From now until November 13th you can vote for the top MLB stars to be included in the 2nd Annual All-MLB Team. This year is headlined by some of the same stars from last year’s team, but you will also find players you wouldn’t expect to be at the top of the MLB—that’s what happens with a shortened season. In this article, I will give you my predictions for the team, combing through stats from the 2020 season, hot streaks, and fan popularity.
1. Shane Bieber (CLE): Bieber is coming off one of the most electric seasons a pitcher can have. He seems to be the frontrunner for the AL Cy Young Award after leading the MLB in strikeouts, wins, and posting the lowest ERA of 2020. Bieber also had a strong pitching campaign from the beginning to the end of the regular season. He is undoubtedly the best pitcher in the league at this point.
2. Trevor Bauer (CIN): Bauer’s form came out of nowhere this season. In 2020, he threw for the 3rd most strikeouts with an even 100 and had a sub .80 WHIP. He will be a free agent in 2021, and has definitely proven he deserves the big bucks in the offseason, so it should be really interesting to see where Bauer ends up.
3. Yu Darvish (CHC): Darvish has come back into the spotlight after being a quiet 3rd man in the rotation for the past 3 years. The 4-time All-Star finished his 8th MLB season with a bang, posting his lowest career ERA (2.01) and producing his first positive win-loss record since 2017. Darvish was a single bright light in a struggling Chicago team.
4. Jacob DeGrom (NYM): The DeGrominator had an off year and still managed to post numbers that made him a Cy Young candidate for 2020. He led the National League in strikeouts (100), making it his second year in a row, and though his last couple of starts pushed his ERA higher than normal, he ended the year with a 2.38.
5. Gerrit Cole (NYY): After signing a massive 9-year, $324M contract (which runs up to 2028), Cole proved his worth to the team. Although, he should work on letting up runs, he excels at the long game. In 2020, he led the MLB in complete games (2) and led the American league with one shutout. I wasn’t sure if this superstar ace would flop in his first year in New York, but he lived up to the hype. He will have many more chances to prove his worth to NY fans.
Runner-ups: Kenta Maeda (MIN) 6-1, 2.70 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 80 K
Hyun Jin Ryu (TOR) 5-2, 2.69 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 72 K
Lucas Giolito (CWS) 4-3, 3.48 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 97 K
Aaron Nola (PHI) 5-5, 3.28 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 96 K
Dinelson Lamet (SD) 3-1, 2.09 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 93 K
Travis d’Arnaud (ATL): The 37th overall pick in the 2007 MLB Amateur Draft flipped his career over once he joined the Rays in 2019, showing enough promise to be signed to a 2-year, $16M deal by Atlanta. In his first season with the Braves, he batted .321, had a SLG % of .533, and hit for 34 RBI’s and 9 HR’s while getting on base 39% of the time. He was easily, without a doubt, the best offensive catcher in 2020.
Runner-up: J.T. Realmuto (PHI) .266 AVG, 11 HR, 32 RBI, 4 SB, .840 OPS
Freddie Freeman (ATL): 11-year Brave-veteran, Freddie Freeman, had himself another successful campaign, earning himself another Silver Slugger award and leading the MLB in runs (51) and doubles (23). Had the All-Star game happened this year, he would have made his 3rd consecutive appearance in the past 3 years, totaling 5 overall.
Runner-up: Luke Voit (NYY) .277 AVG, 22 HR, 52 RBI, .948 OPS
DJ LeMahieu (NYY): LeMahieu is another MLB veteran that has flipped the coin over, producing immensely for the Yankees ballclub. At the age of 32, he led the MLB in batting average for the second time in his career (.364) and led the American League in OBP (.421), OPS (1.011), and OPS+ (177). He is one of the top free agents in 2021 and has shown the Yankees that he needs to be a top priority signing, though he might sign elsewhere if the money is right.
