Which Position is the Best in the League?

Surveying over the league, there are many stars that come in a variety of sizes and talents. You have the superstar players that are cornerstone to the franchise they play for, players who relate to their fan bases and local community, as well as lesser known players that always seem to find a way to help lead their team to a victory.

With that being said, is it possible that there is one position that happens to be better than any other position out there? The answer to that question is complicated and requires a lot of analysis, but we'll try to attempt it anyways. For this article, let's exclude starting and relief pitching from the equation because it wouldn't be right to compare both of those categories with the categories of position players.

To start off, let's go behind the dish and look at the catcher position which is headlined by the likes of Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals, Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants, and Salvador Perez of the Royals. While all three of those catchers have had their ups and downs throughout their career, they certainly are household names in any discussion. In addition to those three, there are many other valuable catchers such as J.T. Realmuto of the Marlins, Tyler Flowers of the Braves, Gary Sanchez of the Yankees, Austin Barnes of the Dodgers, and Mike Zunino of the Seattle Mariners. This is obviously a talented position, but after the catchers I just listed, there is a sharp drop off meaning that it's not quite the best or deepest position in the league.

Shifting to first base, it is obviously a position headlined by two key superstars in Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds. Goldschmidt and Votto are easily the two best first baseman in the league right now and ones that anyone would want to headline their new franchise. After them, comes a host of other players including: Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs, Jose Abreu of the White Sox, Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves, Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, and Carlos Santana of the Phillies. While that is obviously an impressive makeup of veteran sluggers, it doesn't nearly touch the other players at this position that are considered young and full of talent. Those players include Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers, Joey Gallo of the Rangers, Justin Bour of the Marlins, Matt Olson of the Athletics, and Josh Bell of the Pirates. There's about five or six others that we could list here as well which puts first base at the top of the list at the moment.

How about second base now? Surveying the second base position league wide, it's easy to identify who the best second baseman is and that is Jose Altuve of the reigning World Series Champions, Houston Astros. Altuve has a tremendous love for the game both on and off the field. After Altuve, there's Robinson Cano of the Seattle Mariners, Brian Dozier of the Twins, D.J. LeMahieu of the Rockies, Daniel Murphy of the Nationals, Jonathan Schoop of the Orioles, and Dustin Pedroia of the Angels. In addition, you have the likes of Dustin Pedroia second baseman for the Red Sox, Ian Kinsler from the Angels, and Javier Baez of the Chicago Cubs. Obviously a talented position, but nowhere near as deep as the other positions on this list meaning that we can eliminate it from the conversation.

Going to shortstop now, let's start with the two top shortstops of the league in Francisco Lindor of the Cleveland Indians and Carlos Correa from the Astros. After Lindor and Correa, there is many other players to like including: Trea Turner of the Nationals, Corey Seager from the Dodgers, Andrelton Simmons of the Angels, Jean Segura of the Mariners, and Paul Dejong of the Cardinals. Beyond these players, you also have the underrated Didi Gregorious from the New York Yankees as well as Elvis Andrus from the Rangers, Rockies shortstop Trevor Story, Brandon Crawford of the San Francisco Giants, and Tim Beckham of the Orioles. Again, lots of good talent here and a position that seems to constantly flow with new talent so we'll keep it on our list with first base.

Switching things to third base now, the conversation starts with an elite class of third baseman in Manny Machado from the Orioles, who will open this coming season at shortstop, Nolan Arenado of the Colorado Rockies, and Josh Donaldson from the Blue Jays. Once you move past those three, you get into Kyle Seager of the Mariners, Jake Lamb from the Dbacks, current free agent Mike Moustakas, Adrian Beltre of the Rangers, Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant, and the underrated Anthony Rendon from the Washington Nationals. In addition, add in a few other under-the-radar candidates like Miguel Sano from the Twins, Jose Ramirez of the Indians, Eugenio Suarez of the Reds and Astros third baseman, Alex Bregman. Once again, it's a position with three elite third baseman and many other stellar names that all carry a lot of talent meaning that we can include it with first base and shortstop on our list.

