Baseball has been around since the late 1800’s and there have been so many great names to play the sport. Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Bob Gibson, Mickey Mantle, Honus Wagner, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, I can go on and on about some of the greatest players to ever play the game but we always bring up these names when mentioning “The Greatest of All Time”. Then there are some great players that get forgotten and lost in the shuffle. Players that were really great on the field and even had some great seasons in baseball. Some players even played over 15 - 20 years in baseball and they get underappreciated. I have been watching baseball since I could walk, since I could talk to be honest and I have watched many baseball players that I thought was really good but yet were forgotten about overtime. Some of these players are even Hall of Famers and yet they rarely get talked about because there were so many great names to play on the field or in the certain position. So I am going to rank my top 10 underrated baseball players of all time. Some of these players are even currently playing today and some recently retired the last few years. If I missed a baseball player you thought was underrated then comment below any names I missed. Alright let’s get on with this list and rank my Top 10 Underrated Baseball Players of All Time.
My Top 10 Underrated Baseball Players of All Time
10. Eric Chavez (1998 – 2014) – Eric Chavez was a 3rd baseman for the Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks. The 2000’s was where Eric Chavez shined as he was one of the top 3rd baseman in baseball, but the problem was the other big names in the position. There are many reasons why Eric Chavez is underrated and its pretty crazy to think that from 2000 – 2006 Chavez was a top 5 3rd baseman. During those 7 seasons he averaged 25 homeruns, 94 runs batted in and .273 batting average. But he wasn’t known to be a big power hitter, he was a great at getting on base and he was mostly great at fielding. From 2001 – 2006 Eric Chavez won the Gold Glove award at 3rd base for the American League and he continued to be a great fielder for the rest of his career. However from late 2007 through the rest of his career Chavez was plagued with many injuries and was on the disabled list a lot. However when he was healthy he was consistently getting on base and fielding perfectly at 3rd. The one issue of why he is so underrated was because he wasn’t constantly healthy as his health began to take away his playing time on the field. The other reason why he is underrated is because he was playing during a time where there were many great 3rd basemen. Alex Rodriguez, Chipper Jones, David Wright, Miguel Cabrera and Aramis Ramirez were some of the best 3rd basemen during the 2000s and they were all consistently getting picked for All-star games, winning silver sluggers and overshadowing the better fielding/hitting 3rd basemen, like Chavez. It also didn’t help that Chavez in his long career never made it to an All-Star game, which is shocking considering he had some great years in the early 2000’s. Chavez had a career fielding percentage of .970 and a career on base percentage of .342. Sure he wasn’t the most amazing player in the game but he was a guy you can give the bat to or put in the field and he will make sure to give you 110 %. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl3bn9KZXJ0
9. Jeff Kent (1992 – 2008) – Kent played in the era of Steroids where players like Barry Bonds, Mark Mcgwire, Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr. and Albert Belle stole the spotlight for hitting huge amounts of homeruns. Now while hitting homeruns are great, Jeff Kent could do almost everything in baseball. He was a good fielder, he was really great at making contact with the ball and getting on base and he consistently would hit extra base hits. Jeff Kent is a 5 time All-Star and won the NL MVP in 2000 and played for the Mets, Indians, Giants, Astros and Dodgers in his 17 year career in baseball. Kent played in a time where there were so many great names around him. Kent knew how to consistently get on base and be useful on the field. He has without a doubt had one of the best careers at 2nd base and can be considered a top 10 2nd baseman of all time but the problem is the fact that he played in years where guys like Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez and former teammate Barry Bonds were getting more of the spotlight. Kent leads all 2nd baseman in homeruns with 377 and is 21st in all time career doubles among all baseball players with 560 doubles. Kent also has had 8 seasons where he had 100 plus runs batted in, 12 seasons of hitting 20 or more homeruns and he never had a season where he hit less than 10 homeruns. The guy was a terrific power/contact hitter but he gets lost in the shuffle when talking about the great 2nd basemen of all time. Guys like Craig Biggio, Roberto Alomar, Joe Morgan, Ryne Sandberg all get mentioned before Kent and the crazy part is it’s because they are Hall of Famers. Kent is coming into his 8th year in the Hall of Fame ballot and he has never gotten anywhere higher than 20 % of the vote, which is crazy because he is a defiant Hall of Famer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLBTygrS1iQ
