Another decade just concluded, which makes this an opportune time to review baseball’s best players at each position over the prior 10 years. This is certainly a debatable topic, and it’s just one person’s opinion, so feel free to make any disagreements known in the comments section below…
Catcher: Buster Posey, Giants
- Father Time has seemingly caught up with Posey in recent seasons, but it doesn’t diminish the 32-year-old’s overall excellence. From 2010-19, he was an instrumental member of three World Series-winning Giants teams, an NL MVP winner and a six-time All-Star. Posey slashed .302/.371/.458 with 140 home runs and 53.0 fWAR during that span, potentially putting himself on a Hall of Fame course.
First base: Joey Votto, Reds
- Votto – now 36 and in the twilight of his career – should go down as one of the greatest and most intelligent hitters in the history of the game. He ran roughshod over pitchers throughout the prior decade, batting .306/.428/.516 with 231 homers and 48.0 fWAR, and joined Posey in earning six All-Star nods and an NL MVP.
Second base: Jose Altuve, Astros
- Hey, another six-time All-Star and a former MVP. But unlike Posey and Votto, who have faded of late, Altuve’s still a high-end performer. The diminutive 29-year-old’s fresh off his sixth straight outstanding season after beginning his career as a fairly non-threatening hitter. Between 2014-19, Altuve hit .327/.380/.497 with 114 dingers and helped his team to a championship. He ranked fourth in the majors in fWAR (32.4) and fifth in stolen bases (179) during that span.
Shortstop: Francisco Lindor, Indians
- Mr. Smile has been the focus of significant trade speculation over the past couple months, which tends to happen when you’re an elite player who seems unwilling to sign an extension with a small-market club. Regardless of where Lindor plays in the future, there’s no denying the four-time All-Star has an incredible past. Lindor, 26, has posted a .288/.347/.493 line with 130 homers, 93 steals and 27.2 fWAR since he debuted in 2015.
Third base: Josh Donaldson, Free Agent
- Fresh off a tremendous several years, the 34-year-old Donaldson’s now the No. 1 free agent on the market. Donaldson rose to prominence as a member of the Athletics in 2014 and has since played for three other teams (the Blue Jays, Indians and Braves). Between his breakout campaign and last season, the Bringer of Rain finished third among position players in fWAR (33.3), hit .272/.374/.524 with 185 homers, picked up three All-Star bids and took home an AL MVP.
Outfield: Mike Trout, Angels; Mookie Betts, Red Sox; Andrew McCutchen, Phillies
- Was there any doubt Trout would make this list? He’s a three-time MVP at the age of 28, easily the best player of last decade and someone who could quit right now and go down as one of the preeminent players the sport has ever seen. The rest of the outfield’s more debatable, but Betts and McCutchen made strong cases over the past few years. They’re each ex-MVPs who have been among a handful of elite performers for about half a decade. Most of McCutchen’s success came as a member of the Pirates, but he has become more of a complementary player with the Giants, Yankees and Phillies over the past couple seasons.
Designated hitter: David Ortiz, Retired
- You’re well within your rights to want, say, the ageless Nelson Cruz here, but I’ll take the now-retired Ortiz – one of the most feared hitters and one of its premier big-game hitters throughout his career. From 2010 until his retirement in 2016, Big Papi was a five-time All-Star, a two-time champion and a one-time World Series MVP. Ortiz slashed .292/.383/.562 and swatted 224 HRs in that span before saying goodbye to the game. Even in his final season, his age-40-campaign, Ortiz was a force at the plate.
How did Freeman not beat out Votto for this list?
It’s not even that close…
2010-2019
Votto 48.1 WAR, 153 wRC+
Freeman 34.6 WAR, 137 wRC+
Miguel Cabrera and Paul Goldschmidt are head of Freeman in both categories as well.
Ya and I’m im not wrong Cabrera has a war of close to 70. More HR, RBI and better average.
In his career. In the decade, his bWAR is below 50 (43.5).
Yadier Molina should be a close second behind posey, but posey deserves it.
Nope as yadier molina beats him
Innings and games caught as posey plays part time 1B as well as injuries
In the outfield, how is Betts who has only played five years chosen over Stanton who hit over 300 homers in the decade? I realize his injuries and career average but if we are talking strictly the decade, he should have been named instead of both outfielders not named Trout.
Pretty sure Cabrera split his time between 3rd and 1st over the years
I think he was kidding… Lol
Please no more talk on WAR. Ian Kinsler has a career 57.2. Garbage stat that says nothing especially when comparing players of different generations.
This list is also kind of unfair to players that start the best parts of their career halfway into a decade and carry it over into the first half of the next decade. I would take Ronald Acuna, Jr. over Andrew McCutchen any day but Acuna didn’t have the advantage of starting his career early in some arbitrary decade.
Well, it’s a players of the decade list… since it’s the end of the decade.
Seems like an odd take I have to say as Acuña, comparatively speaking, has played like 10 minutes.
Arbitrary how? A decade has always been 10 years. It would be arbitrary if they took a random 10 year period, but considering they just simply ranked the best players at each position for the decade of 2010-2019, I don’t see how you could argue Acuna at all. He hardly played in the decade lol, why should he be included? If 2029 rolls around and he’s still relevant then he should be included in the 2020-2029 decade…
I doubt Cutch will be upset if Acuna does better in the 20’s. But how arbitrary to pick the 20’s as a decade…….
That’s kinda my point. It means if the best player in baseball history played at the top of his game from 2005-2014, he would still never be good enough to make a list like this but a player that was 40% worse than the best player from 2000-2009 probably would. I don’t know. I guess I’m over analyzing but these list definitely favor players that start their careers early in a decade and punish players for starting their careers mid decade regardless of performance or ability. It might be a little more fair to bring up the best 10 year streaks of great performance every decade as opposed to just focusing on guys that happen to start their careers around the beginning of a specific decade. The way the list is made almost nobody that starts their major league career during a year that ends in the #5 will ever make a list like this but a lot if inferior players that happen (by pure chance) to start their MLB careers during a year that ends with the #0 will make a lot of these lists. I’m just saying I feel bad for the half decade guys that lose out recognition to beginning decade guys even though the half decade guys are clearly better. I’m sure I am over thinking it and I’m not trying to be rude but my belief is that someone like Freddie Freeman is going to retire with a much better career and have a much better 10-year span than Joey Votto but Freeman will likely never make a list like this and Votto already has. Why? Just because of the year Votto started his career? Freeman will put up a very good decade too. So what if it doesn’t happen to start or end on a calendar decade?
Hey I think this a good argument for sure. Both sides have great points.
Solution: More Content eg. Do one every 5 years of the last decade.
Another argument: Guy starts his career in 2009 and plays 26 games as a rookie, goes on to a hall of fame career. People would see him on the list and go “snap I didn’t even know he played in that decade”
“That’s kinda my point. It means if the best player in baseball history played at the top of his game from 2005-2014, he would still never be good enough to make a list like this but a player that was 40% worse than the best player from 2000-2009 probably would”
So you just want to ignore that Mookie didn’t debut until 2014, Lindor didn’t debut until 2015, and Altuve was trash until 2014? All 3 of those point to your argument being really, really flawed. If the player in your made up example was as good as you claim, he would be on the list.
Oh yah, and you should really dive into Votto’s stats for the last 10 years. You are SEVERELY underrating him. He has put up an OPS of 1.000+ in 4 different seasons – something Freeman has never done. 2 “bad” seasons at age 34 and 35 don’t take much away from how dominant he was last decade. He absolutely belongs on this list.
Personally, I’m not sure McCutchen belongs on the list. His peak years were very good (still not Trout/Mookie good), but his peak was short lived. Without doing any research of my own yet, I find it hard to believe there wasn’t a better option in the OF.
It’s a freakin online list of one guy’s opinion of stats that span a decade. It’s not like it’s a hall of fame ballot. No major league player is ever going to care if he’s left off of an online all-decade team
Hey! Excusemeflo, you take your common sense, adult-like approach and take a hike!
It’s a silly unofficial list. We get you like the Braves.
Lindor made the list despite starting 2015. If you are truely dominant for 5-6 years you still make the list even if you miss some years.
Guys who only had 2-3 dominant years after missing 7 years of course don’t make it but those have a shot at next decade.
