Ranking the greatest MLB players in every National League franchise’s history

We’re back with our second installment of MLB Mount Rushmores for each franchise after sharing our choices for every American League team earlier this week. This time? We’re looking at the National League. 

This was a difficult thought experiment that required a deep dive into every franchise’s history, but boy was it fun to put together. 

As with the American League, the ground rules are there are four players selected for each team, one of those four must be a pitcher, and strength of eras and overall team success are factors. We’ve also included one or two honorable mentions for each franchise as well to further highlight some fantastic players. 

The four greatest players for every NL West franchise

The NL West brings together newer franchises, historic powerhouses and some of baseball’s most unforgettable individual peaks. From Randy Johnson’s dominance in Arizona to the Dodgers’ legendary lefties and the Giants’ all-time great outfield trio, this division has no shortage of franchise-defining icons.

Arizona Diamondbacks: Luis Gonzalez, Paul Goldschmidt, Ketel Marte, Randy Johnson (Honorable Mention: Curt Schilling)

The D-backs are one of baseball’s newer franchises, and they have had some awesome players suit up. Gonzalez was a perennial All-Star and had a walkoff single to give Arizona the 2001 World Series. Goldschmidt was a steady force in the middle of Arizona’s lineup for years and is second behind Gonzalez in home runs and RBIs in franchise history.

Marte is an active player, but he’s actually played the second-most games of anyone in Diamondbacks history. He quietly has had a terrific career, which really took off after being traded to Arizona.

Johnson is an easy inclusion here. After dominating for Seattle for a decade, the “Big Unit” took things to another level with the Diamondbacks, winning four straight Cy Youngs and striking out more than 2,000 batters in eight years in Arizona. He gets the nod over his fellow co-World Series MVP in Schilling, who also had a great run with the Diamondbacks, just not quite as long or dominant as Johnson. 

Colorado Rockies: Todd Helton, Larry Walker, Nolan Arenado, Ubaldo Jimenez (Honorable Mention: Troy Tulowitzki)

The Rockies haven’t had the greatest overall success compared to other franchises, but they’ve had their moments and also had some historic players suit up. 

Hitters always seem to play well in Colorado at Coors Field, and a pair of Hall of Famers put up some massive numbers in Helton and Walker. Helton spent his entire 17-year career there and was one of baseball’s top hitters in the early 2000s. Walker was already a well-known name from his time in Montreal, but he won MVP in 1997 and made four All-Star teams with five Gold Gloves during his Colorado tenure.

Arenado is still active, and he had an incredible start to his career in Colorado. The star third baseman had an .890 OPS over his first eight years with the Rockies, and he won a Gold Glove in each of those seasons along with four Silver Sluggers and five top-10 MVP finishes. Tulowitzki is also worth acknowledging, though dealt with a lot of injuries and wasn’t the same consistent performer that Arenado was.

While hitters love Coors Field, pitchers do not. Jimenez was a rare pitcher who seemed to do just fine with the Rockies, and he had a 3.66 ERA over eight seasons with Colorado. Jimenez threw a no-hitter, started an All-Star Game and finished third in Cy Young voting in 2010. He’s the clear best pitcher in franchise history as the Rockies continue to search for pitchers who can handle Coors Field’s elevation.

Los Angeles Dodgers: Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax, Clayton Kershaw (Honorable Mention: Pee Wee Reese)

The Dodgers are a historic franchise and, as such, have a ton of great options for their Mount Rushmore. 

We went with two pitchers here as the Dodgers have two of the greatest left-handed pitchers in MLB history in Koufax and Kershaw. Koufax pitched 12 years, and his final six seasons was maybe the best six-year stretch of any pitcher in history. The star lefty won three Cy Youngs over his final four seasons, won an MVP and struck out 300+ batters three times. He retired at age 30, but his peak was and still is historic. As for Kershaw, he was another Dodger lifer, and he has a case for being the best pitcher of the 2010s. The southpaw won three Cy Youngs, had nine top-10 finishes, won an MVP and Triple Crown and helped the Dodgers win World Series titles in 2020, 2024 and 2025.

