Oh Yeah, There's Also Manny Machado

If this were any other time, that is any time that weren't the time of Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, it would be the time of Manny Machado.

We would be writing paeans to Machado, who left the yard 32 times last season, swiped 20 bags, made the All-Star team, earned MVP votes, sucked up everything at the hot corner and turned all of 23 years old.

Of course, most of that wasn't new. He's been a vacuum cleaner at third for a trio of campaigns. He's made two All-Star squads, earned MVP votes after two seasons and led baseball in doubles his freshman year, at age 20.

He's contributed almost 18 WAR already, entering his fourth season. For perspective, that's the career WAR of Gorman Thomas, who slugged 30+ homers five times in his 13-year career. (Okay, no it's not. Thomas piled up another 1.7 WAR after his long stint with the Brewers, putting him two WAR ahead of Machado. So just wait an hour and come back so that Manny has time to catch up.)

Machado could become the greatest third baseman in Baltimore history, which is saying something when the incumbent in the position is not just a Hall of Famer, but generally regarded as the greatest defensive third baseman of all time.

The point is, we have this guy playing baseball right now who is a five-tool superstar just barely old enough to buy a beer. And we never talk about him because it's the time of Mike Trout and Bryce Harper.

Rolen Along To A Title

With Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder out of the NL Central, the Cincinnati Reds have visions of a division title in 2012. To get there, they may be banking on a 37-year-old infielder whose shoulder woes last year limited him to 65 games, strangled his offense (.242/.279/.347) and drained his defense of added value. He's in the final year of a contract for his fourth team after things skittered to a close at his first two stops -- first because the home field was unkind to him and second because the manager was.

Maybe expecting a bounce-back is unrealistic, but Scott Rolen has surprised people for years.

Even in his dotage, last year was an outlier for Rolen. In 2010, he came to the Queen City and helped the Reds to the division crown by hitting .285/.358/.497 with 20 home runs in 133 games. The year prior, for Toronto and Cincinnati, and despite missing 35 games, Rolen contributed .305/.368/.455 and his usual sterling hot corner defense.

Before that, Scott Rolen was a Hall of Fame third baseman. If that doesn't square with your notion of him, consider this comparison:

Other third baseman: .267/.322/.401 with a 104 OPS+ and defense worth 14 runs above average/year.
268 homers, 1357 RBI, 1232 runs , 28 steals in 50 attempts over 23 seasons

Scott Rolen: .282/.366/.494 with a 123 OPS+ and defense worth 11 runs above average/year.
308 homers, 1248 RBI, 1185 runs, 116 steals in 164 attempts over 16 seasons

(OPS+ measures OBP + SLG as compared to league average, which is expressed as 100. A 123 OPS+ means Rolen is a 23% better hitter than league average.)

Rolen is not quite the wizard with the glove that the other player was, but he's no slouch in that department. And he's significantly more adept at every other part of the game, although for a shorter time. I looked at their peak five seasons, and the two players were pretty indistinguishable.

If he retired today, Scott Rolen could put his career up against Brooks Robinson's first-ballot Hall of Fame tenure without batting an eye. That sounds like a HOF case to me.

None of that, though, presages his 2012 contributions to the Reds. The hounding leg and shoulder issues, coupled with eight years remove from his offensive peak and the steady evaporation of his advantage afield, could mean that this year is nothing more than a swan song. It matters a great deal to the Reds, because the additions of Mat Latos to a handsome young rotation and Ryan Ludwick to an above-average offense could catapult this team into the post-season.

Milwaukee and St. Louis are wounded but remain formidable. Is Scott Rolen?

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