Hecks, win the world series this year.

I'll yield to Canno at 2nd and Tulo at short.

Tulo is not the best shortstop.. no way in the world. He can't defend for his life.

@Emac - Bautista? He's hitting .265! Sure, he's got power, but surely there's a right fielder in baseball who won't tank your average like that. Surprisingly, this year, I might even take Beltran's .305 average and 20 homers over Bautista's .265 and 27.

Have you watched Reyes or Hanley? They're not the defenders they once were. Who would you go with? Segura?

For the record, fielding stats still love Tulo. Can't say I watch him much.

Puig's .371 average this year is outrageous, and the 11 homers aren't shabby either. I'll reserve judgement, though, til I see what he can do as a second-year player. I hate to put rookies on my "best in the game" list.

Andrelton Simmons, easily, Yonni.

And I think Pedro Florimon, an unknown because he plays in Minnesota, is better than Tulo.

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

Reyes might make that list if he could stay healthy for a full season. I'd go with Tulowitski as well. FanGraphs has him as the fifth best UZR rated SS. No argument for Molina or Cabrera, obviously. Cano was a massive edge over Pedroia. In the OF I'd leave out Gonzalez in favor of McCutcheon, but its a scratch there. No argument for Kershaw. Relievers are way too streaky to pick a best, but in terms of consistency, I'd give the nod to David Robertson. Guy's been more clutch than Mo for the last three seasons.

@Emac,
If the goal's to win this year, I'll take Cabrera over Trout. Trout's awesome, but he's still developing as a player (as his April and May evidenced... he was pushing too much for power and took a lot of swinging strikeouts). If my goal were to build a decade-long dynasty, I'd take Trout's youth and potential.

Hecks, who plays rightfield everyday that is better? Cuddyer? Tori Hunter? It is thin out there. Especially since the juicer Cruz got suspended. I look at the OPS to make my choice of Bautista. I have no problem with Beltra, but Jose has more power and has a cannon for an arm.

Florimon!?!? He's hitting .220! At least pick someone respectable like Jose Iglesias.

Yeah, true. RF is thin. Harper, maybe. Pence, possibly. I think I'd put my money on Beltran, but given the field, you could do a lot worse than Bautista.

McCutchen plays centerfield not left. I'd tried to stay with true positions in the OF not just the best three. Pedro F can't hit like Tulo. C'mon! Simmons can't hit like Tulo either, C'mon! Tulo can field with either. He has a gold glove. I'd take Reyes over Simmons.

I didn't say Puig is the best in the game, but when you start comparing him to Trout right now, today it gets pretty interesting. My hair is real short right now because I've been shooting the breeze with the crew at the barber shop as much as possible.

There aren't a lot of shortstops who are good on both sides of the ball. Defense/light hitting or power/weak defense seems to be the norm. Tulo, Reyes, and Segura seem to be the exceptions, might include Castro in that mix, but there aren't shortstops these days like there were fifteen or twenty years ago - Jeter, Nomar, Ripken, etc. 90s/early 00s were the shortstop golden age, IMO.

"...but there aren't shortstops these days like there were fifteen or twenty years ago - Jeter, Nomar, Ripken, etc. 90s/early 00s were the shortstop golden age, IMO."

What about Jeter? :-P

Jeter is and always will be the best SS ever. Fuck Ernie Banks and Ozzie Smith.

Man you guys really have no respect for defense, do you? My dream team today:

C - Molina, Mauer
1B - Votto, Freeman/Davis
2B - Pedroia, Cano
3B - Cabrera and only Cabrera
SS - Simmons, Hanley Ramirez
LF - Gonzalez, Holliday
CF - Trout, Ellsbury
RF - Bruce, Beltran
SP - Harvey, Kershaw, Kuroda, Buchholz, Hernandez
RP - Belisario, Uehara, Greg Holland, Grilli, Nathan
Closer - Kimbrel/Rivera

Florimon covers ground in the infield like nobody else in the league. He'll be the best defensive shortstop if Simmons plateaus.

Hiroka Kuroda getting some love!

@2WL
Four words: Pee Wee Fuckin' Reese.

@BoSox,
Defensively, Florimon's good, but not as good as Iglesias or Segura. At the plate, he's about as good as a cooler of gatorade.

Hiroka is lights out right now. I have him in my Strat-0-Matic League!

C - Molina/Posey
1B - Votto/Fielder
2B - Cano, Pedroia in a very distant 2nd
3B - Cabrera, Machado in a *very* distant 2nd
SS - Tulo, Reyes
RF - Bautista/Beltran
CF - Trout/McCutcheon
LF - CarGo/Gordon/Upton
SP - Kershaw/Felix/Verlander/Harvey/Price
RP - Robertson/Rivera, all you really need

I felt compelled to add Fielder in the 1B mix. I don't think anyone has been such a raw power threat at the plate since Gary Sheffield.

I'd make Fielder my DH. Defensively he's... just okay.

Best player eligible for the Hall of Fame, but not in.

Dale Murphy-probably will never make it.
Don Mattingly-Injuries kept him from getting over the hump
Joe Torre-Batting champion, MVP, lights out manager.

Not even close. Mattingly will never make it because his career was so short. Mike Piazza is the best player on that ballot, followed by Biggio, Bagwell, and Tim Raines. Lee Smith should be in, but with such a crowded ballot I don't think its likely.

What I'd like to know is who gave Aaron Sele one vote this year.

And Torre isn't eligible yet.

I tried to assemble my "Better Baseball Through Chemistry Team" - the best players suspended for PEDs, but I'll be damned if it's not difficult to name a good second baseman who used. Anybody?