There are some names missing here that may be expected–be sure to look at the DH summary to find most of them.
This group is totally dominated by the AL, with no NL first baseman showing up until the B Tier.
We have our standard defensive stats here, with the leaders in bold and the worst performers in italics. Range Factor (RF) measures the number of plays made per game–the higher the better. Zone Rating (ZR) attempts to credit players for plays other fielders missed and ding them for plays other fielders made–the higher the better, and it has the benefit of being comparative across the position. Defensive Efficiency (dEff) measures the rate at which an individual fielder contributes to outs being made on balls put into play, with any score over 1.000 being a net positive impact. Finally, Fielding Percentage (fPct) reflects the percentage of times a chance was handled without a mistake–if someone made no errors, their fPct would be 1.000.
Of these, Range Factor is the most susceptible to the impact of the pitching staff and the ballpark, although none of these defensive ratings are perfect.
#S Tier
That’s right, none. Maybe Jim Thome belongs here? Lou Gehrig certainly does, but he played primarily as a DH this season. S Tier is supposed to be hard, and a simple 1.000 OPS doesn’t automatically grant entry.
#A Tier
| Lg | Tm | Name | Age | Slash | Other | Def |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL | CLE | Lance Berkman | 29 | 276/369/633 | 57 HR 143 RBI 112 R | 7.70 RF |
| AL | SFS | Jack Clark | 29 | 257/380/605 | 51 HR 115 RBI 107 R 101 BB | 8.36 RF |
| AL | DET | Hank Greenberg | 24 | 266/352/672 | 59 HR 134 RBI 107 R | 8.27 RF |
| AL | CAG | Frank Thomas | 24 | 296/411/580 | .991 fPct -2.6 ZR .944 dEff | |
| AL | MCG | Jim Thome | 28 | 267/375/659 | 59 HR 122 RBI 101 R | .993 fPct -4.0 ZR .961 dEff |
This comes down to the choice between Thome and Hank Greenberg, and there’s not much to choose from between them. Note how bad this group is defensively–it just doesn’t matter much when you’re mashing the ball like this.
Frank Thomas‘ injury must be noted, with the Big Hurt expected to be out well into next season.
#B Tier
| Lg | Tm | Name | Age | Slash | Other | Def |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NL | HOU | Jeff Bagwell | 24 | 266/378/548 | 35 HR 112 RBI | |
| NL | BRK | Dan Brouthers | 25 | 317/363/587 | 23 SB | |
| NL | NYG | Will Clark | 28 | 292/367/585 | 33 HR | |
| AL | LAA | Carlos Delgado | 32 | 251/342/585 | 44 HR | .993 fPct |
| AL | POR | Kent Hrbek | 25 | 289/346/575 | 37 HR | |
| – | CAG/ BBB | Paul Konerko | 34 | 288/380/584 | 36 HR | .998 fPct 2.9 ZR 1.050 dEff |
| AL | MEM | David Ortiz | 27 | 280/371/676 | 34 HR | |
| NL | HOD | Anthony Rizzo | 24 | 287/391/594 |
Paul Konerko‘s defense may actually move him up into the group above, but in general the gap between this group and, say, Jack Clark, remains significant. Additionally, Konerko barely played enough in the field to qualify here–as a DH, there’s no chance he moves up a tier.
David Ortiz‘ performance probably shifts him up a level, but limited appearances and a fair bit of time at DH keeps him here for now. The same argument could be made for Anthony Rizzo and Dan Brouthers. For both, we have erred on the side of caution.
#C Tier
| Lg | Tm | Name | Age | Slash | Other | Def |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL | BAL | Dan McGann | 38 | 286/400/495 | 9.13 RF | |
| NL | KCM | Boog Powell | 28 | 254/349/500 | 9.12 RF 3.4 ZR | |
| NL | IND | Joey Votto | 32 | 246/381/521 | 36 HR 32 SB | 1.000 fPct 5.1 ZR 1.036 dEff |
Mirroring the top group, all of this great defense leaves this trio as solid, respectable starters, but not much better than that. Dan McGann is actually pretty much done, with Baltimore already declaring Eddie Murray next year’s starter, but Boog Powell and Joey Votto should keep seeing action for a few more seasons at least.
#D Tier
| Lg | Tm | Name | Age | Slash | Other | Def |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NL | HOM | Mike Epstein | 26 | 215/347/495 | -3.3 ZR .960 dEff | |
| NL | BBB | Adrián González | 27 | 252/310/487 | ||
| AL | NYY | Don Mattingly | 26 | 286/304/502 | 1.027 dEff | |
| NL | OTT | Rusty Staub | 21 | 268/333/508 | .998 fPct | |
| AL | MEM | Bill White | 29 | 264/311/528 | .993 fPct 9.05 RF |
Homestead may be looking to move on from Mike Epstein given this season’s struggles, while Ottawa believes Rusty Staub will improve dramatically. Memphis has already indicated that Bill White has lost his job to Ortiz (see above). Don Mattingly and Adrián González are both conundrums: the swing is sweet, but the production is not, and both are preventing higher output players from time in the field.
#F Tier
| Lg | Tm | Name | Age | Slash | Other | Def |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NL | BRK | Pedro Guerrero | 29 | 236/303/445 | ||
| NL | PHI | Ted Kluszewski | 31 | 245/289/436 |
Pedro Guerrero played most at 1B, but also saw action at 3B and the OF. Regardless, this is not the offensive performance the Royal Giants were looking for when they obtained him. Ted Kluszewski is likely to lose his starting job next season.
#Rookies
David Ortiz (B-Tier).