Looking at Franchises' Best Players - National League Central

So I didn't finish before the end of the season. Oh well.

Cincinnati Reds (existed since 1882):

Top Player: Pete Rose (78.1 WAR)

#24 Player: Ernie Lombardi (31.3)

# of Players >30 WAR: 28

# of Players >50 WAR: 7 (Rose, Johnny Bench, Barry Larkin, Frank Robinson, Joey Votto, Joe Morgan, Bid McPhee)

# of Players >100 WAR: 0

Can you make a starting lineup of the Top 9? The Reds don't have a single pitcher in their Top 9, so no. Also, they might have to play Frank Robinson in the OF to make room for Tony Perez and Joey Votto at third and first, which is sub-optimal.

Notes: I didn't expect Rose to finish first. I figured him to be somewhere in the middle of the pack. Of course, I also thought the Reds' all-time WAR leader would have more than 78, for as many great players as they've had.

Votto is the only active guy in here. If he produces at the rate he did this year, he'll pass Frank Robinson in 2020. If he can reach his 2017 level, he'll do it next season.

Frank Robinson placed 17th on Baltimore's list, so as predicted, he finished much higher here.

Joe Morgan was 10th on Houston's list, versus 6th with the Reds.

The highest ranked pitcher is Noodles Hahn, who places 10th with 44.6 WAR. Hahn only played 8 years in the majors, and last played for the Reds in 1905. Jose Rijo is the highest ranking pitcher I've actually heard of, in 18th at 38.1 WAR.

6 of the top 9 are players from the Big Red Machine era, Larkin, Votto, and McPhee being the exceptions. Of the 10-24 players, only four (Dave Concepcion, George Foster, Rijo, and Jim Maloney) played recently enough to have a color photograph. Which probably speaks to the Reds' futility the last 25+ years.

Milwaukee Brewers (existed since 1969):

Top Player: Robin Yount (77.3 WAR)

#24 Player: B.J. Surhoff (15.4)

# of Players >30 WAR: 5

# of Players >50 WAR: 2 (Yount and Paul Molitor)

# of Players >100 WAR: 0

Can you make a starting lineup of the Top 9? Not really. There are two pitchers, no catchers, and one guy who can only play first, plus two others who can play first and third, plus a guy who plays second and third, plus a guy who plays third, short, or second, and only two outfielders.

Notes: There are four active players on the list. Jonathan Lucroy is 19th, Yovani Gallardo is 17th, Carlos Gomez is 13th, and Ryan Braun is 3rd. Braun is the only one still on the Brewers, but considering he's 13.5 WAR behind Molitor, I don't see him moving any further up the list.

Prince Fielder is 21st on the list.

Bill Wegman is 18th on the list. The main reason I remember him is the movie Little Big League, where one of the best friends of the kid managing the Twins is always imploring him to 'use Wegman'. Although Bill Wegman spent his entire 11-year career in Milwaukee, so maybe it wasn't supposed to be the same guy.

Mike Caldwell (20th place) has this look on his face like he wants to sarcastically ask if you're really taking his picture for this. Either that or he's tired 'cause he's seen some shit.

Chicago Cubs (existed since 1876):

Top Player: Cap Anson (84.5 WAR)

#24 Player: John Clarkson (36.5 WAR)

# of Players >30 WAR: 32

# of Players >50 WAR: 9 (Anson, Ron Santo, Ryne Sandberg, Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Sammy Sosa, Fergie Jenkins, Stan Hack, Gabby Hartnett)

Can you make a starting lineup of their Top 9? Not quite, they actually don't have enough outfielders. They have two different potential catchers, three guys who could play first, three guys who could play third, one pitcher, a shortstop, but only two outfielders.

Notes: I considered listing Cap Anson as "noted bigot Cap Anson", but I really would have needed to start that some time ago to be consistent. Ty Cobb would need that label as well, certainly.

Greg Maddux was one of the players with over 30 WAR who didn't make the top 24. Single-season RBI record holder Hack Wilson is another. The Cubs have had some really good players, they just don't seem to have had enough of them at the same time very often.

