Howie Kendrick played 15 years in the Majors, the first nine of which with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, where the Second Baseman was an All-Star in 2011.  Kendrick had several good offensive years for the Halos, batting 2.92 overall for Los Angeles, with 1,204 of his 1,747 Hits collected there.

While he declined in 2015, he still was productive, playing for the Dodgers and Phillies, and lastly, the Washington Nationals, where he helped them win the 2019 World Series, winning his last major award, the NLCS MVP. 

Despite being a First Round Pick, Gio Gonzalez was traded three times before he made his Major League debut, which was with Oakland in 2008.  Gonzalez's first two years were nothing special, but he broke out in 2010, going 15-9 with a 3.23 ERA, and he was better in 2011, going to the All-Star Game and finishing the year at 16-12 with a 3.12 ERA.  As typical with the A's, Gonzalez was traded away, as Oakland knew they could not afford him in the future.  The Washington Nationals would become their long-term home for Gonzalez.

In Gonzalez's first year in the National League, he had the best year of his career, leading the league in Wins (21), adding a second All-Star Game, while also finishing first in FIP (2.82) and SO/9 (9.3) and fanning 203 batters.  Gonzalez was third in Cy Young voting, but this would be his highwater mark, not a building block.  Over the next five years, Gonzalez mainly was a middle-of-the-road starter, though he was sixth in Cy Young voting in 2017 when he was 15-9 and had a 2.96 ERA.  

Gonzalez was traded to Milwaukee during the 2018 Season, but he declined the following year and battled with injuries.  After a year with the White Sox and an attempted comeback with Miami in 2021, his career ended with a decent record of 131-101 and 1,860 Strikeouts.

The Texas Rangers drafted Edwin Encarnacion in 2000, but a year later he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds, where he would eventually make his Major League debut for in 2005.  With the Reds, the Dominican showed promise, but his hitting never reached its potential, and he was not good in the field.  A mid-season trade in 2009 to Toronto changed everything for Encarnacion, though that was not instant.

Toronto was not high on Encarnacion and was forced to take him in the trade.  A Free Agent in 2011, Encarnacion did not receive any offers, and Toronto took another chance on him, signing him, but now using Encarnacion mainly as a Designated Hitter.  The focus on hitting benefited Encarnacion, who would break out in 2012 with a 42-Home Run/110 RBI year.  Encarnacion had another good year in 2013 (36 HR and 104 RBI), proving he was no fluke.

Encarnacion went to his second All-Star Game in 2014, but the year after, where he was not an All-Star selection, he was part of the meat of a contending Blue Jays team.  The DH blasted 39 Home Runs and 111 RBIs and had his fourth straight .900 OPS year.  He stayed with Toronto one more year, where he went to his third All-Star, matched his highest Home Run total (42), and won his first RBI Title with 127.  

Encarnacion signed with Cleveland in 2017 and gave them three 30 HR/100 years, though the last one saw him traded during the year to Seattle.  He wound down his career with the Mariners and White Sox for one year in 2020.

Encarnacion has 424 Home Runs and 1,261 RBIs, which for a power hitter is very good and better than many slugging Hall of Famers, but he was not a multi-faceted player, and this will keep him out of Cooperstown.

Edinson Volquez began his career in the Majors with the Texas Rangers, the team he made in 2005 after spending four years in their system after being signed as an Amateur Free Agent from the Dominican Republic.

This season was not, however, the start of something brilliant but rather an aberration.  The right-handed Pitcher struggled with control and spent more time in the Minors than he did in the Majors from 2005 to 2007, and he was traded to Cincinnati, where it looked like he put it all together.  Volquez went to the All-Star Game in 2008, going 17-6 with 206 Strikeouts.  Over the next 24 months, Volquez had Tommy John Surgery and was suspended for 50 Games for PEDs.  When he returned, he again spent more time in the Minors, but the Reds dealt him to San Diego.

In the year-and-a-half, he was Padre; Volquez was mediocre and was released.  The Dodgers signed him for a brief sale, but he found new life in Pittsburgh, becoming one of their better Pitchers.  With his career now resurrected, Volquez signed with Kansas City, joining their rotation and winning a World Series Ring with the Royals in 2015.  

Volquez slumped after with three ineffective years, one in Miami and two in Texas, to bookend his career.   e retired with a career bWAR well under ten and will not likely make the ballot, but he is still a World Series Champion.