AL East Player Rankings

This is Part Two in my series of ripping off ideas from Jason Churchill at Prospect Insider. Yesterday I took a look at the best tools in the AL East, and now I’m ranking the best overall players. There’s no set formula used to determine the rankings, I basically went on track record and how I think everyone will perform this coming season. There’s not much separation between spots four and, like, 21, so don’t get too worked up if you disagree with a ranking. This wasn’t nearly as easy as you think.

I followed Jason’s lead and included some projected stats in the rankings, although my foray into sabermetrics won’t last much longer than this post. Thanks to Jason for giving me the okay to steal his ideas; I really appreciate it. The good stuff is after the jump.

Top 25 Players
No.	Player, Team	RAB Says…
1	Alex Rodriguez, NYY	The best player on the planet. Period.
2	David Ortiz, BOS	Too bad he can’t play even passable D.
3	Manny Ramirez,BOS	Manny’s playing for an option. 160 RBI?
4	Derek Jeter, NYY	3.5 decent years away from 3,000 hits.
5	Josh Beckett, BOS	He’s a douchebag … and a helluva pitcher.
6	BJ Upton, TB	Bossman Jr. is still only 23. Crazy, huh?
7	Jon Papelbon, BOS	And he’s only getting better. Oi.
8	Mariano Rivera, NYY	Declining a bit, but still one of the very best.
9	Scott Kazmir, TB	Highest Kper9 in baseball since his debut.
10	Roy Halladay, TOR	266 IP in ’03, hasn’t been the same since.
11	Alex Rios, TOR	He’s just starting to scratch the surface.
12	Nick Markakis, BAL	The best player no one talks about. Stud.
13	Carl Crawford, TB	990 career hits, and he’s only 26. Wow.
14	Jorge Posada, NYY	Unheralded greatness, year after year.
15	BJ Ryan, TOR	It’s easy to forget how dominant he can be.
16	Chien-Ming Wang, NYY	Woulda won 22 in ’07 if not for hammy pull.
17	Vernon Wells, TOR	He couldn’t have peaked at age 27, right?
18	Andy Pettitte, NYY	If he gets to 250 wins, is he a HOFer?
19	Daisuke Matsuzaka, BOS	Does he take that next step this year?
20	Carlos Pena, TB	’07 was likely a career year, but he’s still legit.
21	Robinson Cano, NYY	10th highest BA in baseball since his debut.
22	Brian Roberts, BAL	How much longer will he be in the division?
23	Scott Rolen, TOR	If he’s healthy, he could end up top 10.
24	Bobby Abreu, NYY	Do they let him walk after the year?
25	Mike Lowell, BOS	Was ’07 a rebound, or just a contract push?

