New York Yankees Featured In New List Of Top 100 Pro Athletes

A trio of New York Yankees are part of ESPN’s list of the Top 100 pro athletes of the 21st century.

Yankees Derek Jeter in the dugout prior to the second game of the subway series at Yankee Stadium June 26, 2005. The Mets defeated the Yankees 10 - 3. / Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News / USA

ESPN is releasing its selections for the Top 100 pro athletes of the 21st century and, so far, three New York Yankees players have made the list as the site has unveiled Nos. 26-100.

Slugger Alex Rodriguez is the highest ranked of the trio at No. 43, while former captain and Hall of Famer Derek Jeter is at No. 53 and Hall-of-Fame closer Mariano Rivera is No. 59.

Rodriguez, who like Jeter is part of Fox’s pre-game and post-game baseball broadcast, help make power and average something that could be combined at shortstop (he played third base for the Yankees).

His numbers are among the best in baseball history — a lifetime .283 batting average with 696 home runs and 2,086 RBI. But two separate scandals with performance-enhancing drugs — one of which led to his suspension for the 2014 season — has kept him out of baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Starting in 2000, A-Rod was a three-time American League MVP, an 11-time All-Star, a seven-time Silver Slugger and a World Series champion in 2009. He also hit 548 home runs.

Jeter is the rare Yankees player that was named a captain during his career. As one of the “core four” players that helped build the late 1990s Yankees dynasty, Jeter was a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection who was a lifetime .310 hitter with 260 home runs and 1,311 RBI. He was also the AL Rookie of the Year and a five-time world champion.

Starting in 2000 he won two of his World Series rings, was named the 2000 World Series MVP, collected 2,658 of his 3,465 career hits, had 141 postseason hits and reached the All-Star Game 12 of his 14 times.

Rivera, another member of the “core four,” was unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. No one closed more games in his career than Rivera, who recorded 652 saves. His 952 appearances is also best in baseball history.

Starting in 2000 he won two of his five World Series rings, made the All-Star Game 11 times, recorded 523 of his saves and closed down 29 postseason games. His regular-season and postseason saves are most in the last 25 years.

He made the All-Star Game a total of 13 times, was a World Series and All-Star Game MVP and won the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year award five times. The AL’s top closer award is named in his honor.

ESPN wrote that it received more than 70,000 votes from its contributors to create the list. Those contributors were only allowed to consider performances since 2000.

ESPN intends to reveal the Top 25 on Thursday.

The other MLB players in the Top 100 to this point are pitcher Pedro Martinez (No. 92), pitcher Roy Halladay (No. 88), infielder Bryce Harper (No. 79), infielder Mookie Betts (No. 73), two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani (No. 62), infielder Adrian Beltré (No. 52), pitcher Max Scherzer (No. 46), designated hitter David Ortiz (No. 45), pitcher Justin Verlander (No. 40), outfielder Barry Bonds (No. 38), outfielder Ichiro Suzuki (No. 37), infielder Miguel Cabrera (No. 33), pitcher Clayton Kershaw (No. 31) and outfielder Mike Trout (No. 30).