The February 24, 1997 issue of Sports Illustrated featured the young smiling faces of Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez on the cover, with the billing that the pair “head up the finest group of shortstops since World War II.” The article highlighted an up-and-coming young class that included Jeter, Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra and Edgar Renteria. Miguel Tejada would also come up to the majors that season. Beyond the young stars, Barry Larkin was still around and Omar Vizquel was in his defensive prime.
Jeter and Larkin are Hall of Famers, Rodriguez had a Hall of Fame career, Vizquel might get there, Tejada won an MVP Award, Garciaparra won two batting titles and Renteria was a five-time All-Star. No doubt, it was an excellent era for shortstops. It’s not the finest group we’ve ever seen, however.
No, we’re in the golden age of shortstops right now.
One way to judge this is to compare the offensive production across the position to the major league-wide average. Via Baseball-Reference.com we can look at a statistic called tOPS+, which compares the OPS at each position relative to the overall OPS of the league. The best figure ever for shortstop is 2019 at 103, meaning shortstops hit 3% better than the league average, an impressive figure since shortstop is also a premium defensive position. The second highest figure is 2020.
With that baseline, I thought it would be fun to rank the strength of each position heading into the 2021 season and then see how each position ranks historically, including choosing a golden era at each position. We will list the tOPS+ for 2019 and 2020 for each position and give its ranking among the 101 seasons going back to 1920, so a ranking of 50th or so would mean the position rates about average. Obviously, tOPS+ is an offense statistic, so in picking a greatest season for each position, other factors include defense, single-season and career WAR, Hall of Famers and overall depth.
Two notes: In general, the offensive spread among positions has become more condensed in recent decades. In the 1960s and 1970s, for example, middle infielders were notoriously weak at the plate. The nadir for shortstops since 1920 came in 1973 when they had a tOPS+ of 69 – they hit .237/.291/.301 versus the MLB average of .257/.325/.379. Also, while tOPS+ considers the results of all plate appearances at the position, when I refer to a player as a “left fielder,” for example, he must have played at least 50% of his games in that season at the position.
OK, on to the rankings!
1. Shortstop
2019: 103 tOPS+ (1st since 1920)
2020: 102 (2nd)
In a sense, Cal Ripken paved the way for Jeter and Rodriguez, who then paved the way for Fernando Tatis Jr., Trevor Story, Corey Seager, Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts and other bigger shortstops who now man the position. Ripken was 6-foot-4, the tallest regular shortstop in major league history at that point, and proved that a big man can handle the position, in part because his strong arm allowed him to play deeper than others shortstops. Give Earl Weaver credit for recognizing Ripken’s defensive abilities. Ripken had played mostly third base coming up in the minors and started his rookie season there in 1982, but with other Orioles shortstops struggling, Ripken took over on July 1 and started every game at shortstop for the Orioles until July 15, 1996.
Rodriguez grew up with a Ripken poster in his bedroom and brought another level of athleticism and power to the position. Consider that in 1984, only Ripken, Robin Yount and Alan Trammell hit more than nine home runs as a shortstop. In 2019, 27 shortstops hit at least 10 home runs – and six hit at least 30. Yes, power is the name of the game in 2021, but I don’t think teams are sacrificing anything on defense at the position. For some reason, teams in the 1970s and ’80s fell in love with these sure-handed but light-hitting shortstops, in part perhaps thinking that a bigger shortstop couldn’t handle playing on AstroTurf.
Ripken did help to start erasing that trend and – trust me – Larry Bowa couldn’t make all the plays we see Francisco Lindor or Javier Baez or Story make. For much of baseball history, center fielders were the best all-around players in the sport. It’s now shortstop.
Golden era: Right now.
The best thing about this era of shortstops is they are all still in their primes. Of the 10 best shortstops in 2020 via WAR, the oldest were Tim Anderson and Trea Turner, both just 27. Then we have another wave coming on who also project as outstanding two-way players – Bo Bichette is already here, with Wander Franco, Marco Luciano and Bobby Witt Jr. next up. Shortstop should remain the best position in the game for the foreseeable future.
