José Bautista Marquee

Through 2009 he had hit 59 home runs in five seasons as a spare part for five clubs. In 2010 he hit 54, led the American League, and did it again the next year with 43. Nobody has had that shape of career — the change came from a swing adjustment made in Toronto that he has explained the same way ever since.

Fifteen seasons gave him 344 home runs, 1,032 walks and a .247 average. He led the league in home runs twice and in walks twice, and was chosen for six All-Star teams. The walks are the underrated part: pitchers stopped throwing to him and he stopped chasing.

In the fifth game of the 2015 Championship Series he hit a three-run home run and threw his bat toward the Texas dugout, which is the image of him that lasted. He was in four organizations in his first season alone, in 2004. The writers gave him six votes of 385 in 2024.