Manny Machado vs Nolan Arenado. Who is better? (1 Viewer)

[TheBottomLine]

I'm looking for some opinions on who is the better player now and/or who would you take if you were starting a franchise?? Got in an argument with another person who continues to bring up the dumbest points. I won't mention who I support, but I will say that both players are absolute studs, both offensively and defensively. Manny may be a hair younger but both players are still very young. Who you got?

 

[Dan Lambskin]

I'll take the guy without the bionic knees

 

[Doctor Detroit]

Slight edge to Arenado, but I wouldn't kick either out of bed for eating crackers.

 

[worrierking]

In real-life baseball I take Machado by a pretty large margin for the future. More than a year younger and at this point does a better job of controlling the strike zone. He's younger than Kris Bryant.

In fantasy ball, the Coors effect tilts the scales toward Arenado, but not enough. I still take Manny for the future.

They are pretty even for right now.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

In real-life baseball I take Machado by a pretty large margin for the future. More than a year younger and at this point does a better job of controlling the strike zone. He's younger than Kris Bryant.

In fantasy ball, the Coors effect tilts the scales toward Arenado, but not enough. I still take Manny for the future.

They are pretty even for right now.

This is actually a misnomer. Camden and Coors are very similar home run parks and Arenado is a .874 OPS guy at home, .876 on the road and his slugging percentage is actually 20 points better away from Coors. Arenado's ISO is 60 points higher than Machados and I think they will continue to be the case going forward. Arenado has had some BABIP trouble this year

Age means little, Arenado is a little older but he also has never lost significant time to injury and he has 400 less at bats in the bigs than Machado. Arenado has a better defensive efficiency and my eyes tell me he's a little better than Machado in the field.

Machado walks more but I can see Arenado catching up some there, Machados real advantage comes in the stolen bases. Both are very well-rounded players, Machado is faster and Arenado has more power. I think the power surge from Machado this year is above expectations.

 

[worrierking]

This is fun stuff. I think discussing and picking prospects and young baseball players is one of my favorite pastimes. Football is dictated so much by opportunity rather than pure skill.

Zips has Machado at 34 WAR for the next 5 years (second only to Trout) and Arenado at 24. I don't think they are that far apart, but I agree that Machado is slightly more valuable long-term.

I think Arenado benefits from Coors (in fantasy) by getting more opportunities for runs, RBI and ABs, even if his own hitting doesn't change. Plus, I bet he eventually figures out how to take advantage of his home park.

It's interesting that the fact the O's are batting Machado leadoff helped him become a more prolific base-stealer. That's helped his fantasy value in SBs. It comes at the cost of RBI where he trails Arenado by a bunch. Machado will end up batting down in the order eventually, probably as soon as Baltimore gets a legitimate lead-off guy. He probably won't take the steals with him to the three-hole.

I favor Machado for the two reasons I mentioned above: his youth and his strike zone judgment.

With this post I have doomed Machado to another season-ending injury, I am sure.

 

[Grahamburn]

Another dinger for Nolan. He'd probably be the MVP if the Rockies weren't so awful.

 

[rodg12]

Machado can play a legitimate SS in the major leagues. I don't think Nolan can do the same with his slow foot speed. That, Manny's youth and his better on base skills tilt the scales slightly into his favor. It's very close though.

 

[Wrigley]

Addison Russell is the correct answer

 

[Eephus]

at sea level or altitude?

 

[Marvelous]

I am a long time Orioles fan and I think Machado is awesome.

My biggest concern is he has had two gruesome knee injuries: one in the minors while running the bases (he just fell and collapsed on the field) and on two years ago while swinging the bat. Yesterday he swung the bat and fell to the ground and I immediately thought about his knees. Thankfully he was not hurt. He just lost his balance.