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MLB All-Decade Team 1990s: Who Should Really Make The List?

By Max Neibaur

OAKLAND, CA - AUGUST 11: Fans hold up signs in protest of the baseball strike prior to the game between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum on August 11, 1994 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - AUGUST 11: Fans hold up signs in protest of the baseball strike prior to the game between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum on August 11, 1994 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /
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MLB all-decade team
COOPERSTOWN, NY – JULY 30: Ivaan Rodriguez  (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

MLB All Decade Team 1990s Catcher – Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez

Baseball fans could argue forever about who impacted their team more as a catcher, Ivan Rodriguez or Mike Piazza. Piazza’s flashy and legitimately significant offense stats have led most experts to side with him when making MLB All-Decade teams.

Even when looking at the new-age stat WAR, Piazza edges out Pudge.

Piazza’s perseverance and ambition is well documented. and his stats are acknowledged and celebrated.

He won Rookie of the Year for the Dodgers in 1993 and All-Star game MVP in 1996. Piazza drove in runs with raw power represented by an impressive .575 slugging percentage.

But, if I am building a true team, Ivan Rodriguez and his superior defense is a more valuable asset at the catcher’s position.

Pudge started his career in 1991 and won eight Gold Gloves during the 1990s. He threw out 47 percent of attempting baserunners and won the 1999 AL MVP.

A popular argument is that Piazza’s defense was not that bad.

A more popular argument should be that Rodriguez’s offense was not that bad.

Pudge won six Silver Sluggers during the 1990s on the strength of his .802 OPS. He did not bomb home runs at Mike Piazza’s pace, but Pudge hit the gaps with the best of them. He set the all-time record for doubles as a catcher in 1996 with 44. In 1999, he set the catcher’s single-season record with 35 homers and became the first catcher to have a 20-20 season.

Furthermore, Pudge could run well for a catcher. Rodriguez scored 611 runs and stole 69 bases during the decade.

Ivan Rodriguez controlled a game on defense like Deon Sanders did in the NFL. Pudge led the league in percentage of throwing out baserunners five times during the 1990s.

In baseball, the catcher position has to call a game, block balls, and throw out baserunners. To borrow a phrase from the 1990s, those responsibilities do not show up in the box score.

Nowadays, things like pitch-framing influence how much money a catcher makes on the free agent market. Catcher is a position that values defense as much as any other on the diamond and that is why Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez is the man for the MLB All-Decade Team – Catcher.

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