8. Tommy John (1963 – 1989) – The man named for the worse surgery to get if you are a pitcher, Tommy John, played for 26 seasons in the major leagues. He played for the Indians, White Soxs, Dodgers, Yankees, Angels and Athletics. Tommy John has 288 career wins in his career, which is 26th all time and 8th for left handed pitchers. He also has 188 career no decisions, which is an MLB record. So why is he considered underrated? Tommy John had some great seasons with the Dodgers and Yankees and he was more of a quality starting pitcher. He was the pitcher you go to get innings so you can save your bullpen. The problem with Tommy John was the era he was playing in baseball. Tommy John was playing during the time where some big name pitchers were getting more attention including Ron Guidry, Steve Carlton, Don Sutton, Tom Seaver, Catfish Hunter, Jim Palmer and Nolan Ryan. Tommy John was in the middle of those big name pitchers of the 70’s and early 80’s and John was the most underrated one of that bunch. The craziest part about John’s career was that he never won the Cy Young award ever in his career, and he had a few great seasons in which he could have been considered the Cy Young winner including 1977 when he went 20 – 7 with an ERA of 2.78 or 1979 when he went 21 – 9 with a 2.98 ERA. Tommy John might not be a strikeout pitcher or a pitcher to give the ball too during an important game but he sure knew how to pitch well in an Era where there were some big home run hitters and hard hitting batters. I mean they named a surgery after him because he was the first person to get the surgery but at the same time that’s not something to gloat about. Still he was a great pitcher that can put up some incredible numbers.
7. Scott Rolen (1996 – 2012) – I mentioned how Eric Chavez was one of the best 3rd basemen of the 2000’s and was underappreciated even though he was a great fielder and got on base a lot. Well Scott Rolen is right up there with him and had a really decent career himself. Rolen played with the Phillies, Cardinals, Blue Jays and Reds in his career and has many awards around his name. Rolen won the NL Rookie of the Year in 1997, has been voted into the All-Star game 7 times, won the Silver Slugger in 2002 and is a 8 time Gold Glove winner at 3rd Base. Talk about one hell of a career. He is in my opinion one of the greatest 3rd basemen of all time and should be a Hall of Famer. But why was he underrated? Rolen was never remembered for his bat and more for his glove, but the man had an amazing swing and knew how to get the big hits for every team he was in. He came up clutch in tie games, big games in the playoffs and even in games that meant nothing, but for Rolen he was one of the best hitting 3rd basemen during his time. He has over 2000 career hits, 316 career homeruns, 1,234 career runs batted in, and a lifetime batting average of .281. To some that is some decent numbers, nothing great, but to an average baseball player that follows the game and pays attention to stats and analytics, it’s a team’s dream to get a player like him. Rolen always was getting on base in some way and while his fielding percentage is .968, he rarely threw errors and was clutch on the field. So he was clutch with the bat and clutch with the glove, why was he so underrated and undervalued? Rolen had a few bad season in his career but also got injured a lot in the end of his amazing career, hence why his career numbers are lower than what you expect. Rolen also played at a position that had many valuable names and in an era that had many stars. He got lost in the shuffle like most players did. Rolen does have a great chance to be in the Hall of Fame as last year he got 33.5 % of the vote, which was a huge increase from his previous year in 2018. Rolen will always be one of my favorite 3rd basemen to ever play the game and I hope once he gets in the Hall of Fame he gets more appreciation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVHwwfAJkeM&t=67s
