Identifying the 10 Most Important Faces of MLB
How exactly does a player become one of the faces of his respective sport?
From on-field ability and playing style, to off-field marketability and personality, there are a cornucopia of factors that go into a player becoming one of the ambassadors of a sport.
With MLB icon Derek Jeter hanging it up after the 2014 season and another of the game's most recognizable stars in David Ortiz set to call it quits at the end of this year, we're undergoing a changing of the guard in baseball.
Luckily, the game is overflowing with young talent.
So who will carry the torch for the sport going forward? Who are the 10 most important faces of MLB, both now and in the future?
That's what we've attempted to answer here.
First, some parameters that determined who we considered:
- Age: Since our focus here is not only on the present but also the future of the sport, we stuck to players under the age of 30.
- Current skills and upside: While all 10 of the players we chose could already be considered stars, many of them are still in the process of reaching their full potential. These are not the 10 best players in baseball right now, but all of them have the potential to be in that conversation in the near future.
- Market size: Players in small markets don't receive the same level of attention nationally as their large market counterparts. That's just the business. Paul Goldschmidt is one of the best players in the game, but he often goes overlooked in Arizona. Mookie Betts is still establishing himself as a superstar, but he's he looks like the future face of the Boston Red Sox, one of baseball's marquee teams. Betts earned a spot on our list. Goldschmidt did not.
- Marketability: Along with market size, a player's overall marketability was also taken into account here. It's hard to be one of the faces of the sport if you don't get your face out there.
So with all of that in mind, here's my take on the 10 most important faces of Major League Baseball.
Honorable Mentions
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Position Players
- Jose Altuve, HOU
- Nolan Arenado, COL
- Xander Bogaerts, BOS
- Paul Goldschmidt, ARI
- Francisco Lindor, CLE
- Andrew McCutchen, PIT
- Buster Posey, SF
- Yasiel Puig, LAD
- Anthony Rizzo, CHC
Pitchers
- Chris Archer, TB
- Madison Bumgarner, SF
- Gerrit Cole, PIT
- Jose Fernandez, MIA
- Sonny Gray, OAK
- Stephen Strasburg, WAS
- Marcus Stroman, TOR
- Taijuan Walker, SEA
SP Chris Sale, Chicago White Sox
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Chris Sale is not your average MLB ace.
Look no further than the "word of the start" game he played back in 2014, when he would work one vocabulary word chosen by video coordinator Bryan Johnson in each post-game interview he did following a start.
You don't often hear words like "ubiquitous" or consternation" thrown around in an MLB locker room.
From his rapid ascent from college ball to an MLB bullpen and eventually into the starting rotation, to his unique mechanics and arm slot that have earned him the nickname "The Condor," Sale seemingly does everything a little bit differently.
It's hard to argue with the results, though.
Since becoming a starter in 2012, he's gone 60-37 with a 2.89 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 946 strikeouts in 838.1 innings, finishing sixth or higher in AL Cy Young voting each year.
His 2015 season was a disappointment of sorts, as he went 13-11 with a 3.41 ERA.
That was more an indictment of what was the worst defense in baseball last year, according to Fangraphs, than any fault of Sale's, as his 2.73 FIP and 11.8 K/9 were both tops in the American League.
This year, the 27-year-old looks like the early favorite to finally take home Cy Young honors.
Through seven starts, he's gone 7-0 with a 1.79 ERA and 0.77 WHIP, leading the way for a Chicago White Sox team that has exceeded expectations in the early going.
The Cubs may still be the biggest story in Chicago, but the market is big enough for Sale to get plenty of attention of his own on the South Side.
3B Manny Machado, Baltimore Orioles
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Mike Trout versus Bryce Harper.
It's become the popular debate in baseball circles as the two young superstars battle for the title of best player on the planet.
On the periphery of that conversation is Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado, but he's quickly making a case to be a central part of the debate as well.
"What I am saying is that when you look at what Manny Machado has become offensively and combine it with what he has always been defensively, there’s no way you can exclude him from The Conversation," wrote Eddie Matz of ESPN.com.
