The Best Starting 9 in Each MLB Franchise's Modern History

It's hard to believe we are already 25 years into the 21st century, and that makes this the perfect time to look back on the last quarter century to highlight every MLB franchise's best starting nine.

Focusing solely on production since 2000, and only on what players did with the respective organization in question, each team's best player at every spot on the diamond was chosen, including a starting pitcher.

There's plenty of fodder for debate in this exercise, and one notable selection for each team was further explored, with alternative choices mentioned and resumes dissected.

Let the debate begin.

Starting 9

C Miguel Montero
1B Paul Goldschmidt
2B Ketel Marte
3B Mark Reynolds
SS Gerardo Perdomo
OF Luis Gonzalez
OF Corbin Carroll
OF Steve Finley
SP Randy Johnson

Explain the Pick: SS Gerardo Perdomo

Calling Gerardo Perdomo the greatest shortstop in D-backs history may seem premature, but alternatives strengthen his case.

Nick Ahmed was a two-time Gold Glove winner, but he was a non-factor offensively with a 75 OPS+ in over 3,000 plate appearances. Stephen Drew and Tony Womack are also worth a mention, but Perdomo has surpassed them all with an All-Star selection in 2023 and a 7.0-WAR campaign in 2025.

Starting 9

C Sean Murphy
1B Matt Olson
2B Mark Ellis
3B Eric Chavez
SS Miguel Tejada
OF Josh Reddick
OF Nick Swisher
OF Yoenis Céspedes
SP Barry Zito

Explain the Pick: OF Yoenis Céspedes

Despite only spending two-and-a-half seasons with the Athletics, Céspedes got the nod for the third outfield spot over longer tenured, less impactful outfielders such as Coco Crisp, Mark Canha, Ramón Laureano and Brandon Moss.

Céspedes had a 119 OPS+ with 66 home runs and 8.3 WAR in 365 games before he was traded to Boston.

Starting 9

C Brian McCann
1B Freddie Freeman
2B Ozzie Albies
3B Chipper Jones
SS Rafael Furcal
OF Andruw Jones
OF Ronald Acuna Jr.
OF Jason Heyward
SP Tim Hudson

Explain the Pick: OF Jason Heyward

The No. 1 prospect in baseball prior to the 2010 season and an All-Star later that year, Jason Heyward did not develop into the superstar many were expecting him to become. That said, he racked up 23.0 WAR over five seasons in Atlanta, winning two of his five Gold Glove Awards in a Braves uniform

Starting 9

C Adley Rutschman
1B Chris Davis
2B Brian Roberts
3B Manny Machado
SS Gunner Henderson
OF Adam Jones
OF Nick Markakis
OF Cedric Mullins
SP Erik Bedard

Explain the Pick: SP Erik Bedard

Not since Mike Mussina departed in free agency have the Orioles had a true ace of the staff over multiple years.

Workhorses Chris Tillman and Jeremy Guthrie chewed up innings, while Corbin Burnes, Kyle Bradish and Trevor Rogers each turned in one elite-level season, but Bedard is the closest they've had to sustained frontline performance.

Bonus points for getting Adam Jones back when they traded him to Seattle.

Starting 9

C Jason Varitek
1B David Ortiz
2B Dustin Pedroia
3B Rafael Devers
SS Nomar Garciaparra
OF Mookie Betts
OF Manny Ramirez
OF Jacob Ellsbury
SP Pedro Martínez

Explain the Pick: 1B David Ortiz

Is it cheating to call David Ortiz a first baseman? Probably, but an article focusing on the last 25 years of baseball that doesn't include him feels incomplete, and he did occasionally dust off his glove with 2,162 career innings in the field.

If you're a stickler for the rules, go ahead and pencil in Kevin Youkilis at first base.