Starting Pitcher
NO.	Player, Team	2007 FIP	James ’08	CHONE ’08	Marcel ’08
1	Josh Beckett, BOS	3.04	3.82	3.74	3.87
2	Scott Kazmir, TB	3.41	3.59	3.43	3.48
3	Roy Halladay, TOR	3.51	3.58	3.84	3.64
4	Chien-Ming Wang, NYY	3.75	3.99	4.13	3.95
5	Andy Pettitte, NYY	3.83	3.70	4.24	3.98
6	Daisuke Matsuzaka, BOS	4.19	3.70	3.87	4.21
7	AJ Burnett, TOR	4.29	3.91	4.03	4.03
8	Jamie Shields, TB	3.82	3.65	3.93	3.98
9	Jeremy Guthrie, BAL	4.37	4.50	4.84	4.42
10	Phil Hughes, NYY	4.31	–	4.27	4.14
Closer
NO.	PLAYER	2007 FIP	James ’08	CHONE ’08	Marcel ’08
1	Jon Papelbon, BOS	2.41	3.03	2.88	3.22
2	Mariano Rivera, NYY	2.61	2.69	3.20	3.38
3	BJ Ryan, TOR	7.58	2.90	3.70	3.58
4	Troy Percival, TB	3.13	4.34	4.13	4.20
5	George Sherrill, BAL	3.07	3.36	3.77	3.95
Setup
NO.	PLAYER	2007 FIP	James ’08	CHONE ’08	Marcel ’08
1	Joba Chamberlain, NYY	1.78	–	3.58	3.47
2	Hideki Okajima, BOS	3.29	3.48	3.80	3.96
3	Jeremy Accardo, TOR	3.44	3.26	3.87	3.93
4	Dan Wheeler, TB	3.96	3.79	3.78	4.01
5	Jamie Walker, BAL	4.06	4.25	4.37	4.24
Catcher
NO.	PLAYER	’07 RC/27	James	CHONE	Marcel
1	Jorge Posada, NYY	8.90	6.39	6.27	6.49
2	Ramon Hernandez, BAL	4.36	4.72	4.92	4.98
3	Jason Varitek, BOS	5.61	4.98	5.17	5.13
4	Greg Zaun, TOR	4.85	4.46	4.82	4.74
5	Dioner Navarro, TB	3.25	3.79	4.48	437
First Base
NO.	PLAYER	’07 RC/27	James	CHONE	Marcel
1	Carlos Pena, TB	9.92	6.74	6.59	7.71
2	Kevin Youkilis, BOS	6.87	6.22	5.95	6.29
3	Jason Giambi, NYY	5.98	6.52	6.41	6.98
4	Lyle Overbay, TOR	4.17	5.86	5.52	5.43
5	Aubrey Huff, BAL	5.27	5.46	5.45	5.12
Second Base
NO.	PLAYER	’07 RC/27	James	CHONE	Marcel
1	Robinson Cano, NYY	5.93	6.36	6.29	6.07
2	Brian Roberts, BAL	6.61	5.50	5.84	6.09
3	Akinori Iwamura, TB	5.63	5.53	5.16	5.47
4	Aaron Hill, TOR	5.09	5.42	5.38	5.26
5	Dustin Pedroia, BOS	6.60	5.85	6.01	6.09
Third Base
NO.	PLAYER	’07 RC/27	James	CHONE	Marcel
1	Alex Rodriguez, NYY	10.49	8.46	8.59	8.34
2	Scott Rolen, TOR	4.42	6.36	5.67	5.19
3	Mike Lowell, BOS	6.88	5.67	5.89	5.26
4	Melvin Mora, BAL	4.55	5.13	4.97	4.79
5	Evan Longoria, TB	–	–	–	–
Shortstop
NO.	PLAYER	’07 RC/27	James	CHONE	Marcel
1	Derek Jeter, NYY	6.34	6.22	6.02	6.46
2	Jason Bartlett, TB	4.69	4.95	4.52	4.82
3	Julio Lugo, BOS	3.66	4.39	4.73	4.57
4	David Eckstein, TOR	5.17	4.44	4.55	4.79
5	Luis Hernandez, BAL (eek)	3.46	2.85	3.04	5.17
Outfield
NO.	PLAYER	’07 RC/27	James	CHONE	Marcel
1	Manny Ramirez, BOS	6.66	823	7.52	7.18
2	BJ Upton, TB	7.05	6.73	5.79	6.39
3	Alex Rios, TOR	6.68	6.03	5.96	6.01
4	Nick Markakis, BAL	6.12	6.90	6.37	6.13
5	Carl Crawford, TB	6.28	5.65	6.33	6.26
6	Vernon Wells, TOR	4.26	5.52	5.34	5.36
7	Bobby Abreu, NYY	6.19	6.63	5.79	6.62
8	JD Drew, BOS	5.75	6.45	6.35	6.32
9	Hideki Matsui, NYY	6.72	7.03	6.43	6.25
10	Johnny Damon, NYY	5.59	5.28	5.37	5.75
11	Adam Jones, BAL	4.30	5.70	4.63	4.68
12	Jacoby Ellsbury, BOS	8.66	6.88	5.56	6.58