Greatest Living Players
-Hank Aaron
-Johnny Bench
-Sandy Koufax
-Willie Mays
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
-Vladimir Guerrero
-Nolan Ryan
-Tim Salmon
-Mike Trout
-Was a little surprised Vlad made it over Garrett Anderson. I know Vlad had six outstanding years with the Angels, but Garrett Anderson played 15 years in Anaheim and smacked 272 homers, while driving in 1,292 runs. Same thing with Nolan Ryan over Chuck Finley. Finley won more games in an Angels uniform (165) than Ryan did (138).
Houston Astros
-Jeff Bagwell
-Lance Berkman
-Craig Biggio
-Nolan Ryan
-The only other guy I would have even remotely considered putting on this list for the Astros is Mike Scott. The guy did go 110-81 lifetime in Houston, winning the 1986 Cy Young award in the NL. But hes on the outside looking in
Oakland Athletics
-Dennis Eckersley
-Jimmie Foxx
-Rickey Henderson
-Reggie Jackson
Toronto Blue Jays
-Roberto Alomar
-Joe Carter
-Carlos Delgado
-Roy Halladay
-You could make an argument for Dave Stieb here too. The guy won 175 games in a Toronto uniform, and if WAR means anything, this guy had a 57.4 WAR the highest out of any player.
Atlanta Braves
-Hank Aaron
-Chipper Jones
-Greg Maddux
-Warren Spahn
-You could make the argument for almost anybody on this list for Braves players. There was Tom Glavine, who won 244 games in a Braves Jersey. Then there's also Eddie Mathews, who just so happened to hit 493 of his career 512 home runs for the franchise.
Milwaukee Brewers
-Cecil Cooper
-Rollie Fingers
-Paul Molitor
-Robin Yount
St. Louis Cardinals
-Lou Brock
-Bob Gibson
-Rogers Hornsby
-Stan Musial
-There's two other guys who you could throw onto this foursome. One is Ozzie Smith, one of the best shortstops to every play the game. He was a career .978 fielding percentage. Then there is Albert Pujols. Albert spent 11 years in St. Lous, hitting .328 while smacking 445 home runs and driving in 1,329 runs and winning National league MVP three times. Hell, during ten of his eleven years in St. Louis, he drove in at least 100 runs in each season. The only year he didn't was his final season.
Chicago Cubs
-Ernie Banks
-Ryne Sandberg
-Ron Santo
-Billy Williams
-A little surprised Ferguson Jenkins didn't get the call here. Jenkins went 167-132 lifetime in a Cubs uniform, with a 3.02 ERA and 2,038 strikeouts. Yes I know Billy Williams had almost 400 home runs and over 1300 RBI, but I think Jenkins should have gotten it over Williams.
Arizona Diamondbacks
-Paul Goldschmidt
-Luis Gonzalez
-Randy Johnson
-Curt Schilling
-Although he had a short seven year career, Brandon Webb could have made a push for this list too. He did win a Cy Young award and finished runner up twice more after that. There's no way he's getting passed what the four guys did for the Franchise, but Webb deserves a little more recognition.
Los Angeles Dodgers
-Don Drysdale
-Sandy Koufax
-Jackie Robinson
-Duke Snider
The only name I MIGHT even consider switching out on this list is Jackie Robinson for Roy Campanella. Roy broke into the big leagues a year after Jackie, while Jackie did have more of an impact on baseball from a cultural perspective, Roy had the better career. Three MVP awards and considered one of the greatest catchers of his time. A shame it was cu short due to injuries.
San Francisco Giants
-Barry Bonds
-Willie Mays
-Willie McCovey
-Buster Posey
-No knock on Buster Posey, he's an outstanding baseball players. But I wouldn't have put him on this list just yer. Not when you consider the career a guy like Christy Mathewson had. Christy finished his career with the Giants with a 372-188 record, 30 career saves, a 2.12 lifetime ERA, 2,504 strikeouts and oh yeah, he had won 30 or more games in a season twice. Yeah I'd say Mathewson should be there instead of Posey.
Cleveland Indians
-Bob Feller
-Tris Speaker
-Jim Thome
-Omar Vizquel
Seattle Mariners
-Ken Griffey Jr.
