With Derek Jeter’s retirement and the Giants playing in their third World Series in five years, Buster Posey should be the next face of baseball. That’s the theme of separate articles by ESPN’s Jayson Stark and the New York Post’s Joel Sherman. Starks believes Posey is comparable to Jeter in making his team a perennial World Series contender with an understated, but intently competitive manner, the flowing awards and accolades, and his ability to move merchandise. Sherman theorizes Posey hasn’t already assumed Jeter’s mantle because of the position he plays, the market in which he plays, and a lack of a seminal playoff moment.
Here’s more news and notes from the National League:
- It will be tough for other teams to copy “the Giants Way” because the Giants themselves can’t explain their success, reports Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. “That’s a tough question to answer,” General Manager Brian Sabean said. “Things develop over time.” Time has been on the Giants’ side, notes Shaikin, as Sabean is the longest-tenured GM in baseball and his top lieutenants (Dick Tidrow and Bobby Evans, who told Shaikin he has never been interviewed for a GM opening) have been with the organization for two decades.
- Earlier today, MLBTR’s Zach Links predicted Nationals infielder Asdrubal Cabrera will land a three-year, $27MM contract in free agency. CSNWashington’s Mark Zuckerman posits Cabrera’s best days are possibly behind him, so the Nationals’ interest will be based on whether there are better options available either via free agency or on the trade market.
- The Phillies should have at least $20MM in payroll space this offseason which should be enough for a major signing or a few mid-level signings, provided they are committed to winning in 2015, according to CSNPhilly.com’s Corey Seidman. A.J. Burnett declining his $12.75 option and dealing Antonio Bastardo and/or Domonic Brown could increase that amount, Seidman adds.
- Braves President John Schuerholz indicated to Jim Bowden of SiriusXM (on Twitter) the club’s first choice to be their full-time GM is John Hart; however, he will not force the timeline.
- The first home run of the Dominican Winter League was hit by the Padres’ Yasmani Grandal. Now a full season away from his 50-game suspension for an elevated testosterone level and knee surgery and possessing excellent plate discipline (13.1% walk rate in 2014), Grandal can become a breakout offensive force for the Padres in 2015, opines the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Dennis Lin.
- The Dodgers are in good hands with Andrew Friedman aboard, writes Peter Gammons for Gammons Daily.
Mike Trout may be overhyped by some, but the timeline matches up too perfectly for Trout to not be the face of baseball. Jeter’s last truly good year was Trout’s first full season, and in Jeter’s last year, Trout will likely win AL MVP. In Jeter’s last All-Star Game, Trout was All-Star Game MVP. Posey is excellent, but Yadier Molina has two rings and has spent his entire career with one team, and even has another pennant just like Posey. Trout’s so young, so good, and locked into one team until 2020. He’s clearly, in my opinion, the face of baseball with Jeter gone.
Trout, so far is not even Dan Marino (who actually went to a Championship game).
Posey is like Joe Montana or Tom Brady… on the cusp of winning 3 Championships. A much better comparable so far to Jeter.
Judging a single player based on rings in baseball is beyond silly
Why? Jeter NEVER won an MVP.
He was never considered the best player in his sport in any single year.
He is known for “intangibles” and being a “winner”, exactly what Posey is. That is why Posey is a comparable to Jeter (though Posey actually does have an MVP).
He was a Yankee. Derek Jeter came close to winning multiple MVPs, spent twenty years playing for the most famous MLB franchise and accumulated 3000+ hits while doing it clean. It’s truly apples to oranges. Trout is almost certainly baseball’s face.
Yankee history is overrated when it comes to Jeter.
Bulls had no history before Jordan.
Patriots had a bad history before Brady.
Trout’s team has won zero playoff games in his first 3 years. Jeter had success in signature playoff moments when he was young, like Brady, Jordan, etc.
He is. That doesn’t mean he should be or will be in the future, and that is the point. He had a very dismal post season. So far, in this situation, Trout is more like an Alex Rodriguez (pre-Yankees) than a Derek Jeter. Posey still fits in Jeter’s shoes better than Trout as of right now.
