MLB Team of the Decade: Best Individual Seasons
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
The end of any period of time is almost always met with some form of reflection, and the final month of 2019 has been no different. Over the last few weeks, you’ve seen countless year-in-review stories and “best of the 2010s” lists from different mediums, wrapping up all that took place in sports, movies, tv, music, books, politics, technology, memes, etc.
Here at Sports Illustrated, our MLB staff already has written about the closing baseball decade with a post on the best magazine covers, an ode to the weirdest moments and an essay on how much the game has changed. I’ve been tasked with assembling the team of the 2010s. To keep things fresh, my team consists of the decade’s best individual seasons. We all know Mike Trout is going to be on the team, but which year of Mike Trout?
I picked the team with this question in mind: Which group of players from this decade would give me the best chance of winning the World Series?
The roster is made up of 12 pitchers—five starters, seven relievers—and one starter and one backup at every position, including DH. Each player is eligible only at his primary position from that season, even if he spent part of the decade at another position. Also, there’s no double-dipping on a player. If the Angels can’t have a team full of Mike Trouts, neither can SI.
Below is the roster, sorted by position, along with a brief explanation about the selection.
Stats in bold indicate AL or NL leader; stats in bold and italics indicate MLB leader.
Catcher
Starter — Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants, 2012: .336/.408/.549, 24 HR, 103 RBI, 1 SB (1 CS), 69 BB, 171 OPS+, 7.6 bWAR
Backup — Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals, 2012: .315/.373/.501, 22 HR, 76 RBI, 12 SB (3 CS), 45 BB, 137 OPS+, 7.2 bWAR
It’s only fitting that the two best catchers of the decade also had the best individual seasons of the decade, and that both of them came in 2012. Posey won the National League MVP and the batting title, he led the NL in WAR, and his batting average and OPS+ ranked first in the majors. He is the only catcher to achieve any of those feats in any season this decade, and he did them all in the same year. Oh, and he won the second of his three World Series titles in 2012, too.
Molina had his best offensive season in 2012, and his defense was as strong as always. He led the league with 29 defensive runs saved, the second-best mark for any catcher in the decade (Molina had 30 in 2013).
First Base
Starter — Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks, 2015: .321/.435/.570, 33 HR, 110 RBI, 21 SB (5 CS), 118 BB, 168 OPS+, 8.7 bWAR
Backup — Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals, 2010: .312/.414/.596, 42 HR, 118 RBI, 14 SB (4 CS), 103 BB, 173 OPS+, 7.5 bWAR
Goldschmidt had the best all-around season of any first baseman in the 2010s. His elite offense, Gold Glove defense and smart baserunning meshed in 2015 to make this year the decade’s most valuable for a first baseman. Meanwhile, 2010 was the first season since 2002 that Pujols didn’t post at least 8 WAR. Yet that’s more a testament to his all-time great seven-year peak than it is a knock on what he did in this decade’s first season. He was the runner-up for the NL MVP that year, losing to fellow first baseman Joey Votto. Now, nine offseasons removed from that awards race, it seems that Pujols had the better 2010 campaign.
Second Base
Starter — Jose Altuve, Houston Astros, 2017: .346/.410/.547, 24 HR, 81 RBI, 32 SB (6 CS), 58 BB, 160 OPS+, 8.1 bWAR
Backup — Robinson Cano, New York Yankees, 2012: .313/.379/.550, 33 HR, 94 RBI, 3 SB (2 CS), 61 BB, 148 OPS+, 8.4 bWAR
No second baseman in the 2010s had as strong an offensive year as Altuve did in 2017. His OPS+ that season was the best in the decade at the position, while he ranked third in batting average, second in on-base percentage, fourth in slugging, third in runs and third in hits (behind two of his other seasons). Cano was the better fielder and he definitely had the sweetest swing of the decade. But if Altuve’s on my roster, he’s in the starting lineup.
Third Base
Starter — Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers, 2013: .348/.442/.636, 44 HR, 137 RBI, 3 SB (0 CS), 90 BB, 190 OPS+, 7.3 bWAR
Backup — Alex Bregman, Houston Astros, 2019: .296/.423/.592, 41 HR, 112 RBI, 5 SB (1 CS), 119 BB, 162 OPS+, 8.4 bWAR
Bregman had the more complete year of the two when you factor in defense and baserunning, but Cabrera was so dominant at the dish in 2013 that he had to get the top spot. Put it this way, Cabrera’s OPS+ ranks third for any hitter, regardless of position, in the decade, behind Bryce Harper in 2015 and Mike Trout in 2018 (more on both of them later). He won his third consecutive batting title, his second straight MVP, and he led the league in all three triple-slash categories.
