So throughout the season I will review the various positions in World Feller and give my take on who the best 5 are at their respective positions. The way I’ll rank these guys is simply my opinion, if you disagree – no problem, throw your two cents in and comment on it. All my rankings are based on the current ratings and statistics (adjusted for park effects) of Major League players listed at that position at the time of review.
5. Benji Oliva – His defense and 2 gold gloves speak for themselves. His offense is disemboweled by San Antonio’s ballpark and on top of it he has gotten off to a slow start. He did play in Texas prior to this season and didn’t put up numbers that would blow you away in a hitter’s park, but still drove the ball well and got on base. With his high contact and speed he would be an asset to a lot of teams. The reason he makes the “best of” though is for his glove and his career .985 fielding percentage, there aren’t many better.
4. Catfish Larkin is coming into his own offensively this season. He plays in tough park so his career offensive numbers are slightly less then they would be elsewhere. Thus far this season he is off to a great start, hitting .323 with an OBP and SLG of .393 and .558 respectively. At the hot corner he has a good enough range and glove to go with his great arm. All this and a name like Catfish, how could you not like him?
3. Juan Rodriguez is a great all around third baseman. He has great contact, above average power, good splits. His batting eye is not spectacular but his contact rating in combination with his splits is what gets him on base. Now that he plays in a neutral park you should see his career numbers improve. What puts Rodriguez on this list though is his defense, with a career .992 fielding percentage and 2.31 range factor at third base. Hopefully Trenton can keep him healthy.
2. Bonk Hurst – So anytime you have a superstar third baseman on your team it is great, well how about having three of them like Washington does (
Bonk Hurst,
James Langston,
Dingo Banks ). Washington gets all of them at-bats through playing them at DH, First Base and RF. Bonk Hurst has monstrous power. In a home park that is tough to hit homers in, he has crushed 50+ homeruns in his last 3 seasons. To go with his offense is solid range and a great arm for third base play.
1. Charles Perry – I could have flipped a coin between Bonk Hurst and this guy. Both are awesome third baseman any team would want to have in their lineup. I gave the nod to Perry as he is slightly better rounded offensively then Hurst. Perry's great power, L/R/ splits and a good eye all lead to a .969 OPS thus far this season and a career OPS of .934. He has a great glove and arm for third base as well.
Honorable Mention:
Nap Welch (PAW),
James Langston (WAS),
Sammy Harris (NO)
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