# The 39 Best Players in Cleveland Guardians History

> More than a century of Cleveland baseball shares one board, with dead-ball Naps, the 1948 champions and the slugging Jacobs Field lineups lined up against today's stars.

*By YPB Team · Published November 5, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-39-best-players-in-cleveland-guardians-history*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Bob Feller** — score 1000/1000
   Hall of Fame right-hander who spent his entire 1936-1956 career in Cleveland, winning 266 games and throwing three no-hitters.
2. **Tris Speaker** — score 914/1000
   Center fielder who hit .386 in 1916 and was player-manager of the 1920 team that won Cleveland's first World Series.
3. **Jim Thome** — score 914/1000
   Slugger who set the club record with 52 homers in 2002 and finished his Cleveland years with a franchise-best 337.
4. **Carlos Baerga** — score 831/1000
   Second baseman who put together back-to-back seasons of 200 hits and 100 RBI in 1992 and 1993.
5. **Grady Sizemore** — score 779/1000
   Center fielder who made three straight All-Star teams from 2006 to 2008 and had a 30-homer, 30-steal season in 2008.
6. **Charles Nagy** — score 779/1000
   Right-hander who won 129 games for Cleveland and made three All-Star teams, in 1992, 1996 and 1999.
7. **Satchel Paige** — score 779/1000
   Negro leagues star who debuted for Cleveland at 42 in July 1948 and went 6-1 for that year's champions.
8. **Stan Coveleski** — score 740/1000
   Spitball pitcher who won three complete games in the 1920 World Series against Brooklyn.
9. **Manny Ramírez** — score 719/1000
   Right fielder who drove in a club-record 165 runs in 1999 during eight seasons with Cleveland.
10. **Kenny Lofton** — score 719/1000
   Leadoff center fielder who led the AL in steals five straight years from 1992 to 1996 and won four Gold Gloves with Cleveland.
11. **Mike Garcia** — score 719/1000
   Right-hander nicknamed the Big Bear who won 142 games for Cleveland and took AL ERA titles in 1949 and 1954.
12. **Early Wynn** — score 719/1000
   Hall of Fame right-hander who won 20 games four times for Cleveland and anchored the 111-win 1954 staff.
13. **Luis Tiant** — score 652/1000
   Cuban right-hander who led the AL with a 1.60 ERA and nine shutouts for Cleveland in 1968.
14. **Joe Sewell** — score 652/1000
   Shortstop who joined Cleveland in 1920 after Ray Chapman's death and became famous for rarely striking out.
15. **Wes Ferrell** — score 652/1000
   Pitcher who won at least 20 games in each of his first four full seasons with Cleveland, 1929 through 1932, and threw a 1931 no-hitter.
16. **Shane Bieber** — score 576/1000
   Right-hander who won the 2020 AL Cy Young and the pitching Triple Crown in the shortened 60-game season.
17. **Earl Averill** — score 575/1000
   Hall of Fame center fielder who homered in his first big-league at-bat in 1929 and made six straight All-Star teams for Cleveland from 1933 to 1938.
18. **Elmer Flick** — score 575/1000
   Hall of Fame outfielder who won the 1905 AL batting title while playing for the Naps.
19. **Roberto Alomar** — score 575/1000
   Second baseman who won a Gold Glove in each of his three Cleveland seasons, 1999 to 2001.
20. **José Ramírez** — score 575/1000
   Switch-hitting third baseman who debuted for Cleveland in 2013 and has earned seven All-Star selections and six Silver Slugger Awards there.
21. **Shoeless Joe Jackson** — score 575/1000
   Outfielder who hit .408 for the 1911 Naps, a rookie record that still stands.
22. **Albert Belle** — score 487/1000
   Left fielder who in 1995 became the first player with 50 home runs and 50 doubles in the same season.
23. **Cliff Lee** — score 487/1000
   Left-hander who went 22-3 with a league-leading 2.54 ERA to win the 2008 AL Cy Young Award.
24. **Sandy Alomar Jr.** — score 487/1000
   Catcher who won the 1990 AL Rookie of the Year and was MVP of the 1997 All-Star Game in Cleveland.
25. **Nap Lajoie** — score 487/1000
   Second baseman so central to the 1900s club that it was renamed the Naps after him; he won the 1904 AL batting title in Cleveland.
26. **Omar Vizquel** — score 487/1000
   Shortstop who won eight consecutive Gold Gloves for Cleveland from 1994 to 2001.
27. **Al Rosen** — score 384/1000
   Third baseman who won the 1953 AL MVP unanimously after leading the league with 43 home runs and 145 RBI.
28. **Sam McDowell** — score 384/1000
   Hard-throwing lefty nicknamed Sudden Sam who led the AL in strikeouts five times for Cleveland in the 1960s and 1970.
29. **Addie Joss** — score 384/1000
   Right-hander who pitched a perfect game in 1908 and whose 1.89 career ERA came entirely with Cleveland.
30. **Rocky Colavito** — score 384/1000
   Fan-favorite right fielder who hit four home runs in one game in June 1959 and shared that season's AL home run title.
31. **Lou Boudreau** — score 262/1000
   Shortstop who won the 1948 AL MVP while also managing Cleveland to that year's World Series title.
32. **Gaylord Perry** — score 262/1000
   Hall of Fame right-hander, notorious for doctoring the ball, who won 24 games and the 1972 AL Cy Young in his first Cleveland season.
33. **Larry Doby** — score 262/1000
   Outfielder who integrated the American League in July 1947 and led it in home runs in 1952 and 1954.
34. **Mel Harder** — score 262/1000
   Pitcher who spent all 20 of his seasons, from 1928 to 1947, in Cleveland and won 223 games.
35. **Bobby Ávila** — score 262/1000
   Mexican-born second baseman who won the 1954 AL batting title with a .341 average for the 111-win Cleveland club.
36. **Corey Kluber** — score 262/1000
   Right-hander nicknamed Klubot who won AL Cy Young Awards for Cleveland in 2014 and 2017.
37. **Bob Lemon** — score 0/1000
   Converted infielder who won 20 games seven times for Cleveland between 1948 and 1956 and was inducted into Cooperstown in 1976.
38. **Francisco Lindor** — score 0/1000
   Shortstop who made four straight All-Star teams from 2016 to 2019 and won two Gold Gloves before his 2021 trade to the Mets.
39. **CC Sabathia** — score 0/1000
   Left-hander drafted by Cleveland in 1998 who won the 2007 AL Cy Young after a 19-7 season.

Tags: baseball, players, mlb, cleveland, cleveland guardians