Orange County Register

[Editor's note: After the argument began blazing, Sam Miller clarified that he actually meant Adrian Beltre is the best defensive third baseman in baseball. Nobody on VORP or any planet would put Beltre ahead of David Wright or Alex Rodriguez overall.]

Well, now we know how far Planet VORP is from Earth.

Sam Miller, using the Viewmaster he got for Christmas when he was 8, postulated that Adrian Beltre is “easily” the best third baseman in baseball. But he must have sent that message in 2004, when Beltre probably was all that, and it’s just now getting here.

Then it turned out the message got garbled by some gamma rays, and Sam actually said Beltre is the best “defensive” third baseman. I’ve heard some people who actually watch baseball say the same thing.

Beltre is a very good player and would be a third base upgrade for the Angels. I agree that they need one, and that’s not a knock against Chone Figgins, who is very useful when healthy.

I advocated Mike Lowell when Florida threw him into the Josh Beckett deal, and he would have been great here _ a terrific fielder, consistent hitter, bilingual leader. To see him try to play playoff games with a torn labrum in his hip was painful but inspiring. But that’s the point _ he’s breaking down.

I also have pushed for Garrett Atkins, although I wouldn’t trade one of the Angels’ four established starters for him. Last year I said they might think about Joe Saunders in a deal like that. Fortunately the Angels didn’t listen, as is their habit.

Anyway, Beltre has had an .800 OPS just once in his four Seattle seasons _ and it was exactly .800, and has not driven in 100 runs. He’s also a .260-something hitter. Sort of a Pat Burrell who can really play third.

The larger point: Third baseman are hard to find. They’re expected to provide power, durability and incredible athleticism in the field. If you have one, keep him. The Angels had Troy Glaus. They deemed him a health risk and let him go. That was after the 2004 season _ 122 home runs ago.

They thought they could plug in Dallas McPherson, who actually was a health risk and is so well regarded by the Marlins that they didn’t bring him up on Sept. 1 even though he had 40 home runs in Triple-A.

Glaus should still be an Angel and Figgins should be getting his 400 at bats in a utility role. And if Brandon Wood provides the answer, nothing would make the Angels happier. I would say that getting cut from the Dominican League is not a good omen.

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