Afternoon Baseball

Carlos Beltran Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com

I keep hearing all these people say he's one of the top 5 players in baseball, or even better. That's ridiculous. I know he's only 27 and he's got "potential." But top 5? C'mon. Bonds, Pujols, A-Rod, Guerrero. You can't argue he's better all-around than any of them. He matches none of them in hitting for average or power. Only Pujols can't run (or run well, that is) and isn't a very good defensive player. Gary Sheffield might as well be on that list as well, as well as Scott Rolen, Ivan Rodriguez, Todd Helton, a healthy Garrett Anderson, and even a CF like Jim Edmonds isn't very far behind (and a better fit for the team he's with).
Bottom line on Beltran: He's a great player and that still puts him in the top 10 in baseball. Problem is, just like in basketball, where Garnett, Duncan, Kobe, T-Mac, and Shaq are miles above the next five, being top 10 is a tremendous difference from being top 5.
Beltran is not there yet, and won't be until he produces the numbers that belong there. Sadly, sub-30 HR, a barely .900 OPS (currently 30th in baseball) and a batting average that some years is .300, some years not is not a top 5 player, no matter how great a defensive player or how speedy he is. He hasn't even had a season as good as Bernie Williams' best five, and he was never a top 5 player.