The 200 Greatest Major League Baseball Players of All Time, 2012 Ed. 1-10

The previous ten is here.

1.Babe Ruth RF/LHP Yankees 1914-35 
 180
 .319/.451/.715
 68-50
 OPS+206
 ERA+122
 MVPQ: 1917, 1932
 Elite: 1916, 1928, 1930
 Inner circle: 1919, 1920, 1921, 1923 (14 wins), 1924, 1926, 1927, 1931
 PA: 10,600
 IP: 1220 

2.Barry Bonds LF Giants/Pirates 1986-07
  172.6
  .307/.452/.636
   OPS+ 181
   MVPQ: 1991, 1995, 1997, 2000
   Elite: 1990, 1998, 2003,
   Inner circle: 1992, 1993, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2004
  PA: 12,600

  3.Willie Mays CF Giants 1951-73

   149.95
   .314/.400/.604
   OPS+ 155
   MVPQ: 1960, 1961, 1966
   Elite: 1955, 1957,
   Inner circle: 1954, 1958, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965
   PA:12,500

4.Walter Johnson RHP Senators 1907-27
  145.15
  394-204
  ERA+ 147
  MVPQ:1911
  Elite: 1916, 1918, 1919
  Inner circle: 1910, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915
  IP: 5900

5. Ty Cobb CF Tigers 1905-28 
    141.35
    .357/.425/.592
    OPS+168
    MVPQ: 1912,
    Elite: 1909, 1915,
    Inner circle: 1910, 1911, 1917
    PA: 13,060

6.Roger Clemens RHP 1984-07 Red Sox/Yankees
  138.6
  377-205
  ERA+ 143
  MVPQ: 1986, 1992
  Elite: 1987
  Inner circle: 1990, 1997
  IP: 4900

7. Hank Aaron RF Braves 1954-76
    135.5
    .319/.392/.604
    OPS+155
    MVPQ= 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1967
     PA: 13,940

8.Cy Young RHP 1890-11 Spiders/Red Sox
   133
   383-232
   ERA+138
   MVPQ= 1892, 1893, 1895, 1902, 1904, 1908
   Elite: 1901,
   IP: 5500

9.Honus Wagner SS Pirates 1897-17
   131.05
   OPS+ 150
   MVPQ:1901, 1903, 1904, 1909, 1912
   Elite: 1905, 1906, 1907,
   Inner circle: 1908
   PA: 11,750
   

10.Stan Musial LF/RF/1B 1941-63 Cardinals 
     124.75
     OPS+159
     .330/.416/.592
     MVPQ=1944, 1946, 1949
     Elite:1943, 1951
     Inner circle:1948
     PA: 12,700

And so it ends.  The top ten leaves catcher (Bench, Piazza on the first team; Dickey and Carter on the second) first base (Gehrig, Pujols on the first team; Brouthers and Connor on the second) and second base (Hornsby, Lajoie on the first team, Collins, Morgan on the second).

ARod is never going to catch Wagner; he solidly remains the best SS who ever lived; everyone else moves down; Vaughan and Ripken on the second team.   Third base stays the same - Schmidt and Mathews on the first team; Boggs and Chipper on the second.

Bonds and his 13 MVPQ seasons is solidly the best LF who ever lived. Williams is his backup; Musial and Henderson are on the second team. Mays and Cobb are the new center fielders, that bumps Mantle/Speaker to the second team (and DiMaggio off either squad which is madness)  Ruth and Aaron to the first team in right; Ott/Robinson now to the second team.

The arms in this section are Johnson/Clemens/Young in that order - and I think they're the 3 best pitchers who ever lived.

So, two active players on the all time 25 man roster, and Pujols has a chance to be the best first baseman who ever lived by the end of his career.  Piazza's bat makes him maybe a surprise result as the second best catcher of all time.  Four pitchers of recent vintage in the all time top 9: Clemens, Maddux, Pedro, Unit.

Gary Carter's the backup on the B squad, making him the best baseball player of all time I ever met; Chipper has now passed Brett to be the 4th best third baseman of all time.  Rivera's the active player on the B team, his limited use coupled with total dominance in that use makes him the most difficult rank.  Dropping Newhouser and going with only 8 pitchers in order to add DiMaggio would just make things too easy on all of us.

Team One

 C Bench
    Piazza

 
1B Gehrig
     Pujols
        

2B Hornsby 
     Lajoie
     

SS Wagner
     Rodriguez 
     

  3B Schmidt
        Mathews

   

LF  Bonds
      Williams
            

CF   Mays
        Cobb
    

RF  Ruth
       Aaron

  

 P W Johnson
     Clemens
     Young
   Alexander
    Maddux    
    Martinez
    Grove(L) 
   Mathewson
    Johnson (L)
    

   

Team 2

C Dickey
    Carter

1B  Brouthers
      Connor 
           
  2B  Collins
         Morgan

      

SS Vaughan 
    Ripken
     
     
3B  Boggs
      Jones
     

     
LF  Musial
      Henderson
     
   
CF  Mantle
      Speaker
      
        
RF Ott
      Robinson
                

P
  Gibson
  Walsh
  Rivera
  Nichols
  Seaver 
  Spahn(L)
   Hubbell (L)
   Clarkson
   Newhouser (L)