We’re back for the final time ranking the best players in the SSG OOTP Baseball league for the new season. Last week we had the
first half of the rankings for the top 30 outfielders. Now it’s on to part two.
15) Andrew McCutchen (33), SSG Orioles, 2019 – 153 G, .275/.366/.467 (118 OPS+), 29 HR, 13 SB, +8.1 ZR, 4.5 WAR
Cutch is coming off of two straight seasons with 153 games, his highest totals since he was just 26 in 2013. He still plays great defense and shows good speed at 33 years old now. He’s hit 63 home runs over the past two seasons and posted a .379 OBP over that time.
14) Wil Myers (29), SSG Angels, 2019 – 153 G, .293/.418/.482 (138 OPS+), 25 HR, 10 SB. -5.1 ZR, 4.5 WAR
In Myers’s first year with the Angels he was their hero in the postseason, when he had a .611 SLG with 4 HR. He was even better in the regular season in which he led the AL in walks with 111 and set career highs in OBP, SLG, and doubles. His poor defense hurts him, though.
13) Alexis Rivera (25), SSG Royals 2019 – 154 G, .326/.354/.617 (145 OPS+), 43 HR, 8 SB. -2.3 ZR, 5.4 WAR
In 2019, Rivera was second in the AL in slugging, fourth in hits (200) and wRC+ (151), and fifth in HR and OPS. However he certainly had a very fair share of good luck; his BABIP was .363, (league average is around .300, and his BABIP was only .314 in 2018). He also walked a ridiculously low 27 times, which equals out to 4.2% of his plate appearances. It’s hard to see him repeat his success from 2019 but the Royals are hoping and betting on him doing just that, though, as they gave him a long-term contract extension in January. I have to give him his due for what he did last year so I couldn’t rank him below the top 15, but I’m not too confident.
12) George Springer (30), SSG Astros, 2019 – 159 G, .263/.371/.516 (126 OPS+), 43 HR, 19 SB, +2.9 ZR, 4.9 WAR
Springer is in the midst of a great 5 year run. He made 4 All-Star teams in that time, he hit at least 35 HR in each of those seasons, and he’s played in at least 148 games in each of them as well. In 2019 he surpassed his previous career best in OBP (.353) by 18 points. He also set career highs in HR, RBI and BB. He strikes out a whole lot though–more than anyone in the AL (he led the league in strikeouts 4 of the last 5 seasons).
11) Joc Pederson (28), SSG Dodgers, 2019 – 143 G, .254/.360/.484 (130 OPS+), 33 HR, 17 SB, +2.2 ZR, 5.1 WAR
Joc is a pretty quintessential three-true outcomes player; throughout his career, his 162-game averages include 34 HR and a 14.1% walk rate, but also 25.2% strikeout rate. Despite the strikeouts he’s also posted a career .370 OBP and 22 SB per 162 games. Pair those things with decent defense and he’s a very well rounded player. He’s had some injury concerns in the past though, and he’s played more than 126 games in just two seasons.
10) Corey Dickerson (30), SSG Rockies, 2019 – 148 G, .316/.370/.577 (132 OPS+), 37 HR, 14 SB, -3.2 ZR, 4.8 WAR
Since Dickerson became a full-time big leaguer in 2014, he’s never had an OBP below .358, or an OPS+ below 126, or a WAR below 4.6. He’s also posted a career 153 wRC+, and he plays decent defense in a spacious outfield in Denver. He’s been one of the most consistent hitters in one of baseball’s best lineups.
9) Jesse Winker (26), SSG Padres, 2019 – 160 G, .273/.391/.480 (137 OPS+), 29 HR, 0 SB, -1.8 ZR, 4.9 WAR
Winker led the NL in walks last season, and walked more than he struck out. He also hit for very good power considering his home park. He’s the best hitter on a young and up and coming team in San Diego (average age: 26). It will be an uphill climb for them in the NL West against the Rockies and Dodgers, though.
8) Jason Heyward (30), SSG Cardinals 2019 – 77 G, .271/.347/.573 (142 OPS+), 26 HR, 3 SB, +3.3 ZR, 2.9 WAR
Heyward played very well in 2019 in the 77 games he was able to play in between his various injuries. He also continues to be the best defensive right fielder in baseball with good speed and baserunning skills, good on-base numbers (.369 career OBP), and 2019 was his best power year (was on pace for over 50 home runs if he would have played a full season’s worth of games).
7) Giancarlo Stanton (30), SSG Dodgers 2019 – 157 G, .274/.374/.552 (151 OPS+), 46 HR, 1 SB, -3.3 ZR, 5.4 WAR
Stanton is one of the best power hitters in baseball, and he’s coming off of his two best home run seasons (93 between 2018 and 2019) of his career. He’s also played in at least 152 games for 4 straight years. He strikes out a lot, and he’s ranked in the top 10 in strikeouts in the NL six times. But when he walks 95 times a year (as he has done on average between 2018-19) and leads the NL in homers (as he did in 2019), you can live with the Ks.
