100 Greatest Center Fielders of All-Time

The greatest baseball center fielders ranked by career, peak, and prime value. Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr. Updated through 2025.

Baseball Player Rankings by Position

CATCHER

FIRST BASE

SECOND BASE

SHORTSTOP

THIRD BASE

LEFT FIELD

CENTER FIELD

RIGHT FIELD

PITCHER

Glossary of Terms for Player Rankings

CAREER = Wins Above Replacement

Long Peak: Best 7 Seasons by WAR

Short Peak: Best 3 Seasons by WAR

Prime: Best 5 Consecutive Seasons by WAR

Player Score: Our Player Rankings Score

RANK	NAME	FROM	TO	CAREER	LONG PEAK	SHORT PEAK	PRIME	PLAYER SCORE
1	Willie Mays	1951	1973	156.2	73.6	32.9	52.3	546.0
2	Mickey Mantle	1951	1968	110.2	64.8	33.1	47.7	425.8
3	Ty Cobb	1905	1928	151.0	69.1	32.6	47.7	419.4
4	Mike Trout	2011	2025	87.3	65.0	30.9	47.3	416.2
5	Tris Speaker	1907	1928	134.3	62.2	29.1	44.3	383.9
6	Ken Griffey Jr.	1989	2010	83.8	53.9	27.5	37.8	361.1
7	Joe DiMaggio	1936	1951	79.1	51.3	25.4	38.0	342.6
8	Oscar Charleston	1920	1941	102.0	53.0	27.9	44.0	314.3
9	Kenny Lofton	1991	2007	68.4	43.2	21.3	31.0	298.3
10	Duke Snider	1947	1964	66.0	50.0	26.3	38.8	290.3
11	Carlos Beltran	1998	2017	70.1	44.3	21.7	30.3	288.6
12	Andre Dawson	1976	1996	64.8	39.1	20.8	32.6	285.5
13	Andruw Jones	1996	2012	62.7	46.3	22.5	34.2	282.0
14	Turkey Stearnes	1923	1940	89.8	47.7	26.4	34.1	274.4
15	Jim Edmonds	1993	2010	60.4	42.5	20.0	32.1	264.0
16	Cristobal Torriente	1916	1932	78.8	49.0	28.9	35.0	258.3
17	Richie Ashburn	1948	1962	64.4	44.2	20.6	31.5	255.6
18	Andrew McCutchen	2009	2025	49.0	38.3	21.1	31.6	249.8
19	Jim Wynn	1963	1977	55.8	43.3	22.2	28.6	248.7
20	Cesar Cedeno	1970	1986	52.8	41.2	21.3	31.4	241.0
21	Vada Pinson	1958	1975	54.2	40.1	20.5	30.7	239.9
22	Willie Davis	1960	1979	60.8	38.7	19.7	24.7	240.0
23	Martin Dihigo	1923	1945	71.7	41.0	24.8	35.1	238.2
24	Chet Lemon	1975	1990	55.6	37.0	18.2	25.7	234.6
25	Kirby Puckett	1984	1995	51.1	37.5	20.4	26.9	233.3
26	Larry Doby	1947	1959	49.3	39.5	20.0	30.1	230.1
27	Dale Murphy	1976	1993	46.5	41.0	21.4	28.0	225.8
28	Cool Papa Bell	1922	1946	70.0	40.5	19.5	31.5	226.1
29	Fred Lynn	1974	1990	50.2	38.3	21.0	26.6	225.1
30	Bernie Williams	1991	2006	49.6	36.4	17.4	26.7	223.4
31	Curtis Granderson	2004	2019	47.0	34.3	18.4	26.3	219.7
32	Johnny Damon	1995	2012	56.3	33.0	16.3	22.2	218.1
33	Willie Wilson	1976	1994	46.1	33.8	21.0	26.9	217.4
34	George Springer	2014	2025	42.1	32.5	16.7	23.6	217.1
35	Brett Butler	1981	1997	49.7	35.1	16.8	24.0	214.9
36	Lorenzo Cain	2010	2022	38.4	32.5	19.4	27.3	214.0
37	Devon White	1985	2001	47.3	35.4	18.7	24.5	212.2
38	Earl Averill	1929	1941	48.0	37.4	19.5	25.4	204.7
39	Wally Berger	1930	1940	42.5	35.7	18.2	27.1	202.8
40	Torii Hunter	1997	2015	50.7	31.3	15.6	20.7	202.1
41	Curt Flood	1956	1971	41.9	32.8	15.8	23.3	200.6
42	Kevin Kiermaier	2013	2024	36.3	30.5	17.4	23.9	198.7
43	Ellis Burks	1987	2004	49.8	31.9	18.2	19.7	199.2
44	Paul Blair	1964	1980	37.7	35.5	19.8	24.8	195.5
45	Bobby Murcer	1965	1983	32.1	29.7	19.7	26.4	193.9
46	Andy Van Slyke	1983	1995	41.3	32.7	17.8	24.0	191.4
47	Willard Brown	1937	1948	48.5	37.5	22.8	26.2	190.4
48	Ray Lankford	1990	2004	38.2	31.3	16.4	24.0	189.4
49	Amos Otis	1967	1984	42.8	32.5	17.6	20.7	188.6
