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Hitters

CF Benni Phillips, Toronto Maple Leafs, 2031
Phillips is probably the greatest of the current crop of NABF stars - a serviceable defensive CF with a complete offensive attack. He was the unquestioned best player in Division 2 over a four year stretch between 2030 and 2033, his age 24-27 seasons, during which he slugged 146 homers and put up 33.5 WAR while lifting his team back into Division 1. His numbers have taken a hit against better competition in D1 but he remains a dangerous hitter into his 30s for Toronto, whose uniform he will be wearing until 2041 after signing an 8 year extension in 2034. Phillips is a two-time MVP, winning his first in 2031 as he led the league with 174 hits, 105 runs, a .427 OBP, and a 9.7 WAR - a new single-season record for D2. Part of that value was his 39 homer total, at the time a career high, as he slugged .606 with a .331 BA. A complete offensive season, one of the best the NABF has seen.

3B Ali Brown, Detroit Stars, 2032
Brown has been one of the biggest drivers of the Sounds’ extraordinary success over the past six seasons, as they reversed years of futility that included four straight last place seasons and a drop from Division 2 down to Division 3. Brown, now a third base institution in Detroit, burst on to the scene in his first full season, putting up 8 WAR with a .284/.392/.563 line, that SLG being the best in D3. He hit 35 homers - he would dramatically improve on this in his nearly-as-good 2033 with 47 - while also posting a division-best .409 wOBA and winning the first of two MVP awards. His most recent 2036 season was also the best on a Detroit team that won the 2036 Championship, which means Brown will have his first shot at D2 competition in 2037.

SS Mike Burcham, New York Giants, 2033
Burcham has emerged as the best of a new crop of star shortstops over the first years of the 2030s, helping his Giants toward competitiveness. The team has finished below second place only once in the decade, and in 2033 won the D1 East behind Burcham’s great season - the first time the club had won a Conference title since 2024, and its first in D1 since 2012. Burcham won both a Gold Glove and batting title in 2033, hitting .343/.411/.433 - that OBP also a league leader. His 202 hits, 10 triples, and 113 runs were also tops in D1, as was his 8.6 WAR. He followed up 2023 with another stellar campaign, breaking out with 65 stolen bases and adding some additional gap power (a league leading 41 doubles) but 2033 was his best season, and the one that best showcases his contact-speed style, an increasingly common one in D1 in the last few years.

1B Danny Gonzalez, Tijuana Potros, 2032
Few current stars are as decorated as Gonzalez, who has a Rookie of the Year, a Gold Glove, 9 Silver Sluggers, 11 All-Star selections, and two MVP trophies on the shelf at home to go along with a D1 Championship. Gonzalez had his best season in 2032, when he took home his second MVP while collecting the first of three recent Triple Crowns in the NABF (along with Clemens Young in 2035 and Carson Prince in 2036). He put up a .340/.404/.658 line with 48 homers and 137 RBI, also topping the Division with 7.6 WAR, 179 wRC+, and a .444 wOBA.

C Mike Kepler, El Paso Sun Kings, 2036
Kepler’s overall line isn’t as impressive as those above, but his 2036 stands out for a singular reason: in 2036, Kepler became the first catcher to win an MVP in any Division in NABF history. Kepler’s age 27 season was the latest in a string of outstanding offensive seasons from behind the plate, and Kepler took a step forward in 2036, setting career highs in average and OBP (.318 and .399 respectively) while maintaining his power level with 20 homers and a .513 SLG. Though he didn’t lead his league in any offensive category, his 5.1 WAR at a demanding defensive position and on a championship team was enough to put him over the top in a tight MVP race, and enough to earn him a spot here.

Pitchers

SP Willie Rodriguez, Cincinnati Tigers, 2035
Rodriguez’s 2035 has a case to be called the greatest pitching season in NABF history. A 52 FIP- is impressive enough, but his 6.5 K/BB is among the best of any season. Rodriguez is one of only 13 pitchers to top 300 strikeouts in a single season, and one of only three in D3, and among those who have done it, none had control anywhere close to Rodriguez’s - only 5.1% of batters who faced him drew a free pass. His 9.9 WAR is second only to Oliver Chase’s 2010, and that season came in an era of generally higher pitching WAR across NABF - Rodriguez’s is the best of the 2030s by almost two full wins over Bubba Fread’s 8.04 2034 mark.Voters unaccountably rewarded Sacramento’s Josh Argo with the Pitcher of the Year, perhaps due to the latter’s league leading 17 wins and 2.15 ERA - the worst award oversight in NABF history by a mile.

SP Bubba Fread, Montreal Expos, 2034
Fread is maybe the most dominant of the modern pitchers in the NABF, and has already won 4 D1 Pitcher of the Year awards in 2032, 2033, 2036, and his best season, 2034. Fread’s 2.10 FIP and 56 FIP- were both the best marks of his career, and he led D1 in wins with 18 while striking out over a third of the batters he faced. His 16 strikeout performance against Boston was one of the most dominant single-game performances in D2 history.

SP Jason Blanche, Brooklyn Dodgers, 2035
Blanche has some of the best pure stuff in the game and has been among Division 1’s best since his age 24 season in 2028. He has put up a 6+ WAR season three times, and has led the Division in strikeouts in seven. Both of those were true in his 2035 Pitcher of the Year season, as Blanche led the Dodgers to the Conference title with a Division-leading 220 innings and 68 FIP- (2.84 FIP). His postseason wasn’t as effective, though, as he lost two games to El Paso in an ultimately unsuccessful D1 Championship effort.

SP Matthew Boyd, Nashville Sounds, 2034
Paul Herrin can claim a historic first in 2034: the first NABF pitcher to ever win both an MVP and a Pitcher of the Year. That he accomplished it in his first full season as a starting pitcher makes it all the more incredible. Boyd put up 7.6 WAR in 207 innings, leading D3 in several categories, traditional and advanced metrics alike - ERA (2.08), Ks (282), WHIP (0.91), FIP- (59). Boyd’s season was the biggest reason the Sounds captured their first D3 East title, in their first season in that Division after promotion from D4. In subsequent seasons, Boyd has not come close to equaling that production, with WARs of 2.9 and 2.3 respectively, but Sounds fans will remember it for years to come.

SP Paul Herrin, Miami Marlins, 2036
Matthew Boyd was the first to do it in 2034, but Paul Herrin of the Marlins equaled the feat of a dual MVP/Pitcher of the Year last season in 2036. Herrin, now 27, seems poised for a long and outstanding career: he has won two straight D3 Pitcher of the Year honors and has put up at least 5 WAR in each of his last four seasons, leading to his 6.7 WAR, Triple Crown season in 2036. Herrin won 20 with a 2.06 ERA and 258 strikeouts, giving up just 7 homers. His 2.68 FIP and 70 FIP- aren’t quite as impressive (due to a low .258 BABIP) but Herrin is one to watch as the NABF enters its 11th cycle.

Next: Ranking the Teams - #48-#37