Who are the best MLB players at each position off the top of your head

[atomic]

Without using WAR totals or looking up lists on the Internet who do you think are the best players at each position.  I was curious how close I would be to getting a list of great players without looking at statistics or reading articles and how accurate they would compare to statistics.  So off the top of my head:

Catcher: Johnny Bench

First Baseman: Lou Gehrig

Second Baseman: Joe Morgan

Shortstop: Ozzie Smith

Third Baseman: Brooks Robinson

Right Field:  Hank Aaron

Centerfield Willie Mays

Left Field: Barry Bonds

Starting Pitcher: Roger Clemens

Relief Pitcher:  Mariano Rivera

[ArtVanDelay]

Catcher: Bench

1st base: Jimmie Foxx

2nd base: Rogers Hornsby

Shortstop: Honus Wagner

3rd base: Mike Schmidt

OF: Bonds, Ruth, Aaron

DH: Edgar Martinez

SP: Roger Clemens

RP: Mariano Rivera

[Can_of_corn]

Ouch no Williams.  Docking the poor guy due to military service?

[backwardsk]

15 minutes ago, ArtVanDelay said:

Catcher: Bench

1st base: Jimmie Foxx

2nd base: Rogers Hornsby

Shortstop: Honus Wagner

3rd base: Mike Schmidt

OF: Bonds, Ruth, Aaron

DH: Edgar Martinez

SP: Roger Clemens

RP: Mariano Rivera

I’d go with a lot of this.  I’d swap Mays for Aaron.  Though mostly an OFer,  I’ll go with Musial at first, just to get him in there.  Feller for Clemens. 

 

[backwardsk]

4 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Ouch no Williams.  Docking the poor guy due to military service?

Williams better than Bonds?  Not sure about that.

[ArtVanDelay]

7 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Ouch no Williams.  Docking the poor guy due to military service?

Over Hank Aaron?  It’s close.

I guess you could put him at DH, but I wanted to put a guy who actually played DH.

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, backwardsk said:

Williams better than Bonds?  Not sure about that.

 

2 minutes ago, ArtVanDelay said:

Over Hank Aaron?  It’s close.

I guess you could put him at DH, but I wanted to put a guy who actually played DH.

Either over Aaron or at DH. 

I don't think it's close if Williams doesn't go off and fight in two wars.

[atomic]

2 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Ouch no Williams.  Docking the poor guy due to military service?

Mays missed two seasons for military duty as well.  Plus he is a centerfielder which I am not sure how well Ruth would do in Center but I am guessing not well. 

[Frobby]

5 hours ago, atomic said:

Without using WAR totals or looking up lists on the Internet who do you think are the best players at each position.  I was curious how close I would be to getting a list of great players without looking at statistics or reading articles and how accurate they would compare to statistics.  So off the top of my head:

Catcher: Johnny Bench

First Baseman: Lou Gehrig

Second Baseman: Joe Morgan

Shortstop: Ozzie Smith

Third Baseman: Brooks Robinson

Right Field:  Hank Aaron

Centerfield Willie Mays

Left Field: Barry Bonds

Starting Pitcher: Roger Clemens

Relief Pitcher:  Mariano Rivera

I’ve read so much and looked at stats so much that any list I give wouldn’t really be “top of my head.”    But offhand I’d go:

1B - Gehrig

2B - Hornsby

3B - Schmidt

SS - Wagner

LF - Bonds 

CF - Mays

RF - Ruth

C - Bench

SP - W. Johnson

RP - Rivera 

My biggest qualm was putting the steroids freak Bonds over Ted Williams.    But if we’re going strictly on performance and ignoring what they did to achieve it, Bonds wins.    

PS - LOL, I just looked at the career WAR list and it’s almost exactly my list if you take the top WAR at each position.   If you considered ARod a 3B he’d top Schmidt, but he split his time.
 

 

[Can_of_corn]

Bit surprised no one is saying Trout.

[atomic]

4 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Bit surprised no one is saying Trout.

If Trout career ended tomorrow he would not belong in this list for sure.  There is no way you could rate him above WIllie Mays career at this point.  

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, atomic said:

If Trout career ended tomorrow he would not belong in this list for sure.  There is no way you could rate him above WIllie Mays career at this point.  

Yeah, it’s just way too soon to pick Trout.   If he plays another 6-7 years without slipping much, he’ll start to enter the conversation.    But Mays sets a very high bar.    Cobb’s another CF who’s right up there.  

[Can_of_corn]

5 hours ago, Frobby said:

Yeah, it’s just way too soon to pick Trout.   If he plays another 6-7 years without slipping much, he’ll start to enter the conversation.    But Mays sets a very high bar.    Cobb’s another CF who’s right up there.  

I'm a believer in the quality of play increasing over time .  I'm confident Trout would be just fine in center.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

I'm a believer in the quality of play increasing over time .  I'm confident Trout would be just fine in center.

I agree the quality of play generally improves over time.    But I’m judging players against their peers in the context of when they played.    

[DrungoHazewood]

On 2/5/2020 at 12:50 AM, Frobby said:

Yeah, it’s just way too soon to pick Trout.   If he plays another 6-7 years without slipping much, he’ll start to enter the conversation.    But Mays sets a very high bar.    Cobb’s another CF who’s right up there.  

The question was "who are the best players at each position?".  It wasn't "who had the best overall careers at each position?".  I could make the case that Trout's top, say, five seasons are about as good as anyone's top five seasons and that puts him on the list.  What he does in his 30s doesn't change the fact that he was nearly a 10-win player in his 20s.

Taking that just a little farther, I could construct a case that at his best Al Rosen was one of the greatest third baseman of all time.

There will always be a subjectivity to what greatest means.  Career or peak?  Or some mix of each, and just what mix?