There is nothing available out there to back up that statement. And Ramirez's .189 BA to start this year isn't helping his case in this discussion. OPS - Rolen Career .891 for Rolen, .808 for Ramirez Offense - Rolen The numbers back up Rolen here...almost across the board. AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS...all favor Rolen. Defense - Rolen No question. Baserunning - Rolen 94 career steals compared to 9 for Ramirez. Health - Ramirez Slight edge to Ramirez, but both have had injury issues. Age - Ramirez Ramirez is 3 yrs. younger than Rolen. Ramirez has been in the league 8 years. To say he hasn't entered his prime yet might be offbase. He may be right in the middle of his prime considering 2004 and 2005 were his best statistically speaking. Rolen has had his best years recently as well. How much does either player have left? Who knows? And if you include this season's very small sample size, Ramirez's stats are on the slight decline...OPS, BA, OBP, SLG... are all down from 2004 to 2005 to 2006. Did Ramirez peak in 2004? Rolen in a heartbeat. I'd take the better player with better stats over a guy who is just a few years younger. If you use career numbers for similar players who are aged 31 and 27, it's almost always going to favor the 31 year old because they've had more of their prime years. Last 3 years Rolen: .289/.384/.533/.917 Ramirez: .296/.350/.532/.882 Rolen is the superior defensive player. Rolen has had the superior career so far. Going forward, I'd take Ramirez, because he's entering his prime while Rolen is leaving his in addition to the uncertainty that Rolen can regain his offensive prowess coming off a serious shoulder injury.