Chase Utley Man-Crush Power Hour

If you live in Philly, it is acceptable to love another man.  A man who wears hair gel, has a keen love of animals, and wants to save the environment.  He barely speaks, doesn't celebrate after a big play, and is happily married.  Sounds like the worst dude to share an adult beverage with, but Chase Utley has managed to capture the hearts of Philadelphians all the same.  And with the decade ending, he is getting respect as the best 2nd baseman of the Aughts (I like calling this decade that, so eat it).  Dave Cameron, of Fangraphs.com, wrote a great piece for ESPN based on advanced metric system called WAR (Wins Above Replacement).  They do a great job explaining it, so I will let them do it:

WAR, as it is often abbreviated, combines a player's value at the plate and in the field to give a better overall picture of a player's worth. (In layman's terms, "replacement," as defined by stat guru Tom Tango, represents "the talent level for which you would pay the minimum salary on the open market, or for which you can obtain at minimal cost in a trade."...)

Basically, Fangraphs.com uses this system to determine which player has been most valuable to his team based on field performance and salary.  Shockingly (sarcasm), Utley has been the most valuable player in the league based on his performance and relative to his contract.  Booyah.  Yes, before any Cardinals fans blow me up, Albert Pujols is worth 2.5 more wins per season than CHUT, however, he is being paid $41 million more and his 2,269 more plate appearances.  If you have Insider, you can check out the article here, however, I am betting that some of you don't, so I'll chopshop the piece and let you in on the highlights:

Since entering the league in 2005, Utley has added 37.9 wins above what a league minimum player would have provided, which is a tremendous total that represents his offensive prowess and Gold Glove skills at second base. Middle infielders who can hit as well as Utley are rare breeds indeed, and when you factor in his incredible baserunning -- 23-for-23 in stolen bases last year! -- he grades out as the most complete player in baseball...  Considering how good Utley has been since the Phillies gave him the second-base job, his performance on the field has been worth $154 million. That's about $31 million a year in production... In exchange for that performance, the Phillies have paid Utley a meager $25 million in salary, leaving $129 million in surplus value. Pujols has been ever so slightly better on the field, producing 40.4 wins and $164 million in raw value, but St. Louis has paid him $66 million over the past five years... Utley has produced a net value of just over $35,000 per plate appearance, compared to $28,000 per trip to the plate for Pujols. While Utley hasn't been at the top of the game for quite as long, once you account for salary, he's been the most valuable player in baseball since his arrival in the big leagues.

So there you have it, definitive proof that Chase Utley should win an MVP soon.  And proof that we need to appreciate CHUT for all that he brings to the Phillies.

PS, this should also be a helpful fantasy baseball lesson.  Everybody would pick Pujols or A-Rod with the first pick in a fantasy draft.  However, picking Utley with the first pick brings greater value because there are not any second basemen who are as consistent and produce that high a level of production.  You can find a 1st basemen later on that will bring comparable value to Pujols on the field.