Shortstop
Starter — Marcus Semien, Oakland Athletics, 2019: .285/.369/.522, 33 HR, 92 RBI, 10 SB (8 CS), 87 BB, 138 OPS+, 8.1 bWAR
Backup — Francisco Lindor, Cleveland Indians, 2018: .277/.352/.519, 38 HR, 92 RBI, 25 SB (10 CS), 70 BB, 132 OPS+, 7.9 bWAR
Based on name alone, this is the most surprising position. All the great young shortstops in baseball today, and not one of them had a better season than Semien did this year. Maybe Semien’s 2019 will be a one-hit wonder, but sometimes one hit is all you need. Just ask Tommy Tutone or A-ha.
Leftfield
Starter — Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers, 2010: .359/.411/.633, 32 HR, 100 RBI, 8 SB (1 CS), 43 BB, 170 OPS+, 8.7 bWAR
Backup — Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers, 2018: .326/.402/.598, 36 HR, 110 RBI, 22 SB (4 CS), 68 BB, 164 OPS+, 7.6 bWAR
It’s sad to think about what Hamilton could have been had he not battled addiction throughout his career. Think young Bryce Harper when considering Hamilton’s natural talents and prospect hype. His struggles with the disease have been well-documented over the years, and he’s been open about them, using his story as a lesson for future generations of ballplayers. But, when he was on the field and healthy during his five-year run with the Rangers, we all got to see how good Hamilton really was. His 2010 season is the best example of the five tools he possessed.
Yelich is the one player who made this team for his second best season of the decade. His breakout 2018 season lifted him to superstardom and he won the NL MVP, but it was not his best year—just look at what he did in 2019. But, primary position matters here, and Yeli was a rightfielder this past season. What’s remarkable is his 2019 campaign, for which I would have voted him MVP again if I had a vote, might not even be a top-5 individual season for a rightfielder this decade.
Centerfield
Starter — Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels, 2018: .312/.460/.628, 39 HR, 79 RBI, 24 SB (2 CS), 122 BB, 198 OPS+, 10.2 bWAR
Backup — Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers, 2011: .324/.399/.586, 39 HR, 126 RBI, 40 SB (11 CS), 74 BB, 172 OPS+, 8.0 bWAR
For this column, I ran a quick Baseball Reference Play Index search of the top single seasons for centerfielders from 2010-2019 and sorted it by WAR. The first six names on the list: Mike Trout. Simply, Trout is the best player today and was the best player of the decade—and it wasn’t even close. It’s no easy choice, but the 2018 version of Trout seemed like the most complete one we’ve seen yet. Who knows how much better he’ll get in the next decade.
I wanted desperately to put Andrew McCutchen’s 2013 MVP winning season on this list because 1) I love Cutch, and 2) so I could reference this award-winning tweet. But, I included both those things anyway, and Kemp’s 2011 season stands as the best non-Trout year for a centerfielder in the decade. It’s also fitting that 2011 was the final non-Trout year of the 2010s (unless you count his 40-game late-season stint). The baseball world hasn’t been the same since.
Rightfield
Starter — Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals, 2015: .330/.460/.649, 42 HR, 99 RBI, 6 SB (4 CS), 124 BB, 198 OPS+, 10.0 bWAR
Backup — Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox, 2018: .346/.438/.640, 32 HR, 80 RBI, 30 SB (6 CS), 81 BB, 186 OPS+, 10.9 bWAR
This has been a great decade for rightfielders. So much so that Betts had the highest single-season WAR since Barry Bonds in 2002 and still settled for the second-best year at the position. Betts beat out Trout for the MVP in 2018, which was arguably Trout’s best season yet. That just shows how great Harper was in 2015. At age 22, Harper had the single greatest season of any player in the 2010s, tapping into the potential that landed him on the cover of Sports Illustrated in the final year of the previous decade. Proclaiming anyone The Chosen One of anything is bound to place a massive amount of pressure on them. But when Tom Verducci decided to do so for this specific 16-year-old in this cover story, he knew Harper could handle the heat.
Harper hasn’t repeated his superb 2015 campaign, and maybe he will never reach that level of excellence again. Think Quentin Tarantino making Pulp Fiction, what most people (not me) say is his best film as his second feature, when evaluating Harper. Nobody thinks QT is a disappointing filmmaker because he hasn’t topped Pulp. Maybe, just maybe, a masterpiece is meant to stand alone—regardless of what comes next.
Designated Hitter
Starter — J.D. Martinez, Boston Red Sox, 2018: .330/.402/.629, 43 HR, 130 RBI, 6 SB (1 CS), 69 BB, 173 OPS+, 6.4 bWAR
Backup — Victor Martinez, Detroit Tigers, 2014: .335/.409/.565, 32 HR, 103 RBI, 3 SB (2 CS), 70 BB, 172 OPS+, 5.5 bWAR
Disclosure: I almost didn’t include J.D. Martinez on this list because he really wasn’t a full-time DH in 2018. He played 38% of his 150 games in the outfield, enough to qualify him to win a Silver Slugger as both an outfielder and a DH. Still, he shouldn’t be faulted for his positional flexibility and playing the outfield doesn’t diminish how incredible his season was at the plate. His OPS+ is the best for any DH in the 2010s, and his presence on the Red Sox and expertise for their hitters undoubtedly helped them win the World Series in his first season in Boston. J.D.’s power numbers give him the edge over Victor Martinez’s 2014 campaign.
