Best All Around Player Of 2008

When scouts dream at night, they dream of five tool players – guys who can hit for average, hit for power, run, catch, and throw. These are considered the building blocks on which a superstar is built, and the very best players in the game can usually do most, if not all, of those things at a very high level.

There are a decent amount of true five tool players in baseball right now, and at one time or another, almost all of them have been referred to as “the best all around player in the game”. But who really has been the best of the bunch – the guy with a diverse skillset who exceeds in every area of the game – in 2008?

Here are the contenders, in alphabetical order:

Carlos Beltran, .280/.371/.490, 38 2B, 4 3B, 24 HR, 21 SB, 3 CS
Curtis Granderson, .293/.375/.504, 24 2B, 13 3B, 19 HR, 10 SB, 4 CS
Hanley Ramirez, .294/.396/.527, 33 2B, 4 3B, 30 HR, 33 SB, 12 CS
Jose Reyes, .295/.359/.474, 34 2B, 18 3B, 14 HR, 50 SB, 14 CS
Alex Rodriguez, .304/.393/.584, 33 2B, 0 3B, 34 HR, 17 SB, 3 CS
Grady Sizemore, .271/.379/.513, 36 2B, 3 3B, 32 HR, 38 SB, 5 CS
Alfonso Soriano, .291/.351/.561, 29 2B, 0 3B, 29 HR, 19 SB, 2 CS
Chase Utley, .289/.377/.533, 38 2B, 4 3B, 31 HR, 12 SB, 2 CS
David Wright, .298/.386/.534, 40 2B, 2 3B, 31 HR, 15 SB, 5 CS

Hits For Average

For the most part, they’re all pretty similar. A-Rod’s the only one who cracks .300, but besides Sizemore and Beltran, they’re all in that .290 to .300 range. Sizemore’s contact issues leave him at the bottom of the barrel in this specific tool.

Hits For Power

Again, A-Rod has a slight lead in longballs, with most of the group being around that 30 HR mark. However, power isn’t just hitting the ball over the wall, as we see from guys like Jose Reyes, who has 66 extra base hits even though he only has 14 dingers. Wright has racked up more XBH than the rest (73), but Rodriguez’s slight lead in HRs and fewer plate appearances make him the winner in this category.

Running

At first glance, we have our first landslide, as Reyes has 50 steals while no one else even has 40. However, Sizemore’s 38 steals and just 5 CS is more impressive. To catch Reyes, he’d simply have to go 12 for 21 in stolen base attempts the rest of the way, and I think we’d all agree that he probably could run at a 57% success rate if he really wanted to – he’s just choosing not to because it would hurt his team. We can’t ignore the extra bases Reyes has been able to take turning doubles into triples, however, so he wins this category even though Sizemore’s been the better base stealer. There’s a big dropoff after those two, with everyone else clustering around the same area.

Fielding

The combination of range and fielding ability, the Fielding Bible’s +/- system is quite helpful here. They have Utley at a ridiculous +39 plays above an average second baseman this year, but second base is comprised of worse defenders than shortstop, so we have to account for the position adjustment. John Dewan’s system has Beltran at +17 plays in CF, which is fantastic, and Sizemore at +9, which is also very good. It has everyone else at around average (or worse, in Granderson’s case) for 2008, so we can realistically look at Utley, Beltran, and Sizemore as the category leaders. Beltran’s +17 as a CF is extremely impressive, but no matter how many adjustments you make, it’s hard to get away from Utley’s +39. He could be a good shortstop or CF if the Phillies wanted to move him, and he’s proving it every year. Utley gets the nod here.

Throwing

Here’s where it gets a bit subjective – most people would agree that Hanley, Reyes, and Soriano have impressive arm strength, while Sizemore and Granderson certainly don’t. But we don’t have any seasonal data that tells us who has been more valuable throwing the ball this year, so I’ll just let you pick your own winner here. I’m going with Reyes, because he has more opportunities to use his arm at SS than others do, but I’ll let someone talk me out of that if they want to try.

So, after going through all five categories, what have we learned? A-Rod’s the best in the batters box, with small advantages in average and power, but he falls off in running and fielding. Reyes is the fastest and might have the strongest arm, but he hits half as many home runs as most of the others. Wright is solid across the board, but isn’t the best at anything.

For me, it comes down to Sizemore, Beltran, and Ramirez. Hanley has best average but the worst baserunning and the worst defense of the three, so he’s out. Sizemore’s average brings him down, and Beltran has a slight edge defensively, but it’s hard to get past 71 extra base hits, 38 steals at an 88% success rate, and terrific defense in center field.

So, my vote for the best all around player in baseball in 2008 goes to Grady Sizemore.