SF Giants Mike Yastrzemski Makes Second Team All-MLB

SF Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski was selected to the first All-MLB roster in league history.

Major League Baseball has decided to follow in the footsteps of leagues like the National Basketball Association, which for many years has selected players to represent each position on All-NBA rosters, and release a first and second-team All-MLB roster. They released the final results on Wednesday and SF Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski was selected to the Second Team All-MLB. Giants second baseman Donovan Solano and first baseman Brandon Belt had been finalists for the honor but were not selected.

Yastrzemski followed up a strong rookie campaign in 2019 with an even better year in 2020. Across 225 plate appearances, the left-handed bat generated a .297/.400/.568 line (165 OPS+) with 10 home runs and 35 RBI. While the Giants fell a victory short of the postseason, Yaz still finished eighth in National League Most Valuable Player voting. He also took home the 2020 Willie Mac Award, which goes to the player that exhibits the high character of Giant great Willie McCovey both on and off the field.

14 outfielders were finalists for the honor and Yastrzemski beat out eight others to be alongside Michael Conforto and Ronald Acuña Jr. as second-team outfielders. While Yastrzemski had a fantastic season, it’s hard to argue with his omission from the first team, which featured an outfield of Mookie Betts, Mike Trout, and Juan Soto. That trio might have an argument to be considered the three best players in the sport.

The Giants have many more years of team control over Yastrzemski, but as he continues to rack up accolades, the team may be inclined to consider signing him to an extension to gain cost certainty. Either way, he remains the defining figure of Farhan Zaidi’s young tenure as president of baseball operations in San Francisco.

It has been a wild past couple of seasons for outfielder Mike Yastrzemski. The Vanderbilt University alum went from a system player in the Baltimore Orioles organization to an everyday player with the SF Giants by the end of the 2019 season. Now, after a breakout 2020 campaign, he consistently finds himself named alongside many of the best players in the sport.