2. Third base
2019: 110 tOPS+ (12th since 1920)
2020: 104 (54th)
In 2019, third basemen had one of the position’s best seasons ever. Alex Bregman (9.1), Matt Chapman (8.3), Nolan Arenado (6.7), Anthony Rendon (6.4) and Josh Donaldson (6.0) ranked in the top 13 among position players in WAR and Bregman (second), Rendon (third), Chapman (sixth) and Arenado (sixth) all finished high in the MVP voting. Eugenio Suarez hit 49 home runs. Rafael Devers pounded out 90 extra-base hits. Others like Yoan Moncada, Justin Turner, Kris Bryant and Gio Urshela all had productive seasons. Third base was right up there with shortstop.
That group suffered a collective letdown in 2020. Chapman, Arenado and Donaldson battled injuries. Bregman and Devers struggled compared to their 2019 numbers. Moncada said he never felt right after a COVID diagnosis. Bryant hit .206 and Suarez hit .202. Jose Ramirez and Manny Machado, who were actually down a little bit in 2019, did have big seasons and finished second and third in the MVP voting, but of the 2019 stars only Rendon repeated his top-10 MVP finish (and that was 10th). The collective 104 tOPS+ was the lowest at third base since 2014.
Look for a much better performance in 2021. Bregman, Devers, Ramirez, Machado, Rendon and Moncada are still in their peak years, and Arenado and Chapman look healthy. Alec Bohm heads up the next generation and while his defense is shaky, he can hit. Cavan Biggio should be an improvement at third base for the Blue Jays over the production they got there in 2020. Maybe the Rays call up Franco and play him at third to start.
Golden era: 1966 (113 tOPS+)
You can make a strong argument that third base is as good as ever although it’s a little soft at the bottom. The best tOPS+ seasons are 1953 (115) and 1970 (114). Al Rosen (10.1 WAR) and Eddie Mathews (8.1 WAR) had huge seasons in ’53 and two players in a 16-team league can unduly influence the overall total, while 1970 was kind of a fluke season. The top four third basemen in WAR were Tommy Harper (career year in his only season as a third baseman), Tony Perez (best season of his career, but he soon moved to first base), Billy Grabarkewitz (the only good season of his career) and Aurelio Rodriguez (good glove).
I’ll go with 1966. In a 20-team league, you had three Hall of Famers at their peak in Ron Santo, Harmon Killebrew and Brooks Robinson, plus a fourth Hall of Famer in Eddie Mathews (although he was nearing the end). Dick Allen could be a fifth Hall of Famer and Jim Ray Hart (6.6 WAR) had a short peak of excellence. You had other good players like Don Buford and the Boyer brothers, Ken and Clete. Plus, 1964 (when Robinson and Ken Boyer won MVP honors), 1965 and 1967 all rate in the top 10 seasons, so 1964-1967 was a true golden era.
3. Right field
2019: 111 tOPS+ (82nd since 1920)
2020: 106 (99th)
Historically speaking, 2020’s 106 tOPS+ total (better only than 1983’s 105) looks pretty pathetic. Even a decade ago in 2010 the figure was 115, middle of the pack among our 101 seasons. As mentioned, the corner outfield positions used to be much more dominant relative to their peers. The historical average tOPS+ for right field is 116.1, and 115.7 for left field. The last time right field reached that was 2011 and the last time for left field was 2004.
I see big improvements coming in 2021. For starters, Juan Soto is moving to right field. You add the potential best hitter in the game, and that tOPS+ figure is going to go up. Plus, five teams saw their right fielders hit under .200 in 2020 (Pirates, Marlins, Mariners, Rangers and Rays) and two more (Indians and Cardinals) were barely over .200. There is no way that group of teams should collectively be so bad again.
Subjectively, the top of the right-field list is strong. Mookie Betts, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Soto are NL MVP favorites alongside Tatis Jr. and Freddie Freeman. You follow that trio up with Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge, the underrated Mike Yastrzemski (.297/.400/.568 last year), Michael Conforto, Alex Verdugo (although he may play more center this year), Jason Heyward, Teoscar Hernandez, Joey Gallo, Wil Myers and Max Kepler and you have a pretty strong top dozen or so.
