Texas Baseball: 5 best Longhorns of all-time in the MLB

4. Brandon Belt, 1B

Career: 2011-Present, 27.1 WAR, 1 ASG, 2 WS (4.36 points)

The only active MLB player on this list among the best Longhorns of all time in the league is the former San Francisco Giants and current Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Brandon Belt. The 6-foot-3 and 230-pound Belt was a major contributor to some really good Longhorns teams in the late 2000s, including the College World Series runner-up squad in 2009.

After posting three solid seasons during his time on the Forty Acres, Belt was selected in the fifth round of the 2009 MLB Draft by the Giants. This was actually the third time that Belt was drafted into the MLB, but it would be the first time that he signed with the team that selected him.

He was also drafted in 2006 by the Red Sox and in 2007 by the Atlanta Braves.

Moreover, Belt flashed the pop in his bat right away with the Giants during his rookie season in the MLB, hitting nine home runs in less than 200 at-bats in 2011. Belt showed a lot more consistency as a reliable bat in the Giants’ lineup in 2012, as he contributed to a team that won the World Series.

That would be the first of two World Series rings for Belt in San Francisco. He won another World Series with the Giants two seasons later, in 2014, despite dealing with some injury issues that year.

Throughout the mid-to-late 2010s, Belt was one of the most consistent bats in the Giants’ lineup. One of those seasons where he really showed out with the bat, when he posted a career-best 82 runs batted in and 17 home runs in 2016, garnered him the first and only All-Star Game appearance of his career to date.

Belt’s lengthy run in San Franciso (12 years) came to an end following the conclusion of the 2022 season. He signed as a free agent with the Blue Jays last offseason, and he’s gotten off to a slow start with a .161 batting average and -0.5 wins above replacement thus far.