Carlos Zambrano was about even with John Clarkson on pitcher WAR. Once you added in his ability as a hitter, he jumped up to 17th place. He really annoyed the hell out of me, given how he liked to show off when he struck someone out, but would then get pissy if he thought somebody showed him up when they hit a home run.

The #18 player is named Hippo Vaughn. Played in the 1910s as a pitcher. 

Rick Reuschel finished 10th, at just over 49 WAR. I remember him as a San Francisco Giant, which came later, when he'd grown a solid mustache. Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown is right behind him at 11th place.

Frank Chance, Joe Tinker, and Johnny Evers, of "Tinker to Evers to Chance" all finished surprisingly close to each other. Chance is 13th (45.5 WAR), Tinker is 14th (45.2), and Evers is 20th (39.5). I expected one of them to have been a dud as a player and miss the list entirely. You know, that the ditty was based on one season where all three of them were good, but normally one of them just sucked. Not the case.

Pittsburgh Pirates (existed since 1882):

Top Player: Honus Wagner (120.1 WAR)

#24 Player: Ed Morris (30.0)

# of Players >30 WAR: 23, since Morris isn't at more than 30.

# of Players >50 WAR: 9 (Wagner, Roberto Clemente, Paul Waner, Arky Vaughn, Willie Stargell, Wilbur Cooper, Babe Adams, Max Carey, Barry Bonds)

# of Players >100 WAR: 1 (Wagner)

Can you make a starting lineup of their top 9? Two pitchers and four outfielders, so no.

Notes: Bonds finished 2nd on the Giants' list.

The only active player on the list is Andrew McCutchen, who lands in the 14th spot at 39.3 WAR. If he'd been in Pittsburgh this year, he would have passed Sam Leever and been closing in on Bob Friend in 12th place.

There are not a lot of guys on here I remember. Bonds, obviously, and McCutchen. Jason Kendall is 23rd, and Andy van Slyke is 21st. I remember Dave Parker (18th) from his time in Oakland, and John Candelaria sounds familiar, although he doesn't look it.

Trading van Slyke to get Tony Pena really didn't work out for the Cardinals. Especially since it would be years before that got any consistent quality production out of right field (you'd have to get to Brian Jordan to find someone definitely better, but Felix Jose or Mark Whiten might be in the general ballpark).

St. Louis Cardinals (existed since 1882):

Top Player: Stan Musial (128.2 WAR)

#24 Player: Ted Breitenstein (32.3)

# of Players >30 WAR: 26

# of Players >50 WAR: 7 (Musial, Rogers Hornsby, Bob Gibson, Albert Pujols, Ozzie Smith, Ken Boyer, Enos Slaughter)

# of Players >100 WAR: 1 (Musial)

Can you make a starting lineup of their Top 9? Yes! Only one pitcher, Ted Simmons at catcher, Albert at first, Hornsby at second, Ozzie at SS, Boyer at 3rd, then Curt Flood in CF with Musial and Slaughter on either side. And if Slaughter objects to playing with black players, sub in the #10 guy, Lou Brock.

Notes: When I started this, I really did think there would be at least one other team where the top 9 worked out as neatly as that.

Albert Pujols (4th), Adam Wainwright (16th), and Yadier Molina (15th) are all still active. Molina passed Wainwright this year, along with Jim Edmonds and Ray Lankford.

He should catch Johnny Mize early next year. if he can post a league average (~2 WAR) season, he should make it to 12th place, passing Mize, Joe Medwick, and Harry Breechen. Ted Simmons is the only catcher ahead of him, but it'll take another 7.2 WAR to pass him, and Molina said he was retiring after 2020. I don't think he can make it, although it would be good for the Cardinals if he did (not so good for Carson Kelly, though).

It's harder to predict Wainwright, because I'm not sure what he has left in the tank, or how many chances he'll get. Catching Mize should be doable, but Medwick might be beyond reach. Without his hitting statistics, Wainwright wouldn't have made the Top 24 at all.

Frankie Frisch finished 23rd, with 32.6 WAR. He was 19th on the Giants' list, with 37.8 WAR. Keith Hernandez finished 20th at 34.5 WAR, after finishing 12th with 26.6 on the Mets' list.