6) Avisail Garcia (28), SSG White Sox 2019 – 157 G, .340/.380/.612 (154 OPS+), 43 HR, 24 SB, -5.7 ZR, 6.2 WAR
Garcia had always been a pretty good player before his amazing 2019 season. He racked up 222 hits and a 152 wRC+. His defense wasn’t very good, but he stole a good amount of bases too. Add it all together and he was second in the AL in WAR.
5) Nomar Mazara (25), SSG Nationals 2019 – 159 G, .286/.367/.558 (135 OPS+), 42 HR, 5 SB, -1.5 ZR, 5.3 WAR
Mazara’s 2019 wasn’t quite as eye-popping as Garcia’s. But unlike Garcia, Nomar has a better track record and he’s 3 years younger. Mazara has also played decent defense. He missed out on the All-Star game and probably various awards too due to his midseason trade from Texas to Washington.
4) Michael Choice (30), SSG Blue Jays 2019 – 155 G, .273/.393/.539 (139 OPS+), 41 HR, 9 SB, -6.9 ZR, 5.3 WAR
While not worthy of an MVP award like his 2018 campaign, 2019 was a great follow up for choice. He’s also moving to right field full-time now, where he has been much better historically (+8.2 ZR in RF compared to -36.0 ZR in CF). He’ll join a historically great free agent class next winter if the Blue Jays don’t sign him to an extension.
3) Bryce Harper (27), SSG Nationals 2019 – 73 G, .316/.424/.625 (176 OPS+), 20 HR, 0 SB, +0.2 ZR, 4.0 WAR
Harper has struggled with injuries throughout his career so far. In 2018 he played 157 games, his first season with more than 139. However, 2019 was injury riddled again. His ability cannot be overlooked though, and when healthy he has put up some great numbers.
2) David Dahl (26), SSG Rockies 2019 – 130 G, .359/.404/.631 (153 OPS+), 31 HR, 28 SB, +4.9 ZR, 7.8 WAR
Dahl has put up Mike Trout-esque numbers in the past two seasons, even with some time on the DL in 2019. During that period he has hit .353/.400/.626 with 69 HR and a 17.2 WAR. He also plays plus defense with a great arm and great speed. The two caveats; he plays half of his games at Coors Field, so his numbers should be taken with at least a bit of a grain of salt; and he doesn’t show a ton of patience (career 5.1% BB rate and just 3.41 pitches per plate appearance). However, he’s only 26 so he could develop more of the latter.
1) Mike Trout (28), SSG Angels 2019 – 157 G, .342/.447/.621 (179 OPS+), 37 HR, 25 SB, +12.1 ZR, 10.0 WAR
The best overall player in the game is the perfect ending for this series. A two time AL MVP, including one in 2019 (he’s also finished second in voting for the award 4 times), a 7 time All-Star and 7 time Silver Slugger, a 4 time AL batter’s WAR leader, including the past 2 seasons. He’s also coming off of arguably his best career year, in which he set career highs in batting average, OBP, and Slugging. He’s a true 5 tool player who has played in at least 156 games for 5 of the last 7 seasons. And he’s only 28. He’ll go down as one of the best of all time and if the last two seasons are anything to go by, he’s still getting better.
The top of this one was certainly very anticlimactic, but Trout and Dahl really are the no-brainer top 2. One last time, here are where each team ranks based on their players:
- SSG Nationals (#2 and #7 RP, #3 3B, #3 and #5 OF, #4 1B, #8 2B, #9 SS, #13 SP)
- SSG Rockies (#2 2B, #2 SS, #2 #10 and #30 OF, #6 1B, #8 3B, #12 and #14 SP)
- SSG Phillies (#1 SS, #1 3B, #3 2B, #5 SP, #5 and #9 RP, #9 C, #23 OF)
- SSG Blue Jays (#1 RP, #2 1B, #4 and #16 OF, #6 #15 and #17 SP)
- SSG Dodgers (#1 SP, #3 C, #4 SS, #6 and #10 RP, #7 and #11 OF)
- SSG Angels (#1 and #14 OF, #3 and #8 SP)
- SSG Mariners (#2 3B, #5 C, #10 2B, #10 SP, #18 and #21 OF)
- SSG Reds (#2 C, #9 #11 and #18 SP, #10 SS, #20 and #24 OF)
- SSG Mets (#2 and #7 SP, #7 3B, #8 C, #9 2B, #25 OF)
- SSG Tigers (#1 1B, #5 and #6 3B, #19 OF)
And just for fun today, here is a graph showing the talent (again based on the position-by-position rankings) and average age for each team.
For the final time this off season, thanks for reading. I’m hoping to write somewhat regularly during the regular season as well. 