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Top 10 DHs for 2018
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Top 10 DHs for 2018

Defining a player's value is more nuanced than simply checking the box score, but there's one position in baseball that is a bit easier to judge. I'm talking, of course, of the designated hitter.

The expectations are laid out pretty clearly in the position's title: hit, hit and hit some more.

Today, there are some formidable specialists in the bat-swinging game who inhabit the American League’s specialty slot. The job of the DH is to bring the boom to the plate nightly. Here are the best in the game at doing so today.

[Note: The candidates to man the position for the Yankees in 2018 are left out of this countdown, as Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge and others will spend quite a bit of time in the field.]

10. Shin-Soo Choo, Rangers. Choo enjoyed a solid bounce-back season last year, hitting .261 while driving in 78 and tying a career high with 22 home runs. Although there is no chance of him living up to the $130 million deal he inked back in 2014, he can still salvage the back end of the contract with a few more consistent years of everyday reliability like he did in 2017.

9. Evan Gattis, Astros. It is sort of crazy to think that the Astros could have even more firepower at their disposal this year, but that could be the case if Gattis can get health back on his side. After clubbing 32 homers in his first season in Space City in 2016, a string of injuries limited "El Oso Blanco" to just 300 at-bats over 84 games. As a result, he hit only 12 home runs. His .833 World Series OPS showed some promise of a turnaround in the new year, however — a scary thought for those looking to dethrone Houston.

8. Kendrys Morales, Blue Jays. While his average and on-base percentage continued on a two-year slide last summer, Morales has remained a consistent run producer throughout. Over the past three seasons, he has averaged 30 doubles, 27 home runs and 95 runs driven in per year and should remain an impactful bat as long as he calls Rogers Centre home.

7. Hanley Ramirez, Red Sox. After bringing J.D. Martinez aboard, there’s a chance that Ramirez won't see regular at-bats for the Red Sox early in the year. However, when opportunity does show itself, Ramirez is a more than solid option to have in the arsenal for Alex Cora. The former shortstop hit 23 home runs a year ago and in 2016 topped 100 RBI and reached 30 long balls.

6. Mark Trumbo, Orioles. Trumbo’s 2017 fell well short of the 47-homer, 108-RBI breakout of 2016, which was fairly easy to predict. But with Trey Mancini moving into the outfield, the O's will slide Trumbo's feast-or-famine bat into the DH slot this year. There is some reason to expect a return to the 30-homer level this year — at least the Orioles hope so with another $26 million due to Trumbo through 2019.

5. Logan Morrison, Twins. The Twins may have taken better advantage of the slow free agent market than any other team when they netted Morrison for merely $5.5 million, holding an option for another year still south of $10 million. If the 30-year-old slugger can hold true to the form that saw him connect for 38 home runs for the Rays last year, he'll look like a steal for Minnesota.


Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

4. Khris Davis, Athletics. Over the past two years, Davis has become one of baseball’s preeminent power hitters, connecting for 85 home runs in that time. Despite being the only player to top 40 homers in each of the past two years, Davis’s breakout has gone largely unnoticed in the overlooked lands of Oakland. He shouldn't be overlooked any longer. The 30-year-old slugger has increased his runs scored, OPS, doubles, walks and home runs in each of the last three seasons and received MVP votes for the first time last summer.

3. Edwin Encarnacion, Indians. For the sixth straight year, Encarnacion topped 30 home runs and is closing in on 200 since his 30th birthday. Entering his age 35 season, he is showing no signs of slowing down soon. His .377 on-base percentage represented a five-year high thanks to reaching 100 walks for the first time in his career, and he made the most of the pitches he saw, finishing in the top 10 in homers in the AL for the sixth time in as many years.

2. J.D. Martinez, Red Sox. For the time being, Martinez will see most of his action at DH in his new home in Boston while the Red Sox continue to gauge the makeup of their outfield. Although his 2017 season did not start until mid-May, it only took 119 games for Martinez to total 45 home runs between stops in Detroit and Arizona last summer. His .690 slugging percentage led the majors, and he topped a .300 average for the second consecutive year.

Martinez stands to be perhaps the biggest addition for any team in 2018. He represents a perfect fit for the Red Sox, who won 93 games despite finishing last in the AL in home runs last year with 168. If Martinez connects for his three-year average of 35 homers, he could singlehandedly move his team up five slots in the AL power hierarchy.

1. Nelson Cruz, Mariners. Since 2014, Cruz has been the most consistent power hitter in the game. His 166 home runs in that time are over a dozen more than any other player. 2017 marked the first time in four years that Cruz fell short of 40 long balls, when he hit a mere 39. Along the way, he also paced the American League in RBI with 119 and finished with an OPS over .900 for the third straight year.

The impact Cruz has made, while somewhat underappreciated, saw him raise his WAR with the Mariners to 13.9 and finish within the top 10 of AL MVP voting for the third time.

Left on deck: Albert Pujols (Angels), Matt Davidson (White Sox), Jorge Soler (Royals)

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