MLB Players: The all-time Mexican team in honor of Cinco de Mayo
By Manny Gómez
When you think of the best Latino MLB players, typically we turn to the Dominican Republic or Venezuela. Today, in honor of Cinco the Mayo, we turn the spotlight towards Mexico.
As our closest neighbors to the south, we tend to overlook just how important Mexico is to our society. So, today, in honor of Cinco de Mayo, we take some time to acknowledge the impact Mexican MLB players have had on the game of baseball.
To make our determinations, first, we sought players whose birthplace is Mexico. Then, we sorted each player’s stats in both Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs by WAR, since it’s the only all-encompassing stat we can use to compare both hitters and pitchers.
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Finally, we took the top 10 players and listed them here for your convenience. That being said, here’s the 10th ranked Mexican-born MLB player of all-time:
Aurelio Rodriguez, 3B (Cananea, Mexico)
Aurelio Rodriguez played in parts of 17 big league seasons on seven different teams throughout his career. Though he wasn’t an elite hitter at the plate, his bread and butter was his defense.
In fact, the 1976 Gold Glove award winner is 16th all-time in games played as a in the hot corner with 1983. Amongst his accomplishments as a defensive third baseman, Rodriguez ranks 10th in career assists with 4150, 8th in double players turned with 408, and 4th in Range Factor/9Inn with 3.19.
His 13.2 bWAR and 15.1 fWAR average out to 14.2 aWAR, the 10th best among Mexican players all-time.