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It's Derrek Lee's world

Cubs superslugger leads NL Sabermetric All-Stars

Posted: Thursday June 2, 2005 12:09PM; Updated: Thursday June 2, 2005 1:06PM
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Which One Is Not Like The Other?
Age Year Batting Line
29 2005 .380-.467-.727
28 2004 .278-.356-.504
27 2003 .271-.379-.508
26 2002 .270-.378-.494

Didn't the Cubs get the memo that their season was over? Mark Prior is out for several months, as is Nomar Garciaparra. Kerry Wood is M.I.A. Those are three pretty good reasons to start waitin' till next year.

But it turns out none of those things matter when you have Derrek Lee on your team. During the Cubs' six-game winning streak, he's batting .640 (16-for-25) with five home runs, 11 RBIs and four walks. Lee has been an outstanding all-around player for several years now, but look at how his 2005 numbers eclipse his previous totals from recent seasons (see chart, above right). It's a career year, to say the least.

Plus, Lee is leading the majors in the Triple Crown categories. Yeah, he's the National League's MVP so far, and the starter at first base on my NL Sabermetric All-Star team. (The AL version ran yesterday and includes a glossary of terms for Win Shares, Runs Created, Value Over Replacement Player and Equivalent Average.)

Note: WS and RC are through games of May 30. VORP and EQA are updated through June 1.

NATIONAL LEAGUE | AMERICAN LEAGUE

Catchers
Rank Player, Team RC WS VORP EQA
1. Ramon Hernandez, Padres 26 6 15.8 .283
2. Michael Barrett, Cubs 24 6 9.5 .264
3. Paul Lo Duca, Marlins 20 5 8.5 .260

Atlanta's Johnny Estrada leads in Win Shares despite a .244 EQA and an unimpressive VORP of 8.6, so I'm not quite sure what to make of that.

First Baseman
Rank Player, Team RC WS VORP EQA
1. Derrek Lee, Cubs 58 14 46.8 .382
2. Albert Pujols, Cardinals 50 14 29.9 .324
3. Nick Johnson, Nationals 42 11 23.4 .326

Carlos Delgado's fielding Win Shares are the same as the typical grade point average from Delta House -- 0.0. That's a big reason he missed the cut.

Second Baseman
Rank Player, Team RC WS VORP EQA
1. Craig Biggio, Astros 34 7 16.9 .286
2. Craig Counsell, D'backs 34 13 18.2 .298
3. Mark Grudzielanek, Cardinals 28 8 20.3 .293

Who knew the Cardinals' new middle infielders (see David Eckstein, below) would be this productive? The St. Louis front office deserves high praise indeed. The slumping Jeff Kent gets the shaft.

Third Baseman
Rank Player, Team RC WS VORP EQA
1. Chipper Jones, Braves 33 9 21.4 .329
2. David Wright, Mets 34 9 20.4 .312
3. Troy Glaus, D'backs 28 8 18.3 .294

The Mets are set at the hot corner for a decade, provided they don't have another brain cramp and trade Wright a la Scott Kazmir.

Shortstop
Rank Player, Team RC WS VORP EQA
1. Cesar Izturis, Dodgers 30 9 19.9 .288
2. Felipe Lopez, Reds 25 6 18.7 .302
3. David Eckstein, Cardinals 31 10 14.8 .269

Rockies phenom Clint Barmes misses out after adjusting for his Coors Field advantage.

Left Field
Rank Player, Team RC WS VORP EQA
1. Miguel Cabrera, Marlins 37 8 29.5 .344
2. Adam Dunn, Reds 40 10 22.4 .323
3. Jason Bay, Pirates 40 9 24.6 .312

This says a lot about how far the 26-year-old Bay has come already; he beats out big names such as Pat Burrell, Ryan Klesko and Luis Gonzalez.

Center Field
Rank Player, Team RC WS VORP EQA
1. Jim Edmonds, Cardinals 36 10 19.7 .313
2. Brady Clark, Brewers 37 9 21.8 .293
3. Milton Bradley, Dodgers 29 7 16.3 .297

Between Clark's performance and Carlos Lee's huge numbers, it's safe to say the Brewers don't miss Scott Podsednik.

Right Field
Rank Player, Team RC WS VORP EQA
1. Bobby Abreu, Phillies 51 13 36.2 .352
2. Brian Giles, Padres 43 13 22.3 .328
3. Jose Guillen, Nationals 28 6 15.1 .295

Mike Cameron has come on strong, putting up a .385 EQA, but he missed too much time early in the season.
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