Mike Trout gained public favor by being the best all-around player in baseball from the moment he joined the bigs. All he is doing is prove to me that he's doing it the right way.

If he's not doing it the right way, well, maybe he could take his own advice, but I am holding out hope, like I am with most others...

Miggy is the best. Trout has never played with one ounce of pressure on him. Trout has won absolutely nothing. Don't get me wrong. I've seen Trout play and he is amazing, but Miggy is the best period.

I said all-around. That includes more than hitting.

If you told all major league managers they got to manage one year only to try to win the world series this season the first player they would choose is Miggy.

Don't know how that matters.

I would rather have Trout, even then. You're undervaluing fielding and baserunning.

The managers would take the best player. I love watching Trout at the Big A, but he has accomplished everything batting leadoff on an also ran team both years. Miggy does it in prime time, batting cleanup on the biggest pressure packed stages in the entire game, and berating his defense at thirdbase is ludicrous. Miggy is easly the best player in the game. I'll tell you one thing, the electricity at Dodger Stadium when Puig is at bat is absolutely unique. People step out of the concession lines whne he comes up. I've seen them both Puig is definitely better than Trout right now. I haven't seen anyone hit balls of the strike zone like Puig since Big Daddy Vladdy was in his prime. They move Puig all over the lineup and all over the field and he just keeps producing at the dish and in the field. He has been hitting since Arizona this spring and hasn't quit. Trout and Puig in the same city is too good to be true for a baseball fan.

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2013&month=0&season1=2013&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0

Emac, I'm not sure what makes you think they'd choose Cabrera over Trout. The fact is that they're both so incredibly good that an argument can be made either way. Personally, I'd go for Trout but its close.

Apparently Molina should be in the discussion too:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/06/22/yadier-molina-player-build-around/Bs80PgWqGCRGA8wDkmJZ6O/story.html

If I were a manager, I'd take Cabrera just because of what he does to your offense. He is the best hitter in the game and maybe the best hitter since Pete Rose. And what's more is that he never overswings and he is smart as hell. Just look at his 7 pitch AB against Mo the other day when he hit a homer for the second time in as many ABs against him.

Mike Trout is one of the best defenders, and when he gets on base, which he often will, he can run even when everyone knows he's going. He's the best all-around player - he does everything - and that is not even a question.

Molina is a great defensive catcher and a great hitter, but there are other catchers that can do just as much for your team without taking out quite as many runners and hitting quite as many doubles. If you have, say, a defensive catcher like Matt Weiters or an offensive catcher like Wilin Rosario, you can do a lot of things that Yadi can. If you have Joe Mauer, you have a young leader locked up for a long time. Carlos Santana might have the most potential of any catcher in the game, and you can't ever overlook Buster Posey. Yeah, Yadi's a rare prototype, but there's others than can still do more than enough at catcher that he is, for lack of a better word, expendable in this discussion.

"Miggy does it in prime time, batting cleanup on the biggest pressure packed stages in the entire game"

Is that supposed to mean something? Is somehow playing in Detroit more pressure than playing in LA? Especially as a second year player? If I'm starting a franchise, Trout is my first pick. He's going to be an All Star for the next 10-15 years. Right now, Cabrera may be the better player, but Trout hasn't even begun to peak and he'll be doing it until 2030.

I think the argument, 2WL, is who you'd take in the absence f contracts and age. Otherwise, Trout is the easy choice. Hell, Miggy might get passed by other guys with favorable contracts and age like Harper, Longo, Posey, etc.

For what it's worth (and it isn't worth much), there's nothing in baseball I find more enjoyable than watching a Cabrera at bat. Maybe I don't get to watch trout as much because of the timezone but, fuck, Cabrera is so mind boggling to watch.

No love for pitchers?

There are plenty of pitchers for everyone.

And in terms of the pack (Harper, Longo, Posey) who are also in the conversation, what about Jean Segura? Shortstop is such a thin position, and its rare to see a ss with his defensive mastery on pace for a .300+ average, 40+ steals and ~20 homers, especially with as little protection as he has in the Milwaukee lineup.

