Ranking Baseball’s Best: The Infield

Dorf

12 years ago

The Majors Adam Waltersdorf will break down and attempt to rank all of baseball’s best at each and every position. The Outfield rankings will be out at noon on Tuesday and Pitchers rankings coming out in two parts on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, every MLB team will be ranked in order.

Some considerations are:

This formula rewards career performance over young players just making a splash. Since the track record is smaller, it is harder to gauge if they have the staying power of the stars ahead of them on the list. For example, Derek Jeter isn’t one of the best five shortstops in the game anymore, but is still ranked higher because the formula rewards career performance over current.

All the players that are currently on the disabled or suspended are included in the list. When they are healthy or return from suspension, they will return to hold down their spots.

Players below the 20th ranking are often platoon players or young rookies that don’t have a big enough stat line to make an adequate assessment. Players below the 20th ranking are considered to be easily replaceable parts who will likely be pushed out of a job before the end of the 2013 season.

Catchers:

Formula: 40% offense, 60% defense

Average WAR is calculated by dividing the career WAR and dividing it by number of seasons completed.

Rank	Player	Team	AVG oWAR	AVG dWAR	Positional Weighted WAR
Rank	Player	Team	AVG oWAR	AVG dWAR	Positional Weighted WAR
1	Joe Mauer	Minnesota Twins	4.42	0.31	1.96
2	Matt Weiters	Baltimore Orioles	2.35	1.58	1.89
3	Russell Martin	Pittsburgh Pirates	2.41	1.23	1.70
4	Yadier Molina	St. Louis Cardinals	1.33	1.67	1.53
5	Carlos Santana	Cleveland Indians	3.43	0.13	1.45
6	Brian McCann	Atlanta Braves	2.78	0.56	1.45
7	Buster Posey	San Francisco Giants	2.85	0.48	1.43
8	Carlos Ruiz	Philadelphia Phillies	1.84	1.01	1.35
9	Kurt Suzuki	Washington Nationals	1.58	1.08	1.28
10	Salvador Perez	Kansas City Chiefs	1.70	0.90	1.22
11	Alex Avila	Detroit Tigers	2.25	0.43	1.16
12	Johnathan Lucroy	Milwaukee Brewers	1.53	0.73	1.05
13	A.J. Pierzynski	Texas Rangers	1.62	0.51	0.95
14	Miguel Montero	Arizona Diamondbacks	1.71	0.40	0.93
15	Chris Iannetta	Los Angeles Angels	1.30	0.50	0.82
16	John Jaso	Oakland Athletics	1.85	0.03	0.76
17	J.P. Arencibia	Toronto Blue Jays	1.03	0.40	0.65
18	Nick Hundley	San Diego Padres	0.70	0.52	0.59
19	Willin Rosario	Colorado Rockies	1.00	0.30	0.58
20	Jason Castro	Houston Astros	0.55	0.55	0.55

1^st Base:

Formula: 75% offense, 25% defense

Average WAR is calculated by dividing the career WAR and dividing it by number of seasons completed.

Rank	Player	Team	AVG oWAR	AVG dWAR	Positional Weighted WAR
Rank	Player	Team	AVG oWAR	AVG dWAR	Positional Weighted WAR
1	Albert Pujols	Los Angeles Angels	6.51	0.22	4.94
2	Joey Votto	Cincinnati Reds	4.23	-0.42	3.07
3	Mark Texiera	New York Yankees	3.86	0.05	2.91
4	Prince Fielder	Detroit Tigers	3.73	-1.90	2.32
5	Mike Napoli	Boston Red Sox	2.93	-0.03	2.19
6	Adrian Gonzalez	Los Angeles Dodgers	2.96	-0.44	2.11
7	Nick Swisher	Cleveland Indians	2.48	-0.80	1.66
8	Ryan Howard	Philadelphia Phillies	2.49	-1.23	1.56
9	Justin Morneau	Minnesota Twins	2.01	-0.54	1.37
10	Paul Konerko	Chicago White Sox	2.18	-1.08	1.36
11	Paul Goldschmidt	Arizona Diamondbacks	1.85	-0.65	1.23
12	Allen Craig	St. Louis Cardinals	1.67	-0.53	1.12
13	Brandon Belt	San Francisco Giants	1.40	-0.15	1.01
14	Ike Davis	New York Mets	1.37	-0.30	0.95
15	Adam LaRoche	Washington Nationals	1.38	-0.83	0.83
16	Eric Hosmer	Kansas City Chiefs	1.50	-1.65	0.71
17	Freddie Freeman	Atlanta Braves	1.13	-0.60	0.70
18	Garrett Jones	Pittsburgh Pirates	1.22	-1.00	0.67
19	James Loney	Tampa Bay Rays	0.69	-0.26	0.45
20	Anthony Rizzo	Chicago Cubs	0.60	-0.05	0.44

2^nd Base:

Formula: 60% offense, 40% defense

Average WAR is calculated by dividing the career WAR and dividing it by number of seasons completed.

