Top 10 Angel defensive center fielders

[seenoevil]

1. Pettis

2. Edmonds

3. White

4. Bourjos

5. Trout

6. Erstad

7. Lynn

8. Mathews Jr

9. Hunter

10.Curtis

[Stradling]

I would put Erstad ahead of Trout, I would not have Lynn in the top ten. I would probably put Mickey Rivers in the top ten along with Rick Miller and Curtis wouldn't be on the top ten.

[disarcina]

Yes. Mickey Rivers has to be on that list, Rick Miller and Ken Berry (that's going back a ways -- how about Albie Pearson?) as well.

 

my rankings

 

1. Edmonds -- watch the highlight reels KC may be best ever (better even than the Wertz catch by Mays in the '54 W/S).

2. Trout -- already a stud out there, big time. big time arm.

3. Pettis - this guy was quick, great fielder and got a great read......one of the best.

4, Erstad -- I think folks forget how good he was out in CF, because he played so much 1B and was a gold glove guy there as well. Mr. Hustle.

5, Devon White -- wasn't with the Halos very long but was an All Star quality CF'er when here.

6. Torri Hunter -- best highlight reel next to Edmonds......used to bring HRs back -- seemed to do so on a regular basis.

7. Fred Lynn

 

OTHERS/ Honorable mention: Ken Berry, Rick Miller (all "D") and PJB - Bourjos -- wasn't with us long enough really. But I sure like the way he played CF.

 

Chad Curtis???? He's on a list but not this list.

[Stradling]

Trout doesn't have a big time arm. I believe Pettis, White and Erstad along with Peter are all better defensively than Trout.

[Ohtaniland]

Yes. Mickey Rivers has to be on that list, Rick Miller and Ken Berry (that's going back a ways -- how about Albie Pearson?) as well.

 

my rankings

 

1. Edmonds -- watch the highlight reels KC may be best ever (better even than the Wertz catch by Mays in the '54 W/S).

2. Trout -- already a stud out there, big time. big time arm?

3. Pettis - this guy was quick, great fielder and got a great read......one of the best.

4, Erstad -- I think folks forget how good he was out in CF, because he played so much 1B and was a gold glove guy there as well. Mr. Hustle.

5, Devon White -- wasn't with the Halos very long but was an All Star quality CF'er when here.

6. Torri Hunter -- best highlight reel next to Edmonds......used to bring HRs back -- seemed to do so on a regular basis.

7. Fred Lynn

 

OTHERS/ Honorable mention: Ken Berry, Rick Miller (all "D") and PJB - Bourjos -- wasn't with us long enough really. But I sure like the way he played CF.

 

Chad Curtis???? He's on a list but not this list.

 

He has a below average arm. His closing speed and glove are probably the best in the game. 

[Sherlock31]

Sorry to say, but Trout is not in the top 5

Edited April 30, 2014 by Sherlock31

[JAHV76]

No love for Gary Matthews Jr.? 😉

[RenoHalo]

1. Gary Pettis
2. Jim Edmonds
3. Darin Erstad
4. Devon White
5. Peter Bourjos
6. Rick Miller
7. Mike Trout
8. Torii Hunter
9. GMJ
10. Fred Lynn

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

I call BS that Terry Evans isn't on the list.

[DW711]

Edmonds is number one.

[Angelsjunky]

My gut feeling is that Erstad or White were the best defensive center fielders and that Edmonds--while great--was a bit over-rated because of his great catches.

 

This is worth checking out. It's a leaderboard of Angels center fielders by Defensive Runs courtesy of Fangraphs. It is sorted by total Def, so it benefits players who played a lot of games. Here's the list:

 

1. Erstad 85.0

2. White 62.1

3. Pettis 56.8

4. Bourjos 44.3

5. Edmonds 31.3

6. Trout 25.9

 

Now let's sort those by Defensive Runs per game:

 

.125 Bourjos

.101 White

.097 Pettis

.072 Trout

.064 Erstad

.044 Edmonds

 

Interesting to see how far Edmonds is behind the rest and how Trout is ahead of Erstad. Bourjos is in his own category.

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

Hard to believe Trout is ahead of Lynn at this point.   Despite being on the older side of his career, Lynn was still quite awesome as Angels CF.

[disarcina]

Trout seems to be throwing guys out......

