Who Really is the Best Player in the MLB?

In every sport, there is always the question, "Well who is the best player? And year in and year out nobody can agree on the same player. In the MLB this season, the question is raised who is better Albert Pujols, Hanley Ramirez or Joe Mauer. Many highly educated baseball people believe Pujols is the best. Almost every fantasy baseball fanatic says that Ramirez is the best player in baseball. I guess only myself and all of Minnesota believe that Mauer is the best player in baseball.

Albert Pujols is called by many to be a machine. What they mean by machine is that he can do everything. Don't get me wrong, the man can hit and he can hit the ball hard and far. Pujols consistently hits over .300 every years since his rookie season in 2001 and he has hit over 30 home runs and had over 100 RBIs in every season in the MLB. Pujols has been dubbed the next one to win the Triple Crown, or hit .400 in a season. The Triple Crown could be possible, but more likely will be doubtful then possible. Especially with Hanley Ramirez in the National League for a long time and other great average hitters in the NL. There is also no way Pujols will hit .400 because he is a home run hitter, and when those fly balls start getting caught at the warning track, that average is going to fall. A line drive hitter has a better shot at reaching the .400 mark. After all that about Pujols, you would think, "How can you not say Pujols is the best player in baseball?" The reason is because he plays 1st base. Now Pujols is a good defensive 1st basemen, but when a guy has bad back, or bad knees or is just too old to play the field and he’s not in the American League, where do they stick him? First base. Pujols could be the best hitter in baseball, even though that is up for debate as well, but he is definitely the best power hitter in baseball.

Hanley Ramirez who is the youngest out of the 3 I named before, but he can do it all. He can hit for a high average, hit home runs, steal bases and has a rocket arm at the shortstop position. Also Ramirez plays a decent shortstop but again shortstop is a more demanding position the first base is, but Ramirez is making strides to becoming a solid shortstop in the MLB. Ramirez has the best tools out of him, Pujols and Mauer, but again he is youngest like I said and is put in a real bad spot. Ramirez is on the Florida Marlins and is the face of the franchise already, and didn't have anybody to help him mature in the game of baseball. He was on his own from the beginning of his career, as I am sure many of you read in the recent weeks when Marlins manger Fredi Gonzalez benched Ramirez for not hustling on a ball that he accidentally kicked into left field, and allowed the runner to go to 3rd base. Is the fact that Ramirez didn't have anyone to help him mature, no but I know I wouldn't want that kind of attitude on my team. Now he is so young and he is slowly becoming the leader the Marlins organization wants him to be, but it could take a few years. The sky is the limit for Ramirez and I wouldn't be surprised in a few years to re write this article and say that Ramirez is the best player.

Joe Mauer is flat out the best player in baseball, this really shouldn't even be a question. He is flat out the best hitter in baseball, he hits for very high average and hits line drives, he never strikes out and he uses the whole field. As of last year, he found the power stroke that the scouts said that he had. Mauer doesn't hit towering homeruns; Mauer's home runs are line drives that are hit so hard that they leave the park. Unlike Pujols, Mauer has a better shot at batting .400 because of all the line drives he hits as oppose to the fly balls Pujols hits. Mauer also has 3 batting titles in 4 seasons as a professional and was the first catcher to lead the MLB is batting average and the first catcher to lead the AL in batting. That’s right Mauer is a catcher, catching is easily the most demanding position in baseball and he has been able to put up better batting averages the both Pujols and Ramirez. Last season Mauer also hit more home runs than Ramirez and had more RBI's then Ramirez. Mauer also has 2 gold gloves as oppose to one by Pujols and none by Ramirez. He is feared both at the plate and in the field, other then hitting and catching, Mauer also controls a pitching staff, which is an overlooked quality of a catcher.

I hope that this will help push more people to the Joe Mauer bandwagon, because even though he did win the MVP last season in the AL, I believe he hasn't received enough credit for what he brings to the table. Never has there been the combination of gold glove fielding and hitting for average and power to come from the catcher position. Not saying Ramirez and Pujols aren't great because they are, but neither of them bring the complete game that Mauer brings to the table.

Let me know, if you agree, disagree or think I should have included any other players.

Thanks