Moving to the outfield now, let's take a look at left field, which arguably is a tough position to evaluate due to the number of platoon players that play this position. However, for left field, the name that should always lead the conversation is new Cardinals left fielder, Marcell Ozuna. Ozuna has the most talent of the other left fielders which consist of Yoenis Cespedes of the New York Mets, Justin Upton from the Angels, Trey Mancini of the Baltimore Orioles, the underrated Khris Davis from the Oakland A's, and Adam Eaton of the Washington Nationals who missed almost all of last season with a knee injury. Beyond these names, there's really not much left besides Brett Gardner of the New York Yankees, Marwin Gonzalez of the Astros, and Ryan Braun from the Milwaukee Brewers. Based on pure talent and upward trajectory from an offensive standpoint, we'll go ahead and eliminate this position from the conversation because it lacks substantial depth.

Shifting to centerfield now, the conversation starts with the best player in the game right now and a true franchise icon, Mike Trout of the Angels. When discussing this position, it is basically Trout and then everyone else. Moving beyond Trout, there are several others to like including new Giants centerfielder, Andrew McCutchen, Kevin Kiermaier of the Tampa Bay Rays, George Springer of the Astros, Charlie Blackmon from the Rockies, Cardinals centerfielder, Tommy Pham, newly acquired Brewers centerfielder, Lorenzo Cain, Superman aka Kevin Pillar of the Blue Jays and A.J. Pollock of the Arizona Diamondbacks. After these players, there is also Michael Conforto from the New York Mets, Dodgers centerfielder Chris Taylor, Odubel Herrera of the Phillies, Ender Inciarte from the Atlanta Braves, and Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox. Again, it's a very deep position full of talent and players that know what it means to make great defensive plays meaning that we will keep it on our list along with first base, shortstop, and third base.

Lastly, the final position up for discussion is right field which starts with another superstar in Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals. After Harper come several other studs including: Aaron Judge of the Yankees, Mookie Betts of the Boston Red Sox, newly acquired Giancarlo Stanton from the Yankees, J.D. Martinez, who just signed on with the Boston Red Sox, and Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers. Beyond these names, the next class of players includes the likes of Steven Souza, Jr. from the Rays, Avisail Garcia of the Chicago White Sox, Josh Reddick of the Astros, Cardinals right fielder, Dexter Fowler, Mitch Haniger of the Seattle Mariners, and Max Kepler from the Minnesota Twins. It's a position where you have your very elite players and then there's a huge step down to the next class of players who while they provide some value, they're not nearly as valuable as those at the top of the list. For that fact, we'll eliminate it from the conversation.

Knowing all of this and after taking a survey of the league, we're down to first base, shortstop, third base, and centerfield as positions eligible for the best position in the league. Since this conversation is taking into account both offense and defense, we'll eliminate shortstop from the conversation even though it is a position constantly flowing with young talent and has a pipeline that never seems to dry out. Next, we'll shift to the outfield and focus on centerfield which while talented and is an exciting position to watch, it is not the deepest position in the league. Yes, the greatest baseball player in the game right now plays this position, but after Mike Trout, there's plenty of other talented centerfielders, but none that you would argue would be the first player that you'd take if you were starting a new franchise.

Now that first and third base are the only two positions left, you have to decipher for yourself what quantifies as the best position in the league. It's a virtual tie between these two because at first base you have your heavy sluggers and a few players that have Hall of Fame potential in Joey Votto, Paul Goldschmidt, and Freddie Freeman. On the other hand, third base is loaded with talent and absolutely stacked with players who know how to hit and play defense extremely well. Therefore, you can't really come to a foregone conclusion because regardless of how you list out the players at both of these positions, the rankings would be correct anyway. You could list Joey Votto or Paul Goldschmidt as the best first baseman in the league, while facing a similar dilemma in trying to decide if Josh Donaldson, Manny Machado, or Nolan Arenado is the best third baseman in the league. Essentially, it's up to you and what you would rather have as your personal definition of the best position in the league.