In 1999, as the world anticipated the turn of the century and the dawn of a new millennium, MLB named its “All-Century Team,” selecting 30 players to represent baseball’s best of the 1900s. The All-Century Team was revealed at the 1999 All-Star Game at Fenway Park in a memorable pregame ceremony.

Twenty-five years later, it’s a good time to consider the best players of the 2000s … so far. Here’s a look at the player at each position with the highest Baseball Reference WAR since 2000, as well as leaders in individual stat categories.

Note: Players are listed at their primary position during their MLB careers. For the purposes of this story, a player must have played at least two-thirds of his games at a position in order to qualify as its leader. Any player who played at least two-thirds of his career in the outfield (regardless of the specific outfield position) qualified in the outfield spot at which he played the most.

C: Buster Posey, 44.8 bWAR
Posey, now the president of baseball operations for the Giants, helped lead the franchise to three World Series championships in five years (2010, ’12 and ’14). He was the 2010 National League Rookie of the Year, the 2012 NL MVP and a seven-time All-Star.

In his 2012 MVP campaign, Posey also won the NL batting title by hitting .336. In 2016, he won a Gold Glove Award behind the plate, and his steady guidance of San Francisco’s pitching staff was a crucial element to the club’s success during his tenure as a player. During a 12-year MLB career, he hit .302/.372/.460.

Runner-up: Yadier Molina, 42.2

1B: Albert Pujols, 101.5
Pujols, by bWAR, is the best player of the century so far. One of the greatest right-handed hitters of all time, the slugging first baseman/designated hitter made his Major League debut in 2001 with the Cardinals, and it was immediately apparent that he had a tremendous career ahead of him. He launched 37 home runs and posted a 1.013 OPS to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award that year, giving us a glimpse of much more to come.

From there, he would hit 30 or more homers in each of the next 11 seasons, winning three MVP Awards in the process -- all with St. Louis. He then spent the next decade with the Angels, had a brief stint with Dodgers and finished his magnificent career where it began, with the Cards. Overall, he is one of four players to hit more than 700 home runs (703), finished with 3,384 hits, was an 11-time All-Star, won two Gold Glove Awards and won two World Series championships with St. Louis.

Runner-up: Joey Votto, 64.5

2B: Robinson Canó, 68.1
Canó rose to stardom with the Yankees, particularly from 2009-13, when he hit .314/.369/.530 with 142 home runs, helping the Bronx Bombers win the World Series in ’09. Prior to the 2014 season, he signed a 10-year, $240 million contract with the Mariners. He had an up-and-down tenure in Seattle, alternating strong seasons with underwhelming ones, particularly in the slugging department.

In 2018, Canó was suspended for 80 games due to a violation of MLB’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. That December, the Mariners traded him, along with closer Edwin Díaz to the Mets. In 2021, Canó was suspended for violation of the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program for a second time, resulting in a 162-game suspension. He returned in ’22, but hit just .195 in 12 games before being released. He appeared in 21 more games that season for the Padres and Braves but has not appeared in the Majors since.

Runner-up: Chase Utley, 64.5

SS: Francisco Lindor, 49.6
As an active player, Lindor has an opportunity to put some more distance between himself and Yankees legend Derek Jeter, who is runner-up at the shortstop position. Lindor is coming off a season for which he finished runner-up in NL MVP voting after posting an .844 OPS with 33 home runs and 29 steals while playing stellar defense at short. With his great all-around play, he helped lead the Mets to the NL Championship Series.

Overall, Lindor is a four-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove Award winner (he also won the Platinum Glove Award in 2016) in 10 seasons. He’s two homers shy of 250 for his career, as well as 15 steals shy of 200.

Runner-up: Derek Jeter, 47.9

3B: Adrian Beltré, 89.5
Beltré was a late bloomer, but when he figured things out, he took off. One of the most hyped prospects in the game when he made his MLB debut with the Dodgers at age 19 in 1998, he had a breakout season in 2004, when he posted a 1.017 OPS with an MLB-leading 48 home runs. He finished second in NL MVP voting that year before signing a five-year, $64 million deal with the Mariners.

Although Beltré’s five seasons in Seattle were mediocre by his 2004 standards, he truly locked in at the plate after signing with the Red Sox prior to the 2010 campaign. In his lone season with Boston, he produced a .919 OPS with an MLB-leading 49 doubles to go along with 28 homers. He was then traded to the Rangers, with whom he was consistently excellent -- in eight seasons with Texas, he had an .865 OPS with 199 homers while adding three more Gold Glove trophies to his mantle.

Runner-up: Evan Longoria, 58.6

LF: Barry Bonds, 59.1
Despite playing most of his career in the late-1980s through the 1990s, Bonds leads all left fielders in bWAR since 2000, thanks to his historic run from 2000-07. Over that span, he posted a 1.241 OPS (227 OPS+) with 317 home runs, including a record-setting 73 in 2001. From 2001-04, he hit an incredible .349/.559/.809 with 209 homers and won an MVP Award each year.