As for the hitters, there were a few directions to pick from. We had to include Robinson, both for his place in MLB history as the player who broke MLB’s modern color barrier, but also because he was a phenomenal player who won an MVP and had some monster years for the Dodgers. Snider is our other pick over Reese because “The Duke” was one of baseball’s most dangerous hitters of his era. He had an incredible seven-year peak with seven All-Star nods, hitting .300 or better five times and hitting 30 or more homers five times as well. 

San Diego Padres: Tony Gwynn, Dave Winfield, Trevor Hoffman, Jake Peavy (Honorable Mention: Fernando Tatis Jr.)

The Padres were another easy team to put together. Gwynn is synonymous with San Diego as a star for the Padres, the San Diego State University baseball and basketball teams and later returning to his alma mater as the head baseball coach. Mr. Padre led the league in batting average eight times, in hits seven times, won seven Silver Sluggers and five Gold Gloves and had the closest average to .400 we’ve seen in a long time, hitting .394 in 1994. 

As for Winfield, he played more years in New York, but you could argue his best years were with the Padres. He’s second in the franchise’s history in bWAR and hit 154 homers in eight years and made four All-Star teams. He gets the nod over Tatis, who is third in bWAR despite being active and just 27 years old. Tatis hasn’t had the same results he did early in his career, and he’s had some controversy, to be sure, but there’s no denying where he ranks in the franchise’s history.

The Padres also had one of baseball’s best closers ever in Hoffman. He flourished in San Diego after starting his career in Florida, and he racked up 552 of his 601 career saves with the Padres with his devastating changeup leading the way. Peavy put together a great 15-year career, with his best seasons coming with the Padres. He won Cy Young in 2007 and twice led the league in ERA. He had a 3.29 ERA and 24.8 bWAR over his eight seasons with San Diego.

San Francisco Giants: Willie Mays, Barry Bonds, Mel Ott, Christy Mathewson (Honorable Mentions: Juan Marichal and Willie McCovey)

It’s hard to go wrong with the outfield trio of Mays, Bonds and Ott. Mays is maybe the most well-rounded player the game has ever seen. Mays was a defensive wizard with 12 Gold Gloves, two MVPs, a career .301 average and 660 home runs. Bonds is a controversial figure, but his numbers are unreal. He hit 586 of his MLB-leading 762 home runs while winning five of his seven MVPs along with a number of other accolades in the Bay Area. Ott played all 22 years of his career with the Giants, swatting 511 home runs and driving in 1,860 with 11 All-Star nods. McCovey also is worth mentioning as he hit 469 homers for the Giants, and McCovey Cove is named after him outside of Oracle Park.

Mathewson won all but one of his 373 career wins with the Giants as one of the more dominant pitchers of his era. Mathewson pitched 300+ innings 11 times in 17 seasons with the Giants and won two Triple Crowns and a World Series. He gets the nod over Marichal, who had a 2.84 ERA and won 238 games with the Giants across 14 seasons. 

The four greatest players for every NL Central franchise

The NL Central features some of baseball’s oldest franchises, making these selections especially difficult. With legends like Stan Musial, Honus Wagner, Ernie Banks and Johnny Bench leading the way, this group spans generations of National League history.

Chicago Cubs: Cap Anson, Ryne Sandberg, Ernie Banks, Fergie Jenkins (Honorable Mention: Ron Santo)

The Cubs have a long and storied history with a ton of excellent players. There are certainly some worthy recent players with strong cases like Sammy Sosa or World Series heroes like Anthony Rizzo, but Anson, Sandberg, Banks and Jenkins get the nod. 

Anson hit .331 in 22 years with Chicago, where he won four batting titles, eight RBI crowns and racked up 84.9 bWAR as one of the best players of the 1800s for the White Stockings and Colts – which later became the Cubs. Banks is Mr. Cub, for goodness sake. He won two MVPs in his historic 19-year career – all with Chicago. Banks swatted 407 home runs as one of the premier sluggers of his era in the 1950s and ‘60s. 

Sandberg gets the nod over Santo, but both are deserving. Sandberg won MVP in 1984 and was a 10-time All-Star, nine-time Gold Glover and seven-time Silver Slugger in his Hall of Fame career. Santo made nine All-Star Games and is also a Hall of Famer, but Sandberg was the better overall player and had a higher peak.

