Yesterday, ESPN.com unveiled their new Player Ratings for Major League Baseball. And for Tigers fans, these rankings immediately looked shiny and new because one of our guys is at the very top of the list. Magglio Ordonez was #1, with a rating of 87.0.
To paraphrase Muhammad Ali when Howard Cosell called him "truculent," whatever that means, if that's good, Magglio's that.
Here's what that 87.0 actually means, according to Jeff Bennett of ESPN.com:
The different categories are weighted individually, and there is a mix of counting stats and average stats. Playing time and innings pitched are important factors. A perfect rating is a score of 100. [...]
Players receive points for their major league rankings in the following disciplines:
• Batters: Batting bases accumulated, runs produced, OBP, BA, HRs, hits, runs, RBIs, net steals, difficulty of defensive position, and team win percentage.
• Starting pitchers: ERA compared to league average weighted by IP, wins weighted by win percentage, defensive independent bases allowed per IP (limiting HR, BB and HBP), strikeouts, opponents' BA, and innings pitched.
• Relievers: Wins and saves with a stiff penalty for blown saves, ERA compared to league average weighted by IP, K-BB ratio, opponents' BA, and preventing inherited runners from scoring.
#1: Magglio Ordonez
#9: Gary Sheffield
#27: Placido Polanco
#62: Curtis Granderson
#68: Carlos Guillen
#89: Justin Verlander
I'm really glad to see Granderson on the list, as it would seem to confirm my thoughts that he's one of the best centerfielders in baseball right now. I was kind of keeping that opinion to myself, however, as I thought I might have been biased since I watch more of his games than any other centerfielder. On ESPN.com's list, only Grady Sizemore, Ichiro Suzuki, Torii Hunter, and Aaron Rowand rank ahead of Granderson. That looks about right to me, especially since I haven't watched Rowand play this season.
I also would've guessed that Guillen might rank higher among shortstops, but I obviously underestimated the seasons that Orlando Cabrera and Edgar Renteria are having. Again, I plead ignorance.
EDIT: I inexplicably skipped over Placido Polanco at #27 when initially posting this. After Rash pointed out my oversight in the comments, I fixed the mistake. Like everyone else outside of Detroit, I overlooked him. And it won't happen again. Go to the polls for Placido!