6. Brett Gardner (2008 – present) – This one is a personal preference but I can defend this statement, Brett Gardner is one of the most underrated players that is still playing today. Brett Gardner has been playing for the Yankees since he debuted with the team back in June 2008. While he isn’t the most dominant player on the field for the team, he comes up clutch in games when they need a big hit, he has great speed on the bases and on the field and he is one of the most reliable players on the team. Brett career started slow but after 2010 his numbers became pretty impressive. He led the league in stolen bases in 2011 and in triples in 2013. In 2014 Gardner’s power numbers soared as he hit 17 home runs, doubling the 8 home runs from the previous year. The next season was where Gardner became a key figure in the team as he made it into the All-Star game and even though he had a rough 2nd half of the season he still finished the year with 16 homeruns, 66 runs batted in and a .259 batting average with 20 stolen bases. Gardner after the 2016 season became a shocking power hitter hitting 21 homeruns in 2017 and then a career high of 28 homeruns in 2019. Now he’s not normally known as a power hitter hence why I said he comes up clutch when the Yankee’s need a big hit. And even though he doesn’t steal as much bases like he did in his early years he has reinvented himself with being more of a power hitter/clutch batter rather than being a stealing base/contact hitting player. I mean you need to give the guy credit the man is the longest tenured Yankee right now and with the bat and the glove he can get the job done and he get’s underappreciated. Yankee fans know how great Brett Gardner is and how great of an outfielder he is, but most MLB fans will pick Mike Trout or Mookie Betts over Gardner and yet they really don’t come up clutch in at bats when the team needs a big hit, Gardner however does. Not saying both those players aren’t great because they are really great outfielders, but Gardner’s work on the field gets undervalued most of the time and it’s kind of sad, especially knowing he has been around the league for a long time. Hell I even consider him the Yankee Captain as this point because of how well he has done over the years. He doesn’t have the greatest numbers but if you put him on your team I guarantee you he will be clutch when you least expect it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hBg3QB2lkI
5. Mark Buehrle (2000 – 2015) – This was one of my favorite pitchers to watch and draft in fantasy baseball. Mark Buehrle is one of those pitchers you know you can get a great game from. He has played for the White Sox, Marlins and Blue Jays and has won 4 straight Gold Gloves from 2009 – 2012 and has made 5 All-Star games. He is mostly known for throwing two no hitters, one being a Perfect Game. The reason why he is underrated is the fact that he was pitching during a time where there were more dominant pitchers in the league. Now Buehrle was dominant as well but he wasn’t a strikeout pitcher and didn’t have the greatest ERA all time. But in his 15 seasons of major league play, Buehrle had only one season where he only had less than 10 wins and 200 innings pitched and that was because it was his rookie year and he pitched mostly in the bullpen. He was one of those pitchers that will get you a quality start and also throw 6 or more innings each start. He wasn’t like C.C Sabathia or Roy Oswalt and striking out batters but he was getting the job done each time he pitched. Buehrle never won a Cy Young in his career, which isn’t a bad thing since one of the great pitchers Nolan Ryan never won one either and he was a huge dominant pitcher. Buehrle was just stuck in the middle of a class of pitchers that were just as good as him but were recognized more. He has 218 career wins with a career 3.81 ERA and pitched over 3,200 innings. Buehrle is a future Hall of Famer, no question, as he has some great numbers and was one of the best pitchers during the 2000’s and even in the 2010’s. Only the future will tell for Buehrle but I know this man will make it into Cooperstown. I watched him growing up and even had to watch him defeat my Yankees but in the end of the day he is one of the most respected baseball players of all time and could of gone a few more years if he didn’t retire at the age of 36. He could have had over 250 career wins and possible over 4,000 innings pitched. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEIwnQZcwPM
4. Jim Edmonds (1993 – 2010) – The mid 90’s and early 2000’s had some of the best players at centerfield. Ken Griffey Jr., Bernie Williams, Kenny Lofton, Tori Hunter, Johnny Damon, Andruw Jones, Carlos Beltran and of course our 4th entry on the list Jim Edmonds. Jim Edmonds played for the Angels, Cardinals, Padres, Cubs, Brewers and Reds. He is a 4 time All-Star, 8 time Gold Glover and won the Silver Slugger in 2004. Edmonds is considered one of the greatest centerfielders of all time, but yet is never mentioned or talked about ever. His career started slow while he was in the Angels but he soon progressed to a great young outfielder. However once he joined the Cardinals he became a top tier centerfielder that was unbelievable with the glove and had amazing power with the bat. His career was rapidly slowing down soon after he left the Cardinals but he was still performing pretty well. Defensively he is one of the best centerfielders to ever play the game, offensively he had great numbers, including the 2004 season where he hit 42 homeruns, had a .643 slugging percentage, had a .301 batting average, 111 runs batted in and came in 5th place for the MVP voting. Injuries bothered Edmonds his last few years in baseball but he still managed to perform well on the field. In 2015 he was eligible to be voted into the Hall of Fame ballot but only got 2.5 % of the vote, removing him from the ballot completely after not making enough votes in his first year in the ballot. If Edmonds stayed healthy throughout his final years in the big leagues, he could have been a Hall of Famer, but he had a really great career regardless. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UlNZtu0AUc
