Who Would You Build a Team Around? SI MLB Staff Picks Dodgers' Cody Bellinger

Who Would You Build a Team Around? SI MLB Staff Picks Dodgers' Cody Bellinger

Who says it's not safe to hold an election during the COVID-19 shutdown? Certainly  not the mighty members of the SI MLB staff, who held both a primary and general election, counted the votes, sterilized the precincts and announced the winners all in one day. With the Dodgers' Cody Bellinger emerging victorious.

Sure, only six people showed up at the polls, but the process was cough-free and completed with zero interference from sinister forces. As far as we know. If Commissioner Rob Manfred were to investigate, I imagine the penalty for cheating would be light.

The question was as follows: "With a new decade in front of us, which major league player would you want to build you team of the 2020s around?"

Tom Verducci chose Juan Soto, of the Washington Nationals. Connor Grossman picked the Mets' Pete Alonso. Matt Martell went with the Yankees' Gleyber Torres and Michael Shapiro opted for Ronald Acuna, Jr., of the Atlanta Braves. All fine selections and an equal tally for each of the four candidates. Then the women stepped up, with both Stephanie Aptsein and Emma Baccellieri pulling the lever for Bellinger.

Iowa, schmiowa! We know who our winner is before noon, with the reigning National League Most Valuable Player Bellinger tallying 33 percent of the vote, doubling the score of the second-place finishers, God bless em. Juan Soto - 16.7 percent. Pete Alonso - 16.7 percent.  Gleyber Torres - 16.7 percent. And Ronald Acuna - 16.7 percent. 

Scoreboard, baby. Dodgers win, every other team in America loses. Let that be a lesson to you, Astros.

And remember, glove conquers all

Howard Cole has been writing about baseball on the internet since Y2K. Follow him on Twitter.