Golden era: 1977 (121 tOPS+)
Other seasons had a higher tOPS+, with 1932 (Babe Ruth, Mel Ott, Chuck Klein, Paul Waner) and 1937 (Ott, Gene Moore, Wally Moses, Waner) leading the way at 128. Certainly, 1961 (127) deserves strong consideration: Hank Aaron, Al Kaline, Frank Robinson and Roberto Clemente give you four inner-circle Hall of Famers out of 18 teams, plus Roger Maris hit 61 home runs.
For overall depth, however, I’m going with 1977 (121), and 1978 wasn’t far behind (119). Check out the career WAR of some of the right fielders from those seasons: Reggie Jackson (74.0), Dwight Evans (67.1), Reggie Smith (64.6), Dave Winfield (64.2), Bobby Bonds (57.9), Jose Cruz (54.4), Jack Clark (53.1), Ken Singleton (41.8), Dave Parker (40.1) and Ken Griffey Sr. (34.5). Ben Oglivie, Sixto Lezcano, Bake McBride and Richie Zisk all went over 20 career WAR. Al Cowens and Ellis Valentine were brief shining stars. Parker won the MVP in 1978 and finished third in 1977. Smith finished fourth both years. Cowens finished second in 1977 and Singleton finished third.
OK, it’s hard to top the Aaron/Kaline/Robinson/Clemente years and only Jackson and Winfield are Hall of Famers, but in a nod to my childhood, I’ll go with 1977.
4. Center field
2019: 97 tOPS+ (100th since 1920)
2020: 99 (97th)
The genesis for this article actually began with a discussion about center fielders. My editor Dan Mullen and I were talking about all the great defensive center fielders in today’s game: Kevin Kiermaier, Luis Robert, Byron Buxton, Jackie Bradley Jr., Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham, Ramon Laureano, Lorenzo Cain, Victor Robles, George Springer. It’s an impressive list. The best group ever? I thought of the late 1990s/early 2000s, when you had Ken Griffey Jr., Jim Edmonds, Andruw Jones, Carlos Beltran, Steve Finley, Mike Cameron, Kenny Lofton, Bernie Williams and Darin Erstad, among others, patrolling center field – and those guys could hit a little bit, too.
So that led to the bigger question: What was the best overall generation of center fielders? I thought it might be that late 1990s crew. More on that in a moment. Until I dug into the research, I hadn’t realized that offensive levels in center field – despite the wondrous Mike Trout – have sunk to new lows the past two seasons. Relative to the league as a whole, the 2019 numbers (.250/.319/.428) tied with 1995 for the lowest ever. Things weren’t much better in 2020 (.243/.322/.412) and 2018 also rates near the bottom, so this is a multi-year trend of lukewarm offense from center field. Keep in mind that no pitchers hit in 2020, so that’s going to hurt the 2020 ratings at all positions.
Part of the issue here is that in most eras or even on many teams today, Betts and Acuna would be center fielders, not right fielders. Springer has also spent a fair amount of time in right field in recent seasons. Once you factor in defense, however, center field doesn’t look quite so bad. The seasons with the most center fielders who were at least two wins above average in value are 1992, 1999 and 2014, each with 12 (so I wasn’t necessarily wrong with my instinct about late ’90s center fielders). We had nine such center fielders in 2019, so I put the current group of center fielders more in the middle of the pack historically, just with more value on defense than offense.
There is some hope moving forward. Robert already won his first Gold Glove and has 35-homer potential. Buxton is an elite power/defense threat if he can ever stay healthy, although like Robert, his poor plate discipline ultimately limits his value. Still, once you get past Trout, Bellinger and Springer, the pool of proven two-way players thins out. It does seem fair to say that shortstops have passed center fielders as the best athletes in the game.
Golden era: 1954 (121)
As much as I loved those 1990s center fielders, we go to – no surprise – the 1950s. The best of that generation is 1954, tied with 1920 and 1940 with a 121 tOPS+. Leading the way are five Hall of Famers at their peak: Willie Mays (10.5 WAR), Duke Snider (8.1), Richie Ashburn (7.1), Mickey Mantle (6.9) and Larry Doby (5.7). Actually, Mantle’s best was yet to come. Still, that’s nearly a third of the league’s center fielders making the Hall of Fame.