50	Pete Reiser	1940	1952	24.4	21.6	17.9	26.7	188.2
51	Steve Finley	1989	2007	44.2	31.9	16.5	18.2	187.2
52	Earle Combs	1924	1935	43.9	34.3	16.9	25.7	185.5
53	Sam Jethroe	1938	1954	15.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	183.6
54	Dwayne Murphy	1978	1989	33.2	29.8	17.1	23.2	180.8
55	Garry Maddox	1972	1986	36.8	30.3	16.5	23.8	180.9
56	Max Carey	1910	1929	54.5	32.8	15.3	22.5	178.1
57	Hack Wilson	1923	1934	38.2	35.9	19.5	30.0	176.8
58	Eric Davis	1984	2001	36.1	30.0	17.6	23.7	175.9
59	Dom DiMaggio	1940	1953	33.1	26.8	13.3	20.4	176.1
60	Cody Bellinger	2017	2025	30.4	30.7	18.5	17.1	174.5
61	Marquis Grissom	1989	2005	29.6	27.5	15.8	21.5	172.8
62	Grady Sizemore	2004	2015	27.7	28.2	19.1	26.8	170.7
63	Al Oliver	1968	1985	43.7	27.9	14.0	19.4	170.7
64	Byron Buxton	2015	2025	29.8	27.4	14.8	18.0	168.6
65	Edd Roush	1913	1931	45.1	31.7	16.1	24.2	168.1
66	Darin Erstad	1996	2009	32.3	28.7	18.0	22.7	166.9
67	Shane Victorino	2003	2015	31.5	28.5	15.9	21.3	166.7
68	Jacoby Ellsbury	2007	2017	31.0	28.0	17.6	20.3	166.5
69	Mickey Rivers	1970	1984	32.7	27.5	15.2	22.1	164.4
70	Josh Hamilton	2007	2015	28.2	27.1	18.0	22.5	164.1
71	Willie McGee	1982	1999	34.2	28.4	17.5	18.8	163.5
72	Lance Johnson	1987	2000	30.2	28.0	17.1	22.4	162.2
73	Andy Pafko	1943	1959	36.7	29.7	16.8	22.3	160.7
74	Chili Davis	1981	1999	38.2	24.7	12.7	15.6	160.4
75	Adam Jones	2006	2019	32.5	24.9	13.0	20.3	158.1
76	Ben Chapman	1930	1946	41.3	29.5	15.0	22.3	158.1
77	Brandon Nimmo	2016	2025	26.1	24.0	13.7	17.6	152.4
78	Dave Henderson	1981	1994	27.6	27.2	16.6	21.3	152.0
79	Bobby Thomson	1946	1960	33.9	26.9	15.9	20.6	152.0
80	Lloyd Moseby	1980	1991	27.5	25.7	17.3	22.4	149.8
81	Julio Rodriguez	2022	2025	22.8	22.8	18.5	22.8	149.6
82	Vernon Wells	1999	2013	28.6	26.1	15.2	20.2	149.9
83	Tommy Leach	1898	1918	46.8	31.0	16.2	17.9	149.0
84	Tommie Agee	1962	1973	25.4	26.3	17.0	21.6	145.6
85	Bill North	1971	1981	26.8	26.5	16.9	19.6	145.5
86	Clyde Milan	1907	1922	40.0	28.2	14.9	21.7	145.9
87	Cesar Tovar	1965	1976	28.2	25.9	13.2	20.2	144.9
88	Fielder Jones	1896	1915	43.2	28.9	13.8	21.5	143.8
89	Michael Bourn	2006	2016	22.8	23.8	16.6	21.6	142.9
90	Denard Span	2008	2018	28.1	23.5	13.5	17.2	142.5
91	Benny Kauff	1912	1920	29.0	29.1	19.3	25.1	141.2
92	Austin Jackson	2010	2018	21.9	24.1	15.2	20.6	140.9
93	Mike Cameron	1995	2011	46.7	32.5	16.2	23.9	140.9
94	Rick Monday	1966	1984	33.1	22.9	12.0	16.1	140.7
95	Carlos Gomez	2007	2019	24.4	23.0	14.7	19.3	139.4
96	Lenny Dykstra	1985	1996	42.5	32.9	20.1	23.4	138.2
97	Tony Gonzalez	1960	1971	27.0	26.4	14.4	17.4	137.2
98	Jimmy Piersall	1950	1967	29.4	25.3	14.2	18.1	137.2
99	Roy Thomas	1899	1911	32.2	31.1	15.8	22.3	136.6
100	Johnny Mostil	1918	1929	23.8	24.4	15.1	21.4	136.2

100 Greatest Center Fielders of All-Time

The greatest baseball center fielders ranked by career, peak, and prime value. Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr. Updated through 2025.

Baseball Player Rankings by Position

Glossary of Terms for Player Rankings

CAREER = Wins Above Replacement

Long Peak: Best 7 Seasons by WAR

Short Peak: Best 3 Seasons by WAR

Prime: Best 5 Consecutive Seasons by WAR

Player Score: Our Player Rankings Score

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