Presenting the Guardians' All-Quarter Century Team, the best in Cleveland since 2000

New York Times

a day ago

Editor's note: The Athletic is marking 2025 by naming an MLB All-Quarter Century Team, selected by Jayson Stark. We invited readers to take our survey and make their picks for the best players at each position since 2000, with the results announced in an upcoming story. Some of our beat writers are picking All-Quarter Century Teams for the teams they cover. Check this page to find all of our All-Quarter Century Team coverage.
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CLEVELAND — An exercise like this tends to spark debate, but in sifting through the names and numbers of Cleveland's finest over the past quarter-century, one thing became apparent: This one's pretty straightforward. There was a brief internal debate over a couple of spots, but for the most part, the answers were obvious. The choices highlight the different eras of Cleveland baseball since 2000, from the twilight of the powerhouse '90s teams to the up-and-down Eric Wedge tenure to the lean years under Manny Acta and the Terry Francona days. There are Hall of Famers, elite talents with unparalleled peaks and future Hall of Famers on this roster. There's also Casey Blake.
Without further ado …
Stats: .297/.369/.463, 103 home runs, 18.2 fWAR from 2002-09
Martinez cried when Cleveland traded him to Boston in 2009. He can take solace, 16 years later, in the fact that he spent enough time with the franchise — and supplied ample oomph in the middle of Eric Wedge's lineups — to land the starting catching spot on the All-Quarter-Century Team. He was a three-time All-Star with the Indians, a switch-hitting catcher with a smooth swing that usually produced a .300 average, 20-some homers and 30-some doubles.
Stats: .288/.418/.602, 141 home runs, 17.6 fWAR from 2000-02, 2011
There's an argument to be made for Carlos Santana, if you prefer longevity over peak, since this exercise limits Thome to his final three seasons in Cleveland (well, and that five-week stretch at the end of the 2011 season, when his back was being held together with toothpicks and Elmer's glue). Consider those three seasons for Thome, though, and try to argue against him occupying this space.
2000: .269/.398/.531 slash line, 37 homers, 33 doubles, 118 walks (132 OPS+)
2001: .291/.416/.624 slash line, 49 homers, 26 doubles, 111 walks (170 OPS+)
2002: .304/.445/.677 slash line, 52 homers, 19 doubles, 122 walks (197 OPS+)
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That 2002 season, his last before he left for Philadelphia, is one of the best offensive showings in team history. Yeah, every hitter put up gaudy statistics in those years. But the OPS+ indicates Thome was still head and shoulders above most of his peers. Santana's best OPS+ in a full season is 136. Thome's 52 homers are a single-season record for a Cleveland hitter. That year, he led the AL in walks, slugging and OPS.
Stats: .261/.333/.417, 123 homers, 20.5 fWAR from 2011-19
Asdrubal Cabrera has a case to start here, too. Their numbers are nearly identical (Cabrera's slash line was .270/.331/.410), and both were twice All-Stars, but we'll give the nod to the guy who spent far more time at second base. José Ramírez is riding a 21-game hitting streak, and it's the first 20-gamer by a Cleveland player in a decade, since … Jerry Sands. Just kidding. Kipnis went bonkers at the plate in the first half of the 2015 season, with 51 hits in May and a 20-game streak in June.
Stats: .285/.346/.488, 138 homers, 30.6 fWAR from 2015-20
Lindor ranks second, behind his former partner on the left side of the infield, in fWAR among position players since 2000. In Cleveland, Lindor was a four-time All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner and a shortstop who always seemed destined for the spotlight of a big market.
Stats: .280/.353/.505, 264 homers, 53.5 fWAR from 2013-25
By the end of next season, he might have twice the fWAR total of any other position player on this list. By the end of his career, he could be the franchise leader in home runs, RBIs, doubles, hits, runs and airborne helmets. You know, just as everyone predicted when he broke into the big leagues as a pinch-running specialist and then struggled at the plate for two seasons.
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Stats: .295/.351/.430, 87 homers, 20.0 fWAR from 2009-18
The final piece in the return for CC Sabathia, Brantley sprouted into a hitting savant who could roll out of bed and bat .300. If he wasn't sidelined with a shoulder injury in 2016, would Cleveland have topped the Cubs in the World Series? Brantley was a three-time All-Star and finished third in the AL MVP balloting in 2014, when he posted a .327/.385/.506 slash line with 20 homers, 45 doubles and 200 hits, the only 200-hit season by a Cleveland batter since 1997.
Stats: .269/.357/.473, 139 homers, 30.3 fWAR from 2004-11
Oh, what could have been. From 2005-08, Sizemore was a five-tool center fielder who hit homers, piled up doubles, drew walks, swiped bases and played award-winning defense. He was a treat to watch. And then injuries derailed his career. That peak is enough to earn him a starting spot in this lineup, but when Sizemore's name is mentioned, it's hard to resist wondering what sort of numbers he might have produced had he stayed healthy.
