Baseball America
Reds’ Aroldis Chapman Dominates With MLB’s Best Fastball
Reds' Chapman dominates with MLB's best fastball.
Majors
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Angels’ Mike Trout Proves Even Better Than Expected
Mike Trout arrived April 28 in Cleveland amid proclamations from the Angels that one player couldn't change anything about their disappointing start. And he changed everything.
American League 2011 Best Tools
Managers pick the best tools in the American League.
National League Best Tools
Managers pick the best tools in the National League.
Finding Five-Tool Players: By The Numbers
When we talk about five-tool players, we typically mean five above-average tools. How many big leaguers consistently meet the standards for hitting for average, hitting for power and speed?
Major League Best Tools
MLB managers pick the best fastball, power, hitting ability and many other tools.
Scouts On Scouting: What They Look For In A Player
BA assistant editor Conor Glassey spent the past year interviewing area scouts, talking to them about specific aspects of their job, with a specific focus on the skills they look for in players and how they judge them.
One Tool That Can Be Learned
When you think of Best Tools, at first blush you tend to think of them as easily quantifiable physical skills. A player either runs fast or runs slow. He has a strong arm or he does not. He can crush balls over the fence or he cannot. On closer examination, though, all the supposedly simple physical tools have a subtler element, the certain something that translates physical ability into successful application on the diamond.
All The Tools
It makes perfect sense that Joe Mauer would relate playing behind the plate in baseball to standing behind center in football. After all, Minnesota's all-star catcher was named the Gatorade national high school football player of the year a few months before the Twins made the St. Paul, Minn., product the first overall pick in the 2001 draft.
An Infielder’s Best Friend
Derrek Lee may be a great hitter, but his glove may be his best attribute, as his fellow Cubs infielders will attest.
Major League Best Tools Slideshow
Photos of some of our major league best tool winners.
The Cream Rises To The Top
John Manuel looks back at who has been on our Best Tools lists for more than a decade.
National League Best Tools
National League managers select their picks for the best hitters and pitchers and the tops with a variety of other tools.
American League Best Tools
A rundown of the best tools in the American League including which players are the fastest, best pitchers, best hitters and best with the glove.
The General Managers Best Tools Survey
Alan Schwarz looks at which general managers rate best in a variety of job requirements for a GM.
2006 Major League Best Tools Slideshow
The 2006 Major League Best Tools Slideshow consists of photos of some of the majors' biggest stars along with quotes about what tools they have and/or would like to have.
