Greatest TB Rays players in their history

THE GREATEST PLAYERS BY POSITION FOR EACH TEAM IN THE LAST 50 YEARS.

 I am continuing my list for the greatest players at each position for every team in the last 50 years for each team. Today’s team is the Tampa Bay Rays The criteria are as follows:

- Player must have played a full 5 years for team.

-Since TB had their first season in 1998, this will be their all-time team.

-1 player will be selected for each position, 1 right handed starting pitcher, 1 left handed starting pitcher, and 1 relief pitcher. I will include a DH for both leagues (considering interleague play now).

 Below is my list of greatest players by position for the Tampa Bay Rays in their history.

First Base-   Carlos Pena

Second Base-  Ben Zobrist

Shortstop-  Julio Lugo

Third Base- Evan Longoria

Left Field- Carl Crawford  

Centerfield- BJ Upton

Right Field- Matt Joyce  

Catcher- Toby Hall

Designated Hitter- Fred McGriff

Right Handed starting pitcher- James Shields  

Left Handed starting pitcher- David Price

Relief pitcher- Alex Colomé

A couple of notes. Since this team started in 1998, there were a few positions that didn’t meet the 5 yr criteria. At shortstop, Lugo played 4 full seasons and was the best. I considered Jason Bartlett, who played SS on the 2008 pennant winning team, but, only played 3 yrs.  For relief pitcher, Alex Colomé only played 3 full seasons, but, was the best reliever they had in their history.  Not much to challenge from this list. Dioner Navarro was a possibility at catcher, but, I picked Toby Hall due to his better batting statistics.

Next up is the Toronto Blue Jays

Greatest Boston Red Sox Players in the last 50 years.

THE GREATEST PLAYERS BY POSITION FOR EACH TEAM IN THE LAST 50 YEARS.

I am continuing my list for the greatest players at each position for every team in the last 50 years for each team. Today’s team is the Boston Red Sox. The criteria are as follows:

- Player must have played a full 5 years for team.

-Include players active since 1970 (meaning no player whose career ended prior to the 1970 season will be considered, and players who overlap will be considered only for their time from 1970 on).

-1 player will be selected for each position, 1 right handed starting pitcher, 1 left handed starting pitcher, and 1 relief pitcher. I will include a DH for both leagues (considering interleague play now).

 Below is my list of greatest players by position for the Boston Red Sox in the last 50 Years.

First Base- Carl Yastrzemski

Second Base- Dustin Pedroia

Shortstop- Nomar Garciappara

Third Base- Wade Boggs

Left Field- Jim Rice  

Centerfield- Fred Lynn

Right Field- Mookie Betts

Catcher- Carlton Fisk

Designated Hitter- David Ortiz

Right Handed starting pitcher- Pedro Martinez  

Left Handed starting pitcher- Jon Lester

Relief pitcher- Jonathon Papelbon



 A couple of notes. Picking a Left Fielder was difficult. A very deep position for the Red Sox (and you couldn’t even include Ted Williams). It was between Yastrzemski, Jim Rice, and Manny Ramirez.  I moved Hall of Famer Yaz to first base, as he played in over 700 games in his career at the position so, not really cheating. And, I picked Jim Rice over Manny Ramirez due to his MVP and long Hall of Fame career with the Red Sox.  Right Field was also a tough choice between Red Sox great Dwight Evans and Betts. Evans had a very distinguished career, and Betts played only 6 seasons with Boston. But, it’s hard to argue with Betts seasons, including an MVP and a top 10 finish in MVP voting in 3 other seasons. Right Handed Pitcher was another challenge. I picked Pedro Martinez over Roger Clemens due to his domination during his 8 years playing in Boston. And Pedro's record of 117-34 shows how dominating he was.

Next team up is the Tampa Bay Rays.