The Best Players in Arizona Diamondbacks History, Position by Position
An all-time Arizona Diamondbacks lineup, rotation and bullpen built from club career leaders, awards and October results, with the criteria stated and the close calls explained.
The Arizona Diamondbacks are one of the youngest clubs in the majors. They played their first game in 1998, so the whole franchise fits inside 28 seasons of the historical record (through 2025), and the all-time team has to be chosen from a pool that a fan can nearly remember in full. That makes the exercise easier in one way and harder in another: the great pitchers are obvious, but the lineup is full of players who were very good for five or six seasons and then left.
This article builds a nine-man lineup, a five-man rotation, a closer and a manager. The rules for selection are stated below so you can disagree with them rather than with the result. The short version is that one man is a lock at every level, Randy Johnson, and almost everything else is a decision between a long career and a short peak.
The criteria: what counts and what does not
Only what a player did while wearing an Arizona uniform counts. A player such as Curt Schilling had a long career and a Hall of Fame debate, but only his 2000 to 2003 seasons in the desert are considered here. Four things decided close calls, in this order.
- Production with the club, using the franchise career leaders for home runs, hits, runs batted in, runs, walks, wins and strikeouts.
- Peak, meaning the best two or three seasons, because a short club career can still be a dominant one.
- Awards, used as a tiebreaker: Cy Young Awards, Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers, All-Star selections and Rookie of the Year.
- October, because the club has won exactly one World Series (2001) and two pennants (2001 and 2023) and those players deserve credit.
The historical record carries no wins above replacement and no defensive metrics, so a shortstop who saves runs but hits .250 is under-rated by this method, and so is any outfielder whose value was mostly in his glove. Where defence is part of the case, the Gold Gloves are the only evidence available here, and they are an opinion poll rather than a measurement. The positions come from how each player was used for most of his time with the club; several of them moved around.
The lineup at a glance
| Position | Player | Years with Arizona | Case in numbers |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | Miguel Montero | 2006-2014 | 795 hits, 448 RBI, .264 average |
| 1B | Paul Goldschmidt | 2011-2018 | 209 HR, 1,182 H, 655 BB, .297 |
| 2B | Ketel Marte | 2017-2025 | 168 HR, 1,098 H, .283 |
| SS | Stephen Drew | 2006-2012 | 776 hits, 178 in 2008 |
| 3B | Matt Williams | 1998-2003 | 99 HR, 142 RBI in 1999 |
| LF | Luis Gonzalez | 1999-2006 | 224 HR, 1,337 H, 774 RBI, .298 |
| CF | Steve Finley | 1999-2004 | 153 HR, 847 H, .278 |
| RF | Justin Upton | 2007-2012 | 438 runs, 80 SB, .300 in 2009 |
| SP | Randy Johnson | 1999-2004, 2007-2008 | 118 W, 2,077 SO, 2.83 ERA |
The numbers for Williams and Upton are sums of their Arizona seasons from the historical year-by-year lines, because neither ranks in the top eight of the club lists for the categories shown on those lists. Everything else is the club career leader line or the player's own season line.
Left field: Luis Gonzalez, the franchise's batting leader
If one hitter is the face of the club, it is Luis Gonzalez. He leads the franchise in home runs (224), hits (1,337), runs batted in (774) and runs (780), and his .298 average is the best of any Diamondback with at least 3,000 at-bats. All of that came in eight seasons, 1999 to 2006.
The signature year is 2001. Gonzalez hit 57 home runs, drove in 142 runs, collected 198 hits and batted .325, which was 26 more home runs than the 31 he hit in 2000 and more than twice his 2002 total (28). It is an outlier even within his own career, and a reminder that the best single seasons in club history do not always come from the best career hitters. In the 2001 World Series he is remembered for the ninth-inning single in Game 7 against Mariano Rivera that won the title.
He was an All-Star in 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005 as a Diamondback and won a Silver Slugger in 2001. There is no serious argument against him in left field.
First base and second base: Goldschmidt and Marte
Paul Goldschmidt is the best all-around hitter the club has produced. In eight seasons he hit 209 home runs, collected 1,182 hits, drew 655 walks (the most in franchise history) and batted .297 with the club. He won Gold Gloves in 2013, 2015 and 2017 and Silver Sluggers in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018 during his Arizona years. His 2013 season (36 home runs, 125 runs batted in, .302) and his 2015 season (33 home runs, .321, 182 hits) are the best two, and both came in his prime. His Most Valuable Player award came in 2022 with another club, so it does not count here.
