Beltran vs....
Peter Gammons' current ESPN.COM column discusses Carlos Beltran and how his skills have put him in an elite category among center fielders.
Gammons' criterion for Beltran's exalted status is his 2004 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage). Beltran posted a .915 OPS last season in his combined AL and NL tenure, his all-time best by a wide margin. While a fine figure, however, this total would not have ranked near the top five in either league had he played a full season in one city.
Beltran's career OPS is .843. While he has improved over the years as an offensive player, especially in his strike zone judgement, he has also been quite inconsistent, batting .306 to .273 to .307 to .258 (!) over the last four years, and is moving into a ballpark--Shea Stadium--that will almost certainly strongly decrease his offensive production. Quite honestly, Beltran was never a premium player before 2004, and doing what he did last year, at age 27, is much less impressive than doing it at age 25.
Compare Carlos Beltran, then, to another contemporary center fielder who is ONE DAY older than Beltran. This center fielder has an career .837 OPS, having played most of his career in a ballpark that has significantly decreased his offensive production. This player is also an inconsistent hitter for average but has better strike zone judgement and has already hit more than 30 home runs five times in his career.
He is also quite possibly the best defensive center fielder in the history of baseball. His name is Andruw Jones.
posted by Stuart Shea at 10:09 AM
1 Comments:
David D.,
Thanks for your excellent post. I appreciate the time you took to respond to the article.
Let me first say that I am impressed as hell with Carlos Beltran. He's always been a very good player, and he fully deserved the accolades he picked up during the post-season in 2004; it was one of the best post-season performances of our lifetimes. He also fully deserved the AL ROY in 1999, and as you pointed out, has excellent speed. Beltran is also a superb percentage base stealer, the best in the majors right now.
Nothing in my article should have been construed as a rip on Carlos Beltran. What I simply wanted to point out is that Beltran has some company around here when you start talking about the best center fielder in the game, or even the best player in the game, which he clearly is not, NLDS and NLCS performance to the contrary.
While post-season performance is important, I'm much more impressed with someone who can maintain superstar level over 162 games rather than 12. Carlos Beltran came to Houston last summer and joined a good team, where he had real support, and helped them win a playoff spot in his free-agent season. To some people, that, plus his postseason performance, plus the fact that he's going to New York and got a lot of money to do it, makes him a superstar.
I am simply suggesting that Andruw Jones, who has been the starting center fielder for a team that has won eight straight division titles while playing superb offense and defense despite endlessly listening to people whine about his "potential," hasn't received half of Beltran's ink, despite being arguably a greater and more consistent player.
9:52 PM, January 30, 2005
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