Albert Pujols' 86.6 WAR would lead 14 other teams. He's only 4th on the Cardinals. This is your periodic reminder that the version of Albert that was on the Cardinals was really, really outstanding.

Looking at Franchises' Best Players - National League East

At this rate, I might finish this series sometime before the end of this season. By which point some of it will be out of date. Oh well.

Atlanta Braves (existed since 1876 in three different cities and a bunch of names):

Top Player: Hank Aaron (142.5 WAR)

#24 Player: Billy Nash (28.7)

# of Players >30 WAR: 22

# of Players >50 WAR: 10 (Aaron, Kid Nichols, Warren Spahn, Eddie Mathews, Phil Niekro, Chipper Jones, John Smoltz, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Andruw Jones)

# of Players >100 WAR: 2 (Aaron and Nichols)

Can you make a starting lineup of the Top 9? 5 of them are pitchers, so no.

Notes: I knew the Braves started in Boston, I didn't realize they'd been around as long as they had.

Nos. 6-11 are all players from my lifetime - #11 is Dale Murphy - but after that, it goes back to older players, mostly much older players. Freddie Freeman (#22) is the only guy who played for the Braves in the last 40 years from #12-24.

There's that old baseball saying about "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain," so I expected to see Johnny Sain on here. He was on the Braves for 7 years (plus he lost 3 seasons to military service), but only accumulated about 24 WAR during that time. I'm guessing that refrain was limited to '46-'48, when he was worth 7, 4.1, and 8.5 WAR. The next year he was below replacement level in 243 innings, which is kind of impressive.

As for Spahn, he's at 99.1 WAR, so just missed being the 3rd Brave with 100+ WAR.

Joe Torre is ranked 20th. I can already tell you he won't make either the Cardinals' or Mets' lists.

Smoltz, Maddux, and Glavine are all within 6 WAR of each other. When I was younger, Smoltz was the only one of the three I could stand, because he was the one I thought wasn't relying on the ump calling strikes on pitches six inches off the plate. Friggin' Maddux.

Chipper Jones is at 85.7 WAR, which is more than I would have expected. I think I pictured him as a poor third baseman, and figured his defense would have limited his value more. He is running negative values for his defense for his career, but it's like -0.9 dWAR for his entire career. Over 19 seasons, that's basically holding average.

New York Mets (existed since 1962):

Top Player: Tom Seaver (78.9)

#24 Player: Ron Darling (16.9)

# of Players >30 WAR: 6

# of Players >50 WAR: 2 (Seaver and David Wright)

# of Players >100 WAR: 0

Can you make a starting lineup of their Top 9? 4 pitchers, so no dice. They do have three-quarters of an infield, though.

Notes: I doubt Seaver is going to make it onto the Reds' list. They've had too much good history, too many good players who were with the team longer.

Considering the Mets were almost always bad in the '60s and '70s, it won't surprise you most of these guys are from the '80s or more recently. There's only 6 guys on here from the first 20 years: Seaver, Jerry Koosman (#4), Jon Matlack (#10), Jon Stearns (#18), Bud Harrelson (#19), and Cleon Jones (#20).

Glavine is on here, at #22, right behind John Olerud. Olerud was #13 on Seattle's list, and #19 on the Blue Jays'. Never in any place for too long, and never a phenomenal player, but always steadily productive wherever he played.

Rick Reed's #23. If I remember right, he couldn't be in the MLBPA because he was a replacement player during the brief stint the owners tried that in 1995. I understand they'd see him as a scab, but I can't fault the guy for taking his shot to get to the majors.

Carlos Beltran's ranked 6th on the Mets' list, he was 14th on the Royals list.

As far as active players, Jacob DeGrom is tied with Howard Johnson with 22 WAR for 14th. He should be able to pass Mike Piazza this year, but I doubt he'll catch Al Leiter until next season. Jose Reyes is 9th, but he's played badly enough this year he's sliding backwards. Does David Wright still qualify, or did he officially retire finally?

