Thoughts on All-Decade team

ESPN.com recently released an "All-Decade" team for the NFL, and it got me to thinking: who would fill out an All-Decade team for the MLB? So I decided to put together a full 25 man roster, 5 OF's, 2 Catchers, 6 IF's, as well as 5 Starters, one long reliever, and 2 lefty specialists, one righty specialists, a setup man and a closer. No DH, because I have a team of living legends, anyone of them could be a DH. This turned out to be much more difficult than I thought it would be. Some picks were easy, some were quite difficult, but here we go.

Starting Lineup
1.) CF - Carlos Beltran - In the 90's, this choice would be easy. It was Griffey. But he didn't carry his magical production that far into the 2000's, so he's out. The other two best possibilities? Andruw Jones and Jim Edmonds. They are all terrific defensively, so it comes down to base-running and hitting. Andruw Jones at one time was the best hitter, but that quickly changed with the last two dreadful years. Edmonds had a few great years with the bat, but had a steep decline as the decade wore on, and was on the slower side. Carlos Beltran has been consistently excellent in every facet of the game from 2001-2008, and the other two can't say that.

2.) 2B - Chase Utley - Alfonso Soriano got some consideration here, but Chase Utley is close to what Alfonso was during his prime, and is a far superior fielder. Roberto Alomar did as well, but he isn't quite the hitter Utely is.

3.) 1B - Albert Pujols - Not even fair how good he is. I could write an essay on why he's the best hitter in this century other than Bonds. This man will go down as the greatest first-baseman ever.

4.) SS - Alex Rodriguez - I'm putting him here because he's the best shortstop that's ever played. I don't care that he plays 3B for the Yankees, he could out-field Jeter every day of the week easily.

5.)LF - Barry Bonds - In any other decade, a player of Manny Ramirez's ability would get this spot. He just happens to play the same position as the man who put up what is the greatest hitter since maybe Ted Williams.

6.) C - Mike Piazza - This maybe biased, but he's the greatest hitting catcher ever, and was still a productive through 2006. Pudge Rodriguez and Joe Maurer both had consideration here, but Pudge was never quite as good defensively as many made him out to be, and Mike Piazza wasn't bad behind the plate as many made him out to be (he was actually quite good at blocking pitches, framing, and pitchers enjoyed pitching to him).

7.) RF - Vlad Guererro - One of the most dangerous hitters in the game in the last 25 years. Pitchers hated pitching to him because he would swing ay anything-- and still hit it hard wherever it was put. Ichiro also received consideration for this spot, but he's just not in the same league as what Vlad was. Although to be fair, Ichiro's best seasons are better than Vlad's. Vlad's was just more consistently amazing over a longer period of time.

8.) 3B - Miguel Cabrera. Scott Rolen and Chipper Jones were both options here. Both left off because of their inability to stay on the field. Rolen also knocked for the decline in the last few years, although he's the best at the position defensively by a long shot.

1.) SP - Pedro Martinez - I could have gone with Randy here, with a perfectly defensible argument. However, Pedro's first five years of this decade might be the greatest ever five year stretch for a pitcher, when you consider the era he's played in.
2.) SP - Randy Johnson - Randy was unhittable in the first half of the decade, and unlike Pedro, remained a productive pitcher into the latter years of the decade.
3.) SP - Johan Santana - Pedro might have been the best pitcher in the first five years of the decade, but Johan's dominated the 2nd half of it.
4.) SP - Roy Halladay - Roy is a pitcher from another era. In a time where 6 complete innings pitched is considered a good length, Halladay sets the bar for durable starters.
5.) SP - Jake Peavy - Jake has filthy stuff, and has been quite dominant throughout the decade.

Long Reliever - Scot Shields. Gotta be Shields. He was a setup man and sometimes spot-starter, but he worked multiple innings often, which many other relievers with his type of numbers can't say.

Lefty Specialist 1 - Billy Wagner - Maybe not a lefty specialist, but those years before he got to New York were amazing. And he's left handed, and in recent years, he's seen an increase in differential of his righty/lefty splits.

Lefty Specialist 2 - Hideki Okajima - Again, not necessarily a "specialist," but he's left-handed and amazing. And throws great pitches without even looking at his target. I don't know how he does that.

Righty Specialist - Trevor Hoffman - Look at his righty/lefty splits the last few years. He's killed them.

Setup Man - Francisco Rodriguez - If I hadn't used Sheilds as my long man, he'd go here. Alas, I will dip into the closer pool again. Nathan? Wasn't that special as a set-up man. Gagne? Relievers are so volatile in nature, and he was absolutely volatile, even if he did have maybe the best two year stretch of a closer ever. Lidge is in the same department. That leaves us with K-Rod, who was absolutely brilliant as a setup man for Troy Percival before turning into a closer.

Closer - Mariano Rivera. Arguments can be made for Gagne, K-Rod, Wagner, Lidge, Hoffman, Nathan, and many others. But Rivera's been too good for too long to be overlooked for this team.

Bench
Joe Mauer - Tough choice between him and Pudge. Actually, not really. He's a better defender, and a better hitter.
Ichiro Suzuki - This team is kind of slow. Ichiro helps that.
Manny Ramirez - Possibly the best pure hitter of this generation.
Alfonso Soriano - Team's still slow, and Soriano fixes that, and he can play Left and Second Base.
Miguel Tejada - Can play all three infield positions other than 1st. Not too bad with the stick either.