Ruth/Bonds tier. Both orders are fine. The best offensive seasons in history are basically an even split between '20-23 Ruth and '01-04 Bonds.
Then Williams has to be near or at the top of T2. That's the 3rd best peak and the 2nd most consistently elite after Ruth.
But there are two elephants in the room. One is Josh Gibson, which I know won't surprise you. What might is that he's now the career Major League leader in wRC+. Williams is 3rd at 187. Ruth is way up at 194. And then there's Gibson at a completely absurd 202. He's also the career leader in wOBA. But the sample size is only about a quarter of Williams and Ruth. Then the one that never gets mentioned in these things is Oscar Charleston. He's 4th in wRC+ at 181, well clear of everyone not mentioned yet. I don't think he was a Tier 1 contender, but if you're a peak voter, he should probably be on T2 or at least T3.
That's about where I am. Gun to my head, the edge goes to Bonds simply because the pitching is more consistently better during his time. If you or anyone else wants to say Ruth, you won't hear one peep from me. That's why I think tiers are important. I know you agree here.
Gibson is so fascinating. Sample size and quality of competition play a big factor for me in evaluating the nuances of his all time tier. Very obviously, this is not me questioning if he's an all time bat. I know you know this, but I thought it needed to be said for posterity. Personally, I place him firmly in tier 2, mainly because when the next tiers start taking shape, you realize that's where he settles.
I personally think Miguel Cabrera deserves solid tier 3 recognition. We're talking a decade long+ peak with back to back MVPs and a triple crown here. For 13 seasons in a row his OPS+ was over 130 and in 10 of those seasons it was over 150. His wRC+ in those seasons fell below 140 one time, and he had a 5-in-6 season stretch where he maintained above 160. I'm not sure the average fan realizes how incredible he really was on a historical scale. Pujols gets all the love from that era. Not to say he doesn't deserve it either, but I'm tempted to drop him a tier below Miggy (I think more appropriately have him at the bottom of tier 3) because of his extended hall-of-very-good post prime. Injuries play a part there obviously.
Come back in 5 seasons and we'll talk about Judge being in tier 1. Have you seen his wRC+ his season? Here's a hint, it's between 217 and 219. That ties Ruth's 3rd best season. If he doesn't get hurt last year we're looking at 3 seasons in a row with wRC+ of 200+
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