Adrian Beltre

[nat]

Beltre has had only one season in his career that he was below average, 2001. 2 WAR is an average player, Beltre was never below 3.2 in his time in Seattle. He's been worth 3 already this season. His raw offensive numbers were suppressed by his park during his time in Seattle. Once you adjust for his park he was a below-average hitter two seasons and above average in three. But what really makes Beltre special isn't his hitting (which is good but not great), it's the fact that he's one of baseball's all-time great defenders. He is 13th all-time in dWAR (the defensive part of WAR). The only third baseman who ranks ahead of him is Brooks. All the others are shortstops. A good hitter, with a long career, who has a fair argument for being the second greatest defensive player ever at his position, is a pretty good HOF case.

Let's leave the steroid speculation for people for whom there is actual evidence. He's never failed a test, never turned up on documents from shady doctors. Not everyone follows a nice smooth aging curve. And the "maybe he's juicing before a contract" theory doesn't hold water, since his worst offensive season was his last in Seattle (hence a year in which he needed a new contract), and he's been playing at a consistently high level his entire time with the Rangers.