Jeter came close once, in 2006 he was second. He was probably better than Morneau but still should not have won given the other players that outperformed him. He was third in 1999 and 2009 but had no business winning either year. Derek Jeter was a great player but he did not come close to winning the MVP multiple times nor should he ever have won one if one is truly searching for the most VALUABLE player.
We aren’t comparing who is better.
We are looking at who should be the face of baseball (which is silly), and championships certainly factor in there.
Performance should play a larger role, though. Age should also play a role when we’re talking about succeeding Jeter, but that’s just JMO
Being a comparable to Jeter doesn’t make him the next face of MLB. By that, I mean, Posey plays catcher for a west coast franchise and is already 27. Mike Trout is a centerfielder with 2, going on 3, top-2 MVP finishes and has arguably had the finest through-22 career in MLB history. He’s 23. 23 is a more realistic age to take the mantle from Jeter than 27. Trout has 15 years in his career left. Posey has 10.
Posey is excellent, a true superstar, but Trout is baseball’s best player and has a squeaky clean reputation, much like Posey and Jeter. A-Rod, Bonds, and the other stars from Jeter’s early era who played in high-profile baseball towns had baggage.
What does being MVP have to do with being like Jeter?
At what point was Jeter the best player in baseball?
How many MVPs does Jeter have?
Jeter wasn’t, but previous faces of franchises have been. Jeter had the perfect set of circumstances align to make him the most revered player around, and he wasn’t viewed as the face of baseball until later in his career, anyway. He had 3000+ H. 5 WS rings. Played 20 years for the *most important franchise in baseball* all while staying *completely out of the media in any negative way*. MLB itself endorsed Jeter as its face. The retirement circus is evidence of that. “Face of MLB” is extremely subjective, but MLB, ESPN, sabermetrics, traditional stats, historians, and casual fans alike are all hailing Mike Trout as the next Mickey Mantle, and he shows up everywhere. You can’t go a day in the baseball world without hearing about Trout. He represents the game well, stays out of controversy, and is baseball’s best player. I can’t even remember the last time MLB had a chance to grab onto a 23-year old who’d already established himself as the best player in the sport for three-years running. I guess Griffey, maybe? And Griffey was undoubtedly the face of MLB in the 1990s.
Funny thing about Griffey is he was never really better than Bonds, at least not in my eyes. He was a better face of baseball with his freewheeling personality and had those gawdy power numbers pre 2000 (partially thanks to the kingdome) but Bonds was a better player even through Griffey’ s prime. I’m not even talking about anything post 1998. Bonds was the best player on the planet in 1998.
Pretty bizarre to say that Posey plays for a West Coast franchise as a reason he couldn’t be the face of MLB, then say Trout should be. Is Anaheim not on the West Coast?
Trout has 15 years left in his career because he’s younger than Buster Posey. In Posey’s age 23 season, he was on a World Series winning team and won Rookie of the Year. Two years later he was named MVP and won another World Series. Is your argument that Trout has to be the face of MLB because he might have a longer tenure? That doesn’t make sense.
Baseball is much more of a team sport than football. There is no position even remotely close to being as impactful as the QB in football.
Really? I would say exactly the opposite.
Almost every single baseball game comes down to one-on-one showdowns between the pitcher and the batter. Yes, about every other hitter (on average) causes an event that requires some additional number of players to become involved, but it’s so rarely more than 2 that those times almost don’t bear mentioning (from a statistical standpoint).
Even when there’s multiple runners on-base, really only the lead runner matters, and while the pitcher may throw over a few times, by and large he’s focused on the hitter to the exclusion of almost everything else in the stadium.
And I’d really say the pitcher is more important in baseball than the QB in football. The pitcher handles the ball on literally every single event of the game (whether in-play or otherwise), and while he may be replaced due to fatigue, the position itself maintains its primacy. In the NL, he even gets a chance to hit, which would be like if the QB occasionally played safety or cornerback.
