Catcher: Ivan Rodríguez, Detroit Tigers / .334 avg., 19 HRs, 86 RBIs
Rodríguez has been arguably the best catcher in baseball for the last decade, an all-star, and a Gold Glove winner eleven times. The Puerto Rican-born I-Rod has for 14 seasons taken the pounding historically given out to major league catchers, yet had 527 at-bats in 2004 while taking a DH break in only eight games. And he still had the fourth-highest batting average in the AL.

Backups:
Last season the top five home run-hitting catchers were Hispanic, as were the top four RBI men for the position and three of the top four in batting average. Puerto Rico alone can boast of three top-caliber catchers: along with I-Rod, there’s Jorge Posada (.272, 21, 81), the rock behind the plate for the Yankees’ pennant- and World Series-winning teams, and the Orioles’ Javy López (.316, 23, 86). Venezuela has Cleveland’s Victor Martínez (.283, 23, 108), who led all major league catchers in homers (tied with López) and runs batted in. Another option is California’s Johnny Estrada (.314, 9, 76), chosen for the AL’s all-star team in his first year as a starter.

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First Base: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals / .331 avg., 46 HRs, 123 RBIs
At 25 years of age, the Dominican-born NL all-star can become one of the greatest hitters of all time if he keeps up his pace. Pujols is the first player with 30 or more homers in each of his first four seasons, and the third with 500 RBIs in his first four years. He was third in NL MVP voting after leading the league in extra-base hits and total bases, and hitting a career high in home runs. He hit .359 in 2003 to win the NL batting title.

Backups:
A notch below Pujols is the Blue Jays’ Puerto Rican slugger Carlos Delgado. His 2004 stats (.269, 32, 99) seem disappointing following a season (.302, 42, 145) when he finished second in AL MVP voting and was fully the equal of Pujols. The Orioles’ Cuban-born Rafael Palmeiro is still valuable (.258, 23, 88) but past his prime, when he could generate more than 40 homers and 120 RBIs a season.

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Second Base: Alfonso Soriano, Texas Rangers / .280 avg., 28 HRs, 91 RBIs
What’s an off year for a player this good? It’s when you hit slightly below your career average in just about every offensive category, yet still lead AL second basemen in homers, runs batted in, total bases, and win the all-star game’s MVP award. Soriano has emerged as one of the new breed of second basemen who can deliver the hits, changing what’s expected of infielders—no more “good field, no hit." He was born in San Pedro de Macorís, the Dominican town that produces an endless line of major leaguers.

Backups:
Several solid second basemen are evenly matched—but no match for Soriano. The group includes Dominican Placido Polanco (.298, 17, 55) of the Phillies, Bronx-born Dominican American Ron Belliard (.282, 12, 70), and Puerto Rican Expo Jose Vidro (.294, 14, 60). Puerto Rico’s Roberto Alomar used to be a perennial all-star, but played only 56 games last year with the White Sox and Arizona, and hasn’t had an outstanding season since 2001.

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Third Base: Adrián Beltre, Los Angeles Dodgers / .334 avg., 48 HRs, 121 RBIs
His 48 homers led the major leagues and tied Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt's 1980 record for a third baseman. He was second to Barry Bonds in the NL MVP vote after ranking in the league’s top four in batting average, RBIs, hits, total bases, and slugging percentage. The Santo Domingo native was a decent hitter throughout his first six years in the majors, but until 2004 never batted higher than .290 with 23 home runs and 85 RBIs. A breakthrough or a fluke?

Backups:
Another position with half a dozen franchise players. The gaudiest numbers after Beltre belong to a fellow Dominican, the Cubs’ Aramis Ramírez (.318, 36, 103), and Venezuelan Melvin Mora (.340, 27, 104) of the Orioles, who had the highest batting average among all Hispanic players. Two others hit for a lower average but posted big run production Dominican Tony Batista (.241, 32, 110) of the Expos and Colorado’s Vinny Castilla (.271, 35, 131), the NL’s top RBI man and the best hitter ever to come from Mexico. And of course there is the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez. Although 2004 was a subpar season (.286, 36, 106) given his standards, he has a chance to rank with the greatest players ever. The New York native of Dominican ancestry is one of only three players in history with at least 35 home runs, 100 RBIs, and 100 runs scored in seven consecutive seasons. The other two? Jimmie Foxx and Babe Ruth.