Still just 23 years old himself, Machado put his injury woes behind him and exploded offensively last season to post an .861 OPS with 30 doubles, 35 home runs, 86 RBI, 102 runs scored and 20 stolen bases.
That significant jump in offensive production, coupled with his usual stellar defense at the hot corner that netted him his second Gold Glove award, added up to a 7.1 WAR.
Machado has been even better in 2016.
Through 31 games, he's hitting .365 with 10 home runs and 23 RBI while leading the American League in hits (46), doubles (15), on-base percentage (.424), slugging percentage (.722), OPS (1.147), total bases (97) and WAR (2.6).
If the season ended today, it would be a toss-up between Machado and Robinson Cano for AL MVP honors, and if the Baltimore Orioles are going to make a serious push for the AL East title it will be Machado who leads the way.
He may not have the same national exposure as Trout and Harper just yet, but Machado checks all the boxes when it comes to being one of the next faces of the sport.
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RF Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins
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When scouting amateur players, scouts grade their five tools—hit, power, speed, arm, fielding—on a 20-to-80 scale.
Somehow, an 80-grade just doesn't seem to do justice the type of awe-inspiring power Giancarlo Stanton possess.
Heck, even a 100-grade might not cut it.
Every time Stanton steps into the batter's box, it's an event. Fans around the league know that with one swing of that bat, he could hit a ball to previously unexplored parts of whatever ballpark he happens to be playing in.
Consider the following collection of tidbits from ESPN Stats and Information following a 490-foot blast he hit earlier this month:
"It was the second-longest home run in the major leagues in the time that Stanton, who made his debut in 2010, has been a major leaguer. The only longer home run was a 494-foot shot -- also hit by Stanton – in August 2012 at Coors Field.
Stanton’s home run Friday was the longest in the majors this season by 19 feet.
The 490-footer was the longest home run in the history of Marlins Park, which opened in 2012.
This was Stanton's 31st home run calculated at 450 feet or longer. In the time that he has been in the major leagues, only three teams have more home runs of that length.
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His power is simply on another level, and there's still nothing fans love more than the long ball.
The issue for Stanton is his health, as the tight-end-sized outfielder with the cannon arm and explosive bat has been far from invincible during his time in the league.
As long as he can avoid the disabled list going forward, the 26-year-old remains one of the players who is worth the price of admission all by himself.
SP Noah Syndergaard, New York Mets
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With an imposing 6'6" frame, a flowing mane of hair, one of the best nicknames in baseball and arguably the nastiest repertoire of stuff in the game there are a lot of reasons to consider Noah Syndergaard as the future face of baseball on the pitching side of things.
The New York Mets cup runneth over with good, young starting pitching and last year it was the one-two punch of Jacob deGrom and Matt Harvey that led the way.
All the while, it was clear that rookie Noah Syndergaard was something special in his own right.
A 9-7 record with a 3.24 ERA, 1.047 WHIP and 10.0 K/9 was good enough to earn him a fourth-place finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting, and that was just scratching the surface of his vast potential.
The 23-year-old has taken that next step in his sophomore season, and you can already make a compelling argument that he's the best pitcher in the best rotation in baseball.
It's that unearthly stuff that Thor has seemingly brought down with him from Asgard that makes him one of the game's fastest-rising superstars.
His fastball is currently clocking at an MLB-best 97.8 mph, and he pairs that with a devastating slider that averages 91.7 miles per hour.
According to Brooks Baseball, Syndergaard has thrown his slider 130 times this year.
Opponents have swung at it 61.5 percent of the time, whiffed 34.6 percent of the time and managed a grand total of four hits—all singles.
There are power pitchers and then there's whatever Syndergaard is.
When you can throw your fastball north of 100 and it's not even your best pitch, we've reached unfair territory.
SS Carlos Correa, Houston Astros
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Heading into the 2012 MLB draft, most experts had the Houston Astros taking Stanford right-hander Mark Appel with the No. 1 overall pick, while Georgia high school outfielder Byron Buxton was viewed as the top all-around talent.
