39. Alex Rodriguez
A player who has seemingly been embroiled in controversy for the greater part of his career, Alex Rodriguez has put together a great career, but has become better known for his PED usage and his incredible ability rub people the wrong way.
His personality detracts from what Rodriguez accomplished on the field. He hit over forty home runs eight times, won the MVP award three times and earned ten Silver Slugger awards. A 14 time All-Star, Rodriguez was one of the premier sluggers of his generation, a great power threat at short, and later, at third.
Even though he has slowed down in recent years, his list of accomplishments are still tremendous. Rodriguez is the active leader in home runs, RBI, hits, runs scored, walks and strikeouts. He is already over 3,000 hits, and is rapidly closing in on the 700 home run plateau. He is certainly among the most prolifilic hitters in the history of the game.
Rodriguez was also a solid defensive shortstop before being moved to third when he was acquired by the Yankees. Even though it has been over a decade since he played short, Rodriguez ranks in in the top five amongst active players in putouts and assists at the position. He may not have been as great at third, but Rodrigues held his own before being made the Yankees primary designated hitter.
Unfortunately, we can never look at Alex Rodriguez without his PED usage coming to the forefront. He was named in the Mitchell Report, and was suspended for 162 games due to his ties with Biogenesis. One has to wonder how many of his accomplishments are legitimate. Otherwise, Rodriguez would have ranked higher on this list.
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