Helton Isn't That Good
This news involving Cardinals' radio broadcaster Wayne Hagin and Todd Helton is ridiculous. Hagin made an ill-advised comment about Helton's past, seeming to accuse him of experimenting with steroids earlier in his career. Hagin immediately made it clear that his remarks were taken out of context, and apologized to Helton and the Rockies. The Cardinals' organization followed suit, and as far as I know there hasn't been any widespread whispering about Todd's career being ruined. This is not good enough for Todd Helton and Colorado Rockie fans. I'd just like to ask: why not?
What is it about Todd Helton? He's a pretty good player; that much I can grant you. I'd probably pick him as one of the top five first basemen in the game, but he'd be in the bottom half of the list. He's a good player. He hits for both average and power, he has good plate discipline, and he plays pretty impressive defense. My compliments will stop there, however. Like any batter in the Colorado Rockies' organization, his offensive production is greatly overrated. This isn't as much the case for him as it is for Vinny Castilla, but he still gets the benefit of Coors Field for half of his games, and that doesn't hurt him. Over the past three seasons, for example, he's batted .310-33-125 on the road, as opposed to .380-62-197 at home. The difference in at-bats is minimal; he's had all of 19 more in Coors over those three seasons. This is why I think it's safe to say if Todd played in anywhere but Colorado, he'd be more likely to put up .310-25-90 campaigns. That's good, but he wouldn't be winning any batting titles elsewhere. Todd Helton is just as guilty of being overrated by Coors as anyone else.
For him to so stubbornly insist his reputation has been ruined is laughable. He has no reputation outside of Colorado. Rockie fans may adore him, but I don't, and most of baseball fans wouldn't list him among their favorite players. He belongs in the relative obscurity he currently resides within, and he should just be happy his name surfaced in any kind of news, because everyone knows he didn't use steroids. If he had, he would have hit 80 home runs playing in Coors half the time. Quite frankly, if he was both on steroids and a Colorado Rockie, he'd better be hitting .500, or else he sucks. Now, you want to know who I'd rather have at first than Todd Helton? Behold, the players I would take over him and their adjusted stats if they played in Colorado for a season:
I admit that there aren't that many at that position better than him. You can't argue with me about Pujols. He is the most complete hitter in the game that isn't planning on sitting out the start of the season. Delgado has turned himself into a fearsome slugger over the past several seasons, and he's done it in Toronto of all places. Teixeira is a debatable third choice, but the guy can hit. He's very young, (24 for another few weeks), and has unlimited potential. Based on his age and power alone I would pick him over Helton for that position, even if he isn't quite as good of a contact hitter right now. Honorable mentions go to Jim Thome and Richie Sexson, who both have prodigious power but too many holes in their long, violent swings.
There is no doubt in my mind, however, that all five of the other first basemen I have just now listed would put up better power numbers than Helton in Coors Field, and a few of them could hit for a higher average as well. There is nothing special about Todd Helton, so anyone who is outraged on his behalf for the mistaken allegations against him, don't worry about it; no one's going to focus on him with narrowed eyes the rest of his career, certain he's cheating. After all, he already plays in Coors Field, which makes him a fake baseball player anyway, along with the entire Colorado Rockies' organization.