The pitcher position may be more important, but do you still maintain that stance knowing that any one pitcher (assuming SP) can only dominate once every 3-4 games at most? QBs get to take every offensive snap of every game.
And they hand the ball off to the runner in about 35-40% of them.
And they also don’t play defense.
And missing one game due to injury is like missing 10 starts as a pitcher.
And the backup QB is probably about 15% worse than any MLB team’s 6th starter.
The point being that while a QB is important, they need lots of other players involved in every single play, on both sides of the ball, to win. An awesome QB won’t make up for an offensive line that doesn’t know what play’s being called. An awesome starting pitcher can be awesome in front of one of the worst defenses in baseball and still post above-average results.
In fact, just this year, Clayton Kershaw played in front of arguably a defense in the bottom 5 in baseball, and he still unquestionably posted the best results of any pitcher in the game.
QBs don’t play defense and pitchers don’t hit (or hit well). Each of them gets half a game to influence when they’re in and leaves the other half in the hands of their teammates. You’re right that the pitcher controls more in his half and needs less help, but until he can pitch every single game we’re probably going to keep disagreeing on this.
Also, a QB missing a game is 1/16 of a season which is really darn close to one DL stint for a pitcher (2/33 or 2/34). The length of the seasons and importance of one NFL win compared to two MLB wins does need to be considered though.
Yah but Aaron Rodgers plays in 16/16 games while someone like Kershaw plays in 33/162.
They do not have an impact like QBs do. Aaron Rodgers single handedly can cake an average team to the promised land…Kershaw or Posey won’t make the Twins 90 game winners alone.
Aaron Rodgers cannot singlehandedly take an average team to Super Bowl. You’re exaggerating, and that’s ok, but it’s simply not true.
He needs good receivers to catch the ball. He needs a good offensive line to prevent him from taking a sack every other snap. He needs a credible rushing attack to stop opposing teams from blitzing every play and run out the clock. He needs a defense that can hold the lead once they take it.
Kershaw doesn’t make the Twins win 90 games, but Rodgers doesn’t make the Raiders playoff contenders either. What Kershaw does do is win you 20-some games, keep your BP fresh for when the lesser SPs can’t go as deep, and have a better-than-50% responsibility for absolutely every single outcome on defense, plus a minor role on offense.
Not sure why you’re bringing Posey into this, though, since he’s not a pitcher.
Exactly. Being a great QB can add lots of value to your team. Being a great defenseman in Hockey can add lots of value to the team. Being a great wing or dominating Center in basketball can add lots of value. No position on the baseball field does even remotely the same thing. So many unbiased numbers have proved so much time and again.
I’m not on board with Hart becoming the Braves’ GM. Like I’ve said before, this team isn’t going to improve until they take an entirely new approach.
I agree,for lack of a better term the Braves play too nice,they’re afraid of hurting players feeling.Teams that play the Braves don’t worry because they know how the Braves play,they play in a way that puts no pressure on the other team.This team needs a take no nonsense manager that will light a fire under the players
Not to mention he’s made it abundantly clear he doesn’t want the job. The Braves need to get over it, be thankful he’ll still be helping in some way, and go on to Plan B.
They just need to promote Coppolella, who is the best candidate for the job.
They really need to move away from the feast or famine batting approach and start teaching patience at the plate. What does Hart say about batting philosophy?
I disagree about Posey, but that could be my pro-dodger bias shining through. Trout in my mind is definitely the next young face of the game I think, he’s far more versatile. Posey is good I will admit but Trout is a considerably larger force to be reckoned with imho
I think he was inclined to name Posey because he has actually won championships already. Trout is a great player but he still needs a ring.
Despite potentially being more talented, I think Posey still makes more sense until Trout at least puts together a decent postseason. Right now Trout is more like Alex Rodriguez in the early 2000s. He might be more talented, but he hasn’t proved anything when it matters
Do we need a “face of baseball?” That’s just dumbing down the sport for non-fans. It might have mattered when the networks broadcast a lot of baseball games, but by putting the semifinals on cable-only networks, the TV industry has acknowledged that baseball is a niche-market game. Which is fine, the game is thriving financially as a niche-market game.
