Baseball's elite: to build the perfect major league player, special talents of the game's most gifted athletes would have to be compressed into one

Baseball Digest, July, 2003 by Jason Cole

CREATING THE PERFECT BASEBALL PLAYER IS NOT AS SIMPLE AS SOME imagining an amalgamation of Barry Bonds' power and Andruw Jones' defensive talent or Barry Zito's curve and Curt Schilling's fastball.

The issue goes beyond purely physical tools or the ever-improving training habits. It is about desire. The kind of desire that can be seen in Alex Rodriguez's face, desire he sums in a brief sentence.

"I like to dominate," said Rodriguez, who some players say is as close to perfect as you can get.

"What do you need to talk about, you've already got Alex Rodriguez," Kansas City first baseman Mike Sweeney said.

But Rodriguez isn't necessarily the fastest player, nor does he have the best batting eye.

"Maybe not, but it's the intensity he has," Royals third baseman Joe Randa said. "I've never seen the guy take a inning or an at-bat off. His team can be winning by ten runs or getting blown out by ten and he's out there, into it. Most guys are just going through the motions at that point.

"I looked at him one time when we were blowing them out in the ninth inning and said, 'Why are you out here?' He just said, 'I want to be here every inning, 162 games.' That level of concentration is what separates guys."

Bottom line, it's pretty hard to beat a Gold Glove-winning shortstop who hits 50 home runs, bats .300 and sits in on organizational meetings, like A-Rod, or a guy who hits 73 home runs one year and bats .370 the next, like Bonds. On top of that, Bonds had 493 career steals at the start of the 2003 season and has taken aim at Hank Aaron's record of 755 home runs.

"And Rodriguez could steal 40 bases if he wanted to," Sweeney said. "What else do you want?"

Fair enough, but for the sake of argument, there are some pretty good individual parts out there. A dozen veteran players and managers were surveyed to get their take on the best of the individual skills among everyday players and pitchers.

They also talked about the training and concentration it takes to make the most of the talent.

THE TOOLS

* Arm: Vladimir Guerrero's right wing earned unanimous praise.

"You don't even bother running on him, it's ridiculous," Texas catcher Chad Kreuter said, echoing almost everyone.

Rangers manager Buck Showalter had one caveat, accuracy.

"(San Diego outfielder Mark) Kotsay is the most accurate, and he's pretty strong," Showalter said. "If you're talking about throwing somebody out at second, you might take Kotsay. If it's home, it's Guerrero.

* Range (outfield): Like Guerrero's arm, Jones' ability to run from gap to gap is held in high esteem. Former teammate Michael Tucker, a fairly speedy outfielder himself, said Jones' presence allowed him to cheat up to five steps toward the line.

Said Showalter: "The best center fielder I've ever seen. He's as demoralizing to an offense as a great pitcher."

* Range (infield): Cleveland shortstop Omar Vizquel, who won nine consecutive Gold Gloves before Rodriguez unseated him last season, earned the nod over the likes of Rodriguez and the many other flashy shortstops in the game today.

Said Randa: "I'm a big defense guy, and I just think about how many outs that guy creates. I bet he's saved as many runs some years as Manny Ramirez drives in."

* Hands: Vizquel was again the choice, although Los Angeles shortstop Alex Cora got some praise.

"Alex and Omar ... it's like they play tricks with the ball and their glove," Kreuter said. "Alex does all the stuff, like flipping the ball with his glove, digging stuff out."

Many players marveled at Vizquel's many skills, such as fielding a grounder with his bare hand or catching the ball with the backside of his glove.

"I think he gets bored playing defense and wants to make it challenging," Showalter said.

* Power: In an era of power hitters, Bonds was the runaway winner, and that s hardly surprising considering he hit 73 runs in 2001 and 46 last season.

"B.B. King," Marquis Grissom said, using his pet nickname for Bonds. Similarly, most players simply replied "Bonds" and moved oh to the next question without offering explanation.

Kreuter split the vote between the left-handed Bonds and the right-handed Guerrero, who is perhaps the most pronounced free swinger in the majors.

"He can get to any pitch and hit it anywhere," Kreuter said. "It's like he's playing Wiffle Ball in the backyard. He defies what is supposed to happen. I was set up six inches off the outside corner one time and had to reach another six inches outside for the pitch. He swings and pulls it out to left."

* Batting (eye/plate discipline): This was a pretty good debate, with the likes of the slow-footed, right-handed hitters Sweeney and Edgar Martinez getting a lot of credit in addition to Rodriguez.

Still, most came back to Bonds based on his dominating past two seasons.

"He's so locked in it's ridiculous," Tucker said. "He simply won't swing at something out of his zone. He'll take the walk when most guys would be frustrated."

* Speed/base running: Seattle outfielder Ichiro Suzuki was the runaway winner.

"The way he uses his speed is perfect," Sweeney said. "He forces you to think about it with everything you do. He's a total distraction."