Stats: .292/.383/.469, 83 homers, 20.4 fWAR from 2006-12
There's not a ton of competition here. Manny Ramirez left after the 2000 season. Juan Gonzalez starred for only one year in right. On the fWAR leaderboard for Cleveland right fielders this century, Casey Blake and Lonnie Chisenhall follow Choo. Then, Ramirez and Gonzalez for their lone seasons. Next on the list? Franklin Gutierrez.
Stats: .278/.382/.509, 200 homers, 22.3 fWAR from 2002-12
Hafner hit in the center of Cleveland's lineups for a long time, but let's zero in on his peak, because, frankly, he doesn't receive enough attention.
MLB's OPS leaders, 2004-06:
1. Barry Bonds: 1.213
2. Albert Pujols: 1.070
3. Travis Hafner: 1.030
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So, that's maybe the most prolific hitter of all time, then the most prolific hitter of a generation and then unquestionably the most prolific hitter to be nicknamed Pronk.
That three-year run did the heavy lifting for Hafner's career, as shoulder issues sent him spiraling, but what a glorious reign that was.
2004: .311/.410/.583, 28 homers, 41 doubles
2005: .305/.408/.595, 33 homers, 42 doubles
2006: .308/.439/.659, 42 homers, 31 doubles
Santana, Cabrera and Gomes are locks, because of their longevity and production and because, on this make-believe roster, they actually fit specific roles. That leaves one spot for a host of candidates. We'll tab Blake, who was better than you think (.266/.337/.451 slash line, with defensive versatility), but Steven Kwan could very well be the answer in a couple of years … or weeks. Imagine that pestering bat off the bench. (Oh, and his Gold Glove defense.) Jhonny Peralta, Coco Crisp, Ellis Burks and Edwin Encarnacion received consideration, too.
Stats: 3.16 ERA in 1,341 2/3 innings, 34.6 fWAR from 2011-19
The ace of this staff is the only guy in team history with two Cy Young Awards. In terms of overall franchise lore, he might be the only pitcher in Bob Feller's stratosphere. If Game 7 of the 2016 World Series unfolded differently, there would probably already be a statue of Kluber looking out at traffic on E. 9th Street with the same unflinching, stoic gaze he offered every time he took the mound (or spoke with reporters). During his five-year peak from 2014-18, he and Max Scherzer were in their own league, in terms of workload and effectiveness.
Stats: 3.83 ERA in 1,528 2/3 innings, 30.2 fWAR from 2001-08
Sabathia is entering the Baseball Hall of Fame this summer as a New York Yankee, but the first chapter of his big-league career should be studied, not skimmed. He won the AL Cy Young Award in 2007, was a three-time All-Star and, for seven and a half years, he was a workhorse who rarely missed a start. He has stressed how much he regrets pitching poorly during the 2007 postseason.
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Stats: 4.01 ERA in 1,117 innings, 19.0 fWAR from 2002-09
Lee had his moments outside of the 2008 season — he finished fourth in the AL Cy Young Award voting in 2005 — but that award-winning 2008 campaign was a masterpiece. He walked more than two hitters in only three of 31 starts. He allowed more than two earned runs in only nine of 31 starts. He went at least six innings in all but four starts (and lasted at least five in every one). He never finished a start with a season ERA higher than 2.58.
Stats: 3.22 ERA in 843 innings, 21.5 fWAR from 2018-24
And, finally, it's the fourth Cy Young Award winner of the century, and the fifth winner coached by Carl Willis. There's still time for Bieber to pad his Cleveland résumé, one that shines even though he's missed significant chunks of three of the past four seasons because of injuries. Bieber is the only All-Star Game MVP on this team.
Stats: 3.91 ERA in 1,346 innings, 25.3 fWAR from 2009-20, 2024
Only Sabathia made more starts or piled up more innings than Carrasco, who emerged — after a few years of inconsistency and injuries — as the centerpiece of the Lee trade. From 2014-18, he was a steady Robin to Kluber's Batman.
Stats: 1.82 ERA in 312 innings, 9.0 fWAR from 2021-25
There are a few options here, but we have to go with the guy who became the club's all-time saves leader at the age of 26. Clase had a 1.36 ERA in 2022, and that's his third-best ERA in his four full seasons in Cleveland. He has led the American League in saves each of the past three years and even with some early-season struggles in 2025, he still boasts a sub-2.00 ERA in his career.
Miller was only in Cleveland for two and a half years, but it only took two and a half months for him to leave a lasting impact on the organization. His performance in the 2016 postseason was the stuff of legend, a 6-foot-7, slider-slinging android sent from Planet Whiff to destroy every hitter in his path. And he'd be the first to tell you that his dominance that October was made possible because of Allen's ability to cover the ninth (and sometimes the eighth). Betancourt and Rafael Perez formed a dynamic late-inning tandem for Eric Wedge. Wickman and Chris Perez often made the ninth inning a recovering smoker's nightmare, but they do rank third and fifth, respectively, on the team's all-time saves list. Speaking of stress-inducing relievers, Bryan Shaw totaled six seasons with an ERA between 2.59 and 3.52. Honorable mention to David Riske, Vinnie Pestano, Brad Hand, Paul Shuey and, eventually, I'm sure, Cade Smith.
(Top photo of Jim Thome: Getty Images)