Maybe Miguel Cabrera ISN'T overrated

I often feel that Miguel Cabrera slips under the radar despite posting pretty amazing numbers.

Through 2011, his Age 28 season, he has a career OPS+ of 149. Here are batters with a similar OPS+ through their own Age 28 seasons (minimum 3000 plate appearances):

Rk	Player	OPS+	PA	From	To	Age	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1	Fred McGriff	154	3596	1986	1992	22-28	883	3003	511	839	191	515	553	738	.279	.391	.528	.919
2	Eddie Mathews	153	5810	1952	1960	20-28	1330	4894	929	1373	338	901	837	791	.281	.385	.549	.933
3	Manny Ramirez	152	4095	1993	2000	21-28	967	3470	665	1086	236	804	541	780	.313	.407	.592	.998
4	Reggie Jackson	152	4387	1967	1974	21-28	1074	3757	623	1004	218	629	533	996	.267	.364	.502	.866
5	Home Run Baker	152	3840	1908	1914	22-28	899	3436	573	1103	48	612	266	117	.321	.375	.471	.845
6	George Sisler	151	3920	1915	1921	22-28	905	3569	598	1252	52	507	224	166	.351	.393	.496	.890
7	Ken Griffey	150	5982	1989	1998	19-28	1375	5226	940	1569	350	1018	656	876	.300	.379	.568	.947
8	Miguel Cabrera	149	5777	2003	2011	20-28	1351	5041	852	1597	277	984	643	1009	.317	.395	.555	.950
9	Will Clark	149	4311	1986	1992	22-28	1028	3778	605	1139	162	636	443	676	.301	.374	.507	.881
10	Frank Robinson	149	5735	1956	1964	20-28	1346	4945	934	1501	291	896	628	689	.304	.390	.556	.945
11	Sam Crawford	149	4914	1901	1908	21-28	1153	4493	662	1391	44	652	315	295	.310	.357	.448	.805
12	Vladimir Guerrero	148	4220	1996	2003	21-28	1004	3763	641	1215	234	702	381	484	.323	.390	.588	.978
13	Albert Belle	148	3207	1989	1995	22-28	755	2839	468	827	194	603	297	535	.291	.360	.571	.931
14	Al Simmons	148	4189	1924	1930	22-28	958	3836	711	1380	151	877	245	282	.360	.400	.590	.990
15	Willie McCovey	147	3449	1959	1966	21-28	942	2979	505	821	201	537	408	593	.276	.367	.536	.904
16	Lance Berkman	146	3248	1999	2004	23-28	775	2683	516	814	156	535	501	542	.303	.416	.563	.980
17	Jim Thome	146	3782	1991	1999	20-28	916	3077	609	883	196	579	646	882	.287	.412	.547	.959
18	Ryan Braun	145	3176	2007	2011	23-27	729	2879	506	898	161	531	242	560	.312	.371	.563	.933
19	Darryl Strawberry	145	4549	1983	1990	21-28	1109	3903	662	1025	252	733	580	960	.263	.359	.520	.878
20	Babe Herman	145	3559	1926	1931	23-28	851	3187	534	1084	111	585	292	296	.340	.397	.559	.955
21	Don Mattingly	144	4422	1982	1989	21-28	1015	4022	615	1300	164	717	314	238	.323	.368	.521	.889
22	Harry Heilmann	144	4702	1914	1923	19-28	1129	4136	640	1353	89	744	401	311	.327	.390	.491	.881

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/5/2011.

This list is comprised nearly entirely of lower-tier Hall of Famers and near-misses. Would it be underrating or overrating Cabrera to say he's a fringe Hall of Famer? I'm not sure.

A few notes:

• My eye is drawn immediately to the comparison between Cabrera (#8 above) and Frank Robinson (#10 above). At this point of their careers, they have essentially identical stats, with virtually the same OPS+, games played, plate appearances, and all 3 rate stats.
• One big factor that favors Cabrera in the above comparison group is that he has among the most plate appearances, meaning he has maintained his OPS+ over a longer period than many of the other guys. Ryan Braun, for example, has to do it over another 3 full seasons to equal what Cabrera has already done, but Braun will be in his Age 31 season by then. Matthews, Griffey, Robinsoin, Cabrera, Thome, and Heilmann are the only ones above to play in the majors in their Age 20 season or earlier.
• It's interesting to see how these guys did after Age 28. Here are the same guys ranked by career OPS+ from Age 29 onwards:

  Rk	Player	OPS+	From	To	Age
  1	Frank Robinson	158	1965	1976	29-40
  2	Manny Ramirez	156	2001	2011	29-39
  3	Harry Heilmann	152	1924	1932	29-37
  4	Jim Thome	148	2000	2011	29-40
  5	Willie McCovey	147	1967	1980	29-42
  6	Lance Berkman	146	2005	2011	29-35
  7	Sam Crawford	144	1909	1917	29-37
  8	Albert Belle	140	1996	2000	29-33
  9	Babe Herman	135	1932	1945	29-42
  10	Vladimir Guerrero	134	2004	2011	29-36
  11	Reggie Jackson	131	1975	1987	29-41
  12	Eddie Mathews	129	1961	1968	29-36
  13	Will Clark	125	1993	2000	29-36
  14	Fred McGriff	124	1993	2004	29-40
  15	Ken Griffey	120	1999	2010	29-40
  16	Darryl Strawberry	120	1991	1999	29-37
  17	Al Simmons	120	1931	1944	29-42
  18	Home Run Baker	113	1916	1922	30-36
  19	George Sisler	106	1922	1930	29-37
  20	Don Mattingly	104	1990	1995	29-34

  Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
  Generated 11/5/2011.
  The median OPS+ here is about 130, quite a bit lower than before. Sorry Don Mattingly fans--I'm sure you winced a bit there.