Players from this generation who are/were better than Derek Jeter

[Taylor]

I'll start:

 

Ichiro.

[TeemuTrout]

I'll just do shortstops:

 

A-Rod

Tejada at his peak

Tulowitzki right now

[HaloMilliVanilli]

Jeff Mathis.

[Chimi]

Pujols

[Taylor]

Chipper Jones

[nate]

Ralsty

[Blarg]

damn you Nate.

[Chimi]

Vlad

[happybat4]

I don't think Tejada was better. I wonder who will be the next to get to 3000 hits. If A-rod plays he is less than a 100. Ichrio is 151 away. Beltre sits at 2601. Pujols is at 2500.

Edited September 26, 2014 by happybat4

[bloodbrother]

Manny Ramirez

[Taylor]

Griffey

[bloodbrother]

Jim Thome

Frank Thomas

[Taylor]

Pedro Martinez

[QuinlansMinion]

Players who were better than Barry Bonds:

 

 

 

Nobody

[Taylor]

Stay on topic.

[QuinlansMinion]

Stay on topic.

Whats the matter?  Cant handle the truth?  

[Don]

It's tough to compare Jeter to a lot of players because of three things. First is his longevity. So the peak of certain careers versus his is hard to judge. Second is his position. Obviously, there's a certain standard for SS that isn't the same as 1B or RF or C. Third is simply the type of player he was. High average, low Ks, moderate power, decent speed. It's hard to compare the value of that to someone like a Mark McGwire or Adam Dunn.

I will say this though. For most of his career he was an elite player overall, especially for his position. And I think that despite his mostly average defense, there were several years that I would have considered him the best all around SS in the game. And he won five rings. I know that's not all his doing, but it still has to hold some weight. I also truly believe that he's the most media-savvy athlete of the last 30 years.

Bottom line, a very good player that accomplished a whole hell of a lot, and was sometimes the best at his position over a 19 year career. Not the best player of his generation by quite a bit, but a HOF caliber player no doubt.

Edited September 26, 2014 by Don

[Angelsjunky]

Let's look at the span of Jeter's career, 1995-2014.

 

Top players by fWAR:

1. Alex Rodriguez 111.3

2. Barry Bonds 99.1

3. Albert Pujols 90.5

4. Chipper Jones 84.7

5. Derek Jeter 73.6

 

So according to fWAR, Jeter was the fifth most valuable position player over the span of his career. Of course that doesn't say anything about peak level, but it does give a sense of just how consistently good he's been over two decades. There are probably a few dozen players who were better than him during that span at their peaks, but only four who contributes more overall value.

[T.G.]

Was there a farewell tour for Chipper?  I really don't remember.

[hats4bats]

Chad Curtis

[CAAngelsLifer]

I'm going to have to go with Bonds, Rodriguez and Pujols. Two of those definitely no farewell tour because of the cloud hanging over their achievements. But even without the PEDS and massive number of home runs I think they'd be on this list. 

I'm not 100% sure pujols would put up with a farewell tour- plus he didn't play with the same team for his whole career. 

[Taylor]

I'm going to have to go with Bonds, Rodriguez and Pujols. Two of those definitely no farewell tour because of the cloud hanging over their achievements. But even without the PEDS and massive number of home runs I think they'd be on this list. 

I'm not 100% sure pujols would put up with a farewell tour- plus he didn't play with the same team Yankees for his whole career. 

 

Fixed.

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

Jeter was very fortunate for two things… a major-injury free career and being drafted by the Yankees.

 

He would have been Rey Ordonez if he would have been a Met.   Had he been on KC or Cleveland he would have been just another guy.

 

Very good player but certainly not worth the hype that's been displayed this season and this week.

 

Of course as I said that, someone is finishing the bronzing of the Jeets statue in Anaheim.

[Guest]

Stay on topic.

 

 

Whats the matter?  Cant handle the truth?  

 

Quinlan was right. People just didn't like Bonds even compared to other steroids guys like McGuire because he wasn't humble about it -- he'd come right out and tell you he was the best player in baseball himself.

[Guest]

Was there a farewell tour for Chipper?  I really don't remember.

 

I don't think there was any fanfare for Chipper during the season. Even in his final game (the 2012 NL Wild Card Game) they didn't do much behind a standing ovation for him. In Chipper Jones final game the St Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves as a direct result of a flyball to left field that fell in but was incorrectly ruled an "out" on the infield fly rule. Joe Torre was watching the game and declined the Braves' game protest on the spot.