The guys who are at a disadvantage are guys who are good like 2018-2022 due to early decline or injury and thus don’t have 5 strong years in either decade.
Lol… Did you see David Ortiz on the list?
It is kinda funny.
Well, gee Standup, this is how the selections work.
Acuna over McCutchen ANY DAY?!? What about those days in 2010 and 2011 when McCutchen was an All Star and Acuna was in grade school. Those days matter, as this is for a whole decade.
Ketch … too funny …
Acuna just got into the league dude. find a better comparison
@standupguy
What do you not understand? It is a list of players from the decade of the 2010’s so how is it unfair?
I dont completely disagree with you, but McCutchen in his prime was a special thing to see. I specifically remember MLB Network calling Cutch 1B to Trouts 1A during their offseason 10 best at each position show. Is Acuna a good baseball player? Yes. Is he better than McCutchen was? I dont think so.
Acuna in his first full season: 127 runs, 41 HRs, 101 RBIs, 37 stolen bases. McCutchen has never reached any of those numbers in a season. He’s better NOW than McCutchen ever was.
Awwww it’s not fair.
So Standupguy’s arguments here are that Freeman deserves the 1B spot despite all of the stats that say otherwise and that we shouldn’t just look at the 10 years of numbers because it’s not fair to people who didn’t play all 10 years…. It’s a decade list. How else would you slice it?
Also, it’s a person’s opinion. Who cares.
From 2010 to 2019, Votto beats Freeman in AVG, OBP, SLG, wRC+, WAR, HRs, Runs, WPA, Clutch . . . . what more do you want?
Cabrera’s stats vs Votto.
Votto had led all 1B’s in OBP, OPS, BB%, fWAR, wOBA, BB/K ratio, and was tied with Cabrera in wRC+.
Votto is soooo underrated by so many people. As you see, I even added extra Os for effect.
That’s largely due to how defensive metrics don’t like Freddie Freeman which gives Votto the huge lead. Freeman’s stretch to save bad throws are not taken into consideration by WAR at all.
Oh geez! Please stop posting. Why are Padre and Braves fans such whiners?
Lol so Freeman being able to stretch to save some bad throws means his WAR should be 10 points higher?
I don’t think saving the occasional bad throw to first makes up for a ~12 fWAR difference over the decade but #bravesfans
Actually, DRS accounts for first base scoops, and bWAR is in turn based on DRS. So, Freeman does get the credit you think he deserves.
What is your argument for Freeman being more deserving than Votto? There is no statistical argument and “because I’m a Braves fan” isn’t particularly convincing.
Hey I think this a good argument for sure. Both sides have great points.
Solution: More Content eg. Do one every 5 years of the last decade.
Another argument: Guy starts his career in 2009 and plays 26 games as a rookie, goes on to a hall of fame career. People would see him on the list and go “snap I didn’t even know he played in that decade”
Because Votto was better
Donaldson over arrenado?
I was thinking the same thing. I realize this is really just a game designed to start debates, but come on, Arrenado beats Donaldson right across the batting line, and of course defensively by a mile.
Ding Ding Ding. We have ourselves a blowhard.
Josh Donaldson’s 136 OPS+ outpaces Nolan Arenado’s 122. Try fangraphs or BBref. They’re your friend!
Ding ding ding. We have someone who can’t read a batting line.
Arenado: .295/.351/.546/.897
Donaldson: .273/.369/.509/.878
But I bow down to your vastly superior ability to read The One Stat That Rules Them All!
Speaking of reading, try to find the number of other comments pointing out the same thing. It shouldn’t be too hard.
So you just want to pretend that Arenado’s numbers haven’t benefited significantly from playing half his games in Colorado?
Go check out their Home/Road splits. One of the players has an OPS ~200 points higher at home… I’ll let you figure out which one that is.
FWIW, I’d take Beltre over both of them, and if it weren’t for a bad/injured 2018, I think Kris Bryant would have a legitimate argument. Rendon deserves a mention as well.
BlueSKY attempts to be a statistic aficionado and then blatantly disregards park adjusted measures.
What’s worse than saying something stupid? Being arrogant enough to double down on the stupid comment! But it’s cool, man! Everyone said it!
Imagine getting as triggered as @Assumes does during a simple debate about which baseball player is better. Sad.
Just another low-grade troll as you can see from his other comments. Possibly someone who’s been banned from these boards before.
I pretend nothing. I realize Arenado shows better at Coors. That’s a given for nearly any position player. My point here is that if it’s only about picking the player with the highest OPS+ then this is an even more simplistic and pointless exercise than it seems. Determining who is the better player at any given position has never been that easy. Notice for instance that defensive value isn’t considered at all in the selection. Why they decided to leave that out, I have no idea, but add it in and the discussion changes completely.
Donaldson, Beltre, Rendon, Longoria, Bryant, Turner and Machado over Arenado in the 2010s. Two words: Coors Field.
You say Freddie Freeman? Really? How about Miguel Cabrera and his 2 MVP awards? Dude was the best player in baseball for the first part of the decade.
Yawn
Miggy needs to be on here somewhere
Where are Manny Machado and Bryce Harper?
I read all last off-season that they’re “Superstars”.
Where’s Miggy?
Should be a DH over Ortiz imho.
Miggy hasn’t even been a DH. Should be at first base, or even third base
It’s not a particularly egregious one, but as a Sox fan I’d have picked Cruz over Ortiz.
How big of you, andrewf. I mean that.
I think you have to put a triple crown winner like Miggy ahead of Votto at first. Miggy was considered the best hitter in baseball for a period of time this decade and was the only one stopping Trout from winning MVP every year.
Yeah, Miggy had a solid stretch where you could easily call him the best hitter in baseball at the time. You could never say that about votto
are you kidding? Votto has consistently been one of the most consistent players through the decade. no one could touch his OBP until just recently.
Not saying votto was bad, just saying Miggy had a long stretch where he was definitely better than votto. Votto may have had the OBP but Miggy had almost every other stat over Votto
2 of his best stat years came playing at 3rd in the decade and didn’t play many games over the last 2 years. So to say Miggy should be all decade at first is a stretch. All decade player period for sure.
Votto has only been consistent in obp. His power and RBI numbers are good but not great and have fluctuated quite a bit.
I feel like I could say the exact same thing about Freeman…
He lost out on MVP in 2017 by 1 or 2 points.
I’d have to say this list is pretty accurate, for the most part. I agree with the commentors that are saying Miggy over Votto. It’s close but I would say Miguel Cabrera needs to be on this list.
Miggy started tailing off after ’13. Not precipitously at all, mind you, but enough for Votto’s consistency to be first to the finish line here. Votto had 4 1.000+ OPS seasons, Miggy 3.
I don’t think you can say he started tailing off after 2013 when he almost hit 40 homers in 2016 while batting .316, won the batting title in 2015, & hit .313 with 25 homers & 100+ RBI in 2014. 2017 is when you can say he tailed off, but 2013? No.
And Miggy was literally one point shy of a fourth 1.000 OPS season.
This is just crazy to be arguing this right? It’s not like there is a place to go that shows us totals for the decade …
Cabrera – 317/399/544 … OPS+ 153 … 5795 PA … 268 HR’s … 43.5 bWAR
Votto – 306/428/519 … OPS+ 152 … 6150 PA … 231 HR’s … 52.1 bWAR
Freeman – 293/379/504 … OPS+ 137 … 5703 PA … 227 HR’s … bWAR 37.4
It’s a 2 dog race. Just going be offense, they are essentially the same player. Defensively, Votto is significantly better than Cabrera. As for Freeman? Guy is a stud. He is also not in the same class as Cabrera and Votto.
Just for fun … here is Trout (and yes – I’m fully aware he isn’t a first baseman.
305/419/581 … OPS+ 176 … 285 HR’s … 5273 PA … 72.5 bWAR + 200 SB’s + playing defense in a premium position
He kills them on rate stats, and on counting stats (despite having the least amount of PA’s). As insanely good as those three 1B are, Trout just crushes them.
Honestly? Bartolo Colon should be the all-decade first baseman. Have you seen his home run trot?
bjsguess are those Miggy’s decade stats? If so did you put 12 and 13 in those? He played 3rd those 2 years.
Miggy wasn’t the only one stopping trout from winning mvp every year. In case you missed it, mookie won mvp in 2018.