Jenkins is the easy pick for the pitcher slot. He picked up 167 of his 284 wins in Chicago with a 3.20 ERA, winning Cy Young in 1971 with 24 wins, a 2.77 ERA and 10.1 bWAR in 325 innings. 

Cincinnati Reds: Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Barry Larkin, Jim Maloney (Honorable Mentions: Joey Votto or Joe Morgan)

The Reds were one of the more difficult teams to pin down. Cutting former MVPs in Votto and Morgan hurt, but the trio of Rose, Bench and Larkin was too strong to ignore. 

Rose is baseball’s hit king and played 19 years for the Reds, racking up nearly 3,400 hits while hitting .307 and playing all over the diamond. He also won MVP and World Series MVP for Cincy. Bench is arguably the game’s best catcher of all time. Few catchers have blended Bench’s defensive work – 10 gold gloves – and offensive prowess – two MVPs, 389 home runs, and the guy played 17 years. He’s also an easy pick for the Mount Rushmore of baseball catchers. Larkin feels like someone who, outside of Cincinnati, is underrated when it comes to his place in history, but Larkin was an absolute stud. He hit .295 for his career, made 12 All-Star Games, won an MVP and three Gold Gloves and was part of the Reds’ 1990 World Series team.

The Reds have a surplus of elite hitters in their existence, but pitching hasn’t been a strong point in franchise history. Maloney went 134-81 with the Reds with a 3.16 ERA and an All-Star nod in the 1960s, winning two MVPs and helping Milwaukee reach the 1982 World Series.

Milwaukee Brewers: Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Ryan Braun, Ben Sheets (Honorable Mention: Cecil Cooper)

The Brewers had two clear-cut picks for their Mount Rushmore, but the other two spots were tricky.

Yount had an incredible 20-year run with the Brewers, winning two MVPs and helping Milwaukee reach the 1982 World Series while tallying 3,142 hits, 251 home runs and stealing 271 bases. Molitor was one of the best hitters of his era, too, with a .303 average and two Silver Sluggers with the Brewers while leading baseball in runs scored three times. 

Braun gets the nod over Cooper, though it’s close. Braun had a higher peak and won an MVP while leading the franchise in home runs with 352 over 14 years. Cooper didn’t have the same peak, but he was a great player, too, with 241 homers and five All-Star nods. 

The Brewers are another team without a clear top guy as the best pitcher in team history, so we’ll roll with Sheets, who was electric in the 2000s. Sheets made four All-Star teams and had a 3.72 ERA over eight years. Injuries derailed his career, but Sheets was elite at his peak, especially in 2004 when he had a 2.70 ERA and 264 strikeouts. 

Pittsburgh Pirates: Honus Wagner, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Bob Friend (Honorable Mention: Ralph Kiner)

The Pirates have been around forever, and as such, they have had some absolute titans suit up for the squad. 

Wagner was one of baseball’s biggest stars of the Dead Ball Era, and he won eight batting titles and led the Pirates to a 1909 World Series title while hitting .328 in his historic career. Clemente was an incredible player – and person – who had exactly 3,000 hits along with 240 home runs with the Pirates over 18 years, winning MVP, two World Series, 12 Gold Gloves, four batting titles and making 15 All-Star teams. 

Stargell vs. Kiner was tough, but Stargell gets the nod for longevity. He was a 21-year player who won an MVP, made seven All-Star teams, won two World Series titles and swatted 475 home runs as one of the elite sluggers of his day. Kiner’s peak was stellar, but he played just eight of his 10 seasons with the Pirates, making six All-Star teams with 301 homers. 

St. Louis Cardinals: Stan Musial, Albert Pujols, Roger Hornsby, Bob Gibson (Honorable Mention: Ozzie Smith)

Leaving Smith off hurts a bit as “The Wizard” is a Cardinals icon and one of the greatest defenders at any position in MLB history, but we couldn’t add him at the expense of either of these four legends. 