Rank	Player	Team	AVG oWAR	AVG dWAR	Positional Weighted WAR
Rank	Player	Team	AVG oWAR	AVG dWAR	Positional Weighted WAR
1	Chase Utley	Philadelphia Phillies	3.95	1.73	3.06
2	Robinson Cano	New York Yankees	4.46	0.64	2.93
3	Dustin Pedroia	Boston Red Sox	3.63	1.23	2.67
4	Dan Uggla	Atlanta Braves	4.10	-0.33	2.33
5	Dustin Ackley	Seattle Mariners	2.20	1.30	1.84
6	Aaron Hill	Arizona Diamondbacks	2.34	0.94	1.78
7	Mark Ellis	Los Angeles Dodgers	1.83	1.53	1.71
8	Ian Kinsler	Texas Rangers	2.24	0.89	1.70
9	Jason Kipnis	Cleveland Indians	2.55	0.25	1.63
10	Howie Kendrick	Los Angeles Angels	2.31	0.54	1.61
11	Marco Scutaro	San Francisco Giants	1.85	0.42	1.28
12	Brandon Phillips	Cincinnati Reds	1.55	0.70	1.21
13	Danny Espinosa	Washington Nationals	1.33	0.97	1.19
14	Darwin Barney	Chicago Cubs	0.90	1.60	1.18
15	Richie Weeks	Milwaukee Brewers	2.40	-0.72	1.15
16	Neil Walker	Pittsburgh Pirates	1.98	-0.18	1.12
17	Gordan Beckham	Chicago White Sox	1.50	0.05	0.92
18	Daniel Murphy	New York Mets	1.45	0.10	0.91
19	Jose Altuve	Houston Astros	1.80	-0.50	0.88
20	Omar Infante	Detroit Tigers	1.10	0.48	0.85

3^rd Base:

Formula: 70% offense, 30% defense

Average WAR is calculated by dividing the career WAR and dividing it by number of seasons completed.

Rank	Player	Team	AVG oWAR	AVG dWAR	Positional Weighted WAR
Rank	Player	Team	AVG oWAR	AVG dWAR	Positional Weighted WAR
1	Evan Longoria	Tampa Bay Rays	4.50	1.68	3.65
2	Miguel Cabrera	Detroit Tigers	5.34	-1.07	3.42
3	David Wright	New York Mets	4.69	0.02	3.29
4	Adrian Beltre	Texas Rangers	3.08	1.47	2.60
5	Ryan Zimmerman	Washington Nationals	3.06	0.85	2.40
6	Kevin Youkilis	New York Yankees	3.17	0.20	2.28
7	Brett Lawrie	Toronto Blue Jays	2.20	1.95	2.13
8	Pablo Sandoval	San Francisco Giants	2.86	0.16	2.05
9	Michael Young	Philadelphia Phillies	2.93	-0.67	1.85
10	Chase Headley	San Diego Padres	2.37	-0.08	1.63
11	Placido Polanco	Miami Marlins	1.81	1.18	1.62
12	Kyle Seager	Seattle Mariners	2.15	0.00	1.51
13	Martin Prado	Arizona Diamondbacks	1.67	0.54	1.33
14	Mike Moustakas	Kansas City Royals	1.40	1.10	1.31
15	Alberto Callaspo	Los Angeles Angels	1.59	0.16	1.16
16	David Freese	St. Louis Cardinals	1.65	0.00	1.16
17	Will Middlebrooks	Boston Red Sox	1.60	-0.20	1.06
18	Todd Frazier	Cincinnati Reds	1.35	0.05	0.96
19	Manny Machado	Baltimore Orioles	0.90	0.80	0.87
20	Pedro Alvarez	Pittsburgh Pirates	1.23	-0.77	0.63

Shortstop:

Formula: 45% offense, 55% defense

Average WAR is calculated by dividing the career WAR and dividing it by number of seasons completed.

Rank	Player	Team	AVG oWAR	AVG dWAR	Positional Weighted WAR
Rank	Player	Team	AVG oWAR	AVG dWAR	Positional Weighted WAR
1	Troy Tulowitzki	Colorado Rockies	2.80	1.53	2.10
2	Derek Jeter	New York Yankees	5.24	-0.48	2.09
3	Elvis Andrus	Texas Rangers	2.65	1.38	1.95
4	Yunel Escobar	Tampa Bay Rays	2.58	1.37	1.91
5	Alexi Ramirez	Chicago White Sox	2.42	1.48	1.90
6	Jimmy Rollins	Philadelphia Phillies	2.79	1.05	1.84
7	Hanley Ramirez	Los Angeles Dodgers	4.45	-0.51	1.72
8	Asdrubal Cabrera	Cleveland Indians	2.87	0.75	1.70
9	Andrelton Simmons	Atlanta Braves	0.80	2.40	1.68
10	Jose Reyes	Toronto Blue Jays	3.21	0.39	1.66
11	Brendan Ryan	Seattle Mariners	0.90	2.17	1.60
12	Starlin Castro	Chicago Cubs	2.97	0.40	1.56
13	J.J. Hardy	Baltimore Orioles	1.70	1.34	1.50
14	Erick Aybar	Los Angeles Angels	1.99	0.81	1.34
15	Jhonny Peralta	Detroit Tigers	2.33	0.39	1.26
16	Stephen Drew	Boston Red Sox	1.80	0.60	1.14
17	Zack Cozart	Cincinnati Reds	0.65	1.25	0.98
18	Alcides Escobar	Kansas City Royals	1.22	0.76	0.97
19	Brandon Crawford	San Francisco Giants	0.55	1.30	0.96
20	Ian Desmond	Washington Nationals	2.03	0.00	0.91