Overall, Bonds finished with a record 762 home runs and a record seven MVP Awards over 22 seasons, 15 of which came with the Giants after he signed with San Francisco as a free agent in 1992 -- he spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Pirates.

Runner-up: Ryan Braun, 47.1

CF: Mike Trout, 86.2
Trout is one of the greatest center fielders in baseball history, though unfortunately, injuries have robbed him of the potential to reach even greater heights than he already has. Through his first nine Major League seasons, Trout’s OPS was exactly 1.000 and he had 285 home runs and 200 steals to his name. From there, injuries began taking their toll, and since 2019, he has played in more than 100 games just once.

Still, the fact that Trout’s cumulative bWAR is third on this list and he’s still only 33 years old is remarkable. He is a three-time MVP, though he’s finished among the top five in MVP voting nine times. He’s an 11-time All-Star and he’s within striking distance of becoming the 22nd player to break the 100-bWAR threshold.

Runner-up: Andruw Jones, 44.8

RF: Mookie Betts, 69.6
Betts has been so consistently excellent since making his MLB debut in 2014, that he’s just shy of 70 bWAR as he heads into his 12th season -- that’s Hall of Fame territory for most players. While he’s demonstrated his great defensive versatility by playing at shortstop and second base at times, he’s primarily been a right fielder.

An eight-time All-Star, six-time Gold Glove Award winner in right field, the 2018 AL MVP and a three-time World Series champion (with the Red Sox in 2018, and the Dodgers in 2020 and ’24), Betts is one of the most decorated players in the game today. He’s a career .294/.373/.524 hitter with 271 home runs and 188 steals. His stellar all-around play has resulted in six top-five finishes in MVP balloting.

Runner-up: Ichiro Suzuki, 60.0

SP: Justin Verlander, 81.0
Over a career that will be entering its 20th season in 2025, Verlander has proven to be one of the greatest starting pitchers in MLB history. He was the 2006 AL Rookie of the Year after making his big league debut with the Tigers the prior season. He won both the AL Cy Young Award and the AL MVP Award in 2011, and he went on to win two more Cy Young honors in 2019 and ’22.

In 2022, Verlander became the fourth-oldest pitcher to win the Cy Young Award, and although he struggled to a 5.48 ERA in an injury-plagued 2024 campaign with the Astros, the right-hander can still reach the mid-90s with his fastball and continues to defy time. He is 10th on the all-time strikeouts list with 3,416, and he is one of six pitchers in MLB history to throw three or more no-hitters (three).

Runner-up: Clayton Kershaw, 76.5

RP: Mariano Rivera, 41.1
With a single pitch, Rivera went from what appeared to be a failed starter to arguably the greatest closer in baseball history. His vaunted cutter baffled hitters from the late 1990s through his final season in 2013. Of his record 652 saves, Rivera picked up 523 from 2000-13.

Rivera was a huge reason for the dynastic excellence of the Yankees from 1996-2001, when he helped them reach the World Series five times, winning four of them. He was even more dominant in the playoffs than in the regular season -- over 141 postseason innings, he posted a 0.70 ERA and racked up 42 saves, and he was named MVP of the 1999 World Series and the 2003 ALCS.

Runner-up: Joe Nathan, 25.1

DH: David Ortiz, 55.1
While Edgar Martinez ruled the designated hitter world in the 1990s, Ortiz took up the mantle in the 2000s. After he was released by the Twins and subsequently signed with the Red Sox, Ortiz’s career took a quantum leap. The man they call “Big Papi” became one of the most feared hitters in the game, not to mention one of the most clutch postseason hitters in history.

In 2003, Ortiz had a breakout campaign in his first year with Boston, belting 31 homers with a .961 OPS. From there, he never looked back. In ’04, he led MLB with 148 RBIs and helped lead the greatest postseason comeback in baseball history as the Red Sox overcame a 3-0 ALCS deficit to the archrival Yankees to reach and win their first World Series in 86 years.

Ortiz would help Boston win two more World Series titles -- in 2007 and ’13 -- and finished his Hall of Fame career with a .931 OPS and 541 home runs. In 2016, his final season and his age-40 campaign, the 10-time All-Star led MLB with 48 homers, a .620 slugging percentage and a 1.021 OPS.

Runner-up: Shohei Ohtani, 28.7

Individual stat leaders in the 2000s

Position players

HR: Pujols (703)
RBIs: Pujols (2,218)
H: Pujols (3,384)
SB: Juan Pierre (614)
BA: Vladimir Guerrero (.318)
OBP: Todd Helton (.419)
SLG: Manny Ramirez (.591)
OPS: Manny Ramirez (1.008)
OPS+: Trout (173)
DRS: Andrelton Simmons (201)

Pitchers

K: Verlander (3,416)
ERA: Kershaw (2.50)
ERA+: Kershaw/Jacob deGrom (156)
IP: CC Sabathia (3,577 1/3)
W: Verlander (262)
CG: Roy Halladay (65)
SHO: Halladay (19)
K/9: Blake Snell (11.2)
K/BB: Curt Schilling (6.01)
SV: Rivera (523)