Starting 9

C Willson Contreras
1B Anthony Rizzo
2B Nico Hoerner
3B Aramis Ramírez
SS Javier Báez
OF Kris Bryant
OF Sammy Sosa
OF Ian Happ
SP Kyle Hendricks

Explain the Pick: 3B Aramis Ramírez

Kris Bryant was used in a semi-regular capacity in the outfield during his time with the Cubs, so it's not a stretch to deploy him in the grass and open up the hot corner for Aramis Ramírez.

Acquired from the Pirates in one of the best trades in recent franchise history, Ramírez posted a 126 OPS+ with 239 home runs and 24.1 WAR in nine seasons on the North Side.

If you're set on Bryant playing third base, Alfonso Soriano is the next man up in the outfield.

Starting 9

C A.J. Pierzynski
1B Paul Konerko
2B Ray Durham
3B Joe Crede
SS Tim Anderson
OF Magglio Ordóñez
OF Jermaine Dye
OF Carlos Lee
SP Mark Buehrle

Explain the Pick: 2B Ray Durham

Ray Durham was an All-Star in 2000 and a 4.3-WAR player in 2001 before he was traded to the Athletics midway through the 2002 season. Those two standout years were enough for him to get the nod over Tadahito Iguchi, Gordon Beckham and Gold Glove winner Yolmer Sánchez at second base.

Starting 9

C Tucker Barnhart
1B Joey Votto
2B Brandon Phillips
3B Todd Frazier
SS Elly De La Cruz
OF Adam Dunn
OF Jay Bruce
OF Ken Griffey Jr.
SP Johnny Cueto

Explain the Pick: SS Elly De La Cruz

There are still some clear holes in his game, but Elly De La Cruz has already surpassed Zack Cozart and a hot of other middling options as the most impactful shortstop to wear a Reds uniform since Barry Larkin.

After making 55 errors the past two seasons, it remains to be seen how much longer he will call the position home, but the two-time All-Star is a dynamic talent.

Starting 9

C Victor Martinez
1B Carlos Santana
2B Jason Kipnis
3B José Ramírez
SS Francisco Lindor
OF Grady Sizemore
OF Michael Brantley
OF Shin-Soo Choo
SP Corey Kluber

Explain the Pick: SP Corey Kluber

The Guardians have had quite the run of elite-level starting pitching over the last 25 years, with CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee and Shane Bieber each winning a Cy Young Award, but Kluber has them beat as a two-time winner who put together an elite five-year peak. From 2014-18, he went 83-45 with a 2.85 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 1,228 strikeouts in 1,091.1 innings.

Starting 9

C Elias Díaz
1B Todd Helton
2B DJ LeMahieu
3B Nolan Arenado
SS Troy Tulowitzki
OF Carlos González
OF Charlie Blackmon
OF Matt Holliday
SP Ubaldo Jiménez

Explain the Pick: OF Matt Holliday

Matt Holliday spent the first five seasons of his 15-year career with the Rockies after they selected him in the seventh round of the 1998 draft.

He was a three-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger winner during that short run with the team, and had a runner-up finish in NL MVP balloting in 2007 when he hit .340/.405/.607 with 216 hits, 50 doubles, 36 home runs, 137 RBI, 120 runs scored and 6.0 WAR.

Starting 9

C Iván Rodríguez
1B Miguel Cabrera
2B Plácido Polanco
3B Brandon Inge
SS Carlos Guillén
OF Curtis Granderson
OF Magglio Ordóñez
OF J.D. Martinez
SP Justin Verlander

Explain the Pick: 3B Brandon Inge

Only Miguel Cabrera (2,077) played more games for the Tigers over the last 25 years than the 1,408 that Brandon Inge suited up for during his 12 seasons in Detroit. He was an All-Star in 2009, topped 20 home runs twice and was a terrific defender, especially for someone who was drafted and developed as a catcher.

Starting 9

C Yainer Díaz
1B Jeff Bagwell
2B Jose Altuve
3B Alex Bregman
SS Carlos Correa
OF Lance Berkman
OF George Springer
OF Kyle Tucker
SP Roy Oswalt

Explain the Pick: SP Roy Oswalt

Guys like Roger Clemens, Dallas Keuchel, Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole might have enjoyed better peak performances with the Astros, but none of their overall bodies of work stack up to Roy Oswalt.

