Nelson Cruz Marquee

Nineteen seasons gave him 2,053 hits, 464 home runs, 1,325 runs batted in and a .274 average. He hit 22 home runs across his first four years and then 33 in 2009 alone. He led the American League in home runs in 2014 with 40 and in runs batted in in 2017 with 119, and he won four Silver Sluggers and seven All-Star selections.

The best of it came late. From 2014, when he left Texas at thirty-three, he hit 40, 44, 43, 39, 37 and 41 home runs in six consecutive seasons, for three different clubs. The power arrived in his late twenties and had not left at forty-one, when he hit 32 more.

He played for eight franchises and was a designated hitter for most of the second half. He was the most valuable player of the 2011 American League Championship Series with Texas and won the Roberto Clemente Award in 2021. He played his last game in 2023, at forty-three, and is not yet eligible for a ballot.