Colorado Rockies Countdown: Top Five Center Fielders

5.  Preston Wilson (2003-2005, fWAR 2.8)

Preston Wilson spent the first half of his big league career with the Florida Marlins organization before making his way to Colorado via a six-player deal that included the infamous free-agent signee Mike Hampton.

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In his first season in LoDo, Wilson dazzled as he would lead the league in RBIs (141) and make his first and only All-Star game of his career. During the next two seasons, Preston would only play in a combined 129 games due to injury issues. The Rockies would trade away Mr. Wilson during the 2005 season to the Washington Nationals in a salary dump deal.

Interestingly enough Wilson’s 141 RBIs during the 2003 campaign is tied for the fifth-most by a Rockie in a single season. Wilson also struck out 139 times that year, almost once for every RBI collected, that is good enough for the fifth-most strikeouts by a Rockie in a single season.

Wilson is the nephew of former New York Mets icon Mookie Wilson. Consequently, Wilson was drafted by the Mets organization in the first-round (ninth overall). Wilson was traded by the Mets in 1998 to Florida in order to acquire Hall-of-Famer Mike Piazza. In regards to life after retirement, Wilson is now in his fifth season with the Marlins broadcast team and assists the MLB Network with analysis.

Next: The Defensive G.O.A.T.