Brendan Rodgers has thus far played for the Rockies his entire career, which sees him enter his seventh MLB campaign in 2025, though as of this writing, he is a free agent.

The third overall pick in 2015, Rodgers debuted in 2017 and was Colorado’s starting Second Baseman by 2019.   Rodgers’ best season was in 2022, where he won the Gold Glove (with a 2.9 Defensive bWAR), and led all National League Second Basemen in most defensive categories.  Offensively, it was also his best year, with 140 Hits and 63 RBIs.

Rodgers may not return to Colorado, and if so he provided the club 449 Hits. 

In the last few seasons, the Colorado Rockies have not had much to celebrate, but Ezequiel Tovar, the young Shortstop from Venezuela has given the fanbase nothing to worry about in the infield’s most demanding position.

Signed as a teenage free agent in 2017, Tovar made his MLB debut in late 2022, and was the Rockies starting Shortstop the following season.  Tovar had 143 Hits with 15 Home Runs, but elevated last season to 176 Hits, 26 Home Runs and a .763 OPS.  He also led the National League in At Bats (655) and Doubles (45), and won a Gold Glove.

As Tovar is under 25, there is a lot of promise, especially if he can elevate his OBP.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the top 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists and consistently look to update them when necessary and based on necessity. As such, we are delighted to present our post-2024 revision of our top 50 Cleveland Guardians.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball, we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the American League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles that are not reflected in a stat sheet.

Please note that our algorithm has changed, which yielded minor changes throughout the baseball lists.

Last year, the Guardians entered the season as a World Series contender, and competed in the American League Championship Series, losing to the New York Yankees in five.  There was one new entry, though that was based on the new algorithm.   There were also changes on the list, based on 2024.

As always, we present our top five, which had a major change based on the algorithm.

1. Nap Lajoie

2. Bob Feller

3. Tris Speaker

4. Lou Boudreau

5. Bob Lemon

You can find the entire list here.

On the top five, we have a brand new number one, based on our adjustments.  Nap Lajoie takes over the pole position.

Jose Ramirez made a significant jump from #13 to #7.   

Pitcher Shane Bieber remained at #47.

With the new algorithm, Catcher Steve O’Neill enters at #48.

We thank you for your continued support of our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.

Durable and defensively sound, Steve O’Neill played for Cleveland Indians for over a decade, debuting in 1911, and settling in shortly after as one of the top defensive catchers in the American League. 

O’Neill was a wizard behind the plate, but it was not until 1919 that he had his first season with at least 100 Hits, and he kept that up over the next three seasons, with Batting Averages over .3000 from 1920 to 1922.  A member of the 1920 World Series Championship Team, O’Neill finished sixth in MVP voting in 1922, a testament to his overall play.  He remained with the Indians until he was dealt to the Red Sox in 1924.

O’Neill was inducted into the Guardians Hall of Fame in their first class in 1951.