3. Paul Konerko (1997 – 2014) – First base has some of the greatest hitters to ever play the game. Lou Gerhig, Albert Pujols, Frank Thomas, Jeff Bagwell, Jim Thome, Todd Helton, Jimmie Foxx are some examples of great First Basemen. However there is then the former Chicago White Sox captain, Paul Konerko. Konerko played for the Dodgers, Reds and White Sox and he is a 6 time All-Star. Unlike the other First Basemen I listed before, Konerko was underappreciated throughout his long career. For starters he had shoes to fill when he took over the captain spot as he had to become the leader of the recently won 05 World Series team. Plus he had shoes to fill after Frank Thomas left the team in 2005. Konerko dominated at the plate, hitting .279 in his career with over 2,300 career hits and 439 career homeruns, but he also as dominate with the glove as he had a .995 career fielding percentage. The fact that he only received 2.5 % in his first year in the ballot for the Hall of Fame in 2020 is disgusting. The man is a Hall of fame name and yet is not eligible to be elected into the Hall of Fame now, which to me is the most disrespectful thing for this man. Konerko came up clutch when the White Sox needed a big hit and he was the guy that gained the trust from not only the team, but the fans to put his bat in the box and get a base hit or homerun when it was needed. I mean the man was dominating at the plate for many years and yet people can’t give him enough love in the ballot and that’s why I feel like he is underrated. I am a big Konerko fan, always choosing him over Pujols in fantasy drafts and I mean he always came up clutch in the points when I needed it. Konerko was the White Sox top player for many years and gained the respect from the Chicago fans and many baseball fans and yet he never ever won big awards like MVP, a Silver Slugger, etc. He won the MVP in the ALCS in 2005 but it’s not the same to be honest. Konerko will go down as one of the most underrated players in baseball history and in my mind the most underrated first basemen in baseball history. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwHfaksFIDQ
2. Mike Mussina (1991 – 2008) – Mike Mussina is one of those amazing pitchers that never won a World Series, never won a Cy Young and still had an amazing career. So amazing that he was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Moose was one of the greatest starting pitchers during his playing time but like most players on this list he was not as appreciated as the other greats. Now Mussina pitched in two big decades of pitching and was in the middle of these great pitchers. I mentioned already the greats in the 2000’s with Buehrle, but in the 90’s there was so much more phenomenal pitching. Clemens, Glavine, Smoltz, Maddux, Johnson, Pettitte, Martinez, Cone, etc. Now imagine playing during the 90’s against those goats, and yet Mussina was included in that class of pitching and he was filthy. He became the ace for the Baltimore Orioles real quick and helped their team make the playoffs in multiple occasions. Even when he first arrived with the Yankees he was one of their aces as after 2003 when Pettite and Clemens left he had to pick up the pieces and become the Yankees top starting pitcher. Now he has had multiple bad seasons with the O’s and Yanks but he always proved that he was a great pitcher. Not only was he a great pitcher, but he was amazing with the glove. Mussina is a 7 time Gold Glove winner and was considered at the time of his career one of the best fielding pitchers ever in the history of baseball. Mussina also could never throw a perfect game/no hitter as not everyone can say they threw a perfect game but in 5 separate occasions he almost threw a perfect game. Talk about bad luck on the mound, but he never really had bad luck as while he had some bad seasons he always was able to win at least 10 or more games a season. His final season in the league was probably one of his best as he for the first time ever won 20 games in the season and was a Cy Young contender as well. In his career Mussina had 270 career wins, 2,813 career strikeouts and a career ERA of 3.68. His numbers weren’t always the greatest but the man knew how to pitch well. He is one of those pitchers that was amazing on the mound but yet never really get talked about as much. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEafQEPB7iU
