In the brand new, very pretty Sports Illustrated baseball book, they have the ultimate team from each league from each decade.  And they named Damon as the American League centrefielder for the 00s.  I sighed a bit.  No that he is bad, per say. He is a great ballplayer and a great team guy. But the best of the decade?

Assuming that one counts Carlos Beltran and Mike Cameron as  National Leaguers , it really comes down to Vernon Wells vs. Johnny Damon as the AL centerfielder of the decade.  Jim Edmonds is pretty clearly the class of the field in the NL. 

Wells vs. Damon, eh? Fight! Fight! Fight!  Oh yeah, it's Christmas time, so we have to talk these things out. Setting aside hometown loyalties for a moment, it's a close call in terms of performance 2000-06.  Wells is likely to be better 2007-09. 

Don't forget about Torii Hunter. A mere .003 points of career OPS less than Damon's and superior defensive offerings.

How about a New Year's Battle Royale :)

Andruw Jones is the NL CF for the 00s, according to SI.  I thought Torri Hunter or Vernon over Damon.  It's still a nice book.  And Alomar is the 2b for the 90s(obviously), so the lists aren't totally wrong.

Torii Hunter is a fine defender, or was one until the second half of this year.  But, as a hiter, he's significantly behind Damon and Wells for 2000-06.  OPS+ doesn't weight his weakness in reaching base adequately.  He's much below league average in this key department. Wells has most of the same strengths and weaknesses as Hunter, but he's a notch better.

Why is the "Best ___ of the 00s" being conducted in 2006?  There are three more seasons to play, which are Damon's 33, 34 and 35 years, Hunter's 31, 32 and 33 years, and V-Dub's 28, 29 and 30 years.

Also, Vernon didn't get over 100 ABs until 2002, so he was a non-factor the first two seasons of this decade.  Considering that Vernon will be *under* Damon's and Hunter's *current* ages once 2010 rolls around, I can't see why he won't be the class of the decade, barring major injury.

By the way, there should be bonus points to the fact that Torii and V-Dub have played for their entire careers with the teams that drafted them, as opposed to the mercenary Damon who has been with 4 in the 00s.  Of course, Hunter could well be moving next off-season.

By the way, there should be bonus points to the fact that Torii and V-Dub have played for their entire careers with the teams that drafted them, as opposed to the mercenary Damon who has been with 4 in the 00s.

First, Damon was traded from the Royals to the A's. Not really his fault. Second, once Damon left the team that drafted him -- again, not really his choice -- signing with Boston wasn't really an insult to Oakland, unless you think ten months is enough to demand a hometown discount. Third, it's not like the non-Yankees are living in poverty. Wells is a very rich man now. Torii Hunter made almost 11 million dollars last year.

I suppose the mercenary Damon was more motivated by money when he signed his $48M deal than V-Dub was when he signed his $126M deal. (Despite what this looks like, I'm not defending Johnny Damon, mimbo that he is.)