MLB All-Quarter Century Team: How the readers voted — with several close calls

The polls have closed. The winners are plotting their agendas. The losers are drafting their concessions. With 100 percent of precincts reporting and more than 12,000 votes tallied, The Athletic is ready to call the MLB All-Quarter Century Team for the following players who have dominated the 2000s:

Jose Altuve. Adrián Beltré. Barry Bonds. Trevor Hoffman. Derek Jeter. Randy Johnson. Clayton Kershaw. Pedro Martinez. Shohei Ohtani. Buster Posey. Albert Pujols. Mariano Rivera. Max Scherzer. Ichiro Suzuki. Mike Trout. Justin Verlander.

That’s 14 Cy Young awards, 18 MVP awards and 20 World Series championships since the end of the 1990s. That’s 1,064 victories, 1,253 saves, 2,822 home runs, 19,761 hits and countless moments that will play in our memories forever.

Some of those folks already have a plaque in Cooperstown. The rest will be there soon. And Bonds — well, he’s got a place here, anyway. Pretty much the same thing, don’t you think?

Enough preamble. Let’s get to it! Here’s a look at the voting results, position by position, for our readers’ team of the quarter century.

First base: Albert Pujols, 71.1 percent (Miguel Cabrera, 16.0)

Miguel Cabrera wasn’t just any hitter. He’s one of only three players in history with 500 homers, 3,000 hits and a .300 career average. The others? Hank Aaron and Willie Mays — and neither of those guys won a Triple Crown, as Cabrera did in 2012.

For Albert Pujols to win so decisively, then, is a powerful commentary on his resume. He’s second to Aaron on the career list for RBIs and total bases. He’s the only player in history with 700 homers, 3,000 hits and multiple championships. And he was a titan of October, with a .995 OPS, an MVP award (2004 NLCS) and a three-homer game in the 2011 World Series.

Of course, Pujols was at his best with the Cardinals, posting only 12.6 WAR (Baseball Reference) in the 10 years after leaving in December 2011. But while Cabrera’s late-career fade wasn’t quite as long, it was much worse: .262/.329/.381 in his final seven seasons, for minus-2.5 WAR. And Pujols left on a high, with a triumphant encore in 2022 that secured his spot in the pantheon of greats.

Down-ballot surprise: Joey Votto got more votes than Paul Goldschmidt and Todd Helton — combined!

Helton’s in Cooperstown. Goldschmidt has more homers, RBIs, stolen bases and WAR than Votto, and is currently staging a revival with a humble little outfit known as the New York Yankees. But the people love Votto, an on-base force with a wit to match who seems certain to join Helton — and probably Goldschmidt, too — in the Hall of Fame.

Second base: Jose Altuve, 36.4 percent (Chase Utley, 25.8)

No broadcasting family has seen more second-base stardom in the 2000s than Harry and Todd Kalas. Harry — the late, great voice of the Phillies — narrated Chase Utley’s rise in Philadelphia. His son, Todd, has called most of Jose Altuve’s career as TV play-by-play man for the Houston Astros.

The readers chose Altuve, a three-time batting champion with a .305 career average and nearly 2,300 hits — some 400 more than Utley, who batted .275 and has the edge in WAR (64.6 to 52.7), homers and RBIs. It’s a tough call, but here’s Altuve’s winning case:

“He’s on his way to a Hall of Fame career, and 3,000 hits is certainly in his scope,” Todd Kalas said. “He has over 100 games played in the postseason, and only Manny Ramirez has more postseason home runs. Altuve has been a big part of the golden era of Astros baseball, one of the leaders on the team, and it’s hard to imagine all of those years of success without him. Even this year, he decided to play left field to help the team as much as possible. He’s a selfless player who wants to win more than anything.

“All those factors lead me to believe that the fans got this one right,” Kalas continued, “but Dad would probably still say: ‘Chase Utley, you are the man!’”

Down-ballot surprise: Robinson Canó over Dustin Pedroia

In the second decade of this quarter century (2010 to 2019), nobody had more hits than Robinson Canó, with 1,695. But the number that seems more likely to define him is 2, as in his career suspensions for performance-enhancing drugs. Even so, Canó easily outpaced Dustin Pedroia in the voting (1,708 to 1,334), despite Pedroia’s clean reputation and his advantage in MVPs, championships, Gold Gloves, on-base percentage and stolen bases.

Shortstop: Derek Jeter, 60.5 percent (Francisco Lindor, 22.6)

When the 1990s ended, Derek Jeter had already won three World Series championship rings. Then he started the 2000s by winning the MVP award in the All-Star Game and the World Series in the same season.

Francisco Lindor, meanwhile, was 16 years old. He’s made up ground quickly, and actually has more WAR in this quarter century than Jeter (51.2 to 47.9), primarily because of his superior glovework and a slightly better OPS (.817 to .806). But Jeter earned this emphatic victory by hitting .307 in the 2000s (33 points higher than Lindor), with six 200-hit seasons, nine 100-run seasons, nine .300 seasons — and two more World Series titles.