-Felix Hernandez
-Edgar Martinez
-Ichiro Suzuki
-Another name to throw out there for this franchise would be Randy Johnson. He spent ten years in Seattle, winning 130 games, the most he ever won with a single franchise. Sure he got most of his Cy Young awards in the Desert, but his first one came while he was a Mariner.
Miami Marlins
-Jeff Conine
-Mike Lowell
-Gary Sheffield
-Giancarlo Stanton
New York Mets
-Keith Hernandez
-Mike Piazza
-Tom Seaver
-David Wright
-You could also throw in Doc Gooden and Darryl Strawberry on this list as well. Doc went 157-85 in eleven years in a Met suniform. During his time with the Orange and Blue, he failed to hit double digits in wins only twice.Strawberry hit more home runs, 252, than any other player in franchise history.
Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos
-Gary Carter
-Andre Dawson
-Vladimir Guerrero
-Tim Raines
-All of those guys represented the Expos version of the franchise. If you throw in the Nationals years, there's two names who stick out to you. One is Ryan Zimmerman and the other is Bryce Harper. Both guys have been and will be the face of the Washington franchise.
Baltimore Orioles
-Jim Palmer
-Cal Ripken Jr.
-Brooks Robinson
-Frank Robinson
-The only other name that can come close to joining this list would be Eddie Murray. Murray will go down as one of the best switch hitters to ever play the game. He played 13 of his 21 years in the Majors in Baltimore. While there, he just so happened to smack 343 of his 504 home runs there, oh and he also drove in 1,224 runs while there.
San Diego Padres
-Tony Gwynn
-Trevor Hoffman
-Randy Jones
-Dave Winfield
Philadelphia Phillies
-Richie Ashburn
-Steve Carlton
-Robin Roberts
-Mike Schmidt
-Another name to throw out there is Chase Utley. Spent his entire 13 year career in Philly and will probably go into the Hall, if he's lucky, as a 2nd baseman.
Pittsburgh Pirates
-Roberto Clemente
-Bill Mazeroski
-Willie Stargell
-Honus Wagner
-I think in time, Andrew McCutchen may knock Bill Mazeroski out of this list. Cutch has spent his entire 7 year career in Pittsburgh He's already won one MVP and made the all-star team in the Natinoal league each of the last five seasons
Texas Rangers
-Adrian Beltre
-Ivan Rodriguez
-Nolan Ryan
-Michael Young
-As good as utility man as Michael Young has been for Texas, I was a little surprised that he was taken over Juan Gonzalez. Sure Gonzalez was a bit of a headcase, but the guy did win two MVP awards and drove in 1,180 runs while playing 13 seasons in Texas.
Tampa Bay Rays
-Evan Longoria
-David Price
-James Shields
-Ben Zobrist
Boston Red Sox
-Pedro Martinez
-David Ortiz
-Ted Williams
-Carl Yastrzemski
-As much as I love David Ortiz, I'm surprised he got the nod over Roger Clemens. During his 13 years in Boston, some of which were on bad teams, Clemeens managed to go 192-111 with a 3.02 ERA and 2,590 strikeouts. He also won three Cy Young awards while in Beantown. Again Ortiz has put up fantastic numbers while playing in Boston, its just that Clemens has done a lot better during his time in town.
Cincinnati Reds
-Johnny Bench
-Barry Larkin
-Joe Morgan
-Pete Rose
Colorado Rockies
-Andres Galarraga
-Todd Helton
-Troy Tulowitzki
-Larry Walker
Kansas City Royals
-George Brett
-Dan Quisenberry
-Bret Saberhagen
-Frank White
Detroit Tigers
-Miguel Cabrera
-Ty Cobb
-Hank Greenberg
-Al Kaline
Minnesota Twins
-Rod Carew
-Harmon Killebrew
-Tony Oliva
-Kirby Puckett
-Was a little surprised Walter Johnson was selected for the Twins. Yes Tony Oliva was a good hitter, but Walter Johnson did win 30 games one year, was a two time MVP and oh yeah still holds the record for tossing 110 career shutouts in his big league career. He also struck out 3,509 hitters in his career.
Chicago White Sox
-Harold Baines
-Paul Konerko
-Minnie Minoso
-Frank Thomas
New York Yankees
-Joe DiMaggio
-Lou Gehrig
-Mickey Mantle
-Babe Ruth
-The only other person who I would even remotely sniff getting a chance to make this list, at least out of guys in my lifetime, would be Derek Jeter
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