So there’s that.
Mookie and I believe Bregman also won MVP. I’m just saying without Miggy Trout could have had 4 or 5 MVPs in a row.
Miggy? How was Chris Davis left off this list?
Tulo over Lindor..other then that I would agree
Someone said Andrus. If we are factoring in defense how about Simmonds?
Cal, the guy who cannot stay healthy and played at Coors field, no way
It’s closer than you think. Tulo has the advantage in basically all the hitting categories, including /162 stats. Sure, Coors Field, but his road stats alone are just about as good as Lindor’s career numbers, especially in the first few years of the decade. Defense is honestly close too: Tulo committed 61 errors in 859 games (11.5/162), while Lindor had 56 in 705 (12.9/162). I know these stats aren’t the be all, end all of who’s the better player, and I’m not going to say Lindor over Tulo is wrong, but I will say that dismissing Tulo because “CoOrS fIeLd” is lazy.
Betts and Lindor didn’t play in enough of the decade to make the team.
Between the Betts pick and the Ortiz pick, I’d have to guess Byrne has a Bosox bias.
HUGE!!!!!!!
And you don’t have a Yankee bias? Right.
Agreed, also Ortiz retired after 2016, Cruz should be over him just for the fact that he’s played the whole decade.
Mookie had the 4th highest fWAR among outfielders from 2010-2019 despite only playing in 794 games. He was only 9.3 behind McCutchen despite having ~2,600 less plate appearances. He absolutely belongs on the list.
Lindor had the 2nd highest fWAR last decade behind only Tulo (by 0.6 points); Tulo played in 142 more games. He absolutely belongs as well.
WAR. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing.
Feel free to pick and choose whatever stats you want to use. Just know that whatever you come up with, these are 2 elite players.
ToyCannon, that’s the best response possible when it comes to WAR.
WAR, the most overused and most worthless stat. Just how good are replacement players nowadays, with the terrible BA and OBP, massive amounts of strikeouts, etc? The answer? They mostly suck.
SufferforTribe wins award for whiny hot aired nonsense. Thanks for your contribution.
Why are you, and all of the other anti-WAR guys sitting on the couch commenting on MLBTR, while the people who actually work in MLB front offices are people who support and use WAR?
As it pertains to WAR, I have a high degree of confidence, now. I was not a fan for a while; however, I eventually came around when I saw how accurately it portrayed performance both per year and for a career.
If one objectively views WAR in conjunction with player performance he will see it is a very valuable statistical measurement. It isn’t perfect, but what is? I prefer fWAR.
Toy, say it again
Oh yeah, and toycannon – truly awesome, my friend. I cannot help but reading that in a Jackie Chan voice – great post.
Yadi Molina.
Hell no
What about Molina? Nobody cares about gold gloves because they are a subjective farce.
Every time
Every time what?
Yes, Molina
By your logic Brandon Crawford was the shortstop of the decade.
McCutcheon does not belong on this list. I would argue Acuna, Stanton or yelich should be on this list. DH should be Pujols. Also freeman should be there over votto.
Acuna? He’s only played a couple of seasons
Yelich and Acuna have been elite for all of two seasons. They don’t belong on this list.
Why should Yelich be on it? He wasn’t great until 2018.
Yelich has been good his whole career, this seems overly critical of him.
Yelich had 18 HR and 4.2 WAR in ’17, his last year before Milwaukee. He was good. That’s all you can say. He was good. Nowhere remotely near best of the decade OFer. Not even close.
Puljos didnt make this list because he kinda got caught in between decades.
Pujols didn’t get caught between decades. His best years were 2001-2009. Then add 2010-2011. After that, his age of 36 to now of 44 have caught up with him in LA/Anaheim
You do know what a decade is right? What your saying is Pujols was good two decades ago.
Awful take. McCutchen is 2nd only to Trout in WAR among all outfielders for 2010-2019. And Freeman is behind Votto, Cabrera, and Goldschmidt in both WAR and wRC+ for the decade.
People forget how dominant McCutchen was in the first half of the decade.
Cutch is second in CF wRC+ and fWAR for the decade.
Easily Josh Hamilton
I would argue that you are wrong on all three counts.
Pujols and Cruz over Ortiz.
Acuna has played two seasons, it would be insane to put him on this list. Yelich was very good for 4.5 seasons and then excellent for two. Stanton: maybe, it’s a close call.
Pujols has only two seasons as a full-time DH. He played way more at first base and for 7 or so seasons of the decade, he was only very good, and he was downright bad for the final 3. Ortiz had 7 very good to stellar seasons.
Votto is far and away better than Freeman.
Bad takes all around with the possible exception of Stanton.
rct what are you talking about Yelich was very good for 4.5 years and great for 2? Very good 2 yes. Good for 2 in Miami but his first 2.5 years in Miami were average at best.
Change catcher to Molina
Change 1B to Freeman
Change 3B to Arenado
The rest are acceptable.
agree with u kiddhoff
I agree with Arenado. He was a bad omission.
Change catcher to Molina u serious!! Cmon posey has rookie of the year an MVP and 3 World Series Rings!! Molina can’t beat that
Factor in defense.
Factor in 4 Silver Slugger awards for Posey and 0 for Molina.
Say what you want about Molina, but I’m sure even you would agree that Molina is at least a close second
Factor in defense all you want, it’s still Posey. Molina has the better arm, but Posey tops Molina as a receiver, pitch caller, and hitter.
I would agree that Molina is a close second.
So we can agree that both belong in the conversation
Poseys war is way higher than yadis. Enough said
Posey is the best catcher. Enough said. Anyone who disagrees is delusional or a cardinals fan. Could’ve gotten away with just saying delusional.
if you’re basing any analysis solely off WAR you’re doomed to fail.
Kiddhoff, yes Molina is 2nd because there is no 3rd. Catcher depth is the worst in baseball at any position. It’s getting better, but for most of Molina’s career, it’s been horrible.
Posey also caught like 2500 fewer innings over the decade.
WAR is a horrible stat to begin with but it absolutely hates catchers.
Go somewhere else dinosaur.
Subtract the rings. That’s a team accomplishment.
Subtract gold gloves because they are subjective.
regardless of what you think of GGs, its hard to use them as a concrete measuring stick. id look at GG finalist selections first, and id bet both Posey and Molina have won just about the same number.
1. Posey
2. Molina
3. Realmuto
Vote for Vogt!
@kiddhoff I actually agree with the list made over your list.
I would even take Goldschmidt before I would take Freeman. The question is not who I would take right now, it is who is the best over the past decade and Votto is the winner here.
Arenado offensive numbers are a product of the park he plays in. Donaldson had 4 years of near 150 OPS+ seasons compared to zero for Arenado.
All the players you are trying to remove from the list are former MVPs. You have to be the best in the league to win a MVP. The guys you are trying to put in have a total of zero. They’re not even runner ups in the MVP.
Arenado definitively at 3B.
like MLB.com’s list, i just dont see Lindor making it having only debuted in 2015.
I would take Cano over Altuve at 2B.
They’re both cheaters.
Altuve knew which pitch was coming. Should not be on this list
Dead giveaway the list is suspect.
There has been no evidence that altuve did that
They all did. It was a team activity.
They’ve literally said that not everyone chose to do it…
didnt know they let you see the case file.
That’s not even part of the case file bro, Fiers and other people literally came out and said many players chose to just not use the camera
i was responding to Mo…
My bad
Mo4ever – Amazing how the calls for “objectivity” disappear when the stated assumptions/conjecture aren’t against the yankees
I recall how you were 110% against anyone having any right what so ever to stating any theory that wasn’t on its face proven by already publicly available documents/evidence when people were discussing how the yankees were trying to improperly screw ellsbury out of his rightfully deserved contract money.
Yet here you make unsupported accusations against every astros player based on pure conjecture since none of mlbs evidence or findings have been publicly released.
Smells like hypocrite.
I should point out that personally benefitting statistically from the cheating scheme is not required for complicity and responsibility. Knowing about it, going along with it, and failing to report it so as to benefit from an MVP Award and World Series championship would seem to be enough for discipline.
What, are you related to Ellsbury? Or just another Yankee-hating Red Sox fan? You people are beyond obnoxious, it’s like you’d rather complain about the NYY than anything else. You need to get a life, this article wan’t even about the Yankees, but here you are whining and annoying.