The only reason to hesitate is Gonzalez, who has more home runs, hits and runs batted in. Gonzalez is a left fielder and Goldschmidt a first baseman, so they do not compete for the same spot, and both make the team.
Ketel Marte is the pick at second base on the strength of longevity. He ranks third in club history in home runs (168), hits (1,098) and runs batted in (537) after nine seasons, and his 2019 (a .329 average with 32 home runs and 187 hits) and 2024 (36 home runs, 95 runs batted in) are the standouts. He was the MVP of the 2023 National League Championship Series and won Silver Sluggers in 2024 and 2025. Because Marte has played several positions, the second-base label is a judgment; his bat is what earns the place.
Shortstop and third base: the thinnest part of the roster
Arizona has had no long-term star at either position, and this is where the all-time team is weakest.
At shortstop the choice is Stephen Drew, who played from 2006 to 2012 and collected 776 hits for the club. His best year was 2008: 178 hits, 21 home runs and a .291 average. Tony Womack is the alternative for his role on the 2001 team and for the club-record 182 stolen bases (1999 to 2003), but a leadoff hitter's steals do not outweigh seven seasons of everyday production from a shortstop who also hit for power.
At third base the pick is Matt Williams, who arrived in 1998 as a veteran with four Gold Gloves from his earlier career. His Arizona totals over six seasons are 99 home runs, 629 hits and 381 runs batted in, but all of that is overshadowed by 1999, when he batted .303 with 35 home runs, 190 hits and 142 runs batted in, which is one of the best seasons by any Diamondback. He was on the 2001 World Series roster, though he played only 106 games and batted .275 that year. Mark Reynolds, who hit 121 home runs for the club between 2007 and 2010, is the powerful alternative, but his strikeout totals and shorter stay count against him.
Catcher, center field and right field
Catcher: Miguel Montero. He played nine seasons for the club and ranks sixth in franchise hits (795) and sixth in runs batted in (448). He was an All-Star in 2011 and 2014, and his best seasons were 2011 (.282, 18 home runs, 86 runs batted in) and 2012 (.286, 88 runs batted in). Damian Miller was the catcher on the title team and deserves a mention, but his statistics for the club are not in the leader lists and the case for Montero is simply longer.
Center field: Steve Finley. He hit 153 home runs in Arizona (fourth in club history), drove in 479 runs and had two 30-home-run seasons for the club (34 in 1999, 35 in 2000), and he won Gold Gloves in 1999 and 2000 at a premium defensive position. Corbin Carroll, the 2023 Rookie of the Year, is pushing hard: through 2025 he has 123 stolen bases (third in club history) and a career slugging percentage of .491 in four seasons. He is the one active player with a real chance to replace someone on this list.
Right field: Justin Upton. The younger Upton brother had six seasons with Arizona (2007 to 2012), scored 438 runs, stole 80 bases and made two All-Star teams as a Diamondback (2009 and 2011). His 2011 (31 home runs, 171 hits, .289) was the best year. Chris Young (132 home runs, 112 stolen bases) and David Peralta (960 hits, 110 home runs) are the alternatives, and an argument for either is reasonable: Peralta's consistency over nine seasons is real. The choice for Upton rests on peak: he put up this production while still very young.
The rotation: Johnson, Schilling, Webb, Gallen, Kelly
The top two spots are as clear as in any all-time team in baseball.
Randy Johnson won four straight Cy Young Awards with the club (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002), and the four seasons read: 17-9 with 364 strikeouts, 19-7 with 347, 21-6 with 372, and 24-5 with a 2.32 earned run average and 334. In 2002 he won the pitching Triple Crown. His franchise totals are 118 wins, 2,077 strikeouts, 14 shutouts and a 2.83 earned run average. He pitched a perfect game on May 18, 2004, at the age of 40. He is the only Hall of Famer on the club's list of players with four or more Arizona seasons, and he is the unanimous choice for the all-time team.
