Best Ever: SS/3B Álex Rodríguez (Seattle Mariners, 1993)
Well, we've had Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Mark McGwire among our selections for 'best ever.'
What's one more complicated legacy for the road?
A-Rod was a three-time AL MVP who fell just a few dingers shy of 700 career home runs. Plenty of players had great five-year or seven-year peaks, but Rodríguez had a 15-year peak from 1996-2010 in which he received MVP votes 14 times, was an All-Star 13 times and was a Silver Slugger 10 times. He even won a pair of Gold Gloves in his final two years as a shortstop before shifting to third base.
He'll never be a Hall of Famer, though, after admitting to using steroids.
First Runner-Up: OF Ken Griffey Jr. (Seattle Mariners, 1987)
No shortage of quality options here, as there have been 10 No. 1 picks worth at least 40 bWAR in their careers, including the still very good likes of Gerrit Cole, Carlos Correa and Bryce Harper.
For now, though, first runner-up is a toss-up between two no-brainer first-ballot Hall of Famers: Griffey or Chipper Jones (1990).
Jones certainly had the more consistent career, hitting at least 20 home runs in 14 consecutive seasons, usually with a batting average north of .300. He was named NL MVP in 1999 and received at least some MVP votes 12 other times in his career.
Give us Junior, though, because his first 12 years in the majors were sensational. The 1997 AL MVP won 10 Gold Gloves and eight Silver Sluggers, not to mention three Home Run Derbies.
Past Decade Division: RHP Paul Skenes (Pittsburgh Pirates, 2023)
Too soon? Yeah, probably. Especially with Adley Rutschman (2019), Dansby Swanson (2015) and Royce Lewis (2017) each drafted No. 1 overall recently enough to be included here. But Skenes has been an instant sensation less than one year after being drafted, just like Stephen Strasburg was back in 2010. Here's hoping this phenom's career is considerably less fraught with injury, though.
