MLB power rankings: Best player on each team

ByBrad Berreman|
Apr 17, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout (27) during the game against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 17, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout (27) during the game against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports
22 of 30
Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Pittsburgh Pirates: OF Starling Marte

If intelligence were a top criteria for this list of best players on each team, Marte wouldn’t make it on the heels of his 80-game performance-enhancing drug suspension this week. But this is about someone’s ability on the field, and Marte has plenty of that even if he was not a headline-maker on a wide scale before Tuesday news.

Marte earned the first All-Star selection of his career and his second straight Gold Glove in 2016, on his way to hitting .287 with 19 home runs, 81 RBI and 30 stolen bases. His 20.5 WAR since his first full big league season in 2013, as measured by Baseball Reference, is 13th among position players over that span.

If Marte finally pushing Andrew McCutchen out of center field at the start of this season isn’t enough to prove his defensive ability, there’s this. Also since 2013 (via FanGraphs), Marte is tied for fifth in all of baseball in Defensive Runs Saved. What about his throwing arm, you say? Marte led National League left fielders in assists in 2015 (15) and 2016 (17).

Ben Lindbergh of The Ringer laid out an argument for Marte as the best player ever to be suspended for PEDs, which felt a major reach via the title until I read it. I’m still not completely convinced, but a player’s value can sometimes best be assessed based on how he’ll be replaced over a long-term absence. McCutchen, and his atrocious advanced defensive metrics playing the position in 2016, will shift back to center field.

Marte’s nearly half-season suspension will severely diminish Pittsburgh’s outfield defense, drop their projected win total and decrease their playoff chances. So he’s obviously the best, and most irreplaceable, player the Pirates have.