I can’t stand Derek Jeter, but it’s not his fault. He seems like a nice enough man, and he has dignity, but a big part of the reason I can’t stand him is his constant canonization by the national media.
The reason that some (not all) of the playoffs are on a basic cable station (TBS – which was responsible for making Braves fandom a nationwide phenomenon) is because TBS paid out the nose for the rights.
The World Series, and the other half of the playoffs, have been on Fox, however, which is a broadcast network.
Fox Sports 1 is not carried on many cable systems.
My local Fox affiliate (not FS1) carried all of the NLCS, and the World Series is going to be on base Fox nationally.
Playing in a relatively weak NL West has certainly helped the Giants over the last 5 years. This year SD, ARZ, and COL were all well below average teams.
Yes, looking at overall record. But just to give an example… early in the season when there were more intra division games, Colorado was on fire. It’s all a matter of timing.
i don’t think we need a ‘face of baseball” as much as we need better esthetics. Speeding the game up a bit would help. Less gimmickry around things like the all star game. We need more young stars, like posey, or Trout, to draw new fans in. As much as I like Jeter, this last year has been something like a tour through the wax museum. And, while i understand teams like houston’s business reasons, deliberately tanking as a means of rebuilding leaves a bad taste in people’s mouths. finally, with al the money in baseball, i am surprised to see a lack of community outreach when relatively small sums could have huge impacts on neighborhoods.
Rather than as a means of rebuilding, I’d say that most of the teams spending little – and with little to show for it – are simply riding the money wave. Part of the reason the Pirates had 20 sub-.500 seasons is because ownership was happy reaping the revenue-sharing dollars while spending relatively lightly.
In markets where fans don’t show up enough to boost revenues significantly on their own, and where there aren’t major TV deals (Houston, in particular, has some problems with its media market due to the CSN Houston situation), there’s just not much incentive to ratchet up spending just to gamble on marginally increasing net revenues.
Interestingly, the Pirates didn’t increase their competitiveness by spending money. They invested in a farm system. It always mystified me why teams wouldn’t at least spend the relative little money to hire farm personnel.
Some of the faces of baseball are Buster Posey and Dustin Pedroia right now. Sorry but Trout,and Stanton, are still too young
Pedroia isn’t even close to the face of baseball. And World Series wins, really? Was Ken Griffey Jr. never the face of baseball?
Pedroias career slah line .300/.366/.444 has a 43.2 WAR
won rookie of the year, won an MVP, was in 3 MVP votes, 3 time gold glover, one silver slugger, 4 all star games, 2 World Series rings
One of the best defensive players in the game, he’s a leader, he’s the heart and sole of the RedSox, like Jeter, a true class act. He led Boston to 2 World Series championships. He’s one of the games best clutch hitters.
I say he’s more than qualified to be ONE of the faces of baseball this generation.
And btw there’s a difference between being one of the best players in baseball and being a face of baseball. Miguel Cabrera, Jose Abreu, Yasiel Puig, Michael Brantly, Jonny Cueto, are some of the BEST players in baseball, but not near or even close to being a face of baseball
Yes, but Pedroia is past his prime. Posey and Trout aren’t even to the middle of their prime years yet.
Jeter was past his prime in 2010 and still has been the face of baseball. Trout is still too young and hasnt accomplished near enough to be considered, Posey I will agree with you is one of the faces of the MLB
Hasn’t accomplished near-enough? Three top-2 AL MVP finished to start his career? Yeah, he’s accomplished nothing. He had the best age-20 season ever. He arguably had the best age-21 season ever. He’s had the best through-age-22 career ever. He has an ASG MVP (fwiw), is an All Star in all his full seasons, is the only player ever to score 125 runs with 30+ HR and 45+ SB, he came on SB away from a 30-50 season, he has an RBI title, a career .300+ AVG with a near .400 OBP and a ~.550 SLG, he is nearing 100 career HR at age 23. Oh, and he’s already clearly the best player in Major League Baseball at an age where he would be age appropriate for AAA.