Curt Schilling was a Diamondback for less than four seasons but won 22 games in 2001 (with 293 strikeouts and a 2.98 earned run average) and 23 in 2002 (316 strikeouts). He and Johnson were named co-Most Valuable Players of the 2001 World Series. Put the two 2001 seasons together and the pair won 43 games and struck out 665 batters. Schilling's club total is 58 wins and 875 strikeouts, which is far fewer than Webb, but the peak is almost too good to leave out.
Brandon Webb is the long-term answer. His 87 wins are second in club history, and his 3.27 earned run average with the club is second to Johnson among pitchers with 1,000 innings. He won the Cy Young Award in 2006 (16-8, 3.10) and followed it with 18 wins in 2007 and 22 in 2008. He was an All-Star each year from 2006 to 2008.
Zac Gallen (65 wins and 1,017 strikeouts from 2019 to 2025) and Merrill Kelly (62 wins, 865 strikeouts over the same period) take the last two places. Gallen's best seasons were 2022 (12-4, 2.54) and 2023 (17-9, 220 strikeouts, an All-Star year). Zack Greinke (55 wins, 2016 to 2019), Patrick Corbin (56 wins, 2012 to 2018) and Robbie Ray (998 strikeouts, 2015 to 2020) were near misses. Ian Kennedy won 52 games over a longer stretch.
Closer and manager
Closer: Jose Valverde. He saved 98 games from 2003 to 2007, the most in franchise history, ahead of J. J. Putz (83), Matt Mantei (74) and Byung-Hyun Kim (70). Kim is remembered as much for two ninth-inning home runs he allowed against the Yankees in the 2001 World Series as for the saves; the club still won the series. Saves are a poor guide to relief quality, and the historical record has no leverage data, so this is the least certain pick on the team.
Manager: Bob Brenly. The manager who won the franchise's only World Series went 303-262 in his four seasons (2001 to 2004). Torey Lovullo managed far more games, a franchise-record 1,355 from 2017 to 2025, at a 664-691 record, and led the club to the 2023 pennant. The record favors Brenly; the longevity favors Lovullo. A reader who values the 2023 pennant over the 2001 title would reasonably swap them.
What this method cannot see
Four caveats apply to every selection above.
- No WAR. The historical record has no wins-above-replacement figures, so defence and baserunning are only partly captured by Gold Gloves and stolen bases.
- Different eras. Johnson, Schilling and Gonzalez peaked in the high-scoring years around 2000, so their raw numbers are inflated relative to today's hitters. Marte or Carroll hitting .280 with 28 home runs is arguably more valuable than the same line in 2001.
- Short careers look worse. A player who leaves after five years never gets near the career leader lists, which is why Williams and Upton had to be assembled from year-by-year lines.
- The sample is small. With 28 seasons of history, a couple of good young players can change the picture quickly; Carroll is the clearest case.
Two checks on the whole exercise. First, the team has one pitcher with more than 100 wins for the club and one hitter with more than 1,300 hits, which is a reminder of how little time there has been for franchise records to build. Second, a plain look at the October results (a 2001 title, a 2023 pennant, and a seven-game National League Championship Series win over Philadelphia in 2023) suggests that postseason success came when a few great players overlapped, not when a deep roster built up over time.
Common questions
Who is the best player in Diamondbacks history? Randy Johnson, by a wide margin. Four Cy Young Awards in a row and a perfect game in a Diamondbacks uniform are enough on their own.
Is anyone on the team a Hall of Famer? Johnson is the only player with four or more Arizona seasons who is in the Hall of Fame, as of the 2025 season. Schilling has appeared on ballots without being elected, and several others have collected few votes.
Why is Goldschmidt not ranked above Gonzalez? The two play different positions, so neither is displaced. If you forced a single choice, Gonzalez has more counting totals and the 2001 title; Goldschmidt has the better average, on-base ability and defence.
Does the list change if you count career stats rather than club stats? Yes. Schilling would climb, Montero's case would not change much, and Goldschmidt's 2022 Most Valuable Player award would matter. This list counts only Arizona seasons.
Who is the most likely future addition? Corbin Carroll is the first name, given the Rookie of the Year award and the 2025 Silver Slugger. Check the current roster before assuming anything beyond that.
Where to go next
For the story behind these players, read the history of the Arizona Diamondbacks, the club's best seasons and every October run, and the guide to Chase Field. For division rivals, compare with the Colorado Rockies, the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Arizona Diamondbacks team page has current standings and results, and Chase Field has the park details. For the one title in club history, see the history of the World Series.