The homegrown ace went 143-82 with a 3.24 ERA and 1,593 strikeouts in 1,932.1 innings in Houston, finishing in the top-five in Cy Young voting five times during his first six seasons.

Starting 9

C Salvador Perez
1B Mike Sweeney
2B Whit Merrifield
3B Mike Moustakas
SS Bobby Witt Jr.
OF Alex Gordon
OF Lorenzo Cain
OF Carlos Beltrán
SP Zack Greinke

Explain the Pick: 1B Mike Sweeney

The Mike Sweeney vs. Eric Hosmer debate was a tough one, and there's a case to be made for the latter having the edge thanks to playing a key role on a World Series champion.

However, Sweeney enjoyed a far superior peak, earning five All-Star selections in a span of six years while hitting .312/.383/.522 for a 130 OPS+ while averaging 31 doubles, 23 home runs, 96 RBI and 3.1 WAR.

Starting 9

C Mike Napoli
1B Mark Trumbo
2B Howie Kendrick
3B Troy Glaus
SS Andrelton Simmons
OF Mike Trout
OF Vladimir Guerrero
OF Garret Anderson
SP Jered Weaver

Explain the Pick: OF Garret Anderson

With Mike Trout and Vladimir Guerrero both penciled in as locks in the Angels outfield, it was extremely difficult deciding between Garret Anderson, Darin Erstad, Torii Hunter and Kole Calhoun for the third outfield spot.

Anderson ranks second to Trout in hits (1,325) and RBI (782), and third behind Trout and Guerrero in home runs (165), so he was the pick.

Starting 9

C Will Smith
1B Freddie Freeman
2B Jeff Kent
3B Justin Turner
SS Corey Seager
OF Mookie Betts
OF Matt Kemp
OF Andre Ethier
SP Clayton Kershaw

Explain the Pick: 2B Jeff Kent

The Dodgers have an abundance of candidates at multiple positions on the diamond, but second base is not one of them.

After years suiting up for the rival San Francisco Giants, slugger Jeff Kent spent his final four seasons in the big leagues playing for the Dodgers, and he posted a 119 OPS+ while averaging 30 doubles, 19 home runs, 78 RBI and 1.7 WAR during that stretch.

Starting 9

C J.T. Realmuto
1B Derrek Lee
2B Luis Castillo
3B Miguel Cabrera
SS Hanley Ramírez
OF Giancarlo Stanton
OF Christian Yelich
OF Juan Pierre
SP José Fernández

Explain the Pick: OF Juan Pierre

It would have been easy to just go with the trio of Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna in the outfield, as they were productive teammates before the roster was blown up and they were all traded away.

However, speedy Juan Pierre was the table-setter for the 2003 World Series winner alongside Luis Castillo, and he batted .295 with 190 steals in 599 games in a Marlins uniform.

Starting 9

C Jonathan Lucroy
1B Prince Fielder
2B Rickie Weeks
3B Aramis Ramírez
SS Willy Adames
OF Ryan Braun
OF Christian Yelich
OF Geoff Jenkins
SP Ben Sheets

Explain the Pick: OF Geoff Jenkins

How long before Jackson Chourio stakes his claim to a spot in this Brewers outfield?

For now, Geoff Jenkins is the third outfield selection, as he posted a 116 OPS+ with 212 home runs and 22.1 WAR in 10 seasons with the Brewers. Carlos Gómez and Corey Hart were also strong candidates to round out the outfield.

Starting 9

C Joe Mauer
1B Justin Morneau
2B Brian Dozier
3B Corey Koskie
SS Jorge Polanco
OF Byron Buxton
OF Torii Hunter
OF Michael Cuddyer
SP Johan Santana

Explain the Pick: SS Jorge Polanco

Jorge Polanco still has more career innings at shortstop (4,178.0) than he does at second base (3,528.2), and his lone All-Star selection in 2019 also came before he shifted over to second base.