Protection isn't a real thing but, yeah, segura has to be in the conversation. It's hard to compare pitchers to hitters but, yeah, there are awesome pitchers. The thing is, none of them have distances themselves from the pack the way Trout and Cabrera have. Kershaw, Harvey, et al are great no doubt about it though.

Protection's real! If you're hitting third in front of a big power hitter, you're much more pitches to hit, whereas if you're hitting in front of the pitcher, they don't mind risking walking you by throwing breaking stuff in the dirt with two outs.

That should say "... you're much more likely to get pitches to hit..."

There really isn't much evidence to support that.

All right, since the purpose of the thread has changed. We are now discussing the best player in baseball right now, today. My argument against Trout is he has done nothing under pressure. He isn't even the better centerfielder on his own team by the way. Bourjos is when he is healthy. Pete moves Trout to left. Now I know this is a dilema of riches for Sciosia, but it is the truth none the less. Trout does not do everything. He doesn't drive in runs, he doesn't bat cleanup, he doesn't hit taters. There is nothing more important than driving in runners when the pressure is on, and Miggy does this. Cabrera isn't an Edgar Martinez. He moved from 3B after years of playing first and got his team to the World Series. Please tell me the last fielder than made that move and got his team to the World Series? Heck tell me the last full-time firstbasemen who moved across the diamond for a full year period much less succeeded the way Miggy did. He not only made the move but he became the first player in 46 year to win the triple crown.Miggy stands head and shoulders above anyone in the game. Maybe Trout will develop into a force like Miggy someday, but he sure isn't there now. Mike's potential is just that. Just this week Miggy took the best closer of all-time deep twice. This is what Miggy does. He comes through against the best at the clutch times. He performs under the pressure of being a clean up hitter on a division leading team. Trout is running around the bases on an also ran without an ounce of pressure on him in the world.

Now bo_sox you are a player and you know what pressure can do to some players. Trout hasn't face any yet, and until he does he hasn't proven he can handle it. The best player in the game (not most talented, not most potential) has to be a player who has proven he can perform under pressure with the game on the line.

If you want some more controversy then here it is. The player with the most potential in baseball is Yasiel Puig. I've watched him play in person since the spring. I see Trout play as well. Puig is better.

I still take Trout. That combination of speed, power, and batting ability doesn't come along very often, and when you include defensive prowess, its a no brainer.

The thing about Cabrera is that he's just so damn smart. He can make the tiniest adjustments and make the best pitchers in the league look silly. Won the Triple Crown last year, and the really crazy part is that he's even *better* this year.

And as far as pitchers are concerned, you could argue for hours over who is the best in each league, but that's more a testament to the number of legitimate aces. Personally, its really a tossup between Verlander, Kershaw, Sabathia, Felix, Scherzer, Yu, Price, Shields, Wainwright, or any of a half dozen others. There's just so much pitching talent that you really can't pick just one best pitcher.

Trout is 23rd in the league in home runs and Cabera has scored more runs that Trout despite Trout's superior speed. What good is a stolen base if it doesn't get you home?

Trout's WAR is more than twice Puig's.

Puig is damn good. Trout is better. Sorry.

No problem 2WL. It is a matter of judgment and I'm not questioning yours. I'm just putting mine out there. It is definitely a pitcher's league right now. So how best players at each position in the game right now.
C-Molina (has anyone seen the Cardinals record with Molina on the DL, check it out)
1B-Votto
2B-Pedroia
3B-Miggy
SS-Reyes
LF-'Cargo
CF-Trout
RF-Bautista
SP-Kershaw
RP-Kimbrel

2WL, how did CC sneak his way on to that list?

Cano>Pedroia
Tulo (when healthy, or maybe even Hanley when healthy) are probably better than Reyes but, yeah, love Reyes.

I think it depends a lot on what you're managing to. I mean, am I trying to win the world series this year, or am I trying to win four times in the next ten years? That significantly changes who I'd take.

Just wait until you see Puig over an entire year. He is going to blow people away. Puig vs Trout is all we talk about at the barber shop now. I'd hate to be Matt Kemp. Puig comes up and passes him overnight as the best Dodger.