Philadelphia Phillies (existed since 1883):

Top Player: Mike Schmidt (106.8 WAR)

#24 Player: Chris Short (29.4)

# of Players >30 WAR: 23

# of Players >50 WAR: 7 (Schmidt, Robin Roberts, Steve Carlton, Chase Utley, Pete Alexander, Ed Delahanty, Richie Ashburn)

# of Players >100 WAR: 1 (Schmidt)

Can you make a starting lineup of their Top 9? 3 of their Top 5 are pitchers, so no. They needed a shortstop and a catcher. Jimmy Rollins was 10th, so they were almost there.

Notes: 11 of the 24 are from recent enough their picture is in color, which is better than I would have expected. The Phillies have been around a long time. Of course, they've been pretty miserable for most of their history.

Of active players, Utley is 4th, narrowly ahead of Pete Alexander (61.8 to 61.5). Cole Hamels is 11th. Almost halfway between Rollins and Johnny Callison.

Bobby Abreu is 9th. I knew Abreu was in Philly for awhile, and that he was a stead, pretty good player. It's still weird to see him that high up the list of a franchise that's existed over 130 years. I could Abreu up near the top of some franchise without a lot of history. I underestimated him.

On less a pleasant note, loudmouth buffoon and failed businessman Curt Schilling ranks 15th.

Washington Nationals (existed since 1969, as the Expos):

Top Player: Gary Carter (55.8 WAR)

#24 Player: Bryn Smith (17.2)

# of Players >30 WAR: 7

# of Players >50 WAR: 1 (Carter)

# of Players >100 WAR: 0

Can you make a starting lineup of their Top 9? No. They do have two pitchers, Steve Rogers and Dennis Martinez, but they also have 4 outfielders and no middle infielders.

Notes: Tim Raines (49.2) and Andre Dawson (48.4) both just missed the 50 WAR mark.

Steve Rogers is one of the only guys on here I've never heard of, along with Bob Bailey (#21) and Ron Fairly (#23). I do remember Bryn Smith because he was on the Cardinals for a couple years in the early '90s. 1991 went pretty well, 1990 not so much.

Given that the Nationals have been pretty good this decade, there are quite a few active players on here. Anthony Rendon is #22, and could probably pass Bailey and Rusty Staub this year. Jordan Zimmerman is 13th, with Gio Gonzalez right behind him, but probably not for much longer. #9-11 goes Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, and Max Scherzer. Ryan Zimmerman is #6, but he'll pass Tim Wallach here soon. Or maybe not, he's been exactly replacement level this year. He only needs 0.3 WAR to do it, though!

So many guys I have fond memories of on here. Vlad Guerrero is 7th, Larry Walker is 12th, after ranking 2nd for the Rockies. Vlad was just a lot of fun to watch, even when he's hitting a homer off a pitch your team throws a foot off the plate. Livan Hernandez is 17th, and Pedro Martinez is 19th. I'm certain we'll see Livan on the next team's list, and Pedro was #8 on the Red Sox' list. I thought maybe DeLino DeShields would be on here, but no dice.

Miami Marlins (existed since 1993):

Top Player: Giancarlo Staton (35.2 WAR)

#12 Player: Marcell Ozuna (14.1)

# of Players >30 WAR: 1

# of Players >50 WAR: 0

# of Players >100 WAR: 0

Can you make a starting lineup of their Top 9? Not quite. No catcher, and either no third baseman or no first baseman, depending where you play Miguel Cabrera. Two second basemen though, Luis Castillo and Dan Uggla, which is unusual.

Notes: Best estimate is the #24 player would be Dee Gordon, at 8.9 WAR.

Either I remembered Livan Hernandez as being a Marlin a lot more than 4 years, or being a much better pitcher (3.3 WAR). Both probably. Whoops.

5 of the top 12 are still active, if we count Hanley Ramirez. Of course, because this is the Marlins we're talking about, none of those 5 are actually still with the team. They traded away Nos. 1 (Stanton), 6 (Christian Yelich), and 12 (Ozuna) this offseason. The Marlins: always getting rid of good players before they do something inconvenient like build a winning tradition. Yes, I know it's actually about trading them before they get expensive. The fact the Marlins are almost always a fucking trash fire is merely an unexpected side effect, right?

