Introducing the Nationals' All-Decade Team

As part of the 10th anniversary celebration for the Nationals, MASNsports.com wanted to determine who were the best players at each position during the team's first nine seasons in D.C. Born out of some office debate, this process culminated with the selection of a Nationals All-Decade Team by a panel of 16 media members.

Let's be clear: There's no perfect way to determine the best players at each of eight field positions, starting pitcher and closer. In fact, there were a couple of positions that were difficult to fill (we tried, where possible, to have at least four candidates for each position, but that was impossible at third base, where only three players have logged significant time from 2005-2014).

For the most part, the voters followed our script, though one enterprising media member insisted on voting on Bryce Harper as a right fielder, a position he began playing regularly this season, in order to have both Alfonso Soriano (in left field) and Harper (in right field) on his ballot. And that's OK - this was a friendly exercise, and a little coloring outside the lines is perfectly fine. The idea was to poll key media members on their thoughts, not to push them one way or another.

What did we find? Well, there were some votes that were a little surprising, others that weren't. There seemed to be an affinity for the players who have helped the Nationals to two postseason appearances in the past three seasons, as opposed to those who were part of the team during its early years after moving from Montreal, or those who were part of the back-to-back 100-loss seasons in 2008-09, though those seasons helped set the stage for the Nats' coming of age via the opportunity to draft right-hander Stephen Strasburg and Harper with the No. 1 overall pick in successive years.

Three categories were unanimous choices; in another, each of the four candidates received votes. In one category, one vote was the difference between the winner and runner-up, while in another an 8-5 margin decided the victor. But for the most part, the voters wholeheartedly agreed on who the superior choices were.

Who did the media panel select? Read on for a position-by-position recap. Ladies and gentlemen, the Nationals All-Decade Team:

Catcher: Wilson Ramos

Current National Wilson Ramos, who has played parts of five seasons, was chosen as the backstop. Though injuries have limited his time behind the plate, Ramos has been an effective hitter, three times reaching double digits in home runs (he's on pace to make it four in 2015) and effectively controlling the running game. There was significant support for Brian Schneider, who came with the team from Montreal and spent 2005-2007 in Washington. With 10 homers in 2005, Schneider was one of six players to post double-digit longballs. He was a fiery presence in the clubhouse and had to work with a constantly changing pitching staff, no easy task. In 369 career games with the Nats, Schneider his .247 with 20 homers and 153 RBIs.

First base: Adam LaRoche

Adam LaRoche spent four seasons with Washington, twice signing free agent deals to provide spectacular defense and a left-handed power bat to the middle of the lineup. He eclipsed another free agent slugger, Adam Dunn, by four votes. Though his first season in D.C. was short-circuited by injury, LaRoche finished with 82 homers, 269 RBIs and a .249 average in his four seasons. He was the first baseman on both of the Nats' playoff teams, leaving after 2014 when the Nationals were planning to move Ryan Zimmerman from third base to replace him. Dunn spent two years with the Nationals, agreeing to a $20 million deal days before spring training began in 2009, and filled the need of a power stick. Splitting time between first base and left field, Dunn slashed .264/.378/.533 in 317 games, with 76 homers and 208 RBIs.

Second base: Anthony Rendon

All four candidates got votes in this category, but it was Anthony Rendon who got the nod over Danny Espinosa, doubling his vote total. In parts of three seasons, Rendon hit .278 with nine homers and 45 RBIs in 122 games. Coming into the 2015 season, Espinosa had 57 homers and 172 RBIs in 493 games at the keystone, though only a .228 average. The voters acknowledged the contributions of Jose Vidro, the oft-injured player who came from Montreal in 2005 with his best seasons behind him, and Ronnie Belliard, who played with a curly W on his cap for 329 games from 2007-09.

Shortstop: Ian Desmond

Ian Desmond, the longest-tenured member of the team whose history stretches back to the Montreal days when he was a third-round draft choice in 2004, was one of two unanimous choices by the panel. Coming into this season, Desmond had been selected to one All-Star Game and awarded three Silver Sluggers. He brought a .270/.317/.431 slash line into 2015, and had three straight seasons with at least 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases.

Third base: Ryan Zimmerman

That Ryan Zimmerman was a unanimous selection is hardly a surprise, considering he entered 2015 as the Nationals' all-time leader in games played (1,198), runs (690), batting average (,286), hits (1,326), slugging percentage (.476), extra-base hits (497), home runs (184), RBIs (710), walks (477) and total bases (2,209). The Nats' first-ever draft choice, the fifth overall selection in 2005 out of Virginia, Zimmerman played only 67 games in the minors before reaching the majors. His penchant for walk-off homers is the stuff of legend, and he christened Nationals Park with a game-winning, ninth-inning blast on March 30, 2008. He finished second to Florida's Hanley Ramirez in the Rookie of the Year balloting in 2006, had made one All-Star Game, and received one Gold Glove and two Silver Sluggers.