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Shortstop: Miguel Tejada, Baltimore Orioles / .311 avg., 34 HRs, 150 RBIs
Tejada surpassed his MVP year of 2002, setting or tying career bests for batting average, homers, runs batted in, slugging percentage, and total bases in 2004. Yet the Dominican-born infielder finished only fifth in the race for MVP, and got beat by Derek Jeter for the starting position on the AL all-star team. He was never in the fraternity of glamour-boy shortstops Jeter, A-Rod, and Garciaparra, but he had better numbers last year than any of them.

Backups:
Even with California-born Mexican American Nomar Garciaparra (.308, 9, 41) injured for half the season and A-Rod moving to third, there’s no shortage of first-rate Hispanic shortstops. Start with Colombia’s greatest baseball player ever, St. Louis’s Edgar Rentería (.287, 10, 72), the NL’s starting all-star two years in a row, who signed with Boston Red Sox in December 2004. Then there is the contingent of Venezuelan heirs to Luis Aparicio and David Concepción: Tiger Carlos Guillén (.318, 20, 97) played in his first all-star game, Marlin Alex González (.232, 23, 79) led NL shortstops in homers and RBIs, and 16-year veteran Omar Vizquel (.291, 7, 59) hit above his career average in every offensive category with the Giants while also reminding fans why he’s a nine-time Gold Glove winner.

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Left Field: Manny Ramírez, Boston Red Sox / .308 avg., 43 HRs, 130 RBIs
This is one of baseball’s most recognizable and well-established figures. An eight-time all-star, and no wonder: Ramírez has topped 30 homers and 100 RBIs in nine of 10 seasons since becoming a regular starter, including the last seven in a row. Last year the Dominican-born, New York-raised slugger led the AL in homers and ranked near the top in most other offensive categories, then hit .412 with 4 RBIs in the World Series. Good enough for the Series MVP award and a third-place finish in regular-season MVP balloting.

Backups:
With Dominican Raul Mondesí playing in just 34 games and Tampa-born Luis González (.259, 17, 48) battling injury in his worst season since he established himself in the late 1990s, the choices are less sensational than they could have been. One pick is five-time all-star Moises Alou, who in his 13th season belted a career high in home runs (39), hit for his fifth-highest average (.293), and drove in his fifth-highest total runs (106). The Atlanta native is the son of San Francisco manager Felipe Alou and nephew of Mateo and Jesús, all among the first Dominican stars in the 1960s. Another possibility is yet another Dominican, José Guillen (.294, 27, 104), who played left last season for the Angels after being a right fielder most of his career. And there is Panama’s Carlos Lee (.305, 31, 99) of the White Sox, who has quietly averaged 28 homers and 102 RBIs in his six seasons.

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Center Field: Carlos Beltrán, Houston Astros / .267 avg., 38 HRs, 104 RBIs
Traded from Kansas City to the Astros in mid-season, Beltrán signed with New York in January 2005, after a very good regular season and a great postseason. In 12 playoff games, the native of Puerto Rico hit .435 with eight home runs, 14 RBIs, and 21 runs—nearly taking his team to the World Series. He’s a complete player who can run (42 stolen bases in 2004, fourth-best in the majors) and play center field with elegance and a strong arm.

Backups:
Given all the Hispanic sluggers in major league outfields, it’s odd that so few of them play center field. Aside from Beltrán, the only other “true” center fielder with indisputable all-star credentials is Bernie Williams, who for 14 years has patrolled the sacred Yankee Stadium turf once trod by Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle. But stats for the Puerto Rican-born Williams this year (.262, 22, 70) were the poorest since his breakthrough season a decade ago.