Down-ballot surprise: Lindor tripled Jimmy Rollins’ vote total

Jimmy Rollins somehow hasn’t topped 18 percent in his four years on the Hall of Fame ballot — and readers of The Athletic seem just as dismissive. Rollins is one of only two shortstops with 850 extra-base hits and 450 stolen bases; the other is Honus Wagner. Yet Rollins finished third here, far behind Lindor, who thumped him in total votes, 2,777 to 905.

Third base: Adrián Beltré, 29.95 percent (Alex Rodriguez, 29.78)

First, his Minnesota Timberwolves fell just short of the NBA Finals. Now Alex Rodriguez finishes just shy of making The Athletic’s All-Quarter Century Team.

While many of his statistics dwarfed Adrian Beltré’s in the 2000s — a .935 to .824 edge in OPS, a 548 to 455 edge in home runs, an 11 to 4 edge in All-Star nods — Rodriguez lost in a narrow vote to the Hall of Famer. His multiple dalliances with performance-enhancing drugs certainly didn’t help.

That said, the winner has no reason to apologize: Beltré actually had the exact same WAR total as Rodriguez in the 2000s, right down to the decimal point — 89.7.

Down-ballot surprise: Scott Rolen finished 7th of 8.

Third base is the least represented defensive position in the Hall of Fame, with just 19 members. But from the looks of it, that could change soon. Rolen has a spot in Cooperstown, but finished behind three active third basemen: Nolan Arenado, José Ramírez and Manny Machado.

Catcher: Buster Posey, 29.81 percent (Yadier Molina, 29.35)

If you like Gold Gloves, longevity and the ability to communicate with pitchers the way Robert Redford whispered to horses, Yadier Molina’s your guy. If you liked Silver Sluggers, concentrated greatness and World Series titles, Buster Posey’s your pick.

Our readers were basically split, with Posey edging Molina by only 57 votes. The championship edge was slim — three for Posey, two for Molina — but Posey earned it, with the Giants beating the Cardinals twice in the NLCS.

Down-ballot surprise: Salvador Perez got twice as many votes as Jorge Posada.

Here’s another example of why New York bias is a myth. Perez has played his entire career in Kansas City. Posada was a career Yankee. Perez’s career slash line: .266/.302/.455. Posada’s career slash line: .273/.374/.474. Posada has a big edge in WAR and championships. But Perez was a World Series MVP in 2015, owns five Gold Gloves (Posada has none), recently passed Posada in career homers — and crushed him in votes here, 563 to 288.

Left field: Barry Bonds, 69.9 percent (Manny Ramirez, 9.6)

The next time you wonder why Barry Bonds has never been elected to the Hall of Fame, remember this: 75 percent, the threshold for enshrinement via the writers’ ballot, is a huge number. Even here, in an election with no clause for character, integrity and sportsmanship, Bonds couldn’t amass three-quarters of the vote.

To recap, Bonds essentially broke the sport in the first eight years of the 2000s, winning four MVP awards while slashing .322/.517/.724. Of the 356 players with at least 4,000 plate appearances in the 2000s, Bonds’ 1.241 OPS is by far the best — the runner-up, Aaron Judge, is at 1.022.

Down-ballot surprise: Lance Berkman, the forgotten superstar

Let’s pause for a moment to hail our fifth-place finisher, Lance Berkman. In the 2000s, Berkman hit .294 with a .407 on-base percentage, .539 slugging percentage and 362 home runs. Only one player can match him in all four categories: Mike Trout. Berkman also hit .410 in two World Series and saved the Cardinals from elimination when they were down to their last strike in the wildest October game of the era. Criminally overlooked.

Center field: Mike Trout, 76.7 percent (Carlos Beltrán, 6.9)

We all know that Mike Trout has spent far too much of the 2020s on the injured list. But while he’s largely been out of sight — he’s back now from a knee injury — Trout was front of mind for our voters. His 9,451 votes were the most of any position player in the poll.

That’s appropriate. From his 2012 Rookie of the Year season through 2019, Trout averaged 9 WAR per year, with a .308/.422/.587 slash line. He won three MVP awards and was runner-up four times, the definition of dominance in his prime.

Down-ballot surprise: Andruw Jones at less than 5 percent

While Andruw Jones started wowing us in the 1996 World Series, most of his achievements have come in this century. He’s the only player in the 2000s with 350 home runs and eight Gold Gloves (though Nolan Arenado is close to joining him), and while Trout is the obvious winner here, Jones received just 4.8 percent of the votes.

Right field: Ichiro Suzuki, 39.3 percent (Aaron Judge, 37.4)

In 2009, the ninth of his 10 seasons with 200 hits, Ichiro Suzuki gave this all-time great quote to Brad Lefton of The New York Times: “Chicks who dig home runs aren’t the ones who appeal to me. I think there’s sexiness in infield hits because they require technique. I’d rather impress the chicks with my technique than with my brute strength. Then, every now and then, just to show I can do that, too, I might flirt a little by hitting one out.”

