Five Players Who Stood Out This Decade

With the exception of 2011 and 2016, at least one Latino won a major baseball award each season this decade. It started with the Seattle Mariners’ Felix Hernandez winning the 2010 American League Cy Young Award and ended with Yordan Álvarez of the Houston Astros as the AL Rookie of the Year.

Miguel Cabrera dominated the headlines in the first half of the decade while fellow Venezuelan José Altuve shone in the second half along with Astros teammate Carlos Correa, the Indians’ Francisco Lindor and the Cubs’ Javier Baez.

Then you had the kids – Gleyber Torres, Ronald Acuña, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis, Jr., and Álvarez stealing the headlines in the last two years.

Here are the five Latino players who stood out the most in Major League Baseball this decade:

Miguel Cabrera

The Venezuelan slugger earned seven All-Stars berths and five Silver Slugger Awards this decade, but that’s hardly the most impressive part of Miguel Cabrera’s resume.

Cabrera won two American League MVP Awards and four batting titles while also leading the AL in batting average, home runs and runs batted in, in 2012 to win baseball’s first Triple Crown since 1967.

Robinson Canó

No Latino ballplayer had a higher WAR this decade than Robinson Canó, who earned seven All-Star berths and two Gold Gloves in the last 10 seasons.

The 15-year veteran earned all but one of his eight All-Star berths this decade. He posted a 55.2 WAR, according to BaseballReference.com this decade.

Adrián Beltré

Although he played only nine seasons this decade before retiring after a 21-year-career, Beltré posted an impressive 51 WAR in those nine seasons.

The stellar third baseman finished his career with 3,166 hits to likely secure his place among the immortals in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He earned all four of his career All-Star berths this decade.

José Altuve

He overcame three 100-loss seasons to eventually help the Astros finish the decade with three consecutive 100-win seasons. He won the 2017 AL MVP Award while guiding the Astros to their first World Series title that year.

Altuve also posted a 38.5 WAR with five Silver Slugger Awards, six All-Star berths and three batting titles.

Yadier Molina

The veteran catcher established himself as one of the most respected and beloved leaders in baseball. He became the face of the St. Louis Cardinals’ organization and the revered leader of Puerto Rico’s World Baseball Classic team.

He earned eight All-Star berths and seven Gold Gloves while posting a 32.1 WAR this decade.

He also worked his magic while guiding the Cardinals’ and Puerto Rico’s pitching staffs.