So it's NYY by a mile behind the plate. Up the line 90 feet -- who has the 2008 AL East's top starting first baseman (-men)?
| BAL (Millar, Huff) |  0 (0.00%) |
| BOS (Youkilis) | 40 (35.09%) |
| NYY (Giambi) | 5 (4.39%) |
| TB (Pena) | 47 (41.23%) |
| TOR (Overbay) | 22 (19.30%) |
114 votes | 7 featured comments
Shocking ... you think of 1B as a big Star position, but this is a group of nice (Youkilis, Overbay) and/or overpaid (Giambi, Millar) players -- the only potential "breakout" if you can say that of a guy coming off a 40-homer year, is Pena, so he gets this vote. (Ortiz will appear on the DH ballot next week.)
Oh, for the days of Mattingly, McGriff, Vaughn and the pre-scandal Palmeiro!
I'm not even sure you can count Giambi as the starting 1B. Isn't it he going to be DH'ing primarily? Shouldn't it be Doug Mientkiewicz or Wilson Betemit or whoever the Yanks find to man 1B?
I voted the Greek King of Walks - but - Overbay is only 2 years older and the year before last, when Lyle was healthy, he hit 312/372/508...Youk, last year hit 276/367/449 AND his second half was much lower than his first half. Combining offense and defense I think Lyle could be the surprise 1st base King in 08. OR, at the very least now that his wrist is healed , Lyle could be very competitive.
Youk, last year hit 276/367/449 AND his second half was much lower than his first half
Not really sure where you got those numbers. Youkilis hit 288/390/453 last season.
I realize that this is a Jays site, so there is going to be some amount of bias, but I really don't understand a vote for Overbay here. To me it comes down to three guys: Pena, Youkilis and Overbay. Lyle is the oldest of the three and is coming off, by far, the worst year of the three. He was downright awful last year. He did have the injury, but that doesn't fully excuse how terrible he was with the bat. His numbers (240/315/391), were bad for a SS, let alone a 1B. Overbay is a fine defensive player, but he's really no better than either Pena or Youk, both of whom are pretty slick with the leather. He might hit for the highest average of the three, but he walks far less than either of the other two and can't even approach Pena in terms of power. I think that Lyle has a chance to rebound and be a solid performer for the Jays next season, but I would be shocked if he was a better player next year than either Pena or Youkilis. Lyle is a player who has a great deal of his value tied up in his batting average. If he hits 300 next year, he's in good shape. If he hits 270.....UGH. Both Youkilis and Pena have a much broader base of skills to draw upon, and when you combine that with the fact that they are both younger and more athletic than Overbay, I really don't see how you can make an objective case for Lyle being the best of the bunch.
Not really sure where you got those numbers. Youkilis hit 288/390/453 last season.
I realize that this is a Jays site, so there is going to be some amount of bias, but I really don't understand a vote for Overbay here. To me it comes down to three guys: Pena, Youkilis and Overbay. Lyle is the oldest of the three and is coming off, by far, the worst year of the three. He was downright awful last year. He did have the injury, but that doesn't fully excuse how terrible he was with the bat. His numbers (240/315/391), were bad for a SS, let alone a 1B. Overbay is a fine defensive player, but he's really no better than either Pena or Youk, both of whom are pretty slick with the leather. He might hit for the highest average of the three, but he walks far less than either of the other two and can't even approach Pena in terms of power. I think that Lyle has a chance to rebound and be a solid performer for the Jays next season, but I would be shocked if he was a better player next year than either Pena or Youkilis. Lyle is a player who has a great deal of his value tied up in his batting average. If he hits 300 next year, he's in good shape. If he hits 270.....UGH. Both Youkilis and Pena have a much broader base of skills to draw upon, and when you combine that with the fact that they are both younger and more athletic than Overbay, I really don't see how you can make an objective case for Lyle being the best of the bunch.
That's a crappy bunch of 1B. And where are the slugging kids on the horizon? Teixeira is going to command a HUGE contract when he's a free agent after this season. HUGE.
I think Scott Moore will actually start at 1B for the Orioles this season ... he'd certainly deserve to rank last in this poll.
Lyle is the oldest of the three and is coming off, by far, the worst year of the three.
He's just one year older than Pena, and two years older than Youkilis, so it's not like there's a huge gap. Overbay and Youkilis are really petty similar - Youkilis gets on base a bit more, Overbay has some more power; Youkilis has a career OPS+ of 109, Overbay is at a 111. Even after his flukishly bad year, I'd expect Overbay to be pretty comparable to Youkilis, though either one could easily have a better year than the other.
Pena was clearly better than either of them in 2007, but it was also the only time he's ever been remotely that good. Prior to 2007, he'd never had an OBP above .350 or even slugged above .500. If his improvement is for real, he's clearly the best option, but if he slips back to his previous level of hitting, he's inferior to Overbay.
He's just one year older than Pena, and two years older than Youkilis, so it's not like there's a huge gap. Overbay and Youkilis are really petty similar - Youkilis gets on base a bit more, Overbay has some more power; Youkilis has a career OPS+ of 109, Overbay is at a 111. Even after his flukishly bad year, I'd expect Overbay to be pretty comparable to Youkilis, though either one could easily have a better year than the other.
Pena was clearly better than either of them in 2007, but it was also the only time he's ever been remotely that good. Prior to 2007, he'd never had an OBP above .350 or even slugged above .500. If his improvement is for real, he's clearly the best option, but if he slips back to his previous level of hitting, he's inferior to Overbay.
To be fair, I probably was a little bit harsh in making my case against Overbay. Last season was just SO terrible that I have a hard time believing that he will be able to bounce all the way back to his previous level of production. I still don't think there is a particularly compelling case to be made for Lyle being the best 1B in the division, but there certainly is a case to be made.
As for this being a weak position in this division, I think that is more of a reflection of the overall lack of talent at 1B in the AL as a whole. According to VORP, the Pena and Youkilis were the top two 1B in the AL last year (with Stairs ranking 3rd, although that includes his time at other positions). With the trade of Teixeira to the NL, the AL is really left without any elite players at the position. Pena was the only player to perform at an elite level last season, and that was the first time he has ever even approached that level in his career. Morneau and Konerko have reputations as elite players, but didn't perform anywhere near that level last year (although Morneau is young enough for a bounceback - not that he was all that elite in his MVP year, but thats a whole other can of worms).
For the most part, the 1B position in the AL is filled with solid hitters (Overbay, Youkilis, Garko, Kotchman, etc.), but is lacking any real stars.
As for this being a weak position in this division, I think that is more of a reflection of the overall lack of talent at 1B in the AL as a whole. According to VORP, the Pena and Youkilis were the top two 1B in the AL last year (with Stairs ranking 3rd, although that includes his time at other positions). With the trade of Teixeira to the NL, the AL is really left without any elite players at the position. Pena was the only player to perform at an elite level last season, and that was the first time he has ever even approached that level in his career. Morneau and Konerko have reputations as elite players, but didn't perform anywhere near that level last year (although Morneau is young enough for a bounceback - not that he was all that elite in his MVP year, but thats a whole other can of worms).
For the most part, the 1B position in the AL is filled with solid hitters (Overbay, Youkilis, Garko, Kotchman, etc.), but is lacking any real stars.