(Padres fan)
@tannedt He’s bored because his fourth place 2020 Red Sox are either about to have a fire sale or stay on the hook for tens of millions of dollars in order to have a chance at third place.
@Assumes can you remind me who the Astros closer is? I forgot
What does that even mean
I’m sorry. I’m not programmed to fix stupid.
>>==Error<>===
I love your perspective. “If you disagree with me you should shut up and stop posting.” After all, a baseball board is no place for debate about baseball.
He pointed out to a poster who has taken 2 different stances on situations based on homerism that he was being a homer. I get it was off topic if you haven’t been in past articles but was on point for that poster.
Maybe Boston really blows it up and goes for last place and willstill have more recent success than the Yankees. Jealousy is why you keep bringing up 4th place which is just hoping the Sox have another injury driven, underachieving year again or do blow it up and really throw in the towel.
@Darkside, Tigersfan, & Mo:
Even if Altuve chose not to use the camera to cheat, he still benefitted from the cheaters.
For example, If the two in front of Altuve are cheating, it changes the pitch sequence to Altuve. If the guy behind him is cheating and hitting well, it forces them to pitch to Altuve.
Altuve not cheating and Altuve hitting well are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they are more than likely mutually inclusive.
YET….!
Here comes Card fans in 3…2…1..lol
Antibelt, awesome. Predictable as the Sun rising in the East is the Cardinals fans overrating of Molina. They will go bat s,,t crazy defending that below average offensive catcher.
Beltre over Donaldson in my opinion.
Seconded. Love Joshie, but Adrian deserves it.
People forget about Miggys triple crown lol.
Miggy probably wouldve made this list if he didnt split the decade between 3rd and 1st.
How about Paul Goldschmidt?
Lindor was 16 when the decade started. And Betts really hasn’t played enough years to qualify. Tulo even tho he was injured at the end of the decade a lot. He was still the elite of the elite SSs in his prime. And he played throughout most of the decade. And probably Adam Jones for the outfield.
Maybe Jose Batista
Jones over Betts is a good shout, though i see Betts as one of the OF given how crazy good two of his years were. I also think Stanton is a candidate, even with the injuries.
I’m a Betts fan, too, but you give him a best of the decade nod for TWO “crazy good” years, while completely missing 40% of the decade? That doesn’t pass the straight-face test with me.
i wouldnt make the Betts pick, im just saying that those were some ridiculous year, and the other handfull he’s played have all been pretty good too, so i can at least see why he has a case.
Fair enough.
Who played the whole decade and has an advantage over Betts 5.5 years? He may exist but all I’ve seen is Stanton suggested and in 1k+ less ABs Betts numbers are close or better in a number of offensive categories and then add baserunning, defense and contributions to winning and Betts clearly wins.
Isn’t Betts rotting away on a fourth place team right now? Sad
I guess if you look back several seasons he was rotting on a 4th place team. 3rd last year, the best WS team of the decade the year before, 2 division titles the years before that. I bet he feels like his time in Boston was just rotting. Sox only finish 4th next year if Betts is gone.
He’s wanted out for a long time. It’s been highly publicized. He wouldn’t even look at extension offers from his own team. Trout is a far better player and accepted a record setting contract from his team in the form of an extension. Sad to see Betts hating his own team so much but who can blame him
That shows who you are. He has never said anything against Boston, just that he will not extend and wants to go to free agency. That’s a personal business decision between him and his agent. There are multiple times he has added that he loves Boston. So, your first comment made no sense and now you pile on. Save typing next time and just type I hate the Red Sox.
Players who don’t want out entertain extension offers. Extension offers have mirrored anticipated market value and even exceeded it many times in the past. Let’s not pretend that entertaining extension offers is bad business. When you refuse to review extension offers it means you want out.
I hate the Red Sox. So much shorter. Boston has reportedly made some decent offers but not mega offers to keep him. Purely business, nobody said Boston made a market value offer and he shot it down. Harper for example turned down better extension offers bc his goal was highest total value which he got by adding years in Philly but wasn’t bc he hated Washington.
@Assumes Hey you said it not me
When was the last time Boston placed 4th, Beisbolista? Your argument could also be misplaced for Mike Trout who plays on a less successful team than Betts.
Boston hasn’t finished 4th since the late-90’s. Placed 5th a couple times (2015). But not 4th.
Hate to say this but AssumeFacts is right and you aren’t. All over this thread.
Interesting username. Format looks familiar. Hahahaha you are so salty. Sad.
Your username could be considered racist. Not by me though. And you’re still wrong.
Whether it’s betts, or anyone else, riddle me this:
What’s better? A player who only played in say 6 seasons of the decade, but all were great with at least 1 or 2 exceptional?
Or, a guy who played in 10 seasons, almost half of which were replacement level or not much better and the rest were the same great level.
One player showed only greatness in the decade. The other averaged something less.
Which guy was better?
I’m sure there are plenty of OFs I’m forgetting but I was thinking Giancarlo Stanton for OF. He pretty much played the whole decade and put up great numbers for the most part.
Harper, Yelich, or Batista over Jones all day long and Betts provide the 4th highest war among outfielders for the decade. I’d take 5 peek years over 10 decent/good years
oh please. it was a matter of time before someone mentioned the overrrated name of Harper.
Are we getting the all decade starting rotation next?
Artificially Big Papi. Was cool watching his head grow in size as he magically put up numbers Bonds would envy at an advanced age.
His Age 40 season was much better than Bonds’s!!! And he had like the most painful feet on the planet. It was truly astounding! Led all the young bucks of baseball in doubles! With bad feet! And RBI’s! And OPS! He was better than Bondsian!
Led the league in slugging at 40. His feet hurt from carrying twice the head he had in Minnesota.
I respect and have respected a lot of Red Sox players over the years, Betts included. But Ortiz is not one of them. He’s as much of a fraud as A-Fraud, except that A-Fraud admitted it. Ortiz continues to be a fraud to this day.
They even shared the same doctor.
I generally dislike the Sox, but have no problem respecting players who are genuinely great. Betts, for example.
I’ll never respect Papi.
Ortiz was juiced in Minnesota and Cruz in Texas, but apparently if you dont get caught with your new team you are absolved of blame.
I definitely believe Cruz was in Texas. The physical changes and failed test in Boston make it 100% evident Ortiz juiced there.
Why is it that all people making any top position players list focus solely on offense and totally ignore defense. Trout, Altuve, and Lindor are pretty much the only ones deserving of being on this list if you bring in defense. (It doesn’t matter for Big Papi since he’s DH).
He (big papi) absolutely dominated the Cards in that WS. Every time he came to the plate he either got a hit or looked like getting a hit. I’d have Molina at catcher though.
Would like to see picks for rotation and bullpen
Off the top of my head for SP’s I’d go:
Verlander
Kershaw
Scherzer
Greinke
Price
Pen would take a long time to think about
Maybe Bumgarner and deGrom? Kluber too.
As for pen (you’re right would take a minute or five)-
Rivera
Jansen
Chapman
Miller?
Colon elected by MLBTR veterans committee
Yes Bumgarner over Price, not sure why I forgot him. Would have to keep Greinke in above the others since he’s played the whole decade. Would have to put Kimbrel in with Relievers as well, but I don’t have an issue with any of those guys you listed.
How do you now have Kimbrel on the Pen list?
Not to mention Mo was gone after 13.
Mike Troutplease, he hasn’t even won one playoff game!
What?
What part of that comment is confusing you? It’s fine to disagree, but it’s not really a confusing comment.
Hiflew you win the:
unnecessary d-bag retort award.
Congratulations for further draining the comment section with nothingness.
Isn’t it ironic when people complain about nothing comments with their own nothing comments? Just makes me smile. Thank you for that.
@Assumes imagine getting so triggered that you respond to a one word comment with a pontificating dissertation
[BLOCKED]
Has someone ever explained to you that baseball is a team sport? Trout has been the best player in the game since his rookie year.Any mention of Trout not being the best player of the decade is insane.
To me the worst overlook is Donaldson over Beltre
I was gonna say the same thing. Part of this I think is based on recency bias and we’re forgetting some of the players who were great in the beginning of this decade.
