All-Decade Team: 2000s – Third Basemen

[Freakshow]

I realize that the Current Events Forum has recently run polls on this. However, those ballots appeared to be drawn up somewhat unsystematically, the OF were all thrown together, and they weren’t even in alphabetical order. I think we can do this a bit better. Here’s my format:

• We’ll create a 25-man team, which will be the ballot for the final election.
• We’ll have ten preliminary polls, one for each position.
• We’ll vote for two players at each position (16 players total), plus five starting pitchers, plus four relievers. DH will not be listed separately, since only a handful of significant players played a majority of their games there.
• Data will be provided: total Win Shares 2000-2008 plus top 3 seasons in the decade; total WARP3 2000-2009 plus top 3 seasons; MVP award top 3 finishes in the decade. Other stats (OPS+, RC, etc.) are as of the 2009 all-star break.
• Players will be ranked only on their play in the decade 2000-2009; performance before 2000 should be ignored. Active players should be projected only to the end of this season; what you think they might do after this season is irrelevant.
• I’ll try and get the ten polls up fairly quickly. They’ll stay open for about a month.

We'll vote for two third basemen. If a 3B is one of the Top 2 in a stat among these players it's highlighted below.

Player 3MVP ASG OPS+ RC OBP SLG G GG WARP3 Top 3 WS Top 3
Miguel Cabrera 5-5-13 4 140 732 0.381 0.541 965 41.8 (11.1-7.5-6.6) 140 (33-29-27)
Eric Chavez 14-17-21 0 118 727 0.345 0.487 1156 6 48.9 (10.0-7.7-7.4) 152 (26-24-23)
Troy Glaus x-x-x 4 127 819 0.366 0.513 1193 40.5 (7.9-7.4-7.4) 159 (25-23-22)
Chipper Jones 6-8-11 3 149 1112 0.416 0.555 1321 61.7 (9.2-8.4-8.0) 219 (31-29-27)
Alex Rodriguez 1-1-1 9 155 1339 0.401 0.590 1458 2 79.2 (11.6-11.0-9.5) 288 (37-37-37)
Scott Rolen 4-24-x 5 125 851 0.368 0.500 1232 6 65.7 (11.6-10.4-9.6) 180 (35-29-26)
David Wright 4-7-9 4 138 627 0.391 0.525 789 2 36.7 (10.4-9.5-5.9) 126 (34-30-27)

[OleMissCub]

Ummm....Eric Chavez but no Aramis Ramirez? I'd think a third baseman with a 162 game avg over 13 seasons of 30 HR, 37 2B, 172 Hits, and 108 RBI should at least get on this list.

Since 2001, Ramirez has the most HR of any third baseman in baseball.

[PVNICK]

Chipper's a gimmee and A-Rod has been @ 3B since '04 so he beats out Rolen.

[Freakshow]

Ummm....Eric Chavez but no Aramis Ramirez? I'd think a third baseman with a 162 game avg over 13 seasons of 30 HR, 37 2B, 172 Hits, and 108 RBI should at least get on this list.

Since 2001, Ramirez has the most HR of any third baseman in baseball.Purely park effects. Chavez has been a slightly better hitter (OPS+ 118 to 117 in the decade, EQA .286 to .281 for career) and a much better glove (6 GG) than Aramis. Win shares has them really close, WARP3 gives a clear edge to Chavez.

If it helps, Ramirez was the last cut from the list. In any case, neither is really in the running for the top 2 here.

[Jsquared83]

Chipper and A-Rod. Chipper might be one of the most underrated players over the last 20 years. If this guy doesnt get 90+% on his first ballot, I will lose all faith in the writers.

[Domenic]

Alex Rodriguez and Chipper Jones.

Though, I must say that I feel somewhat badly voting for either over Rolen. Had Rolen been league-average in 2005 and 2007, he would've pushed one of them off - the fact that he missed so much time and was so ineffectual for two seasons was a great hindrance. His glove, in my mind, makes up a great deal of ground on Jones and a fair amount on Rodriguez.

[Fielding Marshall]

Jones and Rodriguez.

Some good players on the ballot, though. It's closer than I thought.

[dgarza]

Rodriguez & Jones

[Freakshow]

...and DOWN the stretch they come, ARod leading by a nose over Chipper. Remember, vote for two.

[KCGHOST]

Chipper and Arod. Two guys who played a lot at another position.

[ghostofelvis]

is there anyone else here...?

arod and chipper...!

tcb~