There is quality depth here as well: Jackie Jensen (a future MVP winner who drove in 117 runs), Gus Bell (.299, 101 RBIs), Wally Moon (.304, 106 runs), the original Frank Thomas (.298, 23 home runs), Jim Busby (an elite defender who hit .298) and Bill Bruton (89 runs, led NL in steals). That’s 11 good center fielders out of 16 teams.
5. Second base
2019: 95 tOPS+ (48th)
2020: 88 (89th)
Second basemen had their worst offensive season relative to the league since a matching 88 tOPS+ mark in 1996. After hitting .256/.320/.417 in 2019, they fell off to .246/.312/.380 in 2020. Jose Altuve led the collapse, declining from a .903 OPS to .629. Keston Hiura had raked for half a season as a rookie in 2019, but struggled in 2020. Ketel Marte finished fourth in the MVP voting in 2019, playing about half his games at second, but also struggled in 2020.
Still, the decline in offense is a little surprising considering 2016 ranks as the second-best offensive season at second base with a 108 tOPS+, just behind 1924’s 109, and 2017 is fourth at 102. At the time, as shifting was really coming into vogue, there was the belief that second base would continue to turn into even more of an offensive position – that with shifting you could hide an inferior defender, perhaps a player who would otherwise be playing third base. Daniel Murphy was the poster child for this theory after hitting .347/.390/.595 in 2016 and finishing second in the MVP voting for the Nationals.
As the 2016-17 group aged, however, the next wave hasn’t filled the box score with the same offense. We could see an uptick in 2021, however, assuming better seasons from Altuve and Marte, plus a potential breakout from Gavin Lux. Still, the bottom of the position remains weak and we haven’t seen the movement of former third basemen to the position as expected (other than Mike Moustakas in Cincinnati).
Golden era: 2016 (108 tOPS+)
Hard to top 2016, when seven players topped 5 WAR – Altuve, Robinson Cano, Jean Segura, Brian Dozier, Ian Kinsler, Dustin Pedroia and DJ LeMahieu. Murphy, despite his MVP finish, only ranked eighth at the position with 4.5 WAR. You also had depth with quality players like Jason Kipnis, Ben Zobrist and Neil Walker.
There are no sure Hall of Famers in that group (Cano was on track until his multiple PED suspensions), although Cano, Kinsler and Pedroia are all above 50 career WAR, Altuve should get there and Zobrist finished with 44. If you like Hall of Famers, the 1924 group featured Rogers Hornsby (12.2 WAR), Frankie Frisch (7.4) and Eddie Collins (5.2) as the top three players at the position.
6. Left field
2019: 108 tOPS+ (88th since 1920)
2020: 104 (97th)
Left field has fallen on hard times in recent seasons – and will get even worse in 2021, with Soto moving to right field. The second-best left fielder in 2020 in WAR was Kyle Tucker – and he’s moving to right field as well. The third best was Jeff McNeil – and he’s moving back to the infield. The fourth best was Eloy Jimenez, who fits more of the old school approach to left field: Big slugger, defense be damned. The Greg Luzinski of 2021. The only seasons rated worse than 2020 on our offensive scale are 2015, 2011, 2017 and 2016, so this a long-standing trend.
What’s happened? Some of it is just that general narrowing of offensive production across all positions. Teams are certainly less willing to put a statue out in left field as they once were. Even the bat-first left fielders like Kyle Schwarber or Jimenez, however, aren’t on the level of bat-first left fielders of the past like Manny Ramirez, Albert Belle or Luzinski.
For 2021, let’s find reason for optimism. Christian Yelich is a full-time left fielder now, after playing right field in 2019 and splitting time at all three outfield positions in his 2018 MVP season. He just needs to bounce back at the plate. Marcell Ozuna moves back to left field after spending most of his time at DH in 2020. Randy Arozarena may prove to be the real deal and Dominic Smith is going to play a lot of left field for the Mets and put up some numbers. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had a big 2020. Maybe hotshot Mariners prospect Jarred Kelenic winds up as a left fielder. Still, all those players have some defensive issues or have to prove themselves over a full season and even Yelich had a terrible 2020.
