The Most Underrated Player at Each Position in MLB

It’s September, which means the only thing on the minds of the majority of baseball fans is October, and the postseason that subsequently comes along with it. For that reason, it can be somewhat easy to overlook the great season any given player is having, especially if they are doing so somewhat under the radar. With that in mind, I thought I’d take a look at the players who I feel are near the top of the most underrated players list at each position (not the best player at each position) from around all of Major League Baseball:

FIRST BASE: Chis Carter (right)

Over the past several seasons, Chris Carter has burst onto the scene as one of the best power-hitting first basemen in all of baseball, despite being a strikeout machine. Carter is having yet another season of great numbers, batting a mere .228 so far in 2016, but having notched 33 home runs and 78 RBI’s, making him a somewhat overlooked star first baseman.

SECOND BASE: Brian Dozier

Brian Dozier has received more and more recognition lately after having a few above average seasons, but Dozier still isn’t seen as the superstar he is. Having hit 38 home runs and recorded 91 RBI’s on the year, Dozier is well on his way to yet another unbelievable and historic season — a season that you may not be all that aware of.

THIRD BASE: Justin Turner

After a few poor years with various teams to begin his career, Justin Turner has been an elite third baseman the past couple of years with the Dodgers. This season has been no different, seeing Turner hit .270 with 25 home runs and 77 RBI’s. As such, despite Nolan Arenado and Kris Bryant holding all the spotlight at the hot corner, Turner deserves his share of recognition.

SHORTSTOP: Asdrubal Cabrera

Once upon a time with the Indians, Asdrubal Cabrera was a star. Making great plays and hitting near the top in every offensive category among shortstops, Cabrera hasn’t been that type of player in recent seasons. But this year with the Mets, Cabrera has resurged again, hitting .276 with 19 homers and 49 RBI’s.

CATCHER: Yasmani Grandal (left)

With guys such as Buster Posey and Salvador Perez, among others, seeing the most publicity among big league backstops, it’s players like Yasmani Grandal who fall by the wayside. Grandal has truly broken out as one of the best hitting catchers in the game today, blasting 24 homers despite batting just .234 on the year. As such, I see him as the most underrated catcher in baseball.

PITCHER: Tanner Roark

Kyle Hendricks has broken out as one of the best pitchers in the game this season, but it’s Tanner Roark who I feel is still under the radar. Posting a 2.89 ERA this season with the Nationals, Roark has been fantastic for them in his 28 starts. His .235 average against may not be in the top 20, but in my mind he is number one on the most underrated list.

OUTFIELD: Khris Davis (right)

Hitting just .254 on the season with 141 strikeouts, there are a lot of holes in Khris Davis’s game, but he is still the most underrated outfielder in my book. He is second in home runs among outfielders, with 35 (behind just Mark Trumo, who leads all of MLB). For that reason among others, Davis is a player everyone around baseball should know, but only a select amount do.

But whether or not you were aware of every single one of those players having amazing seasons, or have never heard of half of them, the point still stands. There are a ton of players around baseball each season who don’t receive the credit they deserve.

It’s time they were seen for the stars they are.

Asdrubal Cabrera Proving His Value With the Mets

In each of the past two games, Asdrubal Cabrera has hit a home run, going 2-3 with a homer and a walk on Wednesday afternoon, in addition to producing some amazing defensive plays in the field. Although he isn’t seen as the star player he used to be by the majority of baseball fans, Cabrera is still an extremely valuable part of the Mets.

Back in 2011, Cabrera had the best season of his career, hitting 25 home runs, with 92 RBI’s and recording a .273 average, all while playing a terrific defensive shortstop. In the years since, Cabrera hasn’t had numbers anywhere near those, but he’s been consistently good, nonetheless.

The Mets have been the beneficiaries of Cabrera’s contributions this season. After spending time with the Nationals and Rays over the past couple of seasons, Cabrera is manning the shortstop role for the Mets and is proving to be a great pickup for them.

In 70 games, Cabrera is hitting .270 with 8 homers and 24 RBI’s, but his glove work has been the most impressive. Although Cabrera won’t go down in baseball history as an all-time great shortstop, he is somewhat overlooked, in my opinion, as one of the truly best defensive infielders in the game today.

Cabrera makes nearly every play, even when the plays call for him to range a long way in one direction or another. He is one of those players who goes about his job smoothly day in and day out, making him blend in to a degree. But if you take the time to watch Cabrera on a daily basis, you can easily see the little things make him stand out in a big way.

While the Mets have some work to do in order to chase down the Nationals who have so far been the team that was expected from them last year, they still have a good enough team to make a run at the playoffs as the season progresses. Although not the most talented player on the team, Asdrubal Cabrera is helping keep the Mets in contention.

Oakland Athletics Continue Their Offseason Overhaul

It may be a brand new year, but it’s proving to be the same old Athletics.

A team known in recent history for their offseason trades and signings that leave them with a completely different looking ball club from one year to the next, the A’s have once again used the offseason to this point to make a lot of moves (some good, some bad) to change up the overall structure of their team.

The most recent case coming on Saturday with the trading away of John Jaso and a couple of top prospects, in Daniel Robertson and Boog Powell, to the Rays in exchange for Ben Zobrist and Yunel Escobar, who will both help what has the potential to be a good A’s team in 2015.

Despite losing John Jaso, who was a solid player for the Athletics in 2014, as well as Robertson and Powell, the A’s got back a fairly good package in return.

After an extended period of trade rumors surrounding Ben Zobrist, a transaction for him finally occurred, sending Zobrist off to the A’s. Two years removed from back-to-back 20 homer seasons, Zobrist hit a mere 10 bombs in 2014, but is still more than capable of impacting any team he’s on, as he has over the course of his All-Star career with the Rays.

Other moves the A’s have made so far to go along with the Zobrist and Escobar trade that could turn out to have major impacts began with the pickup of Billy Butler on a three-year, thirty million dollar contract. The Athletics then proceeded to swap their All-Star third baseman, Josh Donaldson, for fellow hot corner defender, Brett Lawrie, from the Blue Jays.

While the Butler deal was applauded by many, the Donaldson move was one that left many people scratching their heads. However, they weren’t done there.

Following the initial offseason additions of Butler and Lawrie, the Athletics kicked off the 2014 Winter Meetings, trading slugger Brandon Moss to the Indians, and almost immediately after departed ways with Jeff Samardzija for a few potential valuable but unproven players from the White Sox.

Even though there are some things the Athletics have done that I don’t agree with, for the most part I like where the A’s are headed.

Losing Yoenis Cespedes to the Red Sox via a trade for Jon Lester, and knowing they wouldn’t likely retain Lester upon the end of the season, the moves the A’s are making should help them in their attempt to make up for those losses.

Even after losing Lester, the Athletics’ rotation will still be decent, with Sonny Gray leading the way, along with Jarrod Parker who is set to return to health, and their lineup always seems to find a way to produce runs. Having finished with a win-loss record above .500 for each of the past three seasons, things are seemingly lining up to make it four.