Picking a ‘team of the decade’ for any sport is extremely challenging and requires a lot of statistical analysis as well as match watching to understand which players have been the best over a period of 10 years. Picking the three best players out of that team is even tougher but must be done in order to acknowledge the best of the best. The 2010s was a fantastic decade for baseball, and the following three players stood out among their class as the three best players of the past decade.
Mike Trout, CF
Mike Trout has quite possibly become the most recognizable name in the modern world of baseball, becoming one of those players that transcend the sport, to become a global sporting star.
Mike Trout, over his career, has won three MLB season MVP awards, seven Silver Slugger Awards for his excellent batting numbers at the base, as well as participating in eight all-star games, proving that over the last ten years he was undoubtedly one of the best players in the league, if not the absolute best.
The best thing about Mike Trout is that he is still relatively young for a sportsman, and at 30 years of age, will be looking to make the top three of the current decade as well.
Justin Verlander, RHP
Justin Verlander had a rollercoaster of a decade, throughout the 2010s, and it did not always look like he’d become the sporting superstar that he is today.
Back in 2014/15 it looked like his career had petered out, and that he would not reach the potential that experts had once assigned to him. It looked like he was on a downward spiral in terms of his career, and no one could have predicted the immense comeback he would have made in the last five years of the decade.
Verlander was traded to Houston, an started an upward trajectory so steep that he is not regarded as one of the best players of all time, cementing his name in baseball history. He is one of the few players to have a World Series Ring which is as awesome as landing a jackpot win at Grand Rush Casino.
Joey Votto, 1B
Joey Votto will not make many people’s top 5 of the decade lists, which underlines just how underappreciated of a player he is.
Votto is an underrated superstar who consistently performed at the highest level during the 2010s, racking up achievement after achievement throughout a stellar career. Votto was one of the best hitters, if not the best, throughout the last decade and he has the numbers to back up this claim.
His .428 OBP is by far the best in baseball over the past decade, and his value to his team cannot be understated. He might be forgotten by many fans over the next few decades as the sport continues to evolve but his numbers and influence will be felt in the sport forever.
