Albert Pujols was a dominant player in Major League Baseball during the 2000s, and many believe that if there was an MVP award for the decade, he would have won it. Pujols made his debut for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2001, and quickly established himself as a superstar. He won the Rookie of the Year award and finished fourth in the MVP voting in his first season. Over the next decade, he won the MVP award three times (2005, 2008, and 2009) and was the runner-up four times. He never finished lower than ninth in the voting while playing for the Cardinals.

Pujols was an outstanding hitter who could do it all at the plate. He won the Silver Slugger award six times, hit at least 32 home runs every season in St. Louis, won two home run titles, and collected at least 100 RBIs in every season except for 2011. Pujols batted over .300 in his first ten seasons, won the batting title in 2003, drew substantial walks, and had an OPS of over 1.000 eight times. From 2005 to 2010, he led the National League in bWAR every year.

Not only did Pujols win a lot of games for the Cardinals, but he also helped them win two World Series titles (in 2006 and 2011). He led them to the playoffs in eight of his eleven years there. When he became a free agent in 2011, his only rival in Redbird history was Stan Musial. Pujols left the Cardinals for the Los Angeles Angels, signing a massive contract, but saw diminishing returns every year, and his contract became a burden on the team. He was designated for assignment in 2021, signed with the Dodgers, and returned to St. Louis for one last year.

At the time of his retirement, Pujols was second in runs batted in (2,218), fourth in home runs (703), 10th all-time in hits (3,384), and 20th in bWAR (101.8). The only question left for Albert Pujols is whether he will be unanimously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame or not.

A.J. Green, who was drafted from the University of Georgia, was the first wide receiver picked in the 2011 Draft. He played a long and successful career with the Cincinnati Bengals.

In his rookie year, Green was an All-Rookie and made the Pro Bowl after recording 1,057 yards and 7 touchdowns. He followed that up with two consecutive Second Team All-Pro honors, scoring 11 touchdowns each year and recording yardage outputs of 1,350 and 1,426, respectively. Although Green was on the verge of becoming an elite wide receiver, this was as close as he got.

Despite this, Green continued to perform well over the next four seasons (2014-17), earning a spot on the Pro Bowl roster and bringing his total to seven. Unfortunately, a toe injury limited him to just nine games in 2018, and he suffered a torn ligament in 2019 training camp, which kept him out for the entire season. Green returned in 2020, but had his lowest output with only 523 yards. That season proved to be his last with Cincinnati.

Green finished his career with two seasons in Arizona, where he recorded almost 1,110 yards and five touchdowns. In total, Green recorded 10,514 yards and 70 touchdowns, which are impressive numbers, but not enough to secure him a place in the Hall of Fame in this era.

The New York Jets appeared to have struck gold with their 2013 First Round Pick (13^th Overall) in Sheldon Richardson.  The former Missouri Tiger won the Defensive Rookie of the Year, recorded 78 Tackles, and was even used occasionally at Fullback, where he rushed for two Touchdowns.  Richardson did not have a sophomore jinx and was used more on the pass rush, with 8 Sacks and 21 Quarterback Hits.  He went to his first Pro Bowl, but that would be it, as Richardson could not replicate those first two years again.

Richardson’s play did not fall off a cliff, but he was never again in the conversation as a potential top-tier defender.  He played two more seasons with the Jets, then bounced around over the next five seasons with stops in Seattle, Minnesota (twice) and Cleveland.  Richardson retired after the 2021 Season and had an even 500 Combined Tackles with 33.5 Sacks. 

Wilson Ramos emerged from obscurity in Venezuela and made his MLB debut with the Minnesota Twins in 2010. However, he had his most successful run as a Washington National between 2010 and 2016, earning him the nickname "Buffalo".

After only seven games with the Twins, Ramos was traded to D.C. where he finished fourth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting the following year. Despite battling multiple injuries, he had a career-best season in 2016, hitting 148 hits, 22 home runs, driving in 80 runs, and achieving a batting average and slugging percentage of .496. He was named an All-Star and a Silver Slugger, which was a surprise considering his previous years. Unfortunately, his season ended in mid-September due to a torn ACL, and he never played for the Nats again. Instead, he became a free agent and signed with Tampa.

Ramos started 2018 on the injured reserve list but returned to make his second All-Star team. However, he was traded to Philadelphia later that year. Ramos then signed with the Mets and had one more successful season, but he only played for two more years, spending one more year in New York and playing with Detroit and Cleveland.

Throughout his career, Ramos recorded 946 hits and 136 home runs.