After running this site for five years and being a sports fanatic for another 20, there are not too many opinions that make me take a step back and think, “What the absolute hell?” However, that happened this morning when I came across ‘The Shredder’s’ top-ten list of second baseman in the game today.
Here's how the top 2B in the game stack up! #Top10RightNow pic.twitter.com/QCdq5iC9hG
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) February 2, 2021
Now, before I go in on this, I’ll give The Shredder some credit. I have seen most of its position lists this offseason and have not had too much to gripe about, but putting Ozzie Albies as the tenth-best second baseman is just straight up blasphemy.
Credit to DJ LeMahieu, Jeff McNeil, and Ketel Marte — they are three of my favorite players to watch and are deserving of being atop this list. Lowe has also had a fantastic start to his career. I would argue that Albies should be ahead of him, but the margin is razor-thin. After that, however, the Braves second baseman should be right there, and some of these names are just laughable.
Biggio has put together a solid first 159 games of his career. I believe he will be a great player for a long time, and his ability to coax walks is downright amazing. Still, he hasn’t done nearly enough to be mentioned in the same sentence as Albies.
Cronenworth was tremendous as a rookie, but like… are you serious? He has 54 career games under his belt, four homers, and 15 doubles.
Donovan Solano? Sure, his last 130 games have been admirable, but he’s a career .276 hitter with 16 home runs over a seven-year career. Chris Taylor? Vomit… At least Jose Altuve has a track record, but he hit .219 last season and looks to have lost all of his confidence.
Listen, I understand Albies spent most of last season on the IL, but he still put up pretty good numbers when he was on the field, including the NLCS when he hit .333 with two homers. All he did the year before is accrue 5-WAR, leading the league in hits, smashing 43 doubles and 24 homers. Oh, and on top of that, he’s arguably the best defensive second baseman in the game. I expect him to have a tremendous bounce-back campaign in 2021, and any list that doesn’t have him among the top-five players at his position shouldn’t be taken seriously.
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