Is Brian McCann the most underrated player in baseball?

alabamalongsnake · Jun 21, 2011

I would say he could be. I know there are a million and ten ways to answer such a question. But he's a lock for his sixth straight all-star game and I just don't think he gets credit as being named amongst the games elite enough. I'm a homer I'll admit. But even amongst Braves fans it never really has been there for McCann. Yeah you see McCann jerseys at games but not like Heyward, Chipper.

He plays the game old school - tough and gritty and doesn't get hurt like a lot of the stars in the game. He's solid offensively and defensively.

Thoughts?

mwashuc06 · Jun 21, 2011

His top comp from Baseball Reference is Berra...

alabamalongsnake · Jun 21, 2011

ain't bad company to be in. Brian McCann - He's the man and I'm a fan. yeah that was corny city.

sheetskout · Jun 21, 2011

No. He's not.

blazers091 · Jun 21, 2011

jbhofmann · Jun 21, 2011

I'd say the reigning NL MVP is still one of the most underrated players in baseball.

aminors · Jun 21, 2011

All Star Games do nothing to a player's worth in my eyes. He's consistently slightly above average at best. That's it.

cgilmo · Jun 21, 2011

aminors said:
All Star Games do nothing to a player's worth in my eyes. He's consistently slightly above average at best. That's it.

ok, this is a joke

consider the offensive output at the position

he's elite

Adam G · Jun 21, 2011

Offensively he's one of the best catchers in the game. Defensively he makes me cringe

aminors · Jun 21, 2011

cgilmo said:
aminors said:

All Star Games do nothing to a player's worth in my eyes. He's consistently slightly above average at best. That's it.

Click to expand...

ok, this is a joke

consider the offensive output at the position

he's elite

Without looking, I think he's like .280/20/80+ a year. That's awesome. That's a great line for a catcher...

but his defensive is terrible, and so as a whole I say he's slightly above average. Don't get me wrong, he's a top 5 offensive catcher, where it's tough to find an offensive star outside of Mauer and Posey, but as a package he is a little above average at best to me. Sorry. Defense is kinda important when you're talking about a catcher.

cgilmo · Jun 21, 2011

aminors said:
cgilmo said:

aminors said:

All Star Games do nothing to a player's worth in my eyes. He's consistently slightly above average at best. That's it.

Click to expand...

ok, this is a joke

consider the offensive output at the position

he's elite

Click to expand...

Without looking, I think he's like .280/20/80+ a year. That's awesome. That's a great line for a catcher...

but his defensive is terrible, and so as a whole I say he's slightly above average. Don't get me wrong, he's a top 5 offensive catcher, where it's tough to find an offensive star outside of Mauer and Posey, but as a package he is a little above average at best to me. Sorry. Defense is kinda important when you're talking about a catcher.

I do not miss a braves game. His defense isn't terrible, it's above league average.

jbhofmann · Jun 21, 2011

Take it for what its worth but:

His defensive WAR is -1.7 for his career.

alabamalongsnake · Jun 21, 2011

agree with the godfather of FCB - I don't miss a Braves game either - his defense is well above average.

you can look at sabermetrics and WAR all day long but McCann has the intangibles

jgro85 · Jun 21, 2011

intangibles are bs btw.

Paul Konerko is pretty underrated.

alabamalongsnake · Jun 21, 2011

I completely disagree that intangibles are BS. that's just me. i love the stats part of baseball but in my opinion you can't discount guts, heart, cojones, the ability to strike fear in your opponent.

cgilmo · Jun 21, 2011

What do Tommy Hanson, Derek Lowe, Jair Jurrjens and Tim Hudson have in common?

They all suck at holding runners. They should share some of the blame for his low base stealers caught percentage.

craftysouthpaw · Jun 21, 2011

I am a huge McCann fan but I would put him about average defensively. Below average at throwing guys out (as Gilmo said, many of the Braves pitchers are really bad about holding guys on, but I've seen too many throws that tail well to the first base side of the bag or bounce before reaching 2nd to give him a pass for his arm), above average at blocking balls in the dirt, and really good at calling a game. And WAR still doesn't really know what to do with catcher defense so I would take that with a grain of salt.

But his offensive output is phenomenal for a catcher and if he puts 5 more years together (and he is only 27) like his first 6 and then has a normal decline phase, he is going to the Hall.

Topnotchsy · Jun 22, 2011

A couple of recent sales (Chrome Ref. PSA 10 BO of $175 and a Bowman's Best for $50) indicate he may actually be starting to get some notice. To me McCann is one of those guys who because he has not done anything completely insane, has slipped under people's radars. I can definitely see a day when the collective sports world "wakes up" and notices that McCann has made a ton of AS games and won a ton of Silver Slugger Awards. (He should make his 6 straight AS game, and has a good shot at his 5th Silver Slugger at 27 years old.)

blitzerlover · Jun 22, 2011

The problem is he has been so consistently good from day one, that there was no real jump in his prices.

Also, Tommy Hanson is absolutely horrible holding runners on.

scotty21690 · Jun 22, 2011

I fail to see how he is underrated. I mean, if you asked a hundred baseball fans who are the top 3 [offensive] catchers in the ML...98% would have McCann listed in the top 3.

Maybe I am giving baseball fans too much credit here :lol:

In terms of card prices though, I am not sure. Probably because he just quietly goes about his business. He did, however, hit very well in the postseason last year...

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