Carlos Delgado vs Eric Chavez

[Sockeye]

Who will go down as the better player?

[Dodgerfan1]

I gotta say Delgado will. Hitters are the money players these days and, while we all know (well, most of us, anyway) that Chavy is among the best fielding third basemen ever, Delgado is a masher at the plate. Chavez once had good power in his bat, but he's tailed off at the plate, both power-wise and BA-wise, while actually improving in the field. I'll take Chavez' glove at third base over anyone in the league today, however as to which will go down as the better player, I believe it will be Delgado.

[KCGHOST]

This is really an awkward comparison. One player dominates the other with the bat and the other dominates with the glove. But, the real problem is the six year difference in age. If they play to the same age my guess is Chavez will be a little better. On the other hand if they play the same number of seasons (or Chavez actually plays fewer) then I like DelGado.

[Colorado Express]

I'll say Delgado in this one.

[Craig S.]

The age difference makes it difficult. If I had to speculate, I'd have to think that Chavez in his 30-34 seasons won't be able to match what Delgado did at the same age. Chavez still has steady power, but not of the 35+ homer variety. I also like Delgado's numbers far better in OBP, OPS+, etc., and I doubt that Chavez's wizardry with the glove will make him quite as memorable as Delgado's power.

[natsnsoxfan]

I disagree. I think Chavez will come to be the gold standard with the glove at third base for years after he retires and is gone from the game, but there are a ton of guys with equal to or better power than Delgado (Ortiz, Manny, A-Rod, Thome, Howard, the Jones', etc.), Chavez being not that far behind with the power numbers if he can just stay healthy for a whole season and get some guys around him to protect him. Chavez is much more complete than Delgado and i think that is why he will go down as the better player.

[Sockeye]

there are a ton of guys with equal to or better power than Delgado (Ortiz, the Jones', etc.), Chavez being not that far behind with the power numbers

HR/AB ratio

Carlos Delgado 14.95
David Ortiz 15.85
Andruw Jones 17.09
Chipper Jones 17.96
Eric Chavez 20.04

[natsnsoxfan]

Ok, point proven with Chavez. But Delgado has quite a bit more AB's than Ortiz and Andruw Jones. I did notice however that you left Howard, Thome, Manny, and A-Rod out of your comparison :think: .

Anyways, point being that there will always be guys like Delgado with the big power numbers. There are now, there have been in the past and there will be in the future, there are tons of players before Carlos that had just as good if not better power numbers, but, how many have been as good or better than Chavez with the glove? Brooks Robinson, and MAYBE Mike Schmidt. Along with league average or even slightly better hitting.

Delgado is going to get lost in the other sluggers of his era, the Thomes and Mannys of the world, but Chavez probably won't because of how good he is with the glove, the only one equal to or better than him now is Rolen and MAYBE Lowell. There are several other players just as good with Delgado in terms of power, very few if any in terms of Chavez with the glove.

[Sockeye]

Ok, point proven with Chavez. But Delgado has quite a bit more AB's than Ortiz and Andruw Jones.

The more AB's the more difficult it is the maintain a high HR/AB ratio. Ratios favor players with less AB's.


there are tons of players before Carlos that had just as good if not better power numbers

A ton??? Carlos Delgado ranks 14th in the history of the game in HR/AB ratio. 5th among 1B's behind only (McGwire, Thome, Pujols, Killebrew)

Delgado is going to get lost in the other sluggers of his era, the Thomes and Mannys of the world, but Chavez probably won't because of how good he is with the glove, the only one equal to or better than him now is Rolen and MAYBE Lowell. There are several other players just as good with Delgado in terms of power, very few if any in terms of Chavez with the glove.

You are comparing Delgado to players at all other positions while only comparing Chavez to other 3B's. Seems a bit unfair to me. Generally speaking it's the power hitters that are more remembered than what players are remembered for their gloves. Look at say a Buddy Bell or Robin Ventura
Both excellent glovemen at the hot corner but not exactly household names.

[Craig S.]

Delgado is going to get lost in the other sluggers of his era, the Thomes and Mannys of the world, but Chavez probably won't because of how good he is with the glove, the only one equal to or better than him now is Rolen and MAYBE Lowell. There are several other players just as good with Delgado in terms of power, very few if any in terms of Chavez with the glove.

I think you overestimate how those with great gloves are viewed historically. Doug Rader and Ken Boyer were considered the best third basemen of their day, but neither is in Cooperstown, and Rader in fact never even made an All-Star team. Unless you're Brooks Robinson, you need more than a glove to be remembered. I think Delgado's bat will be more memorable than Chavez's glove, especially to anyone not living on the West Coast.

[natsnsoxfan]

Chavez is still a league average hitter though. Delgado is a well above average hitter but his glove is very poor. I'm not neccesarily saying that people are going to look back and say "OMG LOOK AT THAT GUY HE WAS SUCH AN AMAZING FIELDER!", im more saying that there are so many big power guys like Delgado that his name will get lost amongst them. Delgado isn't head and shoulders above his competition because of the numerous guys that are on the same level with him, Chavez is head and shoulders above just about everyone except Rolen, and maybe Lowell, Ryan Zimmerman, and Joe Crede.

[natsnsoxfan]

The more AB's the more difficult it is the maintain a high HR/AB ratio. Ratios favor players with less AB's.




A ton??? Carlos Delgado ranks 14th in the history of the game in HR/AB ratio. 5th among 1B's behind only (McGwire, Thome, Pujols, Killebrew)



You are comparing Delgado to players at all other positions while only comparing Chavez to other 3B's. Seems a bit unfair to me. Generally speaking it's the power hitters that are more remembered than what players are remembered for their gloves. Look at say a Buddy Bell or Robin Ventura
Both excellent glovemen at the hot corner but not exactly household names.

I can't compare Chavez with people at other positions because you have to talk about defense with him and you can't compare a 3rd basemen to a second basemen in terms of defense. You can compare a power hitting first basemen with a power hitting OF'er or third basemen.

[Monarch]

My vote goes to Chavez. He's a good hitter and a great defensive thirdbaseman. Unfortunately, Delgado will probably get the nod because he plays in New York.

I put Stan Musial's numbers up against Joe DiMaggio and Stan the Man wins hands down, but DiMaggio gets more noteriaty because he was a Yankee.

Put Chavez in Yankee pinstripes and Delgado in a Mariners uniform and see who comes out on top.