With the World Series now set, it feels like the perfect time to start reflecting on this year in Diamond Dynasty. We know we’re probably getting an insane Bryce Harper card and some other juicy Postseason cards highlighting the top performers — and we already know we’re getting Finest in early November. That said, the majority of the best cards have been released, and these are tried and true content drops that happen every year and always bring new, elite versions of current superstars. We’ll still probably get better versions of Legends that have already gotten cards, but I feel like it would be fun to compile a list of my favorite cards of the year to this point in my 2022 All-Diamond Dynasty team.
As I set out on this journey, I contemplated the parameters that would guide me in building this list. It would be too easy to just name 99s at every position or name my favorite players. However, part of the fun of Diamond Dynasty is using new cards based off what you can obtain while mixing in those childhood favorites as they become available. Chipper Jones is my favorite player of all-time, has a 99 overall that’s starting on my God Squad, and is a card that I love using every year. But he’s not on this list.
I also didn’t necessarily stick to primary positions as the rankings are based off where I played these cards the most. I definitely took on-field performance into account as all these cards did well enough for me to justify using them quite a bit. But really, I looked at the “overall package” in terms of performance, card art, impact of the card being released, and even name value. I spend a lot of time ranking cards based on attributes and performance and enjoy that exercise. I hope my various power rankings throughout the year were entertaining reads and provided some insight into cards you should try. But we’re not talking solely about attributes today. We’re also talking about the cards I enjoyed using the most.
The 2022 All-Diamond Dynasty Team: The Best Players In DD
With that all said, I present to you my All-Diamond Dynasty squad of 2022.
Catcher
Cover Athlete Collection Reward Joe Mauer
One of the more exciting Legend reveals at the beginning of the year was Joe Mauer. Ever since his final season in 2018, the Diamond Dynasty community has been awaiting the return of the Minnesotan standout. Mauer was previously in the game during the timeframe before I got into DD, but I had heard that he had a sweet swing and was looking forward to using him. At the beginning of each game release, I mentally pencil in my ideal starting lineup once various Legends get released, and I had Mauer penciled in at backstop. Then, SDS dropped a sweet surprise on us with the Cover Athlete cards. I didn’t have to wait long to use Mauer and quickly grabbed the card available in the Choice Pack. But the big surprise was the 96 overall Mauer collection reward for collecting all the Cover Athletes.
This became my focus over the Live Series collection, and I grinded and worked the market to get Mauer within the first two weeks of launch. To put in perspective how much I liked this card, Mauer was my starting catcher until about a month ago. There were certainly cards with better attributes that came out but no one seemed to outperform Mauer. I did eventually pivot to the Legends of the Franchise Jorge Posada but we’re talking months and months after the 96 Mauer was in my starting lineup. The staying power of the 96 Mauer was so strong that he stayed on my squad pretty much up to the point that his 99 came out.
First Base
Takashi Okazaki Carlos Delgado
Similar to Mauer, I had Delgado penciled in as someone I wanted at 1B for me as soon as he became available. Carlos Delgado is a name that seemed to dominate ESPN during my childhood. It felt like I was watching highlights of Delgado’s prodigious power on a nightly basis. To make matters even better within Diamond Dynasty, Delgado was featured with Takashi artwork that looked absolutely incredible. At the time Delgado was released, he was at or near the top of the list in terms of best available 1B. The problem was that he was a Chase Pack card, which meant the chances of me pulling him were incredibly slim. I was able to grab him about three weeks after he came out during a slight price crash but still ended up paying a pretty penny for him. It was all worth it as I hit a no-doubter with his absolutely sick animation in the very first at-bat I took with him. Delgado mashed for me, even hitting lefties better than his attributes suggested he might.
Delgado became my go-to offline 1B masher, and I spent a lot of fun time with him on Legend. First base is always a revolving door of new faces and great cards started trickling out with regularity. Still, Delgado was one of my most anticipated Legends and I had tons of fun with him in the time he manned the corner for me.
Second Base
Faces Of The Franchise Jazz Chisholm
Jazz had a Topps Now card last year that quickly became a community favorite. I was set at 2B at the time and didn’t feel inclined to try anyone else. But the praise of Jazz’s swing and the solid attributes for a launch-day card made it clear that he’d be on my starting squad the second I could add him. The hype was an understatement. Faces of the Franchise Jazz hit NUKES with regularity and was doing it with sub-optimal swings, too. I hit a number of blasts with sketchy looking PCI-placement using Jazz and for a good while it seemed like anything he touched would fly. Factor in the elite fielding and speed and Jazz was easily one of the best cards available in Diamond Dynasty within the first month.
I didn’t necessarily hit as well with Jazz overall as I typically do with my hitters, but there was way too much upside with him to remove him until I finished the Live Series and got Chase Utley.
Shortstop
Future Stars Oneil Cruz
Cruz became a hot commodity after his call-up in June. His elite combination of speed, power, and arm strength made him a captivating watch in MLB. That lethal combination made a potential card in Diamond Dynasty tantalizing and SDS absolutely delivered with this Future Stars version. The elite speed, arm, and power showed up in card-form and was every bit as excellent as the community hoped it’d be. Cruz’s power showed up exactly in the manner I expected, but the area that surprised me the most was his fielding. Yes, the cannon arm was outstanding, but Cruz’s range was expanded by his massive 6-foot-7 frame. That range, accentuated by his 99 speed, made him a literal vacuum that stole so many hits from unsuspecting opponents. If he wasn’t hitting the ball over the fence, that speed made him an XBH machine and always made opponents fearful while he was on the basepaths. Suffice to say, Cruz was always in scoring position no matter where he was on the offensive side.
