The Most Important Players in Baseball

After watching some major players return from injury to join their respective teams it got me thinking. By position, who are the most important players in baseball? We have to factor in offense, defense, experience and how they help the other players on their teams. Its a really difficult question to answer and I am going to go through who I feel are the most important players in todays game.

Catcher - Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins - Joe Mauer is really good. Yes, we know this, but he is really, really good. He is hands down the most important catcher in baseball. Mr. Mauer may be the most important player to any team in the bigs. As a catcher he won the batting title and is an incredible fielder as well. For his career he throws out 41% of the runners that try and steal on him. That is an incredible stat, especially for a player that hits as well as Mauer does. Mauer also reverse protects Justin Morneau. Morneau's numbers have sky rocketed since the return of Mauer. Since his return Morneau is hitting .338, 7 HR, 15 RBI and an OPS of 1.18. The most important aspect to Mauer is how he manages games and calls the games for his young pitching staff. His young staff really struggled when Mauer started the year on the DL. As soon as Mauer came back the staff is starting to gain more confidence. The Twins have had only 1 losing season since Mauer came to the bigs and in that season he missed a lot of the season due to injury. Look at his numbers this year as well. He his hitting .417, with 8 HR, 24 RBI, and has an OPS of 1.319 (which is incredible). And he has done all of that in only 19 games. Watch as the Twins make a run this year in the AL Central, because of Mauer.

First Base - Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals - This is another easy one. Pujols is considered by many and myself as the best player in the game. Their is no doubt about it as well. He is an astounding hitter and incredible fielder. He leads by example and his teammates just follow. He is on pace to be historically good as well. No one talks about him, but he is quietly hitting .326, with 14 HR, 38 RBI and has an OPS of 1.1. You know why no one talks about him, because he does this year after year. He is a gold glove winner and a 2 time MVP so far in his illustrious career. He also won the batting title twice and led the league in hits one year as well. Every year Pujols is a triple crown candidate and he will win it one year. He is on pace to get his 3rd MVP award and probably will get many, many more. Not much else you can say about Phat Albert.

Second Base - Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers - Kinsler may not be as established as other second basemen around the league, but he is certainly the most important. He is a young leader who leads by the way he goes about the game. He goes all out, every night. He has power, speed and a canning ability to get on base. Right now he is leading his Texas Rangers into first place in the AL West. He is doing this without uber-OF Josh Hamilton as well. He is currently hitting .287, with 11 HR, 32RBI, 10 SB and has an OPS of .913, which is excellent for a second basemen. He leads off for the Rangers and is responsible for getting this team going and he certainly excels at doing that. Look for Kinsler to continue to produce and lead the Rangers to their first division title since 1999.

Short Stop - Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia Phillies - Short stop was a very difficult position to choose from, when you have the likes of Derek Jeter, Hanley Ramirez and Jose Reyes out their, but I had to go with the vocal leader Jimmy Rollins. Rollins may not be as flashy or put up the gaudy numbers as the other players, but he is more important to his respective team. And its not like Rollins puts up bad numbers either. He won the 2007 MVP award and is a 2 time gold glove winner as well. Rollins is the table setter for this team. They need his production and need him to get on base, so the big bats can drive him in. When he gets going the Phillies have easily the top offense in the bigs. Right now Jimmy needs too find his stroke. He is only hitting .234, with 3 HR, 27 R, 6 SB and an OBP of only .274 (which is awful for a lead off hitter). He does have 27 runs, and imagine if Jimmy was going how good this Phillies team would be. If the Phillies want to repeat as world champions they are going to need Rollins in a big way.
Third Base - Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees - Their is no coincidence the day A-Rod got back the Yankees starting crushing the ball and winning games. He is the piece that was missing for the Yanks. Even if he is not hitting well, his presence is the big difference. A-Rod has gotten a lot of flack over the years for not producing in the playoffs and its well deserved. The Yankees have yet to win a world series with A-Rod, because he just does not step up in the post season and hes that important. As A-Rod goes, so do the Yankees. And so far to start this season he has been nothing short of amazing. In 14 games back since his hip injury A-Rod is hitting only .200, but has 6 HR, 11 RBI and has an OPS of 1.01. Now those numbers aren't spectacular, so lets look at Mark Texeiras splits since A-Rod's return. Texeira just so happens to hit right in front of A-Rod. In the 14 games since A-Rod has returned Texeira is hitting .365, with 7 HR and 18 RBI. Those are monster numbers. The Yankees are also 11-3 since his return and are climbing up the standings. The Yankees will certainly be a major factor in October and its up to A-Rod if they have any aspirations of championship this year.

Left Fielder - Alfonso Soriano, Chicago Cubs - As Soriano goes, the Cubs go. He is so vital to that team. He leads off for the team, yet he has the most power. That is important, because he is the king of the lead off home run. This immediately gives the Cubs a 1-0 lead, which is always very important. He is off to a very nice start this season hitting .265, with 12 HR, 25 RBI, 4 SB and has an OPS of .855. He is a world class athlete and player. Soriano keeps the club house loose and is certainly a character. You can tell his teammates love and respect him. The Cubs are a dynamite team, but in order for them to really be contenders and not pretenders this year Soriano is going to have to stay healthy and produce at a high level.

Center Fielder - Grady Sizemore, Cleveland Indians - He is absolutely the heart and soul of the Indians. He is a fabulous player with all of the tools to be one of the best. He has speed, power and a canning ability to make amazing plays in center field. He ignites the whole Indians offense, whether it be making a fabulous catch or getting on 1st and stealing 2nd. He also can hit the ball a very long way as well. So far this year Grady has hit 8 HR, 29 RBI, 7 SB and has an OPS of .734. He really needs to start getting it going very fast for this Indians club to excel. They rely too much on him and his performance directly relates to the terrible start of the Indians this year. And even when he is getting on base he has been caught stealing 6 times. 7 out of 13 times is a horrible percentage. He is also only getting on base at a .316 clip, which is also terrible for a player of his caliber. In order for the Indians to compete this year, Grady needs to get it going and get it going fast. That is why he is one of the most important players in the bigs.
Right Fielder - Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners - Ichiro is very similar in regards to Sizemore, a player that can kill the opposition with his legs and bat and glove. Everyone knows about Ichiro's bat, which is among the best ever, but his glove and arm are up their with the elite as well. Ichiro is an 8 time gold glove winner to go along with his 2 batting titles. He is such a special player and the Mariners need him more than ever. When he gets on base, which is alot, the Mariners chances of scoring go up dramatically. There is no coincidence during Ichiros top campaigns (2001 and 2003) the Mariners won the division or at least competed for it. He is an 8 time all-star, 1 time MVP and 2 time silver slugger winner. So far this season Ichiro has been great, hitting .335, with 4 HR, 16 R and 7 SB. The key with Ichiro's stats are how many runs he scores and that number needs to go up for the Mariners to win. But when its all said and done in todays game, I cannot think of a more important player to play right field then Ichiro Suzuki.