ClassicO wrote: ↑11 Jul 2025 09:34 am
rbirules wrote: ↑11 Jul 2025 08:58 am
Assuming current rules and years of team control the top of the draft probably includes . . .
Mays
Mantle
Trout
Ohtani
Ruth
A-Rod (notice any other infielders on the list?)
Bonds
Williams
Aaron
Cobb
Where would Oscar Charleston and Josh Gibson be drafted? When would a team take an infielder like Hornsby over an(other) OF coming off the board?
Given the benefit of hindsight my top three is probably Mantle, A-Rod, and Ohtani. Mantle over the other OFs because he was a CF (unlike Bonds, Aaron, and Williams), a switch hitter (unlike Trout), and his peak during the early years of team control are probably the highest (just ahead of Trout, Cobb, and Mays) whereas Mays passes him with better longevity. Ohtani is a more modern Ruth and has stuck as a pitcher longer. A-Rod, as mentioned is the only infielder on the list and having a five tool SS is very enticing.
Great post. I wonder as well about the great Negro League players. I've been to the Negro League HOF in Kansas City, and it opens your eyes to those players.
If you factor in both ability and propensities (prone to addiction or the like, lack of discipline, health, etc.), I have to go with Ohtani. He's such an athlete and does so many incredible things (54 HR and 59 SBs last year!). Like Ichiro, he played for years (5) in Japan.
Ruth is the closest insofar as hitting and incredible pitching, but we know his propensities (booze and other bad habits) robbed him of even more greatness. I don't adjust for the years in which they played -- it's not fair.
Mays is next for me - he could do it all and did so for decades.
Micky was an alcoholic and his body failed him (infantile paralysis that weakened his legs and osteomyelitis in 1947 that led to tons of leg and foot injuries).
Trout likewise could have been the greatest but for a body that failed him.
A-Rod is right there and I think he would have been a SS a much longer time if the Yanks had more wisely played him there. Again, he was a cheat so I notch him down.
Teddy Ballgame missed 747 games due to military service -- and wasn't good defensively or on the bases.
Bonds was a major cheat - and regardless of the times, that robs him of as much greatness.
I visited the Negro League HOF a few years ago, it was great!
As I said with my top three, I think in terms of talent, if they were all transported to today the three best talents are Mantle, Ohtani, and A-Rod. Would they make the same decisions now that they did in their careers? No idea. Would Mantle get the same injury? No idea. Ohtani has every skill (hitting, speed, pitching) you could want in a player, and the fact that he's also a pitcher outweighs playing corner OF or DH.
Mays and Mantle was a coin flip for me, probably because in these types of thought exercises it's easier to waive away Mantle's weaknesses, and he gains a lot, whereas Mays doesn't have weaknesses to waive away (he and Trout are both in my top 5 probably).
A-Rod's PED use aside (I don't think he was using in HS but I'll never know). If I'm looking at all these players as 17 year old prospects, a legit five tool SS is hard to overlook, even for a switch hitting CF, a two way unicorn.
I'd probably want to pick 3rd, 4th, or 5th so the decision is easier for me.
Edit: From what I've read Oscar Charleston would have been right in the conversation with Mantles, Mays, Cobb, and Trout as elite CFs. Josh Gibson might be as much of a unicorn as Ohtani or A-Rod given the demands of the catcher position and his ability to hit.
