127. . . . All-Decade Infield (Continued). . player
Yangervis Solarte, Second Base
Yangervis Solarte was the Franmil Reyes before Reyes got into the big leagues. Solarte was the fan-favorite player that all fans loved, and their connection got even stronger with him when he lost his wife in the middle of the season.
Over four seasons (2014-2017), Solarte hit .270 with double digits in home runs in the final three years with the Padres.
It was hard to pinpoint an exact position for Solarte, as he showed the ability to play all four infield positions during his tenure in San Diego, but second base seemed to be the spot that he played at most frequently.
Jedd Gyorko was under consideration, but Solarte had better numbers and was more of a fan favorite, so that is why I leaned towards him for the second base spot.
Chase Headley, Third Base
- 2012 Gold Glove
- 2012 Silver Slugger
- 5th place in NL MVP (2012)
Chase Headley played the better part of nine seasons in his career with the San Diego Padres starting in 2007 all the way until 2014 with a not very successful reunion in 2018. Of course, that was before they signed Manny Machado.
Headley was so reliable and so consistent that Bud Black could’ve put his name in pen in the lineup. An example of that was in 2012 when he missed just ONE game during the whole season, which likely made his gold glove and silver slugger season even more special because he didn’t sit to keep his numbers up like we see some players do today.
In 2012, he hit .286 31 home runs and 115 RBI which led the National League that year.
As I mentioned, Chase Headley deserves to make the team over Manny Machado because Machado has only played one season in this decade with the Padres while Headley didn’t just play longer in San Diego, but he had his best years as well.
Everth Cabrera, Shortstop
Everth Cabrera played six seasons with the San Diego Padres, and he was pretty much the only consistent shortstop this decade, and the first since Khalil Greene who unfortunately didn’t work out because he had a fear of playing in front of a lot of people.
2013 was his best season which was capped by being named to the All-Star Game. Cabrera was a speedster on the basepaths, as he stole 37 bases in his All-Star season and 44 bags the year before, which led the National League.
Fernando Tatis Jr. did not make the list because he only played one season in this decade and didn’t even play the entire year, unfortunately, it was because of injuries.