The Best of FanGraphs: 10 Most Popular Posts of 2014

It’s the end of the year. At the end of the year, we like to look back before we look forward to the upcoming year. In that vein, I thought it would be instructive — and perhaps a little bit fun — to pull the most popular posts from our fair site for this calendar year. If you read the Best Of post each week (or even some weeks, or maybe you glanced at it while your significant other was in the dressing room that one time and you were suuuuper bored???), you know that I like to throw a little shine at all of the blogs in our family, so we’ll also have a spot for the most popular piece for each blog as well, if they didn’t reach the actual top 10. Onward!

Wait, before we move onward, a note — just because I’m using the “Best of” post here, doesn’t mean that these were necessarily the best posts. They’re simply the most popular. I am grouping them under the “Best of” banner because it’ll be easier to find them at a later date. You know, if you’re curious to find them again at a later date (I know I will be). OK, onward!!!

Honorable Mentions
Most Popular TechGraphs Article: A U-Verse Customer’s Guide to Making Chromecast Work, by David Wiers, Sept. 4
Looking in-depth to help a specific segment of the population happier — it’s what we do.

Most Popular Community Article: The Cubs, the Red Sox and a Blank Check, by http://anothermarinersblog.com/, Dec. 23
The author here — real name Jonathan Aicardi — raises an interesting gambit that the Red Sox and Cubs could make happen this year.

Most Popular The Hardball Times Article: The Strike Zone Expansion is Out of Control, by Jon Roegele, Oct. 13
How low can it go? Hopefully not any lower. Either way, Jon will be around to tell us about it.

Most Popular NotGraphs Article: Dangerous Experiment: A Roster of 25 Adam Dunns, by Patrick Dubuque, Aug. 13
NotGraphs may be gone, but at least it spawned this beautiful post before the blog was extinguished by a pool of Cistulli’s tears.

Most Popular Player Page: Mike Trout
And YOU accuse US of being obsessed with him? Ha! Ha, I say!

The Top 10
#10. 2014 Top 10 Prospects: Chicago Cubs, by Marc Hulet, Jan. 16
Cubs fans have been excited about the future for awhile now.

#9. 2015 MLB Draft Rankings, Way-Too-Early Edition, by Kiley McDaniel, Sept. 11
Was it really too early? Yes, probably, but still.

#8. Evaluating the Prospects: Chicago Cubs, by Kiley McDaniel, Oct. 17
Very, very excited.

#7. Baseball’s New Strategy: Drop the Ball on Purpose, by Dave Cameron, Apr. 14
This crazy rule didn’t last long, but Dave’s post about it is eternal.

#6. RotoGraphs Consensus Ranks: Starting Pitchers, by Eno Sarris, Feb. 27
Heading into fantasy season, these consensus ranks are invaluable resources, and … man, I bet everyone wishes they had that Mike Minor ranking back, huh?

#5. So What Are the A’s Doing Anyway?, by Dave Cameron, Nov. 29
We’re one month closer to levying a judgment on this trade.

#4. The Most Extreme Home Runs of 2014, by August Fagerstrom, Sept. 29
A best of post within a best of post. How meta. Sort of.

#3. The A’s and Cubs Blockbuster Trade, by Mike Petriello, Jul. 5
The A’s and Cubs are dominating this list, but with good reason — they’ve both had pretty eventful years, particularly with this trade.

#2. 2014 Trade Value: The Top 10, by Dave Cameron, Jul. 18
If you had to bet on one player not being in the top 10 next year, who would you bet on? Off the top of my head, I’ll say Salvador Perez. What say you, dear reader?

#1. Alex Gordon Barely Had a Chance, by Jeff Sullivan, Oct. 30
The most popular post of the year doesn’t necessarily have to be the best, but in this case, it might have been. I was fairly convinced that holding Alex Gordon was a pretty bad decision until I read Jeff’s article, which — like the best Jeff Sullivan articles — turned a sure-fire notion completely on its head.

A Few Quick Observations

• You’ll notice that this is not simply a list of Dave Cameron and Jeff Sullivan posts. Yes, Dave does have the most posts on this list, but the variety of writers represented here speaks to the talented writers we count in our ranks, and that is nice to see.
• There’s also a pretty wide swath of months covered here — only March, May and June weren’t represented.
• Thirdly, there’s a pretty good mix of reaction pieces, think pieces and lists represented here. Which is also nice to see. It says, to me anyway, that you guys aren’t just wowed by pretty lists and rankings — you want some substance to your pieces. I would agree.
• The THT and NG posts just barely missed cracking the top 10.
• It’s been a great year. Thanks for sharing it with us.