Best SS in the majors?

[big daddy russ]

A-Rod gave the New York media a little sound bite that's sure to ignite the gossip about the relationship between him and Jeter, so I'd be willing to bet that Steinbrenner trades him after all the talk wears on the team.

Assuming A-Rod switches back to SS after the trade, who do you think is the best in the bigs is? Give me a list if you want.

[Adidas410s]

Mike Young...who???

:D :D :D

[Vrabird]

Are we talking about strictly defense, or all around player(offense and defense). The SS in Houston( Everett) is a pretty good glove man. His offense is kinda lacking sometimes.

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by Vrabird
Are we talking about strictly defense, or all around player(offense and defense). The SS in Houston( Everett) is a pretty good glove man. His offense is kinda lacking sometimes.
I was thinking everything. Young's a good pick, Everett's got some of the softest leather in the bigs, Jose Reyes is blossoming as a great all-around player, Miguel Tejada's a five-tool player, A-Rod's probably the most all-around gifted player in the game today but Derek Jeter (despite his lack of defense) may be the biggest 'winner' in the game today.

Take your pick.

[JR2004]

Miggy is the best SS in baseball and it's not even close, UNLESS, Arod gets to move back to SS once he leaves the Yanks.

What bugs me about Jeter is the guy is an absolutely awful defensive shortstop However, because he's a Yankee and gets his face on TV 24/7, he's portrayed as the greatest thing going at the position. The majority of the time when you see Jeter get on Baseball Tonight making a webgem it's a play that wouldn't be one for most other shortstops. His range is so absurdly bad at short that those supposed "great plays" are actually routine for most anyone else because they'd get to the ball on time and wouldn't have to make a throw from their knees to get someone out. He has an extremely slow reaction time to go with his average arm strength. If Arod didn't want to soothe Jeter's ego, Jeter would be at 2nd where a player with his limited defensive ablilities belongs at and Cano could be sitting at 3rd or in the outfield.

[VWG]

Jeter.... hands down.
Everett? No way.
Jimmy Rollins plays a mean shortstop. David Eckstein, all heart.

[eagles_victory]

Tejada isnt a five tool player hes not fast

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by eagles_victory
Tejada isnt a five tool player hes not fast
Watch him from time to time. Sure, he doesn't have the range of Rollins, Reyes, or Furcal, but he's anything but slow.

[Panther One]

Based on a statistical analysis of all major league shortstops, Adam Everett is the best in the game defensively. If he weren't, he wouldn't be starting. Take a look at the data to see where everyone ranks. I think you'll be surprised. Some of the guys considered to be the best at their position, are actually some of the worst defensively. Many people consider Ozzie Smith as perhaps the greatest SS of all time, yet he was horrible at the plate his first 6 or 7 seasons, and was never a great hitter. SS used to be a defensive position and the greats were known for the leather. These days, it seems like a list of greats at any position is based heavily on offense.

http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/018509.php

And for the record, A-Rod is a MUCH better SS that Jeter. The Yankees would be better defensively if they switched.

[SintonFan_inAustin]

Jeter, Rollins, Reyes and Young all have the numbers on offensive side with some avg to good defensive skills. Right now i still have to put Jeter at top with Reyes and Rollins just a notch below and Young behind those 3 for now.

[eagles_victory]

Originally posted by big daddy russ
Watch him from time to time. Sure, he doesn't have the range of Rollins, Reyes, or Furcal, but he's anything but slow. he doesnt have the speed to be considered a 5 tool player

[Vrabird]

Still say Everett can field the ball and make some of the most unbelieveable plays defensively to hang with any of the ss today.

[Panther One]

Originally posted by SintonFan_inAustin
Jeter, Rollins, Reyes and Young all have the numbers on offensive side with some avg to good defensive skills. Right now i still have to put Jeter at top with Reyes and Rollins just a notch below and Young behind those 3 for now.

Jeter has below average defensive skills. Just check the list. He's down at the bottom. In fact, all four of those guys are below average.

[SintonFan_inAustin]

Originally posted by Vrabird
Still say Everett can field the ball and make some of the most unbelieveable plays defensively to hang with any of the ss today. but would u take him out of the game at some point offensively? Jeter, Young, Reyes or Rollins wouldnt get taken out any point of a game offensively or defensively

[Vrabird]

The defensive stats make up for some of the offense. Wouldn't kick any of those ss mentioned off my team though.

[htowntransplant]

i would be inclined to pick on intangibles, and so my pick is eckstein. not the greatest arm, but will hardly hurt you. plus, what he does at bat speaks louder than his "lack of" a throwing arm. the dude is a winner. he has won 2 titles. teams that have guys like eckstein win the big ones.

[SintonFan_inAustin]

from 1997 to 2002 Jeter was ranked the worst defensive shortstop in baseball. Stat wise the best active ss is Omar Visquel. But Jeter's knack for game winning hits in the clutch overcomes his defensive flaws.

[Bull Butter]

Everett definately ain't in there because of his bat, but he is a heck of a defensive SS

[crzyjournalist03]

I saw a stat the other day that showed how Michael Young took his defensive game to an elite level last year, leading the league in double plays and increasing his chances per nine innings while cutting down his errors.

But considering he's about to be due for a new contract, I sure hope he isn't the best in the league because you can forget about Texas bringing him back if he gets Jeter money.

Tejada has been overrated for a few years now...not NEARLY the same player since steroid testing started...(I'm not accusing him of steroids, just using that as a timeframe since his skills dropped off)

Righ now, for all-around ability, I'd go with Jose Reyes.

[Keith7]

mike young hands down

[themsu97]

Everett is way over rated...how many great plays does a player make in one game to help you as much as his bat hurts you... would anyone even care about Jeter if he played anywhere else? maybe... his greatest play is way overhyped with his run, catch and then jump into the stands play against the Red Sox... he could have avoided going into the stands imo... which to me leaves Visquel, Tejada and Arod if he could play the position still... I am taking Tejada

[Panther One]

Everett is not overrated. He is the best defensive shortstop in baseball. He's not a great hitter, but that doesn't take away from his defensive exploits. Would you say Ozzie Smith is overrated? Lets compare their batting averages for their first four full seasons in the big leagues.

Everett: .256, .273, .248, .239
Smith: .258, .211, .230, .222

The difference is that over the last 10-15 years, the shortstop position has evolved from a defensive first position, to an offensive first position; much like every other spot on the field. Now the greatest shortstops are the guys that produce at the plate. If Ozzie played in today's game, he'd have people calling for his benching, just like the Astros fans do of Everett.

Very few people recognize the value of good defense, especially at short. They don't see what Everett brings to the team defensively, because they just see some guy out there fielding ground balls and throwing guys out, and think anyone could do it, oblivious to the fact that a lot of the plays he makes, over half the guys in the majors couldn't. His defense saves runs and the pitchers love having him behind them. I wish you could compute how many runs his defense saves, but then you'd be getting into a lot of theortical situations and it'd just be an educated guess.

I do agree that the best all around shortstop in today's game is playing 3B for the Yankees, and that Jeter's bleacher leap was a bit rediculous.

[CenTexSports]

I'll take Mike Young. Great team player and excellent in all categories.

[themsu97]

no way you just compared Everett to Ozzie... not even close... Everett cannot even begin to sniff Ozzies strap... Everett is overrated, as is Ausmus... Ausmus may have been good 5 years ago... I would much rather have an average defensive player who makes the routine plays and can hit... Ozzie did a lot of things that Everett only wishes he could...

[Highschoolfan78]

a heatlhy Rafael Furcal could get a BIG honorable mention