The only other viable option is Carlos Correa, whose run with the team ended up being more abbreviated than expected when he was traded back to the Astros over the summer.

Starting 9

C Mike Piazza
1B Pete Alonso
2B Jeff McNeil
3B David Wright
SS José Reyes
OF Carlos Beltrán
OF Brandon Nimmo
OF Michael Conforto
SP Jacob deGrom

Explain the Pick: C Mike Piazza

While the bulk of his production came during the 1990s, slugger Mike Piazza still put together elite seasons in 2000 (155 OPS+, 38 HR, 113 RBI), 2001 (148 OPS+, 36 HR, 94 RBI) and 2002 (138 OPS+, 33 HR, 98 RBI) before he started to decline in his mid-30s.

That three-year stretch was enough to make him an easy choice at catcher, ahead of Travis d'Arnaud, Paul Lo Duca and Francisco Alvarez.

Starting 9

C Jorge Posada
1B Jason Giambi
2B Robinson Canó
3B Alex Rodriguez
SS Derek Jeter
OF Aaron Judge
OF Hideki Matsui
OF Bernie Williams
SP CC Sabathia

Explain the Pick: OF Bernie Williams

For all the superstar talent that has donned a Yankees uniform in the last 25 years, narrowing down the final outfield spots behind Aaron Judge and Hideki Matsui was trickier than expected.

Longevity and defense made Brett Gardner a strong candidate, while Curtis Granderson, Gary Sheffield and Johnny Damon also had a case, but Bernie Williams did enough over the final seven years of his career to edge them out.

Starting 9

C J.T. Realmuto
1B Ryan Howard
2B Chase Utley
3B Scott Rolen
SS Jimmy Rollins
OF Bobby Abreu
OF Bryce Harper
OF Pat Burrell
SP Cole Hamels

Explain the Pick: OF Pat Burrell

With the wildly underrated Bobby Abreu and MVP winner Bryce Harper occupying two spots in the Phillies outfield, the final spot was a tight race between Pat Burrell, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth.

Burrell ranks fourth in franchise history with 251 home runs, and he made good on being the No. 1 overall pick in the 1998 draft.

Starting 9

C Russell Martin
1B Josh Bell
2B Neil Walker
3B Josh Harrison
SS Jack Wilson
OF Andrew McCutchen
OF Brian Giles
OF Jason Bay
SP Gerrit Cole

Explain the Pick: OF Jason Bay

The 2004 NL Rookie of the Year winner, Jason Bay put together impressive offensive seasons in 2005 (150 OPS+, 32 HR, 101 RBI, 21 SB) and 2006 (138 OPS+, 35 HR, 109 RBI, 11 SB) before he was eventually traded to the Red Sox in the three-team blockbuster deal that sent Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers.

Starling Marte and Bryan Reynolds were also strong candidates for a spot in the outfield with longer tenures in Pittsburgh.

Starting 9

C Nick Hundley
1B Adrián González
2B Jack Cronenworth
3B Manny Machado
SS Ha-Seong Kim
OF Fernando Tatis Jr.
OF Brian Giles
OF Ryan Klesko
SP Jake Peavy

Explain the Pick: C Nick Hundley

The Padres have not had a catcher make the NL All-Star team since Benito Santiago in 1992, and they have had 14 different Opening Day starters behind the plate over the last 25 years.

Defensive standout Nick Hundley led the way during that stretch with four starts, and he had a career year in 2013 when he hit .233/.290/.389 with 19 doubles, 13 home runs and 44 RBI.

Starting 9

C Buster Posey
1B Brandon Belt
2B Jeff Kent
3B Pablo Sandoval
SS Brandon Crawford
OF Barry Bonds
OF Hunter Pence
OF Mike Yastrzemski
SP Madison Bumgarner

Explain the Pick: 3B Pablo Sandoval

With 11.3 WAR through his first two seasons in San Francisco, Matt Chapman is well on his way to overtaking Pablo Sandoval as the top option at the hot corner, but he still has work to do.