The attributes were incredible and he played above them, but if “intangibles” exist within Diamond Dynasty, Cruz had them.
Third Base
Milestone Albert Pujols
Albert Pujols announced that 2022 would be his final MLB season. A surefire inner-circle-first-ballot Hall of Famer, Pujols has long been one of the best players featured in Diamond Dynasty. One of the best and one of the most anticipated releases each season, the one downside is that Pujols’ best cards almost always got released toward the end of the content cycle. Knowing this would be the last year we got to see Pujols in Diamond Dynasty for the next couple years, SDS came out of the gates with an Awards Pujols as the Set 1 Chase card. I had focused my Stubs elsewhere so never got around to actually using that version and simply looked forward to the 99.
SDS came through again and not only released the 99 sooner than expected, but gave us a free version to celebrate the historic 700th home run milestone that Pujols reached. The icing on the cake was the absolutely gorgeous Milestone art that had a celebratory flair.
Outfield
Takashi Okazaki Ken Griffey Jr.
Earlier in the year, SDS released a 99 overall Ken Griffey Jr. of the likes we’ve never seen — and hopefully never see again. The 99 Griffey released during Griffey Week wasn’t just disappointing for a Griffey card, but it was disappointing by any 99 overall standards. That card was so disappointing that I wrote an entire article speculating that it could have been a troll job by SDS and that we’d get a better Griffey added into the program eventually.
That never came to fruition, but SDS definitely redeemed themselves with this Takashi Griffey. The attributes on this card are absolutely bananas and would have been well worth the wait. Why SDS decided to release an uglier version of Griffey to rile up the community is beyond me. But it’s safe to say this is one of the best Griffey cards we’ll possibly ever get.
Legends Of The Franchise Steve Finley
Steve Finley is a perennial beast in Diamond Dynasty. His Milestone Collection reward last year was a lethal addition to everyone’s squad once they had access to him. This year, we were treated to an even better version of Finley that almost certainly will be the best Finley we ever get. Elite in pretty much every department, Finley was a standout Boss in the Legends of the Franchise Featured Program and a welcomed return to my God Squad. Outfield is always a stacked position in Diamond Dynasty with the massive number of cards to choose from. It’s also an obvious area that has enough new blood to try new players every year.
There was no way I could turn down the chance to use an old favorite with elite attributes.
Retro Finest Andrew McCutchen
The second Legends and Flashback Collection Reward of the year, Andrew McCutchen came out of no where with a disgustingly good card to sweep the Diamond Dynasty community off our collective feet. My excitement to use Cutch was buoyed by the fact that I’ve never really used a Cutch before. His Signature Series was a Boss in 2019, but I was new to Diamond Dynasty and was rotating players regularly. So I never really gave him a solid shot and didn’t perform very well with him when he was starting for me. Fast forward several years and we have a Cutch that I had to use and boy was it a good time. This Retro Finest Cutch had such a sweet swing on top of his attributes that he was entrenched in my outfield throughout the summer, even as “better” on-paper cards started coming out.
Cutch makes my list this year because this was my first time really using him and exceeded my expectations several times over.
Relief Pitcher
Takashi Okazaki Rollie Fingers
When Rollie Fingers dropped, I recognized that he was a very good RP but didn’t think he’d have staying power. The inevitable march of elite bullpen arms loomed over Rollie, and I thought for sure he wouldn’t last. It’s nearly November and he’s still in my bullpen. Granted, my interest in Diamond Dynasty began waning earlier than normal because of the gameplay, so I haven’t gotten my hands on every card. But even if I had, I still think Rollie would be lurking in my bullpen to this day. A darting sinker, and whirling slider complemented by his trademark forkball, Rollie Fingers outperformed expectations from the get-go. His beautiful card art was a nice cherry on top as well.
Starting Pitcher
Signature Series Randy Johnson
I spent a lot of time trying to find a different answer here. This seemed like a too easy, more-than-obvious choice for starting pitcher, but the truth is there was no other choice. Randy Johnson was one of the most requested Legends in Diamond Dynasty history, and I was among that crowd hoping The Big Unit would eventually find his way to us. It feels like ages ago that Johnson was in a teaser trailer during the pre-release hype train, eventually being edited out of said trailer and sparking debate on if he was actually in the game. This added even more mystique to Johnson’s DD debut and there was much jubilation when SDS officially revealed him.
Despite Johnson being so requested, he proved to be every bit as challenging to hit that we thought he might and more. But that’s what made him so fun to use! No pitcher I’ve used in Diamond Dynasty has been so relentlessly dominating like Johnson. I shudder to think what a Perfect Game Milestone version of Johnson will play like. If we don’t see it this year, you can bet he’ll be in next year’s game so start preparing your sanity for him.
He is inevitable.
Bottom Line
That’s my 2022 All-Diamond Dynasty team. There’s so many cards I used this year that I could make several more lists of honorable mentions, but I enjoyed reflecting on this year’s cards and formatting a list of favorites. It reminds me of some of the bright spots in this year’s gaffe-riddled game and gets me optimistic that next year might bring a better product.
What would your All-Diamond Dynasty squad look like? What cards did you enjoy using the most?
