Torii Hunter the best CF in the game right now?

[Lucifer]

Who do you guys think is the best CF in baseball this year?

.306/.351/.556 15 HR (Before yesterday)

Id say Torii Hunter is the best CF in baseball right now.
He's a high-quality hitter with some legit power and IMO the best defensive outfielder in the game

[natsnsoxfan]

No. Carlos Beltran is better, Grady Sizemore is better, Vernon Wells is better. This year he might, but there is no way he is the best from a talent standpoint.

[Lucifer]

Im talking about this year..

And he's playing better than any of those guys..

[Colorado Express]

No. Carlos Beltran is better, Grady Sizemore is better, Vernon Wells is better. This year he might, but there is no way he is the best from a talent standpoint.

I would agree from an offensive talent standpoint that all three of them are better (although not this year, as you have stated) and more could be added, but none of them even come close defensively. Beltran and Sizemore are good, and Wells catches anything that is hit to him, but he has lead feet and would be better suited in LF.

I love Torii Hunter, but my vote for the best CF this year is going to go to Ichiro...he's amazing offensively and outstanding defensively. If Gold Gloves were awarded by OF position, I wouldn't want to decide between these two this year.

[Lucifer]

I think Hunter is the best defensively of them all, without question. Add that to what he's done on offense this year... and Ill take him over anyone

[rdonahue]

He's certainly amongst the best. I'm a very, very biased Tigers fan so it's hard for me to say any Tiger isn't the best in the game (heck, you could convince me Sean Casey is the best 1Bmen if you tried hard enough) so I want to say Granderson is better. Granderson's having a pretty good year so even though realistically he isn't the best CFer he's at least in the top third.

[KCGHOST]

If you check RCAA, VORP, and WARP3 you will see that Hunter trails, in order, Ichiro, Granderson, and Sizemore in each of those categories. Hunter Pence trails Torii Hunter.

The difference between Hunter, Granderson, and Sizemore is not large in each of those categories. Ichiro dominates him though.

[rdonahue]

If you check RCAA, VORP, and WARP3 you will see that Hunter trails, in order, Ichiro, Granderson, and Sizemore in each of those categories. Hunter Pence trails Torii Hunter.

The difference between Hunter, Granderson, and Sizemore is not large in each of those categories. Ichiro dominates him though.

Maybe I'm not crazy saying Granderson is at least well above average.

I guess I could say something about Torrii Hunter at some point:
He's having a good year, his glove is still amongst the best, but I think there are better CFers than him. I haven't looked up all the numbers so I'm not sure who. I don't want to put Sizemore there though because he isn't doing as good this year as last year (or at least so far). Sizemore has a pretty good upside considerring his age, but until he puts together a few more seasons like last year he won't be my pick.

[tearforamariner]

Who do you guys think is the best CF in baseball this year?

.306/.351/.556 15 HR (Before yesterday)

Id say Torii Hunter is the best CF in baseball right now.
He's a high-quality hitter with some legit power and IMO the best defensive outfielder in the game

I would say that the offensive output of Torii and Ichiro is at best even. They have even OPS+ and Ichiro has the edge in RC/27. If you get obsessed with home runs, then Torii looks better. But in quality of play, offensively, Ichiro makes a good case.

Defensively, it's Ichiro. I think almost every metric will show that Hunter has been overrated for many years now. FRAA rates Hunter as a below average CF. He had one truly great defensive season (2001), and not much else since then. Ichiro, however, is still dominant.

[KCGHOST]

VORP and RCAA say Hunter is the 5th best offensive CF with slots 2-5 being clustered together.

[Lucifer]

Dude I don't even know what those stats are. What are VORP, RCAA, FRAA

Hunter has come thru with the big hits and has the numbers that are gonna get him the biggest contract for a CF. There's no doubt Granderson is a very good CF, but I wouldn't compare him with Torii Hunter.

[Colorado Express]

Defensively, it's Ichiro. I think almost every metric will show that Hunter has been overrated for many years now. FRAA rates Hunter as a below average CF. He had one truly great defensive season (2001), and not much else since then. Ichiro, however, is still dominant.

I would have a tough time buying into any stat (FRAA) that rates Hunter as "below average". What does this stat represent? Whether you buy into him being the one of the best CF or not, I'd find it hard to believe that anyone would say he is below average. Having said that, as I stated above, Ichiro is the better CF, both offensively and possibly defensively.

[Lucifer]

^I agree that any stat that puts Torii Hunter below average is ridiculous and a bad measure. There's prolly 10 guys ranked higher than him in that stat that you'd laugh at if someone said they're better than Torii Hunter.