Aaron Judge is flirting with .400 now, showing that even a generational slugger can be a skilled technician. But Suzuki’s appeal is as strong as ever, and he narrowly edged the brawny Bronx Bomber.

Down-ballot surprise: Only 19 votes for Giancarlo Stanton!

Speaking of hulking Yankees, Giancarlo Stanton amassed just 19 votes. He’s no Suzuki or Judge, obviously, and he’s missed all season with elbow injuries. But Stanton is the majors’ active leader in home runs, and only four players in the 2000s can match him in both homers (429) and OPS (.871) — Pujols, A-Rod, Ortiz and Cabrera. They all got a lot more than 19 votes.

Designated hitter: Shohei Ohtani, 45.6 percent (David Ortiz, 37.6)

David Ortiz hit 531 home runs in the 2000s. He broke a fabled curse, won three championships and made it to Cooperstown on his first try. He even had a bridge named after him in Boston. Yet he’s still not our readers’ pick for best DH of the 2000s, thanks to that Shohei Ohtani guy.

As stupendous as Big Papi was, he didn’t win an MVP award. Ohtani’s won three. He stole 16 bases in 17 seasons. Ohtani stole 59 last year, while also bashing 54 homers. His career OPS, a mighty .937, still falls a bit short of Ohtani’s, .952. (And Ortiz didn’t pitch, either.)

So congrats to Ohtani, who can add this prestigious honor to the many others he’s collected in a career like no other.

Down-ballot surprise: No love for Edwin Encarnación.

Edwin Encarnación finished last among our eight candidates, with less than 1 percent of the vote, but what a career. He hit 424 home runs with an .846 OPS. The only guys who can match those numbers in the 2000s: Pujols, Rodriguez, Ortiz, Cabrera and Stanton, as mentioned above, plus Nelson Cruz and Adam Dunn. And among those sluggers, only Pujols had fewer strikeouts than Encarnación.

Starting pitchers: Justin Verlander, 72.6 percent; Clayton Kershaw, 70.0; Randy Johnson, 57.2; Max Scherzer, 54.2; Pedro Martinez, 47.6

(Next five: Roy Halladay, 46.7; Zack Greinke, 22.3; Jacob deGrom, 20.0; CC Sabathia, 17.1; Félix Hernández, 15.2)

This was a tough one, in a way, because Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez both have Cy Young awards that start with “19” and “20”. They starred in the World Series in the 2000s and posted winning percentages over .600 in this quarter century. All-time legends, for sure.

But, man oh man, what about Roy Halladay? The Hall of Famer had a lot more starts than the others and sure did make the most of them: 194-98 with a 3.36 ERA, two Cy Youngs, a perfect game, a playoff no-hitter and 65 complete games — 26 more than the next-closest pitcher (Liván Hernández). Quite a legacy, even without the nod here.

Down-ballot surprise: Tim Lincecum got 400-plus more votes than Johan Santana.

Sometimes the WAR machine malfunctions. Look at Lincecum and Santana. Both won two Cy Young awards. Both led their league in strikeouts for three consecutive seasons. Santana made 284 career starts, Lincecum 270. Both were finished before their 34th birthday.

Would you believe that Lincecum compiled just 19.5 career WAR, while Santana had 51.7? It’s true. Santana had better control, prevented runs more effectively and worked about 350 more innings. But Lincecum — a three-time World Series champion — had a much stronger impact on our readers, with 1,243 votes to Santana’s 820.

Relief pitchers: Mariano Rivera, 88.5 percent, Trevor Hoffman, 31.0

(Next two: Billy Wagner, 23.1; Aroldis Chapman, 20.4)

How about that? A Yankee and a Padre. You were expecting maybe Jonathan Albaladejo and Jeremy Fikac?

MLB named its reliever of the year awards after Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman. They’re the only guys with 500 career saves — and both topped 600! They didn’t do it all in this quarter century, of course, but both had an unmistakable aura and our readers picked up on it.

Down-ballot surprise: Craig Kimbrel got nearly 500 more votes than Kenley Jansen.

The most similar player in baseball history to Craig Kimbrel, according to Baseball Reference, is Kenly Jansen. The most similar player in baseball history to Kenley Jansen? Craig Kimbrel, naturally. They both reached the majors in 2010. Their ERAs and strikeout totals are nearly identical. They’ve both pitched for the Braves, Dodgers and Red Sox (among other teams).

Jansen has more career saves (458 to 440), and might become the last pitcher to reach 500. Yet it’s Kimbrel — currently in the minors with Atlanta — who resonated more with our readers, with 1,468 votes to Jansen’s 941.

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Photos: Elsa, Nick Laham, Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)

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