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Dodgers Player Rankings: Where Does Adrian Gonzalez Stand?

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4. Zack Greinke



Some pitchers would probably dread living in the shadow of Clayton Kershaw, but something tells me that Greinke has no issue with it at all.

In yet another remarkable season, Greinke has been nothing short of fantastic for the Dodgers — posting an ERA of 2.76 with a K/9 of 9.3 — good for third in the National League.

Part of what makes Greinke fourth on the list is the state of the Dodgers’ pitching staff. In a year of relative health, Greinke would probably be lower, but in a year with almost no stability on the mound, Greinke’s value every fifth day has been critical.

3. Adrian Gonzalez

While I don’t disagree with the premise of Moriyama’s tweet — that Gonzalez could be as far down on this list as possibly eighth, I just don’t think he deserves to be that low. And no, I’m not looking at his RBIs as reason for putting him this high.

Gonzalez is the total package — he has been an excellent hitter for the Dodgers and an excellent defender. Sure, he has the eighth-best batting average on the team, but he also has most home runs, the most doubles and the second-most walks on the team. Oh, and he’s second among hitters in WAR.

2. Yasiel Puig

Puig is hitting .301 with an OPS of .872 and has made a number of spectacular defensive plays. Unfortunately, his defense isn’t reflected favorably in defensive metrics, but, at the risk of sounding “old-fashioned”, I’d posit that Puig is pretty darn good defensively.

And just to appease the sabermaticians after my last statement, he’s also the Dodgers’ top ranked hitter when it comes to WAR (4.7) — despite a defensive WAR that is negative.

1. Clayton Kershaw

Gonzalez recently said if another player was mentioned for NL MVP they were an “idiot.” That just about sums it up.

Honorable mention: Scott Van Slyke, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett, J.P. Howell.

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