After the 2019 Major League Baseball season, some all-decade teams have been speculated. Of course, there are different opinions on what players should make the rosters, but if everyone agreed on the same roster, it could get boring. Some may even go as far as saying the decade should count as 2011-through-2020 while others say 2010-through-2019. Either way, here is a potential all-decade team for the American League West from the years 2010-through-2019.
(This includes a starting lineup [with a DH,] a pitching rotation and two bullpen pitchers.)
Note: The Astros joined the American League West in 2013.
Lineup
1.) Jose Altuve (2B)
Team: Houston Astros (2011-Present)
Astros second-basemen Jose Altuve is in the lead-off spot on this list. In his first nine seasons with Houston, he has a career slash line of .315/.364/.463. Altuve had a stretch of four seasons from 2014-through-2017 where he had at least 200 hits each year. This includes 2017 when he won the AL MVP and had a line of .346/.410/.574.
2.) Mike Trout (CF)
Team: Los Angeles Angels (2011-Present)
Mike Trout has played in nine MLB seasons so far and has already accomplished more than numerous MLB players accomplish in their entire career. He has four runner-up finishes for AL MVP, and he won the award three times. He has seven Silver Slugger awards along with eight consecutive All-Star games. Trout’s career line so far is .305/.419/.581 with a 1.000 OPS.
3.) Adrian Beltre (3B)
Team: Texas Rangers (2011-2018)
Adrian Beltre joined the Rangers in 2011 and finished his career there in 2018. In his regular-season career with Texas, he hit .304/.357/.509. He hit 199 homers, 239 doubles and had 699 RBIs. One of his best seasons there came in 2012. That year, he hit 36 home runs, 33 doubles and had 102 RBIs. Beltre finished third in the AL MVP voting that season behind Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout.
4.) Nelson Cruz (DH)
Teams: Texas Rangers (2006-2013) Seattle Mariners (2015-2018)
Six-time All-Star Nelson Cruz spent time with both the Texas Rangers and the Seattle Mariners. In 2010 with Texas, Cruz slashed .318/.374/.576. He made the All-Star game in 2013. That year, he hit hit 27 homers, 18 doubles and had 76 RBIs. Cruz joined the Mariners in 2015 and had one of the best seasons of his career. He hit a career high 44 home runs, made the All-Star game and finished sixth in the AL MVP voting.
5.) Josh Hamilton (LF)
Teams: Texas Rangers (2008-2012; 2015) Los Angeles Angels (2013-2014)
Josh Hamilton won American League MVP in 2010 with the Rangers. He had a slash line of .359/.411/.633 with a 1.044 OPS that year. He also had 75 extra-base hits, made the All-Star game and won a Silver Slugger award in 2010. Hamilton played four seasons with Texas in the 2010s. He hit 108 home runs, 110 doubles and had 347 RBIs.
6.) George Springer (RF)
Team: Houston Astros (2014-Present)
George Springer has shown some consistency so far in his career with the Astros. In his first six seasons with Houston, he has a career line of .270/.361/.488. He made his first All-Star game in 2017. That season, Springer hit 34 homers, 29 doubles and had an .889 OPS. Springer made his third consecutive All-Star game in 2019.
7.) Albert Pujols (1B)
Team: Los Angeles Angels (2012-Present)
Although his numbers are down compared to his stats with the Cardinals, Albert Pujols still had some productive numbers with Los Angeles. He played in eight seasons with them so far, having a line of .258/.314/.450. In those eight seasons, Pujols has 211 homers, 206 doubles and 746 RBIs. One of his best seasons with L.A. came in 2012 when he hit 30 home runs and 50 doubles.
8.) Elvis Andrus (SS)
Team: Texas Rangers (2009-Present)
Although Elvis Andrus does not hit a ton of home runs, he has still provided the Rangers with both offense and defense during his career. He spent all 10 seasons of the 2010s with Texas. During those 10 seasons, Andrus had 1,595 hits, 281 doubles and 589 RBIs. The shortstop also made two All-Star games. In 2017, Andrus had a career high 68 extra-base hits with 44 of them being via doubles.
9.) Mike Zunino (C)
Team: Seattle Mariners (2013-2018)
Mike Zunino slashed .207/.276/.406 in six seasons with the Mariners. He had many career highs in 2017. The catcher hit 25 homers and 25 doubles that year, which are both career highs. His 97 hits and 52 runs scored are also career bests. Zunino’s slash line of .251/.331/.509 in 2017 are also all career highs. He hit 20 homers and 18 doubles the following season.
Pitching Rotation
1.) Felix Hernandez
Team: Seattle Mariners (2005-2019)
Felix Hernandez pitched 15 seasons with the Mariners. He made his debut at just 19-years-old. In 2010, he won the American League Cy Young award. That year, Felix posted a 2.27 ERA and faced a league high 1,001 batters. A few years later in 2012, he threw a perfect game. It was on August 15 against the Rays in Seattle. Hernandez was runner-up for the AL Cy Young award in 2014 when he posted a career low 2.14 ERA.
2.) Dallas Keuchel
Team: Houston Astros (2012-2018)
Dallas Kuechel won the American League Cy Young award in 2015. That year, he faced the most batters in the league at 911. He struck out 216 of them while walking 51 in 232 innings pitched. His ERA in 2015 was 2.48. In the seven seasons that he pitched with the Astros, he posted a 3.66 ERA, a 1.250 WHIP and recorded 945 punch outs.
3.) Yu Darvish
Team: Texas Rangers (2012-2014; 2016-2017)
In 2012, Yu Darvish finished third for AL Rookie of the Year. He had a 3.90 ERA and 221 strikeouts that season. He had even better stats the next season. In 2013, he was the runner-up for the AL Cy Young to Max Scherzer. That year, Darvish had a career best 2.83 ERA and 277 strikeouts. The 6-foot-5 right-hander also made his third consecutive All-Star game in 2014.
4.) Jered Weaver
Team: Los Angeles Angels (2006-2016)
Despite having a rough last few seasons of his MLB career, Jered Weaver had a stretch from 2009-through-2014 where his ERA was below 4.00 in each of those seasons. His three career All-Star games came in 2010-through-2012. In those same three years, Weaver finished in the top five for the AL Cy Young award. He was runner-up to Justin Verlander in 2011.
5.) Justin Verlander
Team: Houston Astros (2017-Present)
Justin Verlander hasn’t been on the Astros for very long, but he’s still had numerous outings that put Houston in a spot to win the game. He was traded to the Astros in 2017, so 2018 and 2019 are his first two full seasons with the club. In those two years, Verlander finished runner-up and won an AL Cy Young award. He won it last season in 2019 where he posted a 2.58 ERA and a 0.803 WHIP.
Bullpen
Sean Doolittle
Team: Oakland Atheltics (2012-2017)
Through six seasons with the Athletics, Sean Doolittle had a 3.09 ERA. He also recorded 300 strikeouts in 253 innings pitched while he was with Oakland. In 2013, Doolittle pitched a career high 69 innings. The southpaw recorded a 0.957 WHIP and a 124 ERA+. He made the All-Star game in 2014. That season, he had a 2.73 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 62 2/3 innings pitched.
Edwin Diaz
Team: Seattle Mariners (2016-2018)
Edwin Diaz pitched in just three seasons with the Mariners, but they were pretty productive overall. He finished fifth for AL Rookie of the Year in 2016. Diaz had a 2.79 ERA along with 88 strikeouts that year. He made his first All-Star game in 2018. That season he pitched a career high 73 1/3 innings. He also posted a 1.96 ERA and had 124 strikeouts.
Feature Image Courtesy of Fox Sports 2.
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