Third basemen in their prime, who would you pick and why?
Brooks Robinson
Graig Nettles
Mike Schmidt
Brooks Robinson
Graig Nettles
Mike Schmidt
quote:Adrian Beltre.
Third basemen in their prime, who would you pick and why?
Brooks Robinson
Craig Nettles
Mike Schmidt
quote:
Best defensive third baseman, who would you take?
quote:How much stock can you really put into AS games? You referenced his apparently "dubious" season when he was 25. In that season, he finished 2nd in the MVP vote, but failed to make the AS team.
--- only a 4-time all-star in a 19-year career. That's quite underwhelming.
quote:Wait! Are you telling me that fans of a particular team have a tendency to view their players in a more favorable light than other fanbases? Shocking I tell you! In all seriousness though, Beltre will likely end up with 3,200-3,300 career hits, will get very close to 500 HR, will have 2nd highest WAR of any 3B ever, will have most RBI of any 3B ever, and will likely end up with most games ever played at 3B. The guy is a historically elite 3B. I guess it's really easy to see which fans are Astros fans on this thread.
Really easy to see which fans are Rangers fans on this thread.
quote:Agree. I think it's because outside his last year in LA, he's never had the gaudy stats that people like so much. He reminds me of Eddie Murray in that regard. He's just plugged away and had a career that's made him a surefire lock for the HOF. Heck, he's coming up on first ballot lock status.
Beltre is among the most underrated great players of my lifetime.
quote:I don't think most baseball people put him on the level of Brooks Robinson or even Mike Schmidt. He's a top-5 3B all time though.
Top 10 third baseman all time. Definitely elite when looking at history, but not in the conversation for the top spot or 1b) by any means. Being the greatest takes a little extra something, and Beltre doesn't quite have it.
quote:Assuming even mediocre seasons in '17 and '18, he'll end up with roughly 3,200 hits, 500 HR, and more RBI than any 3B in history. That's a first ballot lock. If he retired today, he would have to wait a year. Maybe two. But assuming just decent seasons after this, he's a first ballot lock.
Pump the brakes, he's not near a first ballot lock yet.
quote:
Third basemen in their prime, who would you pick and why?
Brooks Robinson
Craig Nettles
Mike Schmidt
quote:
let me help out this thread...
the 2 best third basemen post-World War II are Mike Schmidt and George Brett. Their numbers speak for themselves.
quote:
and then Beltre heads up the next tier. For a while he was very under-rated. Now he's over-rated. He's been a solid above average player for a long time. But in very few seasons was he a great player. These numbers are rather telling:
--- only a 4-time all-star in a 19-year career. That's quite underwhelming.
--- only finished in the top 5 in MVP voting twice in 19 years. That's even more underwhelming. And of course one of those seasons (2004) was his, um, er, dubious season in LA
--- only reached the 100 RBI mark 4 times
--- also just 772 career walks vs. 1,579 career strikeouts
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now a quick comparison to Mike Schmidt:
--- 3-time NL MVP
--- 12-time all-star
--- 9 seasons of 100+ RBI
--- over 1,500 career walks
quote:And regarding MVP.
Beltre heads up the next tier. ... These numbers are rather telling:
--- only finished in the top 5 in MVP voting twice in 19 years. That's even more underwhelming. And of course one of those seasons (2004) was his, um, er, dubious season in LA
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now a quick comparison to Mike Schmidt:
--- 3-time NL MVP
quote:OP serious? Give me Buddy Bell 8 days a week over Nettles.
Craig Nettles