Im not bashing about trout, I believe he’s this generations Mickey mantle. HOWEVER, right now hes still only played 3 seasons, let the kid play a little longer before giving him a crown
Im not bashing Trout,I belive hes this gernerations Mantle. However, hes only played 3 seasons, let the kid grow and mature as a player a bit before handing out a crown
Pedroia isn’t the face of baseball. Very few people outside of baseball have Pedroia as the first person that comes to mind when they think baseball. It really doesn’t matter what stats you put up
I wouldn’t say hes THE face of baseball, but hes one of them. What makes Pedroia special isn’t just his great stats or awards he’s won or how he led Boston to 2 world series championships, its what he means to baseball. When you’re coaching a little leaguer and telling them to watch one player in particular who do you tell them to watch? Pedroia. Pedroia plays his heart out each and every game even when his team is in last place. When his team is in the hunt for the playoffs he drives and motivates and HE is the leader, not ortiz. He is the first and last on the field and is a total class act. For this very reason Mariano Rivera wrote that he would rather have Pedroia on his team over Robinson Cano, in his book. Plus, playing for one of the most storied teams in all sports helps too
I don’t think he’s in the top 10. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with everything you have said and I love Pedroia, but he just isn’t very marketable outside of his on field achievements.
He’s small, he’s not terribly good looking, he’s bald, and he will never wear pin stripes because he would always have to come out in the 3rd inning so that he could go back in the clubhouse and shave. He’s got a scrappy personality, but when it comes down to it, you would rather charismatic, or even in the case of a guy like Lebron, Puig, or Harper, arrogant when it comes to guys you can market.
Also, Pedroia is the scrappy underdog with a chip on his shoulder. You can’t be David and Goliath at the same time.
Pedroia isn’t even the face of the Red Sox.
well david ortiz is on his team
Are we going to say Ken Griffey Jr. was never the Face of MLB? Are we really going to argue this? What about Ted Williams? Was he never Face of MLB? Williams’ career spanned the end of Lou Gehrig’s career to the outset of Ron Santo’s career, and we’re going to say he was never MLB’s face? I’d argue Barry Bonds was the Face of MLB (begrudgingly) for a while in there, and he never won a WS, though he did make it at his peak. Not even that, but if we’re picking a Boston Red Sox player, it is obviously 2013 WS MVP and super-revered near-500-HR hitter David Ortiz. Ortiz actually has a legitimate case for Face of MLB right now, until he retires. He’s the most accomplished player with a ring after A-Rod and Utley, but Utley has a lot of things weighing him down, including injuries.
An aging egotistical DH who roided, the face of MLB? I’d rather no.
While I don’t like it either, if we’re being honest about the state of the game for the past 10-15 years, then a steroid-user probably is the best choice.
Ortiz was never PROVED to taking steroids, he was just rumored. Thats why people talk about him going to the hall of fame, which he will
I was under the impression he failed a drug test in 2003?
Nope that was a rumor. If he failed where was his suspension what were his punishments? Why is he still in the debate to become a Hall of Famer when guys like Manny, Arod, Sosa, Mcgwire, and Cansesco, all don’t even have a chance at the hall?
OK, so from what I can gather, Ortiz admitted in 2009 to a positive ped test, but states,he never used steroids and doesn’t know how that occurred.
Nope that was a rumor. If he failed where was his suspension?what were his punishments? Why is he still in the debate to become a Hall of Famer when guys like Manny, Arod, Sosa, Mcgwire, and Cansesco, all don’t even have a chance at the hall?
2003 was a no punishment test I believe. People like Ortiz and not Sosa
.. that’s the most legit answer there is.
According to the MLBPA Ortiz failed a test… they publicly acknowledged that.
Trust me, that was a rumor. There was an article i read that proves ortiz was never actually proven positive.