Altuve over Cano sucks too
Yes. Altuve over Cano sucks because Strike four draws his moral line at banging on railings but not steroids.
For this gem of a post you win the:
Pick and Choose my Morals Idiot Award.
Congratulations. I have a feeling you will be a recipient of many more prestige awards for your work here.
Banging on railings? You really are clueless aren’t you? I hereby grant you the Sore Baseballs Award for Harsh Realities Soon To Be Realized
And yet you’ve been baited into commenting on all my posts! Looks like you get the:
Too stupid to realize how bad I’ve been Trolled Award.
Congratulations. I’d expect no less from a Blowhard Yanks fan!
Agreed, when looking over the span of the decade, the average of Beltre’s stats each season are better than Donaldson’s. Longevity and consistency should be the overriding factor when it comes to close comparisons like this. I would also put Arenado ahead of Donaldson. But I do enjoy these lists, it’s fun to discuss and go back and research. I will say that the SS options are much weaker than what we’ll have to choose from over the next decade. Lots of great young talent.
I suppose this list is subjective and open to debate. How about 3 players per position and let the people vote.
market bias. its why they changed ASG voting.
biggest change i would make would be Arenado over Donaldson, though its close there. i think Lindor didnt play enough to really be on this list, but i can’t think off the top of my head who would be the best choice. I like the idea of Tulo though.
Elvis Andrus was the SS of the 10’s. He played almost double the games of Tulo and Lindor. He wasn’t as good as them but health still matters and he put up similar WAR over the decade.
Double the games and was less valuable… That’s not a great argument in his favor.
Giancarlo over Mookie
Adrian over Josh
Robinson over Jose
Nelson over Papi
Elvis over Francisco
All clear misses.
I like Andrus at SS here. consistently flys under the radar despite strong production. Texas will be over the moon in time that he didnt opt out.
How about A.Simmonds at SS?
Simmons has no “D”.
Simmons has all-world “D” just not in his name. I think Simmons should be considered with what we have to work with for SS in this decade.
Elvis andrus is nowhere near as good as Francisco Lindor! Are you being serious??
Lindor was de-selected because he missed 50% of the decade… a fact which slipped Connor Byrne’s mind. Like the fact Betts missed 45% of the decade but still somehow made the list for best of the DECADE.
Because they were more valuable in half a decade than just about every player in baseball over a full decade… I’m not sure what’s so hard to understand about this.
Altuve is light years better than steroid fueled Cano.
Pretty much agreed on all fronts.
A little slow news period, so why not invoke the First Rule of Journalism: BE PROVOCATIVE!
Combined with the Second Rule: Make a List!
PQC: 2.1/10
My only real problem about this list is figuring out the criteria here. It feels like some of the list is based off great careers the entire decade and then another part of it is who had the most impact at the position in a brief amount of time at the position.
My suggestions if taking the whole decade into consideration
1st Miggy over Votto
2nd up for debate Cano vs Altuve
SS Simmons, Andrus Elvis, or tulo when healthy
3rd Beltre or Arenado
OF Stanton over betts based on entire decade
Stanton played the entire decade and Betts 6 years. Stanton has over 1k more ABs than Betts. Betts is less than 200 hits behind him so he’d have to hit way below his level to get to Stanton as far as hits and average go. He is very close in Rs, 2Bs, passed him in 3Bs, passed in SB. Stanton only has an edge in HRs and RBIs over a lead off hitter. Now factor in baserunning and gold gloves and winning and Betts 6 years easily surpass Stanton.
If we’re talking about just WAR they basically had the same impact with Betts playing a little over five years of service time. I do see though Stanton with a higher impact over an entire decade. We’re talking about almost 200 more HRs and more than 300+ RBIs with a higher slug %, an OBP within range and a higher OPS.
I know these numbers aren’t nearly as important in the new age of baseball but they can’t be ignored. They still show the type of impact Stanton had in the decade.
I agree if you care about quantity over quality then only look at players who played 9 or 10 seasons in the decade. In 5.5 years Betts had a greater impact in baseball than Stanton except for HR Derby.
Simmons has less fWAR then Lindor in more seasons.
Again Just a little Miggy is better by far overall but played a bunch of 3rd so if you take his numbers when playing 1st it’s not fought Votto.
The better debate for the comment section is: What lineup do you make with these guys?
1. J. Altuve
2. F. Lindor
3. M. Trout
4. D. Ortiz
5. J. Votto
6. M. Betts
7. B. Posey
8. J. Donaldson
9. A. McCutchen
id put Votto 1 or 2. too much on base ability to be behind the big power guys.
According to analytics Trout should be batting 2nd to get your best player as many at bats as possible. Betts bats third and move Lindor to 6th. Also swap Donaldson to 5th and move Votto to 8th. Too many lefties back to back would make bullpen moves easier later in the game especially with the new three batter minimum.
I’m not asking for people to critique my lineup, I want to see what everyone else’s lineup would be! Of course you can do both, but its everyone else’s lineups that I want to see.
No miguel Cabrera? 2 MVP’s awards, four batting titles. Surprised harold Haines didnt make this team.
The guy that invented cotton t-shirts?
Oh Great!!! Another guy that accomplished more than Baines.
Ortiz only played 7 years in the decade. Led the league in doubles once. Nothing else. He beats out a triple crown winner.
East coast bias.
id buy that it comes down to A. Ortiz was purely a DH, unlike Miggy, and B. Ortiz ended his career on a high note, while most recently one’s heard of Miggy its been that his contract outweighs his current production.
I would think a list of the best players of the decade might include the best players of the decade. Should have titled it “My Homer Team”.
It is odd that since Miggy continues to take the field when Big Poppy Seeds continued to DH actually works to Papi’s advantage. I agree with Melchez on his point. Miggy over Papi, and it’s not because Papi is on the Sox, it’s because I believe Miggy to be better.
4 batting titles
1 HR title
2 RBI titles
1 Triple Crown
2 MVPs
7 All Star games
5 Silver Sluggers
Umm…..you forgot Miguel Cabrera
I think the fact he played 3B and 1B combined with how horrible he has been the last few years killed his chances
split positions ok, but he could have been Chris Davis for the last two years and still worthy of the all-decade team. Miggy killed it.
If they are using that as a criteria, then Posey doesn’t belong. He played quite a bit of 1B. Give it to Molina.
Yeah, it can’t apply to one player without it applying across the board. It doesn’t say best player every year of the decade……. just the best player in the decade, which was clearly Miggy out of the two. In fact, I’d argue that had Papi not taken extra “vitamins” he would’ve been done far before 40, and Cabrera’s advantage would’ve even been more clear.
Ortiz is a THREE TIME CHAMPION!
Pedroia should be 2b? He has 3 rings.
Joey Votto is a great player. He has won an MVP and been on 6 All Start teams, but he’s never led the league in BA, HRs or RBIs or even won a single silver slugger award.
disregarding these things (correctly i may say) is why certain players are on this list. you don’t become the best player of the decade at a position by being the best more years than anyone else. you get on it by being better overall. if you were .1% better 6/10 years, but the other guy was well better the other 4, he was the better player overall.
He led all 1B in OBP, OPS, BB%, fWAR, wOBA, BB/K ratio, and was tied Cabrera in wRC+. He clearly deserved it over Cabrera.
Winning a triple crown puts him ahead. How many players can say they won a triple crown? That 1 year alone puts Miggy ahead of Votto.
Winning a triple crown is hard, but it’s one feat that requires part luck (RBI’s). You can’t go off of one feat. If Votto leads Cabrera in every other stat, then he clearly deserves it.
I can see Votto at 1B, even though I think Cabrera should be there. It is at least debatable. Both are deserving. It’s the Ortiz at DH that is a head scratcher. The Triple Crown helps. There is much more to base it on… 4 batting titles. RBI titles, Home Runs, Most hits, best batting average. Especially when the position is taken by a guy who led the league in doubles once. (Ortiz) Is it because Cabrera was DH only 187 times in 10 years?
