Greatest Living Player...

[Exhibitman]

Trent, my friend, context and nuance. I said "all other considerations excluded" and based on the numbers alone Bonds is the greatest living player. if you want to base the answer on a more holistic approach that considers something other than the stats, that is certainly a defensible and understandable position. If that is the case, my vote goes to Mike Schmidt. The power and the skill at the hot corner are a 1-2 punch at one of the toughest positions to play with one of the lowest HOF ratios. IMO the best third baseman of all time, dead or alive. I can see an argument for Bench now that Berra is dead but still think of Berra as the GOAT.

i don't rate pitchers the same as position players. Too different a job. Best living pitcher I go with Koufax by a nose over Randy Johnson because at his best if you had one game you had to win and the pitcher had to go all the way, Koufax would be my choice. Randy Johnson, amazing player. Threw 37 shutouts in 23 years. Koufax threw 40 in 12 years. Johnson completed 100 games in 23 years; Koufax 137 in 12. His last year before he retired for medical reasons, WHIP of 0.985, 27 complete games, 5 shutouts, 317 strikeouts.

Ryan is my favorite pitcher ever, but not quite the same guy as Johnson or Koufax at their best. At Ryan's best he was about 25% less than Koufax and Johnson at their best. 7.7 WAR vs. 10+ WAR.