New York Yankees Mark Teixeira Not Listed On Top 10 First Baseman List By MLB Network

Even though Mark Teixeira was not named as a top 10 first basemen on MLB Network Thursday night, you could make a case for Teixeira to be on that list.

Starting last week, MLB Network began their series of ranking the top ten players in baseball at each position. Last night, the episode ranking first basemen aired that was hosted by Brian Kenny along with analyst Carlos Pena. During the episode, we find out which players are on “the Shredder’s” top ten. New York Yankees’ first baseman Mark Teixiera was not on anybody’s list.

While the position is arguably the deepest position in the game, outside of starting pitching, Teixeira did make a good case to be on the list this year before he broke his leg after being hit by a pitch back on August 17 against the Minnesota Twins. Teixeira had a slash line of .255/.357/.548 in 111 games with 31 home runs and 79 RBI’s in a year where he made the All-Star team.

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The main reason why some say Teixeira hasn’t lived up to his eight-year, $180 million contract is his injury history. The switch-hitting first baseman, who will turn 36 in April, has not played in more than 150 games in a season since 2011. However, despite the broken leg, his wrist stayed healthy and his new gluten-free diet brought the power numbers back up.

He was tied with Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs for the fourth most home runs in 2015 by a first baseman. The three people who finished ahead of him were Paul Goldschmidt (who was picked as the top first baseman by the Shredder), Albert Pujols, and Chris Davis.

When you look at it from a sabermetric perspective, Teixeira’s 3.8 WAR, which was his highest since 2012 (also 3.8) was the eighth highest WAR among first baseman in baseball and second among American League first baseman (Davis – 5.2). Tex’s OPS+ of 147 was the third highest of his career, but it was his best in a season in which he played with only one team.

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One of Teixeira’s strengths in his game has always been his defense. The five-time Gold Glove winner had five defensive runs saved in 2015, which was seventh among all first baseman, but the best in the American League, according to Fangraphs.

Finally, there was an interesting stat I saw yesterday that profiles how strong Teixeira is at the plate with strikes. Mike Axisa of CBS Sports took a look at who were the best hitters in baseball when facing a 0-2 count. Out of the statistics Axisa brought up, Teixeira was ninth in on-base percentage and fourth in slugging. However, the stat that stood out to me was that his OPS+ of 237 was the second highest in all of baseball last year. The only player who did better in those situations was arguably the best player in the game in 2015, Bryce Harper.

While Teixeira is no longer in his prime, he is entering a contract year. Injuries still remain a concern, but right now, I would say Teixeira is a top ten first baseman and at the very least, the fourth best in the AL behind Miguel Cabrera, Jose Abreu, and Chris Davis. MLB Network did list the Blue Jays’ Edwin Encarnacion as a first baseman, but he did play more games at DH last year.

Fans may be excited about the future at first base with Greg Bird, but Teixeira still has the game to be a top ten first baseman, if he is able to stay healthy and the New York Yankees need his production if they want to return to the postseason.

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