This notion, RBI’s are just based on luck is quite silly. Look at all the players who have led the league in RBI… who led the league based on “luck”? Jose Abreu led the AL in RBI last year… is it because he was on a team where the hitters in front of him were great at getting on base? The White Sox were one of the worst OBP teams in the league. Anderson led the league in hitting ahead of him but only scored 81 runs. And if you look at the RBI leader for each year, you see a player that had one of his best years in many other categories. Granderson led the league one year. It was the year he hit 41 home runs and had a .916 OPS. It was a year better than his other years. Chase Headley led the league once. The year he hit 31 home runs and had an OPS .100 points higher than any other year. Was he surrounded by great hitters? Headley led the team in runs with 91, Maybin was second in runs at 61. Headley was the only offense that team had.
For career RBI, Which of these guys are just “lucky”? Aaron, Ruth, ARod, Pujols, Bonds, Gehrig, Musial, Cobb, Foxx, Murray, Mays, Anson, Ott…. these guys are top hitters and known for having great batting average, OBP, most had power, others speed. If it were based on luck, you would have a guy on there that stood out and you’d say… “why is he on that list?”
Like all stats, they have to be taken in context. But the RBI is a great stat, don’t throw it out because some data cruncher says it’s a flawed stat.
RBI’s are part luck. Would Miguel Cabrera have led the league if he batted leadoff in 2012? Probably not. What if he didn’t have Austin Jackson and Andy Dirks bat in front of him (both of whom had an OBP of .370+)? Again probably not. It’s much less of a stat of how clutch you are and more of a stat of your environment.
Everything is part luck. If Cabrera wasn’t such a good RBI guy, he might have been in the leadoff spot. There is a reason you put RBI guys in RBI spots.
Andy Dirks? Yeah, he made Miquel Cabrera. If not for him….well….
Thanks for that trip down memory lane.
88 games for Dirks… yep, big difference maker. Batter 1st or second 43 times. The rest near the bottom of the order.
I give up on this thread. How can someone overlook Cabrera for this All Decade team? Makes no sense. I, at first, thought of Pujols… then I looked at his stats and he was not the player he once was for most of the decade. I didn’t realize he’s been that bad for so long. He still has power, but his OBP is terrible. Angels only have 2 more years of that. He should be a bench player for them with an occasional DH start. Pinch hit every now and again. He’s their 26th man.
Bigcheese he won the Triple Crown yes. But as a 3rd baseman
Big Donaldson fan. Arenado should be 3B here.
Go Cubs Go
Ortiz was a x10 All Star.
Ortiz was a 10 time all star in 7 years? Hmmm, that’s good.
Being an All Star is a popularity contest. Papi was very popular but some of those years Cruz was the better hitter.
If we all did a second team there would still be arguments over that team.
I love Josh Donaldson, big fan, but Adrián Beltré says hi from retirement where he’s one of the greatest 3rd baseman of all time.
Should have had Jeter at short. He played as much as Lindor has.
Jeter? Pssh. He wasn’t even a top 5 SS of the decade.
It doesn’t matter, it’s a bogus list any way. How can you have the best lineup of the decade without the best hitters?
Defense matters.
I’m assuming you’re being sarcastic, but Jeter wasn’t relevant for the time period his list is for. His last great year was probably 2009. I agree Lindor shouldn’t be the SS for this list, but Jeter shouldn’t be either. I also think Someone else should be in place of Donaldson.
“so feel free to make any disagreements known in the comments section below”
If Connor can put Ortiz on this team, I should be able to put my favorite players on too. Obviously if it’s the “All-Decade Lineup”, you should have the guys with the best stats from this decade on this list. If Ortiz makes it, then Jeter should be on there too.
How can Cabrera be left off this list? 4 batting titles. 2 MVP’s. Most hits in the decade. Best batting average. Most RBI. 6th in home runs.
Melchez has made this point ad nauseum herein; but he has to because people are not evaluating Miggy fairly, imo. Rings mean nothing in terms of best player- exhibit A: Mike Trout. Next, Papi played many years as DH whereas Miggy played the field and was considered the best all-around hitter for several years. My tertiary point, and I think it just as relevant, Papi used PEDs to extend his career and improve his numbers.
Miggy should be there. Oh yeah, and out of all the awards named herein, the Triple Crown is the most relevant because there is no subjectivity, as with all-stars, for example.
Josh Donaldson is not even the second best 3B. Both Arenado and Beltre are ahead of him, with Nolan slightly ahead of Beltre simply because he missed the first three years. Otherwise he would be miles ahead.
Next, Lindor is a great player, but he missed the entire first half of the decade. SS might be a position that needs two hales since no one was great the entire decade. Lindor or Correa could be the second half of the decade SS with either Hanley Ramirez or Troy Tulowitzki as the first half leader.
And Miggy definitely deserves to be on there somewhere, probably in place of Ortiz.
When you look at SS it was one of the weakest positions of the decade. Hard to find really good players for the decade when only Simmons and Andrus are the only ones that played the entire decade. The boon of great SS just recently occurred in the last few years of this decade.
Jose Reyes could be included.
Reading these comments I’m convinced people forget how good and consistent Votto was up until this year…dude was a force.
How many batting titles, rbi titles, home run titles triple crowns does Votto have? .Votto had some good OBP guys ahead of him…. why did he only have 3 100 rbi seasons?
Oh, he was too busy drawing walks.
best players at each position, but no pitchers
Personally, I’m taking Arenado over Donaldson. Miggy over Votto at 1B would be the only other change I’d make to this. Great lineup otherwise. Cutch bossed it with PIT, funny how people seem to forget that so fast. The guy was a beast!
Ummmm….. where’s Arenado?
They should have made this a vote, there is wayyyy too much bickering going on here
Since Arenado is possibly the best third baseman ever, you might want to change that
Best ever is a bit premature especially since he plays half his games at Coors Field.
So can any Rockies player EVER be good in your opinion?
I don’t know what his opinion is on this subject, but I’d like to point out that there’s a pretty gigantic difference between “best ever” and “good.”
Arenado is an amazing player as was Larry Walker but I don’t understand how people want to pretend like it doesn’t help their offensive stats at all. Defensively Arenado is still one of the best 3B I’ve seen in my lifetime but if he played in a normal altitude I feel safe saying he’d be more of a good hitter than a great one
Fair point. I am just sick of people complaining about Rockies hitters as if they are the only team that plays in a hitter friendly ballpark. Texas, Philly, Cincy, and several others are close with Coors since the humidor was installed. They also do not give the same flak to pitchers playing in San Francisco, LA, Pittsburgh, or any other extremely friendly pitching environment.
So I apologize for letting my frustration get the better of me for a moment. But it really does get old to hear about for Rockies fans.
Case in point: DJ LeMeheiu – Numbers went up when he left Coors….
I really like Donaldson and I think one can argue fairly for him to be here; however, Arenado is a fantastic third baseman and a stud on both off and def. He deserves to be here. I also like Beltre for this list before Donaldson, but it’s just my opinion.
That’s what we call an exception to the rule.
@Priggs: Also true, but it is his case in point for Arenado.
Best of decade, I’ll consider it. Best ever, let’s pump the breaks.
The best 3rd baseman of all time is Mike Schmidt, period. I would pick Beltre and Arenado over Donaldson.
I’d put Brooks Robinson right there with Schmidt. Schmidt is definitely the best offensive 3B though. Brooks is best defensive third baseman. Nolan could eventually take them both down though.
Schmidt was a great player in all aspects of the game. Arenado is better in every category through age 28
It is clearly state that it’s an All Decade team, yet you chose Ortiz who only played 7 years of the decade, and over that period he hit 224 home runs (32 per year) while Nelson Cruz played all 10 years and hit 346 home runs (34.6 per year). Obviously some bias there in favor of the Big Papi, eh?
So HRs per year were basically even. They both had years prior to the decade so I’m just going to go by one stat to avoid the calculations. Since they are DHs only offense counts so let’s do OPS+. Ortiz averaged about 150 per year for 7 and Cruz about 140 for 10. Over 7 years Ortiz was the better choice especially if you add in contributions to winning. I think being better 70% of a decade is a justifiable pick.
Sorting by fWAR, Fangraphs has the following disagreements:
2B: Cano (46.3 WAR) over Altuve(35.0). Cano unfortunately spent most of those years on terrible teams, and has PED scandals. Altuve is actually 3rd in that list behind Zobrist
SS: Tulo over Lindor. It’s a .6 WAR difference, and Tulo has basically an extra half season of at bats on Lindor. Fair to make the “quality over quantity” argument, but Tulo deserves some recognition
3B: Beltre (42.8) over Donaldson (41.4). They’re basically arguable either way, Beltre’s career has just been more consistent and usually on mediocre teams.
