Legacies - Which current players will be all-time legends

With all the Hall of Fame discussion recently, there's always a lot of talk about the borderline players and whether they are deserving.

This got me thinking about modern players but not so much about those borderline players. I've been thinking about which modern players will be viewed as all-time great players. I'd guess there are probably no more than 5-10 such active players maximum, but I thought it would be fun to discuss who are already there and who may be on their way.

For me the absolute locks are:
Derek Jeter
Ichiro
Albert Pujols
Miguel Cabrera
(Alex Rodriguez - although it's hard to tell what his legacy will ultimately be)

After those there's a significant gap in my mind. We don't seem to have too many players (other than maybe Miggy) who are in the middle of their careers, but we have a bunch of younger guys who are way to early to have too much confidence in, but have shown signs.

For me those are:
Mike Trout
Clayton Kershaw


There are a few others who I might be able to get there if they take one step up (any of these guys could reasonably end up with a HOF career, but in my mind they are not in the category of players who are upper echelon guys.)
Justin Verlander
Buster Posey
Joe Mauer
Joey Votto
Ryan Braun (similar boat to Alex Rodriguez, though the fact he is earlier in his career means there is more time for people to decide if they want to forgive...)

One way to think about it is through Baseball References comparables. Guys like Pujols and Cabrera have names like Hank Aaron. Guyes like Ryan Braun have Magglio Ordonez.

What do you think?

Like your top 4

I pretty much agree that your locks are about the only ones as of today that will/may have a legacy that carries on as a great

Jeter - I don't see ever having an issue

Pujols - I think right now people forget how good he is/was , but when he retires he's gonna be mentioned with the greats of all time

Ichiro - I really don't know how big , I think he will struggle to be mentioned on a consistent basis when talking about the greats after he retires. I honestly never thought of him as a player in the top tier

Miggy - Although his offensive stats will stack up with some of the best ever , because he lacks "star power" somewhat , he might not get the respect he deserves

ARod - A guy that played his hand wrong and it will be a long time before he is looked at for what he was able to accomplish. This is the guy that into the early 2000s , I was thinking we were watching one of the top 5 of all time. He's gonna be battling the bad PR for a long time

** Depending on how his last few years play out , I think David Ortiz may have some sort of legacy that stands. Because he is personable and I think his numbers will stack well , he's a guy that I think could be mentioned as at least a top tier hitter for a long while

Ryan

Huh?

RStadlerASU22 said:

Ichiro - I really don't know how big , I think he will struggle to be mentioned on a consistent basis when talking about the greats after he retires. I honestly never thought of him as a player in the top tier

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10 consecutive 200 hit seasons in his first 10 mlb seasons! Current .319 lifetime BA. 242 hits and a .350 in his "rookie" season and 262 hits in a single season while batting .372 4 years later. What does a guy have to do to impress you?

Miggy has no star power? Back to back MVPs and a triple crown with a WS ring. That sounds like star power to me and he is still going as strong as ever. One guy I think should join the maybe list is (humor me) Fielder. He was the protection for three straight MVPs. For the first time in his career he will be the one protected this year by Beltre. I think Fielder COULD post 60 HRs and take the MVP this year in Texas


Ogando, Michael Young, Leonys Martin and all Texas Rangers

Also I don't think Verlander is anywhere close. King Felix is the pitcher that comes to mind in the AL for me but on such a bad team for so long he needs the team to improve to get the wins up (however stupid that is)


Ogando, Michael Young, Leonys Martin and all Texas Rangers

Bootstraps9 said:

Miggy has no star power? Back to back MVPs and a triple crown with a WS ring. That sounds like star power to me and he is still going as strong as ever. One guy I think should join the maybe list is (humor me) Fielder. He was the protection for three straight MVPs. For the first time in his career he will be the one protected this year by Beltre. I think Fielder COULD post 60 HRs and take the MVP this year in Texas


Ogando, Michael Young, Leonys Martin and all Texas Rangers

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We're arguing different points , Miggy in the baseball world has star power To the "common" person IMO have no idea who he is. He has basically no marketing in the US and isn't someone like Jeter w/ instant name recognition.

I guess I took the OP a different way to mean a legacy that matters outside the baseball world. That may not be what he meant , but that's what my opinions were based on.

Ryan

mrmopar said:

Huh?

10 consecutive 200 hit seasons in his first 10 mlb seasons! Current .319 lifetime BA. 242 hits and a .350 in his "rookie" season and 262 hits in a single season while batting .372 4 years later. What does a guy have to do to impress you?

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I wasn't stating that he wasn't a great hitter. When I stated I wasn't sure how big his legacy would be , that was in reference to the outside of baseball world. I think he struggles w/ lack of "sexy" stats , HRs/RBIs etc.