1. Rod Carew (1967 – 1985) – Rod Carew was a first ballot Hall of Famer in 1991 getting 90.5% of the vote to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He has over 3000 career hits and a lifetime batting average of .328. So why is he underrated? Well to tell you the truth when it comes to great baseball players of all time, Carew gets pushed under the carpet. Carew had an amazing career in baseball, was one of the best hitters in the game during his time and won many awards during his time. Carew is a former Rookie of the Year, MVP and made the All Star team 18 times. He is also a 7 time AL batting champion in his career, leading the league in Batting Average 7 times. The award would later be named after him and he is 2nd in the most batting championships, just a few short from Ty Cobb. You would think a great ball player like Carew wouldn’t be underrated but sadly he is. Carew wasn’t a power hitter like most great hitters and he wasn’t the best fielder, all he was known for was getting hits and getting on base. That was his thing, he got you hits, gave you many runs and played the best that he can and believe me he was one of the best on the field. Here are some examples of his biggest accomplishments getting undervalued. He won the Rookie of the Year in 1967, but people talk about Tom Seaver’s rookie season more that year because he would go on to be one of the greatest pitchers ever. Now let’s talk about the 1977 season for Carew as he won the MVP. In a season where he hit .388 and had 239 hits, 14 homeruns, 100 runs batted in and scored 128 runs, his best season in his career, he doesn’t get enough attention. Jim Palmer’s 20 win season and Reggie Jackson’s first year in the Yankees gets more talk than a man who almost hit .400 and could of broke records. That’s what I mean when I say Rod Carew is underrated because he doesn’t get enough appreciation because there is a bigger topic or player doing something more unique in the league. Carew is even underappreciated in the Hall of Fame as he made it in during his 1st year in the ballot so you would think that’s a big thing to talk about but bigger names like Griffey Jr, Jeter, Ripken, Rivera and I can go on and on and on with this, Carew would still be forgotten because I am listing legends. Carew is a legendary name however that really doesn’t get enough love and it’s pretty sad to be honest because he is one of the greatest players to ever play the game. The first time I was introduced to him was Adam Sandler’s Hanukkah song because Carew is a converted Jew. The fact that a parody song introduced me to Carew and not baseball itself proves my point on why he is the most underrated player ever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_NjnnDc3Qg
Honorable Mentions: Edwin Encarnacion (2005 - ) – Edwin Encarnacion is still playing today and at the age of 37 he is one of the best power hitters in baseball. In fact his best years came after he turned 29 years old and for almost a decade Encarnacion hit 30 plus homeruns for 8 straight seasons. I feel like he gets forgotten a lot knowing that there are superstars like Mike Trout, Aaron Judge and Nolan Arenaldo also hitting for power as well and getting more of the attention. At the moment Encarnacion has 414 career homeruns and he could possibly end his career with over 500. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rec62LOygXI
Tim Hudson (1999 – 2015) – A 6th Round pick back in 1997, many people didn’t think Hudson was going anywhere. He proved those people wrong by becoming one of the best starting pitchers of the 2000’s. He has 222 career wins and a winning percentage above .600. He is a defiant Hall of Famer and not many people remember him as being the ace of both the Oakland A’s and Atlanta Braves. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A6s_ARtlkM
Magglio Ordonez (1997 – 2011) – Not many people remember this but Ordonez was one of the best players of the beginning of the new millennium. He was hitting for average, getting a lot of home runs and just being a MVP contender from 1999 – 2003. He did have a few seasons filled with injuries but the man knew how to get on base and hit. He has over 2,000 career hits and 294 career homeruns. He’s one of the most forgotten names in baseball that was actually really good.
Anthony Rendon (2013 - ) – Anthony Rendon is now heading into his prime of his career at age 30 and has only been playing baseball for 7 years. For what it’s worth he is really underrated, probably the most underrated player in baseball today. In his 7 year career Rendon has placed top 15 in the MVP voting 4 times, 3 of which were in the top 10. He just signed a huge contract with the Angels and of 7 years and $245 million so get ready to see the name Rendon everywhere in baseball. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHqXe47pxqk
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