Kevin Brown's #10 on the list, after being #24 on the Rangers' list. The Marlins let him sign with the Dodgers on a $105 million contract, and I think he made about one start for each million. OK, that's an exaggeration. He made 164 starts over the duration of the contract. Sucks for the Dodgers and Yankees.

Looking at Franchises' Best Players - National League West

I have some actual free time this weekend, so let's try and finish another of these. Moving to the NL West, with a couple of stories franchises, and three, let's say less-storied teams and leave it at that.

Los Angeles Dodgers (existed since 1884):

Top Player: Don Drysdale (67.2 WAR)

#24 Player: Pedro Guerrero (32.7)

# of Players >30 WAR: 29

# of Players >50 WAR: 8 (Drysdale, Pee Wee Reese, Duke SNider, Jackie Robinson, Clayton Kershaw, Zack Wheat, Dazzy Vance, Willie Davis

# of Players >100 WAR: 0

Can you make a starting lineup of the Top 9? Four pitchers - Drysdale, Kershaw, Vance, and Koufax -say no. But they do have a complete outfield, and 3/4ths of an infield.

Notes: I would have expected the Dodgers' top player to have more WAR than that. A bit like the White Sox and the Athletics. Not a high peak, but a lot of guys bunched together. It drops off fast in the last third of the list, though. Gil Hodges is 14th at 44.3 WAR, but by 16th, Fernandomania is down to 36.9 WAR.

Koufax and Don Sutton tied with 49 WAR apiece.

I remember Guerrero from his years with the Cardinals, which, outside of his first full season in 1989, did not go well. Across 5 seasons, he was worth 1.7 WAR total. But that 1989, he hit .311 with 17 HRs and 42 doubles. His poor defense negated a lot of the value of his hitting, though. Steve Garvey, who is 17th, is in a similar boat. He spent his last five years with the Padres, and was worth 1.4 WAR total across those years.

The next three guys after Guerrero would have been Davey Lopes, Maury Wills, and Mike Piazza.

Kershaw is the only active player on the list. He should pass Jackie Robinson in the next month. If he can post a 5.5 WAR season, he'll pass Duke Snider. So he has a real good shot of surpassing Drysdale, ultimately. Also, I didn't realize Kershaw had been worth almost 2 WAR with his bat.

San Diego Padres (existed since 1969):

Top Player: Tony Gwynn (69.2 WAR)

#24 Player: Will Venable (12.8)

Players with >30 WAR: 2

Players with >50 WAR: 1

Players with >100 WAR: 0

Can you make a starting lineup of their Top 9? There's 5 pitchers on the list, including one closer (Trevor Hoffman naturally), so no.

Notes: That is pretty disappointing. Just for comparison, the Royals have also been around since '69. They also have one player above 50 WAR, but Brett is almost 20 ahead of Gwynn. And they had 8 players above 30 WAR. Hell, the Mariners have existed 8 years less, and they have 4 players above 50 WAR.

For the record, the other player above 30 WAR is Dave Winfield.

Chase Headley (11th) and Adrian Gonzalez (6th) are the only active players on the list. Neither is doing well so far this year. Gonzalez has been worth -0.4 WAR so far for the Mets, and Headley is back with the Padres, and at -0.1 WAR. If Headly could manage even 1 WAR this year, he'd jump to 8th, behind Andy Benes, and ahead of Randy Jones. If he can manage 1.5 WAR, he'd pass Gonzalez. He was worth 1.8 last year for the Yankees, and 2.6 the year before, so there's a decent chance he has that in him.

One advantage to the Padres being a young franchise is I at least vaguely remember most of these guys. Benes was a Cardinal for 5 years. Jake Peavy is third on the franchise list. Ryan Klesko is 18th. I hated Ryan Klesko when he was on the Braves. I think because he seemed like a such a big, clumsy, swing-and-miss guy, and I hate watching those guys play ball.

As low as the bar is for entry, I thought Ozzie Smith might make the list, despite only being a Padre for 4 seasons, and not being able to hit a lick while he was there. He ended up at 11 WAR, so if he'd stuck around one more year, maybe. 5 of those 11 came in 1980, his best season hitting (when he was still almost 30% below league average by OPS).

