Player Poll: Eddie Mata

The game of baseball as we know it is changing. Not too long ago, teams depended on powerful home run hitters to out slug the opposition. Today, Clubs are mainly built on three components: pitching, speed and defense. Strong defenders are valued like never before. The ability to prevent runs is seen as equally important to producing runs. And this week's MLB Player Poll question fittingly highlights the importance of defense and specifically the outfielders who help their teams save runs. The question: who is the best defensive outfielder in MLB?

There are many superior defensive outfielders in the game today but from all of the possible candidates I selected New York Yankees center fielder Curtis Granderson.

Rarely do we find outfielders like Granderson in the league who are complete defensively. He is extremely athletic, having played multiple sports in high school, and his arm strength is plus-plus (scout talk). His speed grades well above-average and covers a lot of ground in the outfield. Statistically, Granderson had 11 assists last year and his career fielding percentage is .993.

Another important aspect of Grandersons’s defensive talents is his ability to read the ball off the bat. He can literally know which angle to take once the ball is hit. Sometimes, outfielders make wrong turns and they completely lose track of a ball. Granderson has the ability to recover quickly if he does take a bad read. Granderson reminds me of Ichiro and Torii Hunter when they were in their primes.

Who do you think is the best defensive outfielder in the game? Tweet @MLBFanCave using #PlayerPoll and tune in to FOX this Saturday at 3:00 ET to see how your favorite MLB players answer the question.