Musial is “Stan the Man” for a reason. He was one of the greatest hitters in MLB history with a career .331 average and 475 home runs. He won three MVPs, three World Series and seven batting titles and is arguably the best left-handed hitter of his era. As for Pujols, few hitters scared opposing pitchers more than he did. The big right-handed slugger is one of just four players to hit 700 or more home runs, and he hit 469 of those with the Cards while winning three MVPs and two World Series titles. He also was a great all-around hitter with a career .296 batting average and nearly as many walks as strikeouts. Hornsby had an unreal 13-year stretch with the Cardinals, averaging over 7 bWAR per season with two MVPs, two Triple Crowns and seven batting titles and a .359 average for St. Louis. 

Gibson is one of the most dominant pitchers the game has ever seen. He was a workhorse – 12 200+ innings in 17 years – and was an elite power pitcher with a high-octane fastball that helped him rack up 3,117 punchouts along with two Cy Youngs and an MVP. Few pitchers were more terrifying at their peak than Gibson, and his peak ran a lot longer than others’. 

The four greatest players for every NL East franchise

The NL East includes a mix of current franchises and, for this exercise, a separate look at the Montreal Expos. From Hank Aaron and Tom Seaver to the Nationals’ 2019 core, this section highlights some of the most memorable names in National League history.

Atlanta Braves: Hank Aaron, Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, Warren Spahn (Honorable Mentions: Eddie Mathews and Phil Niekro)

The Braves have some hard hitters in their history. I mean, how are you going to leave off icons like Mathews – a 12-time All-Star with 512 home runs – or Niekro – an elite knuckleballer who pitched 21 years and won 268 games for Atlanta? Well, when Aaron, Jones, Maddux and Spahn suited up for your club, that’s why.

Aaron is one of the greatest players ever. A model of consistency, “Hammerin’ Hank” swatted 733 of his 755 home runs for the Braves all while driving in 2,202 runs and hitting .310. Aaron hit 30+ homers 14 times with 40+ a whopping eight times. He may very well be the best hitter to ever play the game. Jones, on the other hand, may be the best switch-hitter in MLB history. Jones was one of the more consistent players in history, hitting over .300 10 times while winning MVP and a World Series and hitting .303 from the left side and .304 from the right side over the course of his career. 

Maddux pitched 11 years of his 23-year career in Atlanta, and that’s where he was at his best. Maddux won three Cy Youngs and finished in the top five of voting three other times. Maddux was instrumental in the Braves’ dominance in the 1990s and early 2000s and was key to their World Series title in 1995 as well. As for Spahn, he got 356 of his 363 career wins with the Braves, and he’s the all-time leader in wins for a lefty. He also spun 382 career complete games and won a Cy Young, World Series title and three ERA titles over his incredible career. 

Miami Marlins: Giancarlo Stanton, Hanley Ramirez, Josh Beckett, Josh Johnson (Honorable Mention: Dontrelle Willis)

The Marlins are one of baseball’s younger franchises, and while they don’t have the same heavy hitters as other teams, there have been some great players to suit up for the team. 

Stanton is the Marlins’ all-time leader in bWAR at 35.9, and he hit 267 home runs in eight seasons. Injuries derailed his time with the Yankees, so it’s easy to forget just how elite Stanton was in Miami, where he won MVP in 2017 with 59 home runs and 132 RBIs. Ramirez had a great seven-year run with the Marlins as one of the game’s top shortstops. Ramirez won Rookie of the Year in 2006, made three All-Star teams and led the league with a .342 average in 2009 and hit over .300 four times. 

Two Joshes make up our final two picks with Beckett and Johnson. Beckett had five very good years in Florida, and he was a hero in their World Series title run in 2003 with a 3.04 ERA in the regular season and a 2.11 ERA in the postseason at just 23 years old, winning World Series MVP honors in the process. Johnson holds many franchise records for the Marlins and looked like he was on his way to being one of baseball’s top arms after incredible showings in 2009 and 2010, the latter of which he led the league with a 2.30 ERA and finished fifth in Cy Young voting, but injuries led him to not appear in any MLB games after turning 30. Willis was a lot of fun for four years, but he was only with the Marlins for five years.

New York Mets: David Wright, Mike Piazza, Dwight Gooden, Tom Seaver (Honorable Mentions: Jacob deGrom and Darryl Strawberry)

Picking four Mets was tough. deGrom has a strong case with two Cy Youngs and an elite peak with four All-Star nods, while Strawberry made seven straight All-Star Games for the Mets and hit 191 home runs. Neither made the cut, though. 