OF: Stanton (39.3) over Betts (37.2). This is definitely quality over quantity (Betts has 75% of Stanton’s PAs), and the championship ring probably makes a difference for Betts here. They’re both distant third to Cutch, who is a distant second to Trout. Zobrist (who didnt earn all his WAR here), Harper and Bautista are also in the 35ish range.
Nelson Cruz (32.9) over Ortiz (22.4) The others here are relatively close that you can argue that maybe the awards and such make enough of a difference to choose the second place guy. Cano and Cruz are massively better by WAR and their exclusion is likely either to do with PED suspensions or simply playing on bad teams
Good breakdown. It shows how differences in years can show how a guy with fewer years can substantiate quality over quantity. With Ortiz and Cruz I get why you went oWAR but WAR overall is closer meaning when they did play in the field Ortiz didn’t hurt his team like Cruz did. If you look at OPS+, should be good for DHs, Ortiz was better over the first 7 years than Cruz and I think the winning was factored in.
Besides dWAR being completely irrelevant to the subject at hand, doing something poorly is better than not being able to do it at all. Ortiz played 1b a handful of times so hard to hurt the team when you basically never do something.
I think he mostly looked at the Dollar value stated in the last column of that table, combined with some interest in creating a discussion starter 😉
Beltre was on mediocre teams? He went to the WS twice after coming over to the Rangers and they had one of the highest winning percentages of any team while he was there
Edwin Encarnacion over Nelson Cruz.
All great players on this list but it seems to favor guys who were great for only part of the decade, Betts, Lindor, Ortiz, and Donaldson to some extent. Think Stanton, Cruz and Beltre would better represent the decade. SS is tricky because a lot of the great SS came along half way through but Andrus or Tulo could be considered. Curious theres no SP, think Kershaw would be the obvious choice but imagine some would say Verlander.
How can Donaldson be the best 3rd basemen of this decade when it took teams this long into the offseason to offer him four years? Love him and his umbrella but that and Miggy were the biggest swing and misses.
What the heck does how long it’s taking him to sign (for reasons we don’t actually know, nor do we know what offers he has) have to do with the topic?
Why would you offer someone 4yrs if he was the best Last decade..
Looking at Fangraphs 2010-2019, the list mostly makes sense. I just don’t get how you put Altuve (35 war) ahead of Cano (46.3 war), and Ortiz (22.4) ahead of Cruz (32.9).
Sure, Cruz played some outfield, but the years he racked up his WAR he was mostly DH.
Beltre at third. Outfielders like Stanton and tony bats also deserve a look but can’t really argue with who was picked. Posey had better batting numbers and decent fielding. Molina the opposite. So I could see either one but would go posey. Votto is good. Donaldson is under rated but beltre I believe did better. Second is cano. He posted over 50 war during a stretch last decade. Steroid stuff fine but we are talking stats. Ortiz is fine. So my big changes would be cano and beltre.
Miggy hurts himself cuz he played third his two best years and the rest first. And machado would be considered in my opinion but also split positions.
Posey is an outstanding defensive player. I would says Molina is better defensively but Posey is a significantly better hitter and that outweighs Molina’s sleight edge on defense.
Next they should do a projects all 20’s team. As well as a 10’s all pitching team.
Projected
Cruz over Papi, Arenado over Donaldson, Molina over Posey…Lindor and Betts are questionable due to not participating for half the decade but both are dang sure great players.
Lindor and Betts produced more or equal valve in their 5 years than others in more games.
Donaldson wRC 139
Arenado 120
Beltre. 130
Arenado stat totals are added by Coors and I’d take Donaldson having a little better offense for the decade.
For SS either tulo or Lindor. Elvis had twice the at bats and produced less War.
Never try to diminish people’s posts but damn you Atlanta fans are a bunch whiners! You whine about everything! Its a stupid list for hells sake!
Stanton had 39 war, betts 37 in nearly 400 less games. Betts far more valuable even though Stanton played more games.
I love Autve but Cano has been the better player for the decade.
1. Betts
2. Trout
3. Altuve
4. Ortiz
5. Donaldson
6. Lindor
7. Votto
8. Posey
9. McCutchen
Filthy!
I don’t know about this list. I really don’t agree with it. It’s not terrible but to me there are for sure a few that should be added/subtracted. Still a hell of a lineup but i could argue Lindor hasn’t had enough time to be the SS of the decade and Pujols, hasn’t been the same since going to the Angels but he’s still Pujols and I’ll take his career over Votto any day!! I can’t bash this lineup but Lindor only playing half the decade, Pujols being Pujols and not being on here iffy to me but Adrian Beltre not being on this list might be the wildest thing to me
You guys going to do a pitching one?
Starting 5:
Bumgarner
Kershaw
Scherzer
Verlander
King Felix
Bullpen:
Chapman
Jansen
Kimbrel
Rivera
Anyone else to add to the list? I’m
Drawing a blank for some reason.
I would replace Felix with Greinke. Hernandez really fell off in the second half of the decade while Greinke really only had one below average season during the 2010’s.
Chris Sale absolutely belongs in that starting 5.
King Felix was great the first half of the decade but bad to really bad the second half. I don’t think Bumgarner belongs in there unless you’re HEAVILY weighting postseason stats.
Obviously Sale would take one of those two spots for me, but the other one would be tough to choose between Price, Greinke, or deGrom. I’d probably lean deGrom. He doesn’t have the longevity of the other two, but his high points have just been so much higher than all but the other elite guys on this list.
Pujols has 3 fWAR the last 7 years..
People saying Betts over Stanton purely based on WAR aren’t looking at the full picture. Stanton had significantly higher counting (HR, RBI, OPS) stats than Betts. He put some butts in seats in Miami. Any other market and people would have packed the stadium to see him play. For a couple years stretch, he was a guy all the channels had on. He was must see TV. He bought ratings back to the derby and made it important again. He had other impacts on baseball because people really did love the HR ball before everybody started swinging for the fences. Plus he was a statcast darling. It’s the same as why people gravitated towards Judge during his rookie season or the Polar bear this year. He did things no one else was doing. Stanton had an impact on the game this decade in meaningful ways.
OPS isn’t a counting stat. Stanton has about a .012 lead over Betts all due to HRs. Betts meanwhile is better at baserunning and defense by a mile. I’ll take winning impact over HR Derby and statcast impacts, of course stat cast loves Mookies range and his throws.
We need a 1990s list. Man, I miss those days.
Piazza, Griffey Jr, the big hurt, Karros..Edmunds. Man…I need a damn time machine hahaha
Donaldson? Check Adrian Beltre’s numbers the entire decade.
Its basically tied by war. Donaldson was a little better on offense
How is Votto on this All-time lineup @ 1B while leaving out Pujols and Miggy?
Albert:
MLB Career Stats
AB. 10687
AVG .300
HR. 656
RBI. 2075
SB. 114
OPS. 927
Miggy:
AB. 8949
AVG. .315
HR. 477
RBI. 1694
SB. 38
OPS .935
Votto:
AB. 6088
AVG. .307
HR. 284
RBI. 944
SB. 79
OPS. .941
It isn’t a career stat, it is this decade. Not saying right or wrong but just be on point if you want to debate it.
The majority of Pujols great years were in the 2000s not the 2010s.
War for 2010-2019
Votto 48
Cabrera 43
Goldschmidt 39
Pujols 17
Pujols was a great, great player from 2000-2011 but he’s been an average first baseman 2012-2019
Because Pujols has been bad in the decade we’re talking about… If you want to look at the previous decade, I’d have to imagine he’d be on the list.
Pujols put up 3 fWAR the last 7 years.
Plus, Pujols injected far more CCs of Androstenedione. That stat is like 400,000:50,000….. he injected so much testosterone he has to sit down to piss.
If an mlb coach had to time warp to the mid 2010’s to assemble a team to play an actual game, there is ZERO chance he leaves Miguel Cabrera off the team.
Start him at Dh. Start him in RF. I don’t care, but Miggy makes the team. The bat plays. Period.