Ryan

RStadlerASU22 said:

I wasn't stating that he wasn't a great hitter. When I stated I wasn't sure how big his legacy would be , that was in reference to the outside of baseball world. I think he struggles w/ lack of "sexy" stats , HRs/RBIs etc.

Ryan

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Everybody knows who Ichiro is. Everyone.

Also I don't know what a "sexy" stat is, Kate Upton turns me on, not a player's HR total :lol:. What Ichiro does have is an incredible statistical career. A Legendary career.

Never been to Japan but I hear Ichiro is like rock star over there. I think his legacy benefits from fans on two or more continents...

Lancemountain said:

Everybody knows who Ichiro is. Everyone.

Also I don't know what a "sexy" stat is, Kate Upton turns me on, not a player's HR total :lol:. What Ichiro does have is an incredible statistical career. A Legendary career.

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Damn you seem to hate people who have different opinions. Really you're going with "I don't know what a sexy stat is". Sorry you couldn't comprehend. And to spell it out again , I was partially agreeing with the OP , I just wasn't sure how big the Legacy would be , and I am speaking in the US. Japan is a different issue and I am not debating that. Your acting like I said he was Gregg Jefferies or something.

People may have heard the name Ichiro , but have no idea of his accomplishments. I just asked my wife if she's ever heard of him, answer = no.

Ryan

hey guys Ryans wife doesn't know who Ichiro is and Ichiro's ability to consistently hit the ball into play better than maybe three or four players ever isn't sexy.

Lancemountain said:

hey guys Ryans wife doesn't know who Ichiro is and Ichiro's ability to consistently hit the ball into play better than maybe three or four players ever isn't sexy.

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Really ? My wife comment was just to play around with your "Everyone knows who Ichiro is, everyone"

And yes I don't think his stats are sexy , like the wording or not.

You aren't comprehending my arguments on this thread or the Brett .

ICHIRO HAS A LEGACY ! HIS LACK OF POWER STATS IMO KEEPS HIM FROM HAVING A LARGER US IMPACT WHEN IT'S SAID AND DONE.

You can have an opinion on that statement that differs from mine , but don't twist it into "Ryan said Ichiro was the worst hitter if all time". Thx

Ryan

RStadlerASU22 said:

Really ? My wife comment was just to play around with your "Everyone knows who Ichiro is, everyone"

And yes I don't think his stats are sexy , like the wording or not.

You aren't comprehending my arguments on this thread or the Brett .

ICHIRO HAS A LEGACY ! HIS LACK OF POWER STATS IMO KEEPS HIM FROM HAVING A LARGER US IMPACT WHEN IT'S SAID AND DONE.

You can have an opinion on that statement that differs from mine , but don't twist it into "Ryan said Ichiro was the worst hitter if all time". Thx

Ryan

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Lancemountain said:

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Ha , far from it man . Just felt like I explained myself well enough to not have to continue to do so. But I fell into trap. It's all good and I'm moving on. Glad we both can have opinions but in the end it doesn't really matter

Ryan

Yeah no hard feelings Stupid ice dancing on TV made me ornery.

I'm sure one of the 87 mods will come along and delete this all anyway.

E x

you forgot big papi. he'll be a third ballot although I hope not.. stupid cheater..

It seems that legacies come about when great players have truly memorable accomplishments attached to them. Things like no-hitters and Triple Crowns can elevate the legacy of a HOFer. For example, Nolan Ryan was a great pitcher but his legacy is very much enhanced by the 7 no-hitters. Verlander may not be in the discussion yet, but with 2 no-hitters already he may be on his way to having a similar accomplishment.

I think part of "Legacy" goes beyond the stats... it has to do with what a particular player meant to a franchise too. I mean, Johnny Pesky is a "legend" to Boston, but he didn't have stats that made you say "OH MY GOD!!! LEGEND!!!"

And those of us in the Northeast will feel differently about who is a legend for us than say those in Ohio, or Texas, etc.

I think that makes it hard to determine who will be future legacy names, but I do agree that Jeter has it wrapped up as far as current players go. I think A-Rod does too, but whether that is in a positive light or negative remains to be seen (though I think it will be overwhelmingly negative because in 20-30 years, the majority of people who will know him by name will only know him because of all the bad things associated with him, versus ever having actually seen him play the game and his level of talent for it.

There are a few players that I think will be legacies in the northeast - David Ortiz, without a doubt, will be a long time legend in New England.

Not currently active, but will also be legends around here are Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez. They will go down in history with the 2004 sox and the team that broke the "curse."


Also - going out on a limb here because I don't live around there, but I think Todd Helton will be a Colorado legend - whole career with the team and pretty much there from the beginning of the franchise and should be the stat leader in many categories for the franchise for a long time.