San Francisco Giants (existed since 1883):

Top Player: Willie Mays (154.8 WAR)

#24 Player: Art Devlin (34.3)

# of Players with >30 WAR: 34

# of Players with >50 WAR: 11 (Mays, Bonds, Mel Ott, Christy Mathewson, Amos Rusie, Carl Hubbell, Juan Marichal, Willie McCovey, Bill Terry Roger Conner, Mickey Welch)

# of Players with >100 WAR: Mays, Bonds, Ott, Mathewson

Can you make a starting lineup out of the Top 9? Too many pitchers and outfielders, not enough middle infielders. As in, no middle infielders or catchers.

Notes: Matt Cain just missed 30 WAR. Madison Bumgarner is a good enough hitter it boosted him by 6 WAR above what his pitching stats provide. If he'd been healthy this year, he would almost certainly made it to the Top 24.

Position players with >30 WAR outside the Top 24 included Matt Williams, Robby Thompson, Jeff Kent, and Jack Clark.

There's an almost 35 WAR drop from Mathewson to Rusie, but Rusie was valuable enough he'd have been top player on several of the teams we've looked at so far.

Frankie Frisch is 19th on the Giants' list, with 37.8 WAR. He was almost that valuable for the Cardinals, so we'll see if he make it on their list.

I'm also curious to see how high Bonds ranks on the Pirates' list. They've had some pretty great players, though. Barry's father, Bobby Bonds, is 18th on the Giants.

All I know about Travis Jackson, who is 13th at 44 WAR, is his picture makes him look a little like actor Telly Savalas.

Will Clark is 21st. A lot of Cardinals' fans hated him for the issues the Giants and Cardinals had in the late 1980s. I don't really remember those years, other than I liked Will Clark's swing. Designed for line drives, with just a slight uppercut. Jim Edmonds' swing reminded me of it a little, although Jim had more of an uppercut on his. Clark did have one really great half-season for the Cardinals before he retired, filling in for an injured Mark McGwire on the 2000 Cardinals.

Buster Posey is the only active player in the top 24, at 17th. He's been worth 9 wins the last two years, so about 4.5 per year. He's already at 0.6 this year, so he's probably good for another 4 this season. That'd be enough to get him to 14th, moving past Mike Tiernan, Art Fletcher, and Larry Doyle.

Colorado Rockies (existed since 1993):

Top Player: Todd Helton (61.2 WAR)

#12 Player: Jhoulys Chacin (14.9)

# of Players with >30 WAR: 3

# of Players with >50 WAR: 1

# of Players with >100 WAR: 0

Can you make a starting lineup of their Top 9? Very close. But they have two pitchers - Ubaldo Jimenez and Aaron Cook - and two third basemen - Nolan Arenado and Vinny Castilla. No catcher, no second baseman.

Notes: My rough estimate is that Armando Reynoso is 24th, at around 8.5 WAR.

Larry Walker is 2nd in the franchise, at 48 WAR. I expect he'll be on the Expos' list as well. Arenado is 4th. He probably won't catch Tulowitzki this year, as Tulo is about 11 WAR right now, but probably by the end of next year. Carlos Gonzalez is 5th, but I doubt he'll climb any higher.

DJ Lamehieu and Charlie Blackmon, 10th and 11th, respectively, will both probably pass Cook and Castilla this season. Jimenez and Matt Holliday will probably take another year.

Arizona Diamondbacks (since 1998):

Top Player: Randy Johnson (50.8 WAR)

#12 Player: Stephen Drew 13.2

# of Players 2ith >30 WAR: 4

# of Players with >50 WAR: 1

# of Players with >100 WAR: 0

Can you make a starting lineup of their Top 9? No. Four starting pitchers and three centerfielders.

Notes: The 4 pitchers were Big Unit, Brandon Webb, Schilling, and Dan Haren. The centerfielders, Steve Finley, A.J. Pollock, and Chris Young.

The #24 spot probably goes to one of the following three pitcher: Patrick Corbin, Ian Kennedy, or Byung-Hyun Kim. Probably Kim, as both Corbin and Kennedy were able to add to their 8.3 pitching WAR with some hitting. Plus, Corbin is still playing for the D'backs.