Runner-up: Robinson Canó (NYM) .316 AVG, 10 HR, 30 RBI, .896 OPS
Manny Machado (SD): Mr. Miami hasn’t been his true self since he left the Baltimore Orioles and joined the National League. 2020 changed that. Machado batted .304, hit 16 HR’s, and had a SLG of .580.
Runner-up: José Ramírez (CLE) .292 AVG, 17 HR, 46 RBI, 10 SB, .993 OPS
Corey Seager (LAD): The 26-year old 2020 NLCS and World Series MVP is in the beginning of a hall of fame campaign. He batted for his 3rd highest career batting average (.307), hit 15 HR’s, and brought in 38 runs in 52 games during the regular season. As he is still going through arbitration for the next couple of years, the young shortstop looks to continue making a splash in the MLB.
Runner-up: Fernando Tatis Jr. (SD) .277 AVG, 17 HR, 45 RBI, 11 SB, .937 OPS
1. Mike Trout (LAA): The 10-year MLB veteran, 3x MVP, ROY, 8x All-Star, 8x SS, 2x AS MVP, and MLB Player of the Year is unarguably one of the best players baseball fans have seen this past decade. He missed the first week of the season due to the birth of his son, but still came out slugging with an .281 AVG, 17 HR’s, 46 RBI’s, and had 120 total bases. Trout has produced every year since joining the big-league ranks in 2011 and will continue to improve every year he is healthy.
2. Juan Soto (WAS): The 22-year old Childish Bambino made his debut in 2018 and has not let up since. In his three years in the majors, he has already totaled 69 home runs, and in 2020 alone, he led the National League in batting average (.351), and the MLB in OBP (.490), SLG (.695), OPS (1.185), OPS+ (212), and IBB (12). The young slugger has a bright future ahead of him with the Nationals.
3. Mookie Betts (LAD): While he added the 2020 Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards to his accolades, Betts is only getting started. The 28-year old right fielder recently signed a 12-year, $365M contract with Los Angeles as the Dodgers hope he replicate the impact Mike Trout has had for the other half of LA. He batted .292, hit 16 HR’s and brought in 47 runs, while stealing 10 bases this year.
Runner-ups: Eloy Jiménez (CWS) .296 AVG, 14 HR, 41 RBI, .891 OPS
Mike Yastrzemski (SF) .297 AVG, 10 HR, 35 RBI, 2 SB, .968 OPS
Wil Myers (SD) .288 AVG, 15 HR, 40 RBI, 2 SB, .959 OPS
Marcell Ozuna (ATL): “The Big Bear” hasn’t performed at his highest level since the 2017 season with the Miami Marlins. But in his first year with Braves, Ozuna went off and led the National League in HR (18), RBI (56) and total bases (145), and led the MLB in plate appearances (267). He had back-to-back 3-HR games in 2020 and is slated to be a top free agent in the 2021 class. He exploded both offensively and defensively this year and should get a big payday next season.
Runner-up- Nelson Cruz (MIN) .303 AVG, 16 HR, 33 RBI, .992 OPS
1. Nick Anderson (TB): In only his second year in the big leagues, Anderson made a splash with the Rays and helped propel their bullpen to the 2020 World Series. He had an ERA of 0.55(!) and recorded 26 strikeouts out of the 56 batters he faced in the regular season. Although he doesn’t have any accolades under his belt in the MLB yet, Anderson has a lot of room to improve with an already high ceiling.
2. Liam Hendriks (OAK): The 10-year MLB bullpen threat has been performing exceedingly well in his 5-year run with the Athletics. He was a big part of the reason the A’s knocked out the young slugging, AL Central Champions Chicago White Sox in the Wild Card Round of the 2020 MLB Postseason. This past season, Hendriks recorded 14 saves, 37 strikeouts, only letting up 14 hits against 92 batters and posting an ERA of 1.78. He is a free agent this offseason and will be a great addition to any team that has playoff hopes for 2021.
Runner-ups: Brad Hand (CLE) 16 SV, 2.05 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, 11.9 K/9
Trevor Rosenthal (SD) 11 SV, 1.90 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 14.5 K/9