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Right Field: Vladimir Guerrero, Anaheim Angels / .337 avg., 39 HRs, 126 RBIs
The AL’s MVP led his league in runs scored (124) and total bases (366). He was in the top 3 or 4 in batting average, home runs, RBIs, and slugging percentage. Guerrero is a clutch performer who proved just how valuable he was when he batted .371 with 24 runs scored, six doubles, 10 home runs, and 23 RBIs for the month of September, bringing the Angels from behind to win the AL West. The Dominican outfielder played in the all-star game for the AL after four appearances with the NL.

Backups:
Most of the top Hispanic outfield talent in the majors the last few years has played on the right side of the ballpark. After Guerrero, the picks are led by two Venezuelan 2004 NL all-stars: Miguel Cabrera (.294, 33, 112), who in his first full major league season led the Marlins in homers and runs batted in, and Philadelphia’s Bobby Abreu (.301, 30, 105), whose 40 stolen bases rank him with Willie Mays, Bobby Bonds, and Barry Bonds as the only four major leaguers to have six straight 20-20 seasons. In the all-star game, however, the starter was Sammy Sosa (.253, 35, 80) of the Cubs. But the Dominican slugger is not feared like he was from 1998 to 2001, when he averaged an awesome 60 homers and 149 RBIs. Two other Hispanic right fielders were out with injuries for most of 2004 but rank among the top sluggers of recent years: Venezuela’s Magglio Ordoñez may still be near his prime. But Puerto Rican Juan “Igor” González played in just 33 games and is probably near the end of a 16-year career, during which he won the MVP award twice, hit 434 homers, and drove in 1,404 runs.

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Designated Hitter: David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox / .301 avg., 41 HRs, 139 RBIs
Ortiz was fourth in MVP balloting, just below teammate Manny Rámirez, giving the world champion Red Sox a deadly 1-2 Dominican punch. The best designated hitter in the game (second in RBIs among all major leaguers, while leading all DHs in homers and finishing third in batting average for the position) only blossomed as a superstar when he came to Boston two years ago, after six good but not great seasons in Minnesota.

Backups:
Oakland’s Mexican-born Erubiel Durazo (.321, 22, 88) had his finest season of a young career that seems to be taking off. The Yankees’ platoon system gave Puerto Rican Rubén Sierra only 107 games, but he hit 17 homers and 65 RBIs; with 302 career home runs in 18 seasons, he ranks sixth among all-time major league switch-hitters. Another DH with 18 seasons was Seattle’s Edgar Martínez, one of the dominant designated hitters of the 1990s. The New York-born slugger retired after batting .263 with 12 homers and 63 RBIs. 

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Pitching Rotation:
Johan Santana, Minnesota / 20-6, 2.61 ERA, 265 SO
The AL’s unanimous Cy Young winner, the first Venezuelan to win the award was the dominant AL pitcher in 2004. He finished second in the major leagues in wins and strikeouts, and third in ERA. He was sixth in AL MVP balloting, the only starting pitcher in the top 10. He first showed his potential in 2003, when he went 12-3.

Pedro Martinez, Boston Red Sox / 16-9, 3.90 ERA, 227 SO
Everybody knows that Pedro can’t last past 100 pitches anymore. But the three-time Cy Young winner from the Dominican Republic can still throw heat and remained a pitcher to be reckoned with in 2004. Sixth in strikeouts among all major leaguers and third among starters in AL Cy Young balloting, he has the lowest career ERA of any active pitcher. Martinez signed with New York Mets in December, 2004).

Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs / 16-8, 2.75 ERA, 188 SO
He was the top Hispanic starter in the NL: third in ERA, fifth in wins, and fifth in NL Cy Young voting, the highest polling by a Latin American pitcher. The Venezuelan was named to his first all-star team.

The rest of the rotation is a toss-up. You can go with the experience of eight-year Dominican veteran Bartolo Colón, who won more games (18) with the Angels than all but three major leaguers, but his ERA was 5.01. Or you can pick Mexican-born Oliver Pérez of the Pirates, who in his first full season ranked sixth in ERA (2.98) in the majors and fifth in strikeouts (239), but had only a 12-10 won-lost record.

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