This is the Cuban team of the quarter-century (2000-2025). We used FanGraphs’ fWAR (Wins Above Replacement), one of the most comprehensive metrics in modern baseball. This metric will be the way we select the Cuban players who have contributed the most at their respective positions over the past 25 years in the Major Leagues.
The fWAR combines offensive, defensive, fielding, and positional value, providing a comprehensive view of each player’s real impact on their team’s victories, beyond traditional statistics. This lineup represents, by the numbers, the most valuable Cubans in MLB during this quarter-century.
On the list you have such players as Yordan Álvarez, Yoenis Céspedes and Yasiel Puig in the outfield. José Abreu the 2020 AL MVP will be the first baseman. The rest of the infield will be made up by Yasmani Grandal (C),José Iglesias (2B), Alexei Ramírez (SS) and Yunel Escobar (3B).
The starting pitcher will be 1997 NLCS and World Series MVP, Livan Hernández and the “Cuban Missile” Aroldis Chapman will be the closer. While the designated hitter would be arguably the best Cuban hitter of all-time Rafael Palmeiro. Would you change any of them if we used another metric to make this selection.
📊 Cuban Team of the Quarter-Century (2000–2025) by fWAR:
🔹 Catcher: Yasmani Grandal – 40.6
🔹 First Baseman: José Abreu – 26.4
🔹 Second Baseman: José Iglesias – 16.8
🔹 Third Baseman: Yunel Escobar – 23.7
🔹 Shortstop: Alexei Ramírez – 17.9
🔹 Outfielders: • Yordan Álvarez – 23.1 • Yoenis Céspedes – 20.7 • Yasiel Puig – 19.6
🔹 Designated Hitter: Rafael Palmeiro – 14.5
🔹 Starting Pitcher: Liván Hernández – 28.8
🔹 Relief Pitcher: Aroldis Chapman – 21.2