The Best MLB Players at Every Position of the 2010s
The Position Players
- C – Buster Posey (.042 fWAR/G)
- 1B – Joey Votto (.034 fWAR/G)
- 2B – Robinson Cano (.031 fWAR/G)
- SS – Francisco Lindor (.038 fWAR/G)
- 3B – Josh Donaldson (.040 fWAR/G)
- RF – Mookie Betts (.047 fWAR/G)
- CF – Mike Trout (.061 fWAR/G)
- LF – Christian Yelich (.037 fWAR/G)
- DH – Nelson Cruz (.024 fWAR/G)
Predictably, Trout is the best player in baseball by a long shot. The next best player, Betts, trails Trout by .014 fWAR/G and he is followed by Posey, who trails Betts by .005 fWAR/G.
Surprisingly, however, Donaldson is the only other player to crack the .040 fWAR/G marker, making him the 4th best player in all of baseball during the 2010s.
Some areas that might have come as a surprise to you are at the 2B, SS, and DH positions. Off the top of my head, I would’ve guessed Jose Altuve, Troy Tulowitzki, and David Ortiz, but the numbers say otherwise.
At 2B, Cano (.0319 fWAR/G) actually came in a virtual tie with Dustin Pedroia (.0318 fWAR/G), Altuve actually trailed them both by .003 fWAR/G.
At SS, Lindor and Carlos Correa dominated the top of the lists. Tulowitzki placed third on the list and barely. Xander Bogaerts is just .005 fWAR/G away from eclipsing “2LO” on the list.
Finally, our collective reaction is to crown “Big Papi” the greatest DH of the decade. He did single-handedly win the Boston Red Sox the 2013 World Series. Unfortunately for Ortiz, he trailed Cruz by a single point in fWAR/G.