Matt Williams couldn't make the Giants' Top 24, but he'd have been 23rd for Arizona. Zack Grienke is moving up the list as well, at roughly 9 WAR right now.

Pollock (6th) and Paul Goldschmidt (2nd) are the only active players currently on Arizona in the top 12. Pollock is at least a couple years away from catching Schilling for 5th. Goldschmidt, even at his 5+ WAR per season pace, is at least 3 years away from catching Randy Johnson.

Looking At Franchises' Best Players - American League East

Well, I kind let this fall by the wayside. Whoops. Moving on to the American League East.

Baltimore Orioles (existed since 1901, counting the St. Louis Browns and Milwaukee Brewers, for one year):

Top Player: Cal Ripken Jr. (95.9 WAR)

#24 Player: Ned Garver (26.8)

# of Players with >30 WAR: 19

# of Players with >50 WAR: 5 (Ripken, Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer, Eddie Murray, George Sisler)

# of Players with >100 WAR: 0

Can you make a starting lineup of the Top 9?  No. They have 3 pitchers - Palmer, Mike Mussina, and the excellently named Urban Shocker - and between Ripken, Robinson, and Mark Belanger, they have three guys who play either third base of shortstop. No catchers, not enough outfielders.

Notes: Given what I've always heard about the Browns being a lousy franchise, there are more of them on this list than I would have expected. Only 8 of the 24, but the franchise has been the Orioles for over 60 years now, so you'd expect Baltimore players to dominate. My dad's always told me his dad was a St. Louis Browns' fan. So bad choices in teams runs in the family.

Two active players on the list, Adam Jones (18th) and Manny Machado (22nd). Of course, Machado probably won't be an Oriole after this season. If he repeats his 2017, he'll move up to 18th or 19th. If he can replicate his 2015 or 2016, he could to at least 16th. 16th is probably about as far as Jones can move up, unless he can turn the clock back to 2013-2014.

Frank Robinson is on here, at 17th. I expect he's going to place much higher on the Cincinnati Reds' list when/if I get there.

Mark Belanger is basically the only guy in MLB history to have been worth as many runs defensively as Ozzie Smith. Smith has him beat by about 25 WAR, because while Ozzie was 13% below average as a hitter in his career, Belanger was 32% below average. Also, Ozzie was worth about 80 runs as a baserunner, Belanger 16. Still, Belanger was good enough to be part of some World Series winning teams.

Boston Red Sox (since 1901):

Top Player: Ted Williams (123.1 WAR)

#24 Player: Tim Wakefield (32.4). Whoo, knuckleball pitcher represent!

Players with >30 WAR: 31ish. I looked up their Top 50 in WAR for Batters and Pitchers, and added on everyone over 30 WAR. That might not be taking into account negative offense value for pitchers from pre-DH, though, but it's the best estimate I've got.

Players with >50 WAR: 11 (Williams, Yaz, Clemens, Boggs, Cy Young, Dwight Evans, Tris Speaker, Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Bobby Doerr).

Players with >100 WAR: 1 (Williams)

Can you make a starting lineup of the Top 9? Well, Clemens, Cy Young, and Pedro are all pitchers, so no. Plus, four outfielders, and David Ortiz, who basically plays no position. Friggin' DHs.

Notes: Pedroia is the only current player on the list, although there are several guys that were playing recently. Clemens, Pedro, Ortiz, obviously. Also, Wakefield and Manny Ramirez (23rd), and Nomar (14th). Pedroia can probably pass Pedro and Big Papi this year, but unless he puts up 3.5 WAR, he won't catch Tris Speaker.

Babe Ruth is 15th on the list, behind Nomar (41.2) and ahead of Carlton Fisk (39.5 WAR). I expect Ruth is going to finish a lot higher on the next team's list.

Jimmie Foxx is 20th on Boston's list, after being 3rd on the Athletics'. Lefty Grove, who was 4th for Oakland, is 13th for Boston. Tris Speaker is 7th here, and 2nd for Cleveland. I'm curious if Clemens is going to make Toronto's list, because he had a hell of a two years there.