[ChrisLDuncan]

As a Yankees fan that is looking at the possibility of replacing old man Damon this offseason and knowing that Hunter and Ichiro will both be there for the taking, and you were to give me a choice between Ichiro and Hunter...I would trip over myself jumping at Ichiro.

[Lucifer]

I'd be looking for someone to make that decision for me, cause I wouldn't wanna.

[KCGHOST]

Dude I don't even know what those stats are. What are VORP, RCAA, FRAA.

VoRP = Value over Replacement Player (A Measure of Offensive Worth)
RCAA = Runs Created Against Average (Another Measure of Offense)
FRAA = Fielding Runs Against Average

Try to remember you limited this discussion to this year, not Hunter's career. In half-a-season anything can happen statistically.

I don't think watching a guy on SportsCenter gives anyone the info they need to overrule objective numbers.

For those of you hot-to-trot to get in on the Hunter Derby you might want to consider you will be bidding on a 32-year old CF who is a league average hitter at best with a below average on base percentage.

[Lucifer]

I know that im talking about this year and this year only. And none of that clears up what those stats are lol, what do they measure

[Edgartohof]

Defensively, Sizemore, Granderson, Ichiro are at the top right now (and to think that Ichiro is in his '30's, not his '20's like most of the others!).

[tearforamariner]

As a Yankees fan that is looking at the possibility of replacing old man Damon this offseason and knowing that Hunter and Ichiro will both be there for the taking, and you were to give me a choice between Ichiro and Hunter...I would trip over myself jumping at Ichiro.

Ichiro won't be "there for the taking". He will be with the club in 2008.

[538280]

I like Hunter, he's a colorful player and I love watching him, however, he definitely wouldn't be #1 on my "players to sign" list if I'm a GM. Over his career he hasn't been much more than a league average hitter in terms of production. His OBP is below average, he does have some power which makes him probably a little bit above average offensively. He has been excellent defensively in his caerer, but he's aging and is well past the usual defensive prime already. A defensive decline is sure to happen within the next 3 years.

[Lucifer]

What's the league OBP average? I bet .348 is not below average.

[tearforamariner]

What's the league OBP average? I bet .348 is not below average.

Chris was referring to Hunter's career OBP of .324 because he was talking about Hunter as a Free Agent. When teams are after a FA and are going to throw lots of money at them, they should be looking at more than one season. But if you want to know, .336 is the League Average, which puts Hunter just a bit above that.

[Lucifer]

Once again, we're only talking about this year.. right now...

[tearforamariner]

Once again, we're only talking about this year.. right now...

Actually, you can't control the dialogue. See, people began speaking about Free Agency. Once that door is open, Chris and others should be free to discuss career numbers they are (or should be) important to a free agent signing.

But again, if you want to talk this year, Torii Hunter's OBP is nothing special. In fact, his .348 OBP is 5th among AL center fielders. In this aspect, he is certainly not the best in the game.

[Seattle1]

I love Torii Hunter, but my vote for the best CF this year is going to go to Ichiro...he's amazing offensively and outstanding defensively.

That's a good call, Colorado Express.

[bluezebra]

Who do you guys think is the best CF in baseball this year?

.306/.351/.556 15 HR (Before yesterday)

Id say Torii Hunter is the best CF in baseball right now.
He's a high-quality hitter with some legit power and IMO the best defensive outfielder in the game

Yes. And Tori Spelling is the best actress in Hollywood.

Bob

[Lucifer]

Actually, you can't control the dialogue. See, people began speaking about Free Agency. Once that door is open, Chris and others should be free to discuss career numbers they are (or should be) important to a free agent signing.

But again, if you want to talk this year, Torii Hunter's OBP is nothing special. In fact, his .348 OBP is 5th among AL center fielders. In this aspect, he is certainly not the best in the game.

Stop kneeling in front of 'Chris'.

His OBP is not what makes him a great player, nor is it even one of the reasons

For people like bluezebra let's leave the corny analogies out of this discussion

[AznInvasion]

Torii Hunter best CF? This is ridiculous. He's not even the best in his own division. Grady Sizemore and Curtis Granderson are both better.

[Lucifer]

So you're saying he doesn't have the best numbers right now? Of those three..

Torii Hunter: .306- 17 HR- 62 RBI- .350 OBP- .567 SLG
Sizemore: .281- 13 HR- 37 RBI- .395 OBP- .471 SLG
Granderson: .291- 10 HR- 40 RBI- .347 OBP- .559 SLG