Golden era: 1957 (129 tOPS+)
The style of baseball in the 1950s was not much different than today: A lot of Three True Outcomes baseball (although with fewer strikeouts, more walks and more sacrifice bunts). There was little movement on the bases and teams relied on home runs for offense. And left field – not first base or right field – was the supreme power position. Left field was the best hitting position in the majors each season from 1947 to 1958, except 1950 (when it tied with first base) and 1955.
It peaked in 1957 and 1958 with identical tOPS+ marks of 129. In ’57, Ted Williams hit .388/.526/.731 and Frank Robinson hit .322/.376/.529, giving us two inner-circle Hall of Famers. Minnie Minoso was the third-best left fielder and he should be in the Hall of Fame. Roy Sievers led the AL in home runs and RBIs and you have a bunch of other good players including Charlie Maxwell, Gene Woodling, Wally Moon and Bob Skinner.
Honorable mention: 2002 (116). This one is cheating a little bit because Chipper Jones and Albert Pujols played left field this season. You also have peak Barry Bonds, and Manny Ramirez, Jacque Jones, Brian Giles and Garret Anderson also had 5-WAR seasons.
Honorable mention No. 2: 1993 (113). Bonds won an MVP (9.9 WAR) and Greg Vaughn, Ron Gant, Juan Gonzalez, Luis Gonzalez and Rickey Henderson all had 5-WAR seasons, plus you had depth with the likes of Belle, Tim Raines, Mike Greenwell, Bernard Gilkey, Brady Anderson, Moises Alou and Kevin Mitchell.
7. First base
2019: 111 tOPS+ (95th since 1920)
2020: 111 (95th)
Anybody who plays fantasy baseball knows all too well about the dearth of high-end offensive contributors at first base right now, which seems a little weird to say after Freddie Freeman and Jose Abreu just won MVP honors – the first time two first basemen won in the same year since Ryan Howard and Justin Morneau in 2006. Still, once you get past Freeman, Abreu, Paul Goldschmidt and a few others, it starts thinning out in a hurry. If we combine 2019 and 2020 statistics, two teams (the Royals and Orioles) have an OPS under .700 and slugging percentage under .400 from first base and the Marlins and Rangers are barely over .400. Those are middle-infield numbers from first base.
First basemen hit just .247 in 2020, the lowest of the live-ball era. As a point of comparison, consider 2008. In 2008, teams averaged 4.65 runs per game – the same as 2020. First basemen hit .272/.353/.464, compared to .247/.328/.458 in 2020. In 2008, 13 qualified first basemen slugged .500. In 2020, just five did so – Freeman, Abreu, Dominic Smith, Luke Voit and Jeimer Candelario. First basemen are hitting for power, but less average – symbolic of the era we’re in to be sure, perhaps also a sign of how the shift has hurt slow left-handed sluggers, of which many are first basemen.
Bounce-back years from the likes of Matt Olson, Max Muncy, Anthony Rizzo and Pete Alonso will help in 2021, but note that even when those four were more productive in 2019, the overall tOPS+ remained the same as 2020. As recently as 2009, that figured stood at 125. Don’t expect an increase in years to come either. Other than Spencer Torkelson (No. 4 on Kiley McDaniel’s top 100 prospects) and Andrew Vaughn (No. 8), the prospect ranks are thin at first base, with only Triston Casas (No. 52) also in the top 100.
Golden era: 2000 (124 tOPS+)
OK, there are a few eras that can lay claim to best ever at first.
1972 (134): This is best season for tOPS+, although subjectively I wouldn’t rate it nearly so high. Dick Allen had a monster season and was the AL MVP and Henry Aaron played first base that year, which helps. Other top sluggers were one-dimensional types like Nate Colbert, Mike Epstein and Lee May. There were other stronger seasons in this era, including 1969, when Harmon Killebrew and Willie McCovey both won the MVP.
1934 (132): No. 2 on the list thanks to Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx and Hank Greenberg, and other seasons in the mid-1930s rank high as well. Bill Terry and Jim Bottomley are also Hall of Famers, although Bottomley is one of the weakest and wasn’t good in ’34 (0.6 WAR). Hal Trosky would have been a Hall of Famer but migraines shortened his career.
