Ranking the Greatest Players Ever

Dave Studeman at The Hardball Times (disclaimer: I am a contributor to THT) provides more bar room fodder for the masses with his Historical Win Shares Above Bench. I’ll leave the methodology and the top 10 to Studeman; however, a few things are worth mentioning:

• I did not realize that Gary Sheffield’s historical numbers were that good in context. According to this method, which accounts for a player’s value on offense and defense, Sheffield is one of the 30 best players ever to play the game. He’s right there with Reggie Jackson, Carl Yastrzemski, Al Kaline, and Willie McCovey. Kind of interesting in light of our recent poll.
• Jeff Bagwell, another player in that same poll, also places very well according to WSAB, finishing his career between George Brett and Tony Gwynn. Both Bagwell and Frank Thomas look like no-doubt Hall of Famers here.
• Craig Biggio has had an amazing career. Everyone knows him for the pine tar on his helmet and the hit by pitches, but Biggio has posted some tremendous numbers over the years. If you look at Dan McLaughlin’s piece at THT from a couple weeks ago, you’ll notice that he’s one of the best hitting middle infielders in baseball history. (So is Jeff Kent, but that’s a whole other can of worms.)

Fascinating stuff. The debate never ends; it only grows more intense.