During his initial seven-year run in San Francisco, Sandoval was a two-time All-Star and three-time World Series champion, and he hit .344/.389/.545 with six home runs in 39 playoff games.

Starting 9

C Cal Raleigh
1B John Olerud
2B Robinson Canó
3B Kyle Seager
SS J.P. Crawford
OF Ichiro Suzuki
OF Julio Rodríguez
OF Mike Cameron
SP Félix Hernández

Explain the Pick: 1B John Olerud

The Mariners signed John Olerud to a three-year, $20 million deal prior to the 2000 season, and over the life of that deal, he hit .296/.399/.467 for a 131 OPS+ with 14.0 WAR in 472 games. The gap between him and other first basemen like Ty France and Richie Sexson is a wide one.

Starting 9

C Yadier Molina
1B Albert Pujols
2B Kolten Wong
3B Scott Rolen
SS Edgar Renteria
OF Jim Edmonds
OF Matt Holliday
OF J.D. Drew
SP Adam Wainwright

Explain the Pick: 3B Scott Rolen

The Cardinals have a wealth of talent at third base, with Scott Rolen getting a narrow edge over Matt Carpenter and Nolan Arenado thanks to his well-rounded game and longer peak performance.

In 2004, he hit .314/.409/.598 for a 158 OPS+ with 34 home runs, 124 RBI and 9.2 WAR while winning Gold Glove honors.

Starting 9

C Mike Zunino
1B Carlos Peña
2B Ben Zobrist
3B Evan Longoria
SS Julio Lugo
OF Carl Crawford
OF Kevin Kiermaier
OF Randy Arozarena
SP David Price

Explain the Pick: C Mike Zunino

Catcher has been a black hole for the Rays since their inception as a franchise in 1998. Mike Zunino (2021), Wilson Ramos (2019) and Dioner Navarro (2008) each earned an All-Star selection, but their run with the franchise amounted to one standout season each.

Zunino's was the best of the bunch, as he posted a 136 OPS+ with 33 home runs and 3.7 WAR in 2021.

Starting 9

C Iván Rodríguez
1B Mark Teixeira
2B Ian Kinsler
3B Adrián Beltré
SS Alex Rodriguez
OF Josh Hamilton
OF Nelson Cruz
OF Shin-Soo Choo
SP Yu Darvish

Explain the Pick: SS Alex Rodriguez

It was extremely difficult to leave Michael Young off the Rangers team, and Elvis Andrus spent 12 years manning shortstop, but there's simply no ignoring what Alex Rodriguez did in his brief three-year stint with the team.

In his time in a Rangers uniform, he hit .305/.395/.615 and averaged 52 home runs, 132 RBI and 8.5 WAR before he was traded to the Yankees.

Starting 9

C Alejandro Kirk
1B Carlos Delgado
2B Aaron Hill
3B Josh Donaldson
SS Bo Bichette
OF José Bautista
OF Vernon Wells
OF George Springer
SP Roy Halladay

Explain the Pick: 1B Carlos Delgado

Carlos Delgado already had 667 games and three 30-homer seasons under his belt when the 2000s arrived, but he continued to rake throughout his time in Toronto, with a resume that still stands up to the rising stardom of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the time being.

Starting 9

C Wilson Ramos
1B Ryan Zimmerman
2B José Vidro
3B Anthony Rendon
SS Trea Turner
OF Bryce Harper
OF Vladimir Guerrero
OF Juan Soto
SP Max Scherzer

Explain the Pick: SP Max Scherzer

The Max Scherzer (189 GS, 92-47, 2.80 ERA, 1,610 K, 1,229 IP) vs. Stephen Strasburg (247 GS, 113-62, 3.24 ERA, 1,723 K, 1,470 IP) debate is a compelling one, and there is a case to be made for both of them.

Scherzer is the pick on the strength of his two Cy Young wins, but Strasburg has a World Series MVP trophy and a larger body of work.