If you read Baseball’s Best (and Worst) with any regularity, you know that I started identifying the 21st century’s outstanding players last October.
The rankings were released every second Friday, beginning with catchers, moving step by step through the other positions, and wrapping up with relief pitchers two weeks ago.
Now for the final installment.
I previously issued lists of the top 10 players at each position, based solely on their post-1999 statistical performances. If a player began his career prior to the turn of the century, I ignored those initial years. Derek Jeter, for example, first took the field for the Yankees in 1995, but I focused solely on his stats from 2000 through 2014.
You can check out the position-by-position rankings through these links:
But what about the final installment I mentioned above? I thought it might be interesting to cap the 21st century project by naming a Dream Team, almost as if the biweekly rankings had merely been tryouts.
Below is the 28-man squad. I made no attempt to balance lefties and righties, or to figure out who might be temperamentally equipped for bench duty. The starters, who are mentioned first, were the players who ranked No. 1 at their positions, while the backups were the runners-up. (The pitching staff, of course, goes deeper than that.)
Each player is listed with a trio of 21st century stats in parentheses: total wins above replacement, batting average, and bases per out for batters, and total WAR, earned run average, and BPO allowed for pitchers. You can see detailed breakdowns for every Dream Team member by following the positional links above.
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Catchers
Joe Mauer (55.3/.306/.808) was first and foremost a hitter, as evidenced by his three American League batting titles. But don’t forget that he also won three Gold Gloves. Yadier Molina (40.3/.281/.658) is still plugging away after 17 seasons. His nine Gold Gloves attest to his skill behind the plate.
First basemen
Albert Pujols (100.6/.299/.931) sits fifth on the all-time list with 662 home runs, and he’s 15th in baseball history with 3,236 hits. Pujols won three Most Valuable Player Awards in the National League. Miguel Cabrera (69.3/.313/.937) peaked in 2012, when he became the first Triple Crown winner in 45 years.
Second basemen
Robinson Cano (68.9/.303/.790), currently serving a suspension for use of performance-enhancing drugs, has seen brighter days. He rapped 572 more hits than any other second baseman after 1999. Chase Utley (64.4/.275/.842) had more than 100 RBIs each year from 2005 to 2008, leading the Phillies to a world title in the latter year.
Shortstops
Derek Jeter (47.9/.307/.791) capped his career with a near-unanimous election to the Hall of Fame in 2020, drawing 99.7% of the votes. His 3,465 hits rank sixth on the all-time list. Jimmy Rollins (47.6/.264/.739) was Utley’s infield mate for 12 seasons in Philadelphia. Rollins was named the National League’s MVP in 2007.
Third basemen
Alex Rodriguez (89.9/.291/.994) is another Dream Team member who served time for PED abuse. He won three MVP awards and led the American League in home runs five times. Adrian Beltre (89.6/.288/.782) was a consistent hitter (six years over .310) and an outstanding fielder (five Gold Gloves).
Left fielders
Barry Bonds (59.1/.322/1.647) stands alone in left field. Bonds was dogged by PED allegations, though he never failed a drug test or publicly admitted steroid use. His stats were the era’s greatest. No one in the 21st century comes within 490 points of his BPO or 130 points of his slugging average (.724).
Center fielders
Mike Trout (74.3/.304/1.155) is often hailed as the best player currently active. He’s only 29 years old, yet he already owns three MVP trophies — and finished among the top five votegetters every year from 2012 to 2020. Carlos Beltran (65.1/.278/.859) combined power (eight seasons with more than 25 homers) and finesse (three Gold Gloves).
Right fielders
Vladimir Guerrero (45.9/.318/.934) entered the Hall of Fame in 2018. It’s surprising that he never won a batting title, since he topped .315 in nine different seasons. Ichiro Suzuki (59.8/.311/.741) is ticketed for Cooperstown, probably in 2025. His 3,089 career hits exceed the next 21st century right fielder by 701.
Designated hitters
The Dream Team has so many big bats in the dugout that it needs only one pure DH, and that would be David Ortiz (55.1/.287/.967). Ortiz led the American League in RBIs three times, peaking at 148 in 2005.
Starting pitchers
A five-man rotation is in order, of course, with Clayton Kershaw (67.0/2.43/.498) designated as the ace. He’ll be followed by Justin Verlander (72.3/3.33/.588), Max Scherzer (60.6/3.21/.596), Zack Greinke (67.1/3.37/.597), and CC Sabathia (62.0/3.74/.643). They’ve combined for 2,195 starts in the 21st century, posting 1,035 wins and notching 14,105 strikeouts.
Relief pitchers
The starting rotation is so strong that a seven-man relief squad will undoubtedly be sufficient. The bullpen is full of closers, but Mariano Rivera (41.1/2.05/.454) is preeminent. He was unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame in 2019, joining Jeter and Guerrero as the only Dream Teamers already inducted. Also in the 21st century bullpen are Craig Kimbrel (19.4/2.17/.476), Aroldis Chapman (17.8/2.25/.482), Francisco Rodriguez (24.1/2.86/.598), Kenley Jansen (16.1/2.39/.503), Billy Wagner (20.1/2.30/.503), and Joe Nathan (25.1/2.72/.555).