 

I think he's pretty good -- the complete package. Oh well.

 

that's why we have these forums to argue stuff like this.

 

GMJ?? I would contend that he once made the most lucrative highlight reel catch -- the over the wall catch he made with Texas probably resulted in the Halos over-paying for his services -- what was it? $10 million a year for five years........except for that play, I don't think he did much (at least not for us) in the OF.......the under rated guy is probably Devon White......when he first came up, he was really something out there.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Im with AJ (and nice data dig up). I think edmonds was a bit overrated. Not that he wasnt very good, but I think that one play made everyone think he was supernatural.

I think erstad was way up there, and was a huge devo fan. Glad people still remember him, even though he wasnt here that long

[Chuck]

Devon White is #1 hands down. Good routes, fast as a gazelle, very strong arm and stole a ton of would be HR's.

Erstad, Bourjos, Pettis, Edmonds and Trout.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Does anyone have steve finley penciled in at number 11?

[seenoevil]

Does anyone have steve finley penciled in at number 11?

 

I forgot about Kenny Landreaux, he had a short stint with the Angels

[Taylor]

Bill Stoneman's list:

 

1. GMJ

[AngelsLakersFan]

Edmonds' catch is BY FAR better than Mays', and I think easily the best play in history as well. I wouldn't put Mays' in the top 500. I've made several better plays in my life, but never made one like the Edmonds play. And please with the "presence of mind" crap they spew. Anyone that has ever played baseball, with the possible exception of David Freese, would spin around and chuck the ball back.

 

You realize he caught that ball about 440 feet from home plate right?

[AngelsLakersFan]

My dad would always gush abut Garry Pettis's defense. I never saw him myself. I remember Devon White late in his career but hard to really think critically about him.

 

Of the center fielders that played here Erstad was the best. Bourjos has a better arm and went back on the ball better, might have even more speed than Erstad, but damn would Darin lay out for those balls in the gap. Would've loved to see Peter play a bit more and see him really earn his way up this list.

 

GMJ was insanely overrated. His defense sucked. I think Figgins was a better CFer. Torii Hunter was simply "OK"

 

Edmonds was great with the glove, but he just didn't have the speed that these other guys had. There is just no way he was as good.

[mtangelsfan]

White.  Rivers.  Burjous.  Trout.  Edmonds.  Pettis.  Erstad.  Miller.  Berry.  Lynn

Edited April 30, 2014 by mtangelsfan

[AngelsLakersFan]

Yeah but he started at 400. Lol no but seriously he was slowing down when he caught the ball and it was over the shoulder. He also took a serpentine route to get there. Maybe he had better speed than others and got a great jump (didn't he actually get a bad jump?) but he certainly didn't have to do everything in his power to catch that ball.

It kind of reminds me of the David Wright play. Just use your glove and stop making it look hard. Or Jeter's play, which again was pretty easy logic, not some amazing "presence of mind" BS.

 

I'll just say this. Edmonds doesn't make that play. 

[disarcina]

The thing that made the Mays' catch was the throw........

 

he turned his back on home plate and used his speed to sprint to the ball and caught it over the shoulder in cavernous center field of the old Polo Grounds and then he whirled and made a perfect throw back to the infield.....the runners did not advance on the play......it was remarkable.

 

Edmonds catch in KC was every bit as good and amazing.

 

I second the comments about Devon White made on this thread -- he was pretty amazing when he first came up -- the buzz around Peter Bourjos was similar when he started playing center for the Halos the past two years and made some amazing plays -- being not only a great OF'er with a good read but that combined with incredible speed to get to flayballs that others simply could not catch up to.....

 

But for day in, day out, Edmonds was a highlight reel all to himself during his time in Anaheim.......even though he may not have been as athletically gifted in the speed department as a Devon White, Gary Pettis or Peter Bourjos........

[Docwaukee]

Nice topic. 

 

Bourjos and White are my top two.  Tough to call who is better

 

Trout's arm is better than I thought.  I had it at below average but this year he has mad a couple of nice throws that really surprised me. 

 

Erstad was fearless.  Edmonds took the best routes and got amazing jumps.  Pettis was just really really good all around.

 

those four are my next tier. 

 

I never saw Rivers. 

 

GMJr was awful.  just awful. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

I'll just say this. Edmonds doesn't make that play.

racist