Pitchers? Madbum and no-one else
Before haters hate. 3 championships mostly his doing
See my comment regarding you catcher/1B not hate, it’s showing mad respect to a true HOF catcher Yadier Molina. Really tired of the Posey love when he’s playing more 1B these days while Molina leads in Innings and games caught
Bumgarner? Not even in the top 10. Dude pitched well in a few post season games, granted, but never had elite regular-season numbers or even won a Cy Young.
Injury prone Donaldson over Beltre ?
Connor and Steve both jumping on Posey train even though Molina beats him in games and Innings caught at position as well as hall of fame defense. A good chunk of his stats were while he’s playing 1B for once I would love to see OPINIONS backed up with real FACTS and not skewing them to back up your opinion.
And despite having many more innings behind the plate, Posey still has more DRS, and more framing runs than Molina.
Matt Holliday has a spot in all decade especially over the often injured AM
Often injured Andrew McCutchen? He averaged 155 games from 2010 to 2018. Also, Cutch had a higher WAR, more home runs, a higher OPS, and OPS+ in the 2010’s than Holliday.
McCutchen was much more productive than Holliday
Nope
neither should be talked about in that spot…it should go to Nelson Cruz…also McCutchen had 4 good years lets be real, the rest was mediocre or terrible
Molina could’ve been picked for C. But, I agree that it was Posey. Arenado definitely over Donaldson. Miggy slight edge over Votto.
Beltre at 3rd??
Yea still taking Miggy over Votto. And Beltre or Longoria over Donaldson.
Yeah – it’s a weird one where Connor is discriminating between the best hitters at their position in the infield and just lumping the OF together. Is Trout supposed to play left field because he’s got the most experience there?
I agree with Miggy if you’re just going to pick the best eight hitters regardless of position. I don’t if you’ve got to nail them to a position. I think Votto gets discriminated against because of a lack of any success/relevance in the post season.
But as an article – light fuse, stand back….
Is it really that weird? Doesn’t MLB do the same thing with the ASG?
Miguel Cabera was the best 1B of his time in the decade. Thanks to overvaluing walks, Votto gets the nod. Votto’s great while Cabrera’s bat is an All-Time great.
If not Ortiz, Encarnacion would be my DH.
An argument could have been made for Beltre at 3B.
I’d argue you’re significantly undervaluing walks. Getting on base is very, very important.
And this is coming from someone that does NOT believe a walk is as valuable as a hit.
Nope. It’s like saying Arenado is the greatest 3B of the decade; it’s not true and walks are never as good as hits.
Unless Votto bats leadoff every at bat of every inning I’d say walks aren’t that valuable. There is a reason opposing managers and catchers opt to pitch around strong hitters with a base open. Walks hurt much less than any hit. Votto is not a stolen base threat and a triple still won’t guarantee him scoring first to home. Cabrera was a greater offensive threat than Votto ever was.
I can’t believe there’s no Cardinals on this list. The Cardinals John Mozeliak assembled the best Low Hanging Fruit team in the National League. Maybe I just answered my own question. John Mozeliak.
Mozeliak would win many awards.
1- worst dressed executive.
2- best at overpay.
3- most likely to panic.
4- most arrogant.
5- smartest guy in an empty room.
2 and 4 go to Theo. Sorry.
I should have clarified. Most overpay of mid tier free agents, and nobody, and I mean nobody is more arrogant than the great Mo. It’s not even a discussion.
Would you say any individual one was the best at their position over the last decade? With the possible exception of Molina, no. The Cards always put together great teams but you yourself called them low-hanging fruit. They tend to be the solid and overlooked players.
I would have taken Cano over Altuve
Molina and Posey… One is going to HOF (Molina) and the other is not… Yet Posey is picked as the All-Decade Catcher? Ha, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, Bwa, BWa, BWa, **wipes tears of laughter** Ha, Ha, HA, Oh’ good one…
Posey has a better chance than Molina for the HoF. More rings, an MVP, ROY, a batting title, higher WAR. Molina really only has more Gold Gloves and nobody takes that seriously
Please explain how you think Molina is a sure HOF and Posey is not? Personally, both are borderline in my opinion and will likely wait some years to get in. Look how long it took Simmons, and he ran circles around Molina offensively. The only thing going in both of their favor is the lack of good catchers during their playing years. Jorge Posada didn’t even get the necessary 5% to stay on the ballot.
No Miggy? I guess 2 MVP’s and a Triple Crown aren’t what they used to be. At least not if you play off of the coasts.
I think espn did one of these last week. Pretty much the same results only Cano at second and Miggy as DH.
Yeah this list blows. It’s not all decade, it’s like the past three years.
4 out of the 9 haven’t been good in years and/or retired.
How does Betts make it over Giancarlo???
baseball-reference.com/compare.cgi?top=/players/b/…
Betts in 6 years to Stanton’s 10 has a higher WAR, very similar OPS, and 4 gold gloves. Basically Betts has been a more valuable player in 6 years than Stanton has in 10.
Votto has been a good player, but pump the breaks a bit on him, certainly shouldn’t be saying “should go down as one of the greatest and most intelligent hitters in the history of the game”…
All the Joey Votto/Freddie Freeman aurguments should look at this comparison.
mlbcomparisons.com/freddie-freeman-vs-joey-voto-co…
I think it speaks volumes that I’ve seen commenters argue about just about every player except for Trout. That guy is a one of a kind talent
I’d add to that there’s been no controversy around him. Nothing about him that makes him unlikable. I can’t remember one mean word said about Trout.
Trout is a WAR savant. No batting titles. No home run titles. One RBI title. Never led in hits or doubles or triples. No gold gloves. Yet, he’s by far the best player of the decade. No question.
I don’t hear anyone complaining about Harper not being on the list.
Votto gets no love from young fans when he teases them with fake ball flips in the stands…….it just shows what a ___________ (Fill in the Blank) of a human being he is.
It’s amazing how some players forget what they are to kids, and what such a small action, like receiving a ball from Votto, would do. That’s disappointing, but they are human – not sure many of us would do much better if we were inculcated to the professional baseball scene at the age / level he played, although I’m also not justifying.
Yeah it’s rhetorical but sometimes I laugh wondering when number-crunchers have time to actually watch or … dare I even suggest … play baseball?
WAR and all the other analytical terns are great talking points, but to paraphrase an overused meme:
Everyone’s got a plan until they’re in the box facing a 90+ MPH projectile or one coming off the bat even faster
to each his own
as you were
Fascinating list! Love most picks except Altuve over Cano, Donaldson over Beltre, Ortiz over Cruz., Just for another lefty bat and his MVP season, I might include Harper over McCutchen. Honestly list is good as it is though.
If I get one pick for a pitcher, that’s Kershaw. For one reliever, we can toss a coin between Kimbrel and Chapman.
So you say you can see how people would want Nelson Cruz over David Ortiz, but how in hell did you say ok then McCutcheon was better in the OF than Nelson Cruz…Nelson only became the full time DH in 2017…he belongs in that 3rd OF spot..McCutchen had 4 good years and a bunch of either mediocre or terrible ones
A case could easily be made for Adrian Beltre. He was a tremendous 3rd baseman and enjoyed 527 xbh while slashing .307/.358/.514. He gave nine tremendous years of the last decade hopefully he was considered.
Need a most Over Rated Decade Lineup
C Blake Swihart
1B Chris Davis
2B Ian Kinsler
SS Starlin Castro
3B Pablo Sandoval
OF Josh Hamilton, Bryce Harper, Yoenis Cespedes
DH David Ortiz
I’d say Dee Gordon over Ian Kinsler. Kinsler was pretty good this decade tbh
Haha great idea. I would say:
C Matt Wieters
1B Ryan Howard
2B Javier Baez
SS Jurickson Profar
3B Maikel Franco
LF Kyle Schwarber
CF Billy Hamilton
RF Bryce Harper
Miguel Cabrera wins the first triple crown in 45 years(2012). Yet gets edged out by stats? He led his team to numerous division titles. I don’t agree with your criteria at all.
Cabrera moved to 3rd to make room for Prince Fielder at first. So was he considered a 1st baseman in your rankings?
How about an All Century Team?
Update it every decade?
C Molina
1B Pujols
2B Altuve
SS Jeter
3B ARod
OF Trout
OF Bonds
OF Ichiro
DH Miggy