Even at #7, I think Roger Clemens is underrated. He’s arguably one of the top five pitchers in baseball history. Yes, drugs played a role. But if they didn’t stop Barry Bonds from being #1, they shouldn’t have stopped Clemens from being #2.
The fact that Buster Posey landed in his mid-40s surprised me. I thought having him at No. 31 on my ballot was low, but I was higher than anyone else on the panel. His lack of longevity definitely hurt his cause. Griffey eventually developed a reputation for being injury-prone, and he even finished his career with more than twice as many plate appearances (11,304) as Posey (5,607). But the Giants catcher was certainly special for the limited time he played.
Frank Thomas, 27th, seems really low. I had him ranked 17th on my ballot and, at a minimum, I think he should be ahead of Manny Ramirez, Adrian Beltre, Mike Piazza, Ivan Rodriguez, John Smoltz, Roy Halladay and Bryce Harper, who are just ahead of him in the rankings. In his prime, he was arguably the most feared hitter in all of baseball and his combination of contact skills, batting discipline and power was unmatched.
Greg Maddux, who barely cracks the top 10 at #9, doesn’t seem right, guys. He’s behind Clemens WAR Of the pitchers on this list, only one has been accused of using performance-enhancing drugs. The argument I hear is that Maddux only won one of his four Cy Youngs in our post-1995 window, which is part of why I had him behind Randy Johnson on my ballot. But at least I had both in my top five.