Starting Pitchers
Gerrit Cole, Houston Astros, 2019: 20-5 (33 GS), 212 1/3 IP (6.43 IP/GS), 2.50 ERA, 0.895 WHIP, 326 K, 48 BB, 185 ERA+, 6.9 bWAR
Jacob deGrom, New York Mets, 2018: 10-9 (32 GS), 217 IP (6.78 IP/GS), 1.70 ERA, 0.912 WHIP, 269 K, 46 BB, 218 ERA+, 9.6 bWAR
Zack Greinke, Los Angeles Dodgers, 2015: 19-3 (32 GS), 222 2/3 IP (6.96 IP/GS), 1.66 ERA, 0.844 WHIP, 200 K, 40 BB, 222 ERA+, 9.1 bWAR
Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers, 2014: 21-3 (27 GS), 198 1/3 IP (7.35 IP/GS), 1.77 ERA, 0.857 WHIP, 239 K, 31 BB, 197 ERA+, 7.7 bWAR
Justin Verlander, Houston Astros, 2019: 21-6 (34 GS), 223 IP (6.56 IP/GS), 2.58 ERA, 0.803 WHIP, 300 K, 42 BB, 179 ERA+, 7.8 bWAR
These five seasons speak for themselves. The five omissions here are worth explaining. Just missing the list: Max Scherzer, 2018; Chris Sale, 2017; Corey Kluber, 2017; Jake Arrieta, 2015; Roy Halladay, 2011. I really wonder if the rotation of omissions would do better than the group I chose over a 162-game season.
Anyway, the rotation I picked had three automatic selections: Greinke, deGrom and Kershaw. Greinke had the best ERA and ERA+ of the decade, while deGrom’s ERA and ERA+ in 2018 ranked second. After all, the point of pitching is to prevent runs. Kershaw was the best lefthanded pitcher, and 2014 was the best season for a lefty, this decade. Ultimately, the decision was between Verlander, Cole and Scherzer. Verlander posted the lowest WHIP in the 2010s and Cole’s 13.82 K/9 wasn’t only the best of the decade but the best single-season mark of all-time.
Relief Pitchers
Closers:
Zack Britton, Baltimore Orioles, 2016: 47 saves (63 GF), 0.54 ERA, 0.836 WHIP, 9.9 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, 803 ERA+
Craig Kimbrel, Atlanta Braves, 2012: 42 saves (56 GF), 1.01 ERA, 0.654 WHIP, 16.66 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, 399 ERA+
Fernando Rodney, Tampa Bay Rays, 2012: 48 saves (65 GF) 0.60 ERA, 0.777 WHIP, 9.2 K/9, 1.8 BB/9, 641 ERA+
Back when he spelled his first name with an “h,” Zack Britton posted the best ERA of any relief pitcher in the decade. It’s no wonder Buck Showalter got ridiculed for not using his closer in Baltimore’s loss in the winner-take-all AL wild-card game that year.
Kimbrel’s WHIP in 2012, his second full season in the big leagues, was the best for any closer this decade. Only Koji Uehara’s 0.565 WHIP with the 2013 Red Sox was better.
Before we go laughing about how old and washed up Rodney (42!) is now let’s remember he had the second-best ERA for a reliever in the 2010s during his magnificent 2012 season with the Rays, one of the 11 teams he’s played for in his 17-year career.
Non-Closers:
Andrew Miller, New York Yankees/Cleveland Indians, 2016: 10-1, 74 1/3 IP (70 G), 1.45 ERA, 0.686 WHIP, 14.89 K/9, 1.1 BB/9, 304 ERA+
Josh Hader, Milwaukee Brewers, 2018: 6-1, 81 1/3 IP (55 G), 2.43 ERA, 0.811 WHIP, 15.82 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 168 ERA+
Wade Davis, Kansas City Royals, 2015: 8-1, 67 1/3 IP (69 G), 0.94 ERA, 0.787 WHIP, 10.4 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 448 ERA+
Dellin Betances, New York Yankees, 2014: 5-0, 90 IP (70 G), 1.40 ERA, 0.778 WHIP, 13.5 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, 274 ERA+
Two lefties and two righties, this group of non-closers could get this 2010s team through any middle-inning and setup situations. Miller was nearly unhittable in 2016, and he walked just nine batters that year and struck out almost 45% of the batters he faced. Hader in 2018 was Miller 2.0, but his value differed from Miller in that he could be used regularly as a multi-inning reliever. Davis’ ERA+ ranked first among non-closers this decade, and Betances, in his rookie season, was the most dominant he’s ever been.