Wright was a constant bright spot in an era of Mets baseball that wasn’t always great. Injuries may wind up keeping him out of the Hall of Fame, but Wright was an elite player at his best. He made seven All-Star teams, won two Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers, hit 242 home runs and hit .296 for his career.

Piazza gets the nod over Strawberry as he was a rare breed – a dangerous offensive catcher. He hit 220 of his 427 career homers in New York and was the team’s best player when the Mets made the 2000 World Series. He made six All-Star teams and won four Silver Sluggers over that stretch.

Gooden had his share of off-field issues that played a role in him never quite living up to the incredible hype he displayed in his first two years – where he won Rookie of the Year and Cy Young – but he had a fantastic 3.10 ERA with 1,875 strikeouts in 305 games for the Mets.

And then there’s “Tom Terrific.” Seaver made 10 All-Star teams and won three Cy Youngs and ERA titles over 12 years with the Mets, playing a key role in their 1969 World Series title. Seaver won 198 games for the Mets, for good measure, as part of a Hall of Fame career.

Philadelphia Phillies: Mike Schmidt, Chase Utley, Robin Roberts, Steve Carlton (Honorable Mention: Grover Alexander)

The Phillies have a long and storied history that features some of the greatest to ever play the game.

Schmidt has a case for being the best third baseman to ever suit up and take the field. Schmidt was an elite two-way player, swatting 548 home runs and winning three MVPs and 10 Gold Gloves at the hot corner. Schmidt averaged 37 homers per season and helped lead Philly to a World Series title in 1980.

Utley is the newest inclusion to the list as far as recency goes. A star second baseman that helped Philly win a World Series and appear in another, Utley was quietly one of the best at his position in MLB history. He made six All-Star appearances and hit .282 with 233 home runs in 13 years for the Phillies. 

The Phillies also were home to two of the greatest left-handed pitchers in MLB history. Roberts won 234 games for the Phillies over 14 years and made seven All-Star teams, led the league in wins four times, innings five times and made the Hall of Fame. Carlton spent 15 years in Philly, making seven All-Star teams, winning four Cy Youngs and 241 games along with a World Series title. 

Washington Nationals: Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer (Honorable Mentions: Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto)

The Nationals and Montreal Expos have very different histories, so we split them up for extra fun. For the Nationals, who played their first season in D.C. in 2005, they’ve had some great players, especially during their 2019 World Series title.

Harper more than met expectations as the No. 1 overall pick in 2010 MLB Draft, winning MVP and hitting .279 with 184 home runs in seven seasons. 

Zimmerman was a Nationals lifer with 16 seasons for Washington. The Z-Man hit .277 for his career with 1,846 hits and 284 home runs. Zimmerman fittingly hit the franchise’s first World Series home run and was an elite defender at third base.

Washington has had some great pitchers, with Scherzer and Strasburg shining especially bright. Strasburg, another former No. 1 pick, battled injuries but was World Series MVP in 2019, had a career 3.24 ERA and had three All-Star nods and three top-10 Cy Young finishes. Scherzer made six All-Star teams in seven years in Washington and won two Cy Youngs with a 2.80 ERA and over 1,600 strikeouts. 

Rendon was also great, but Zimmerman is more influential when it comes to Nationals history. Soto was elite even as a youngster, but he played not even five full years in Washington before being traded to San Diego.

Montreal Expos: Gary Carter, Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, Steve Rogers (Honorable Mention: Vladimir Guerrero)

The Expos are loaded with Hall of Famers, with Carter, Raines and Dawson in particular standing out. Carter spent 12 years in Montreal and made seven All-Star teams and was one of the best offensive catchers not just of his era, but to ever play the game. Raines had a great peak in Montreal with seven consecutive All-Star nods while leading the league in steals four times and hitting .301 over 13 years with the Expos. As for Dawson, he won MVP in Chicago but won six Gold Gloves with the Expos as well as Rookie of the Year with 225 homers and a .280 average over 11 years. 

Steve Rogers may be Captain America’s name, but this Rogers shined north of the border. Rogers holds most Expos franchise pitching records, and he posted 158 wins with a 3.17 ERA, an ERA title and five All-Star nods over 13 seasons – all with the Expos.