak. He easily has the best top 8 seasons of anyone. In fact, it isn't until we're counting the top 12 seasons that Player #1 has accrued as many WAR. It's just that Player #5 has no depth of performance to compete with everyone else. By the time that Player #5 is out of 3+ WAR seasons everyone else is still throwing up 4 to 7 WAR years. Player #4 is a lot like Player #5, just with a worse peak but with much more depth of performance. Player #3 has a comparably weak peak (I mean, obviously better than Player #6, top season notwithstanding) but has such an incredible depth of talent that it kind of makes up for it. Player #2 also has weak peak (pretty hilarious that I'm talking about multiple 9 WAR years as a weak peak - that's how good these players are) but his depth is spectacular: eight 8+ WAR years, twelve 7+ WAR years, fourteen 6+ WAR . . . nobody in PBL history can compete with those. That he doesn't have many 3 and 4 WAR years keeps him from challenging for #1. Player #1 is the second best of everything. He's got the third best three-year peak, the 2nd best eight-year peak, and probably the 2nd best post-eight year depth. He's not the best anywhere but he's got no holes in his career. Interesting to look at, right? The one thing we can all agree on is that Player #6 is right where he ought to be. Right? Good. Player #6 is Sotan Kono. #hide
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