Instead, the Astros grabbed a 17-year-old shortstop out of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy.
Spencer Fordin of MLB.com wrote the following on the day he was selected:
"Houston shocked the industry by selecting prep infielder Carlos Correa with the first pick, and general manager Jeff Luhnow admitted that the Astros didn't settle on their choice until the final hour.
"
Initially, some viewed this move as a financially motivated one.
Correa wound signing for $1.2 million less than Buxton who went to the Minnesota Twins at No. 2 overall, while Appel returned to school for his senior year after slipping No. 8 overall due to his own high asking price.
With that extra money, the Astros were able to sign No. 41 overall pick Lance McCullers to an above-slot deal, essentially giving them two first-round talents.
Looking back now, it's clear Correa was the right choice regardless of any outside factors.
He burst onto the scene last year at the age of 20, and in a matter of weeks worked his way into the No. 3 spot in the lineup for a contending Astros team.
He finished the season with an .857 OPS, 22 home runs and 68 RBI, edging out Francisco Lindor for AL Rookie of the Year honors.
They've taken a step back so far this year, but the future remains incredibly bright for the Astros. That makes their budding young superstar, who's drawn comparisons to a young Alex Rodriguez, one of the emerging faces of baseball.
SP Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
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Despite settling for a third-place finish in NL Cy Young voting last year, Clayton Kershaw remains the first name out of most people's mouths when talking about the best pitcher in baseball.
And rightfully so.
Over the past five seasons, he's gone 88-33 with a 2.11 ERA, 0.933 WHIP and 1,249 strikeouts in 1,128 innings of work.
During that span, he's taken home four ERA titles, two strikeout titles, three NL Cy Young Awards and 2014 NL MVP honors.
Even last season, when he took a backseat to Jake Arrieta and teammate Zack Greinke, he was still brilliant, with a 2.13 ERA and 0.881 WHIP, while becoming the first pitcher since 2002 with 300-plus strikeouts in a season.
"Clayton Kershaw is still the best pitcher on the planet, and he’s only getting better," read a headline from Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post last September.
He's absolutely right, and that's the scary part.
Kershaw is always tweaking his game, trying to stay on top. He's become a different pitcher from the one who first broke into the league, throwing his curveball less and his slider more, although both pitches remain devastating.
He doesn't rely on elite velocity and has stayed relatively healthy throughout his career, so there's no reason to think we can't expect more of the same well into his 30s.
Kershaw may not be as flashy as someone like Syndergaard, but he's still the best pitcher in the game and one of the sports' most recognizable figures.
RF Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox
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Barring a change of heart, David Ortiz is headed for retirement at the end of the season.
Ortiz has been not only the face of the Boston Red Sox but one of the faces of Major League Baseball dating back to his 2004 postseason heroics when he helped bring a World Series to the Boston Red Sox for the first time in 86 years.
Now it's time for him to pass the torch, and waiting to take it is 23-year-old Mookie Betts.
Bleacher Report's Zachary Rymer wrote the following about Betts as the potential heir to Ortiz in an article this past offseason:
"It's one thing to be great, and another thing to be entertaining. The latter word fits Ortiz just as well as the former. His legacy consists of not just his big numbers and his World Series rings, but also his all-time great flair for the dramatic and his epic bat flips and home run trots. Never mind what he did. Nobody's ever going to forget how he did it.
Betts isn't going to copy Big Papi's special brand of entertainment. But he's shown he can be entertaining in his own way, mainly because he's not exactly casual in the application of his many talents. There's energy in Betts' game, and on any given day it can lead to one or more "Did you see that?!" moments.
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After posting a 2.1 WAR over the course of a 52-game audition in 2014, he entered last season with lofty expectations and absolutely lived up to them.
An .820 OPS was accompanied by 42 doubles, 18 home runs, 77 RBI, 21 stolen bases and 10 defensive runs saved, all of which added up to a 6.0 WAR that ranked seventh among AL position players.
That's the full toolbox, folks.
"That kid is an unbelievable athlete," Ortiz told Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston during the offseason. "It's a no-doubter he's going be a superstar."