Left field: Bryce Harper

Bryce Harper has done things most 22-year-olds can only dream of, and he's the choice in left field for the All-Decade Team. He won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2012, when the Nats reached the postseason for the first time, and his homer totals through his first three seasons (he's the only player with a pair of 20-homer seasons before his 21st birthday) rank him with Hall of Fame sluggers. Injuries limited him to 218 games between 2013-14, but the three-time All-Star is one of the brightest stars in the baseball galaxy. The voters also noted the contributions of Alfonso Soriano, who spent only one season with the Nationals, a magical 2006 when he slugged 46 homers and stole 40 bases, making him the team's first and only member of the 40-40 club.

Center field: Denard Span

Denard Span was acquired before the 2013 season to give the Nats a leadoff hitter and premier glove in center field, and has delivered on both accounts. He was the third unanimous choice on the All-Decade Team. In his first two seasons, Span has hit .290 with 51 stolen bases and more highlight-reel grabs in center field than you can shake a glove at.

Right field: Jayson Werth

Jayson Werth's decision to ink a seven-year, $126 million deal as the Winter Meetings were getting under way in 2010 helped legitimize the Nationals and set the stage for the team's turnaround on the field. He entered this season with a .282 average, 66 homers and 253 RBIs in his first four seasons with Washington. No one will forget the electrifying home run he hit to extend the 2012 National League Division Series, forcing a decisive Game 5. He wasn't unanimous, but Werth's selection as the right fielder on this list was a no-contest, as he claimed 14 of the 16 votes.

Starting pitcher: Jordan Zimmermann

Livan Hernandez may have been the first frontline pitcher in a Nationals uniform - he started both the team's inaugural game and the home opener in 2005, and had three tours with the Nats - but right-hander Jordan Zimmermann was the team's first home-grown pitching star and is the starting pitcher on the All-Decade Team. Zimmermann, who was the team's second-round selection in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, came into 2015 with a 57-40 record, 2.60 ERA and .244 batting average against. On the final day of last season, Zimmermann pitched the first no-hitter in Nationals history, though it took a diving Steven Souza Jr. grab on the game's final out to cement it. The image of Zimmermann, arms extended in appreciation of Souza's grab, is an indelible memory of the team's first decade. He's posted three straight seasons of double-digit victories and was a 19-game winner in 2013. In his Washington tenure, Hernandez was 70-72 with a 3.98 ERA in 197 starts, mostly functioning as a good pitcher on some poor teams.

Closer: Chad Cordero

We saved the closest race for last, and the All-Decade Team closer was the ninth-inning shutdown arm during the Nats' first three seasons in D.C. Chad Cordero came with the Expos from Montreal and led the National League with 47 saves in 2005. He still holds the single-season and all-time (113) saves records. Cordero was an All-Star in that 2005 season (joined on the NL team by Hernandez). Cordero saved 113 games in his first three seasons in D.C. - his 15 saves in June 2005 tied a major league record - before a labrum tear in his right shoulder pretty much ended his career. But on teams where there wasn't a lot to cheer for, Cordero was someone who both connected with the fans and deserved their adulation. He edged Drew Storen by a single vote. Storen, chosen in the same draft that brought Strasburg with the 10th overall pick, saved 43 games in 2011, but lost the closer's job in 2012 when he opened the season on the disabled list after having bone chips removed from his right elbow. Storen struggled in 2013, after the Nats signed free agent closer Rafael Soriano, but reclaimed the role late in 2014 and still holds it. Storen came into this season with a 2.94 career ERA and 66 saves.

About the All-Decade Nationals team chosen by MASNsports.com

The process: We looked at the players who have played the most at the eight field positions, starting pitcher and closer during the first nine seasons the Nationals have played in D.C. So players were placed in the positions at which they appeared most frequently prior to 2015. Ballots were sent to a panel of 16 media experts, who voted for their teams.

The panel: Members of the panel of local, regional and national media who selected the All-Decade team were: Charlie Slowes and Dave Jaegler, Nationals radio broadcasters on 106.7 The Fan; Holden Kushner, WUSA-TV and MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM; Craig Heist of 106.7 The Fan; George Wallace of WTOP Radio; Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM; Bob Carpenter, F.P. Santangelo, Dan Kolko, Ray Knight and Johnny Holliday of MASN; Mel Antonen and Phil Wood of "The Mid-Atlantic Sports Report" on MASN; and Chris Johnson, Byron Kerr and Pete Kerzel of MASNsports.com

FINAL VOTES

1B: LaRoche (9), Dunn (5). Johnson (2), Young (0)

2B: Rendon (8), Espinosa (4), Vidro (2), Belliard (2)

3B: Zimmerman (16), Castilla (0), Rendon (0)

SS: Desmond (16), Guzman (0), Clayton (0), Lopez (0)

LF: Harper (13), Soriano (3), Morse (0), Church (0), Willingham (0)

CF: Span (16), Bernadina (0), Milledge (0), Morgan (0), Wilkerson (0)

RF: Werth (14), Guillen (1), Harper (1)*, Byrd (0), Kearns (0)

C: Ramos (8), Schneider (5), Rodriguez (3), Suzuki (0)

SP: Zimmermann (14), Hernandez (2), Gonzalez (0), Lannan (0), Strasburg (0), Patterson (0)

CL: Cordero (8), Storen (7) R. Soriano (1), Capps (0), Hanrahan (0)

* Write-in vote out of position