2000 (124): You could pick almost any season from the late ’90s and early 2000s and get a long list of huge offensive numbers. First basemen hit .286/.377/.503 in 2000, the best single-season slugging mark at the position. You have two Hall of Famers in Jeff Bagwell and Jim Thome, plus Todd Helton, who led the NL with 8.9 WAR after hitting .372/.463/.698 and might get in as well. Jason Giambi won AL MVP honors and Carlos Delgado hit .344 with 41 home runs and 57 doubles. The second tier includes Rafael Palmeiro (39 HR, 120 RBIs), John Olerud (.392 OBP) and Will Clark (.418 OBP). Mark McGwire hit 32 home runs in 89 games, Mike Sweeney hit .333 and drove in 144 runs, Sean Casey hit .315. Yes, this was peak PED-era baseball, but these guys could rake.
2009 (125): Albert Pujols won his third MVP, Prince Fielder hit 46 home runs and drove in 141 runs, Ryan Howard had 45 and 141, Adrian Gonzalez was a beast, Miguel Cabrera had a ho-hum .324/.396/.457 season, Kevin Youkilis had a .413 OBP, Joey Votto hit .322/.414/.567. Mark Teixeira and Carlos Pena tied for the AL lead with 39 home runs. Derrek Lee and Kendrys Morales had big seasons. In the AL, first basemen finished second, fourth, fifth and sixth in the MVP voting. In the NL, they finished first, third, fourth and ninth.
8. Catcher
2019: 90 tOPS+ (79th since 1920)
2020: 91 (69th)
Yes, comments about the decline in catcher hitting in recent seasons are not an exaggeration, although note that historically they aren’t as low some of the other positions here. Still, this stands in contrast to not so long ago in 2012, when catchers collectively nearly hit at the league average (tOPS+ of 99). That was Buster Posey’s MVP season, Yadier Molina’s best offensive season (he finished fourth in the MVP voting), Joe Mauer posted a .416 OBP, Carlos Ruiz and Jonathan Lucroy hit over .300, and Miguel Montero had a nice season.
One popular theory for the decline in catcher hitting is that as teams developed pitch-framing metrics over the past decade they began emphasizing that skill and de-emphasizing offensive ability. There may be a grain of truth there, but it also suggests that pitch framing wasn’t considered important in the pre-analytics era. Nonsense. I mean, we all grew up listening to Tim McCarver tell us how important it was. That ability can be more accurately quantified now, but that doesn’t mean it was previously ignored.
Still, there is no doubt the position lacks star power, with J.T. Realmuto only remotely meeting that description. We’ve just hit a little lull here as the Posey/Molina/Mauer crew got old or retired and players like Gary Sanchez didn’t develop as expected. There are some potentially good-hitting young catchers in the majors or on the way with the likes of Will Smith, Sean Murphy, Alejandro Kirk, Adley Rutschman, Luis Campusano, Joey Bart, Tyler Stephenson and Ivan Herrera, among others, so I expect an uptick over the next few seasons.
Golden era: 1977 (102 tOPS+)
Wow, you had four Hall of Fame catchers more or less in their primes: Carlton Fisk, Gary Carter, Ted Simmons and Johnny Bench. Fisk had the best season (7.0 WAR), but all were worth at least 5 WAR. Jim Sundberg, an excellent defensive catcher (he won six straight Gold Gloves from 1976 to 1981), was kind of the Yadier Molina of his generation, without as much publicity. Thurman Munson had won the MVP in 1976 and hit .305 with 100 RBIs in ’77. Your second-tier catchers included guys like Gene Tenace (.415 OBP), Joe Ferguson (.379 OBP), Bob Boone, Darrell Porter, Butch Wynegar and Steve Yeager. Baseball-Reference ranks eight catchers among the top 36 position players, all with at least 4.0 WAR, which ties 1978 and 2013 for the most 4-WAR catchers in one season (and 1979 had seven, so this era stretched out several seasons).
(What, you want designated hitters also? Well, here’s a sad fact for you: Designated hitters hit worse than the league average in 2020. Only catchers and second baseman hit worse. The best years for DH: 1991, 1995 and 1996, all with a 117 OPS+. Long live Edgar Martinez.)