It would appear Red Sox nation will be in good hands, post-Papi.
3B Kris Bryant, Chicago Cubs
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Kris Bryant wasn't just the latest "can't miss" prospect for a franchise whose fan base remembers all too well the likes of Felix Pie, Josh Vitters and Brett Jackson.
He was the embodiment of everything the franchise had been working toward since Theo Epstein and Co. took office.
He was the symbol of a team in transition, of a team that was finally ready to turn 100-plus years worth of pages and make a serious run at a World Series title.
Bryant made his MLB debut on April 17 last year, and the Wrigley Field faithful greeted him with a standing ovation every time he approached the batter's box.
He would finish the game 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, but it didn't matter.
The excitement in the stadium that day was palpable, and that enthusiasm hasn't slowed down in the days, weeks and month since as Bryant has emerged as one of the game's elite young stars.
Now the Chicago Cubs are the best team in baseball, and while you can certainly argue that Jake Arrieta and Anthony Rizzo are the team's best players, Bryant is still that symbol of the next chapter on the North Side.
He's also an awfully good player in his own right.
The 24-year-old has all the tools to be a perennial MVP candidate for years to come, is just scratching the surface of his offensive potential and is an incredibly marketable figure to boot in one of the largest markets in the sport.
All of that makes him one of the most important figures in the league today.
CF Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels
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Since authoring one of the best rookie seasons in MLB history back in 2012, Mike Trout has been the consensus choice for best all-around player in baseball.
Rattling off his statistical achievements doesn't do his game justice, as he's really one of those guys you have to watch to fully appreciate.
Built like a linebacker and blessed with a rare mix of power, speed and overall athleticism, Trout is a generational talent.
However, with the Los Angeles Angels recent struggles, a popular storyline has been the team's perceived wasting of the best player in the game's prime, and whether that could eventually lead to him being traded.
Buster Olney of ESPN wrote the following on the subject:
"Already there are tweets and columns constructed around the idea that the Angels should trade Mike Trout, who, early in his career, has climbed the career trajectory of players such as Mays, Aaron and Mantle, and barring injury, he appears destined to be an all-time great.
So they should never, ever, ever seriously consider trading him, unless he informs the Angels he will not, under any circumstances, re-sign with them when he becomes a free agent after the 2019 season.
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A Trout trade would absolutely rock the MLB landscape, and that speaks to his importance in the game today.
Whether he does in fact wind up traded in the near future or plays out his current deal with the Angels through the 2020 season, Trout is one of the faces of the sport right now and undoubtedly one of its most important players.
RF Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals
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Living up to Sports Illustrated dubbing you "Baseball's Chosen One" as a 16-year-old high schooler is no easy feat, but Bryce Harper is doing just that.
The prodigy arrived on the scene in our nation's capital at the age of 19, and took home NL Rookie of the Year honors with an .817 OPS, 22 home runs, 18 stolen bases and a 5.1 WAR in 139 games.
Injuries limited him in his next two seasons, though.
Fans and fellow players alike were quick to call baseball's next big thing overrated, as more than a few people saw a good player who would simply never live up to the hype.
Then 2015 happened.
Harper overhauled his approach at the plate, increasing his walk rate from 9.6 to 19.0 percent, and an offensive explosion ensued.
A 1.109 OPS was accompanied by an NL-best 42 home runs and a 9.9 WAR, and just like that he went from overrated to elite.
So what did he do with that newfound credibility?
Immediately make waves in an interview with Tim Keown of ESPN The Magazine during this offseason:
"Baseball's tired.
It's a tired sport, because you can't express yourself. You can't do what people in other sports do. I'm not saying baseball is, you know, boring or anything like that, but it's the excitement of the young guys who are coming into the game now who have flair.
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The thing is, he's absolutely right.
One of the biggest challenges facing the sport right now is finding a way to attract the next generation of baseball fans, and Harper is exactly the headliner to do that.
Mike Trout may still be baseball's best player, but Harper is its most important.
All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs, unless otherwise noted.
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