Why would people talk about him so highly and make HOF cases for him, including high profile reporters and announcers, if he failed a PED test? Manny and Arod sure got hate
We like David Ortiz. He seems grateful to us. Arod and Manny represent what we hate about the game. If Mark McGwire had Ortiz’s personality he’d be a hofer
A said it once, ill say it again, Arod, Manny, and Mcgrire all tested positive with PED’s. Ortiz did not, there were rumors and cases going out that he did, but all didn’t have enough evidence
All I know is that I read in a news publication that the union admitted he was one of those that tested positive in 2003 during the non punishable league ped assessment. I’m not writing Ortiz off because of that, but it’s hardly a stretch to find that realistic. I believe we’d be surprised who took them. There’s likely quite a few Andy Pettittes out there. I think it’s time to be real about it…. its a fact…using peds while basically unethical… and at this point plain stupid…doesn’t equal one with being a child abuser..etc
Idk man, all i’ve heard and read was all the acclamied poitive PED test for Ortiz, didn’t have enough evidence to fully go out and say he used
I’ll just say that Ortiz is going to the Hall because he played for the Red Sox. Not to take away from his accomplishments… or Jim Rice’s for that matter…but they play out their careers in Minnesota, or KC, Denver..etc… and they head to the Hall of the Very Good. Ken Burns doesn’t glorify Twins etc.
Eh, I know what you’re talkikng about but, I don’t know if I completly agree with that. If Ortiz reaches 500 hrs that a pretty big milestone, and alone makes an argurmement to the Hall. Not to mention he’s a career slash line of .285/.379/.547, those are pretty impressive numbers to go along with 500hrs. Not to mention, how cluch he’s been, and his 3 world series rings with Boston dosn’t hurt either. In the long run, being in Boston definetly improved his chances of going to the HOF, but if he put up those numbers for any other team. hed be consideration as well
You can say the same about Jeter. Obvioulsy hes a hall of famer no matter where he played, but wasn’t that farwell tour a little TOO much? Especiaally when Chipper Jones, a very comparable, if not better player, retired pretty much unnoticed?
I see a union admitted ped failed test. Some of those late 90’s early 00’s offensive totals around the league look ridiculous now. David Ortiz did make hits in big games…but why not Jim Thome? I just ask…not a statement. Ortiz might go to the Hall on his amazing ability to manicure his reputation.
Jim Thome, Pedro Martinez, and Ivan Rodriguez all are eligible for hall of Fame candidacy in the coming years. Imo, they all are hall of famers. It would be a shame if Thome and his 600hrs dont make it, but I think he will.
Ivan might have trouble, but in the sense of how the hall works they make it. It’ll be interesting to see how we look back on the ped era…if it’s over. We’re going to have to come to grips with the logical fact that it wasn’t only our villains that took them, but our heros as well.
I don’t think Ivan will have trouble. His stats speak for them selves . great hitter, even a better catcher. His stats speak for themsleves. Personally I think he’s the beest catcher we’ve seen in a long long time and that list inlcuded some impresive names like Buster Posey, Yadi Molina, Jorge Posada, Jason Varitek, and Mike Piazza (wasn’t the greatest defensive catcher)
Ivan Rodriguez was the heart of that 2003 Marlins team. I’d say he’s a notch above Molina…both solid.
I think there’s a sad, but valid, case that money and peds have been the face of baseball in the public mind.
That completely depends in where you live in the country. Dustin Pedroia doesn’t even enter the conversation in the upper Midwest.
I really don’t think that there is a face of the game to anyone but the most casual of fans. I suppose if it’s just a pure marketing ploy, that’d have to go to Mike Trout. Buster Posey feels a lot like Joe Mauer to me…..but everyone has their own opinion.
Bud Selig, ownership, and peds are the face of baseball.
I’m in awed silence awaiting Peter Gammon’s upcoming expose, “The Baseball, It’s Not Actually Round. It Has Seams That Make It Truly Non Spherical. Or How I Started Loving the Bomb.”
any source from bowden has got to be false.