15 guys on the list have color photos, 6 that were part of the post-2000 teams. Which seems about right. This has been one of the most extended periods of the Red Sox being a relevant franchise.

New York Yankees (since 1903):

Top Player: Babe Ruth (142.4) Yeah, that's quite a bit higher of a finish.

#24 Player: Earle Combs (42.5 WAR). Christ, that's their 24th best player?

Players with >30 WAR: 36. 12 guys didn't make the Top 24, including Don Mattingly, Mike Mussina, and Rickey Henderson.

Players with >50 WAR: 13, same as Detroit. Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, DiMaggio, Jeter, Yogi Berra, Red Ruffing, Whitey Ford, Mariano Rivera, Bill Dickey, A-Rod, Willie Randolph, and Andy Pettitte.

Players with >100 WAR: 3 Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle.

Can you make a starting lineup of the Top 9?  Actually, not too bad, but no. Got the outfield, the catcher and first baseman, and Jeter will stand at SS. But the last three guys are pitchers, so they're missing a second and third baseman.

Notes: Robinson Cano is 19th, between Thurman Munson and Graig Nettles, the only active player left. Although Brett Gardner was one of the 12 guys over 30 WAR not in the Top 24. Maybe he can make his way further up the list.

Alex Rodriguez finishes 11th, higher than he did with the Rangers, but lower than with the Mariners.

DiMaggio looks so forlorn in his picture, while Gehrig has this skeptical look on his face. Really, you're going to take my picture?

Red Ruffing's position is listed as pitcher and pinch hitter. His OPS+ is only 81, but he did collect over 500 hits and 36 HRs.

I read an autobiography for Whitey Ford when I was in junior high. I mainly remember the parts when his velocity was falling off and he was trying to use his wedding ring to doctor the ball without getting caught.

Toronto Blue Jays (existed since 1977):

Top Player: Dave Stieb (57.1 WAR)

#24 Player: Aaron Hill (17.1 WAR)

Players with >30 WAR: 5 (Stieb, Roy Halladay, Tony Fernandez, Jose Bautista, Carlos Delgado).

Players with >50 WAR: 1

Players with >100 WAR: 0.

Can you make a starting lineup of the Top 9? 4 starting pitchers says no.

Notes: Edwin Encarnacion (12th, 24.3 WAR), and Josh Donaldson (18th, 20.9 WAR) are the only two active players on the list. Although Jose Bautista retired just last year, and Aaron Hill played last year as well. But Hill had been below replacement level 4 of the last 5 seasons of his career. If this "dead arm" thing doesn't impact Donaldson's value too much, he might pass Encarnacion on the lis by the end of the season.

Clemens wound up 20th on the Blue Jays' list, after only two seasons.

I always liked Dave Stieb. Maybe because I briefly considered picking Toronto as my American League team back in the 80s, when I was thinking about having an AL team. So there are a lot of guys on here I remember from their early baseball cards, but I couldn't tell you anything about Jesse Barfield, for example. As for Stieb, he kept coming so close to getting no-hitters, and then they'd get broken up in the 8th or the 9th. My parents and I were at a Twins/Royals game in Minneapolis one year, when he had one going against the Yankees. Mattingly broke it up in the 9th, I think. I think Stieb got one eventually, though.

Pat Hentgen formed a heck of a tandem with Clemens for those two years. But he didn't have anything left in the tank by the time he came to St. Louis in 2000.

Speaking of former Cardinals, I was hoping Todd Stottlemyre would be on here, but no dice. He was worth just under 11 WAR for the Jays.

Tampa Bay Rays: (since 1998):

Top Player: Evan Longoria (50.0 WAR)

#12 Player: Aubrey Huff (11.8 WAR).

Players with >30 WAR: 3.

Players with >50 WAR: 1. Technically Longoria isn't over 50, but it's close enough.

Players with >100 WAR: 0

Can you make a starting lineup of their Top 9?  Nah. Three pitchers, no catchers.

Notes: For these franchises that haven't been around long, Baseball-Reference only went to Top 12. My rough estimate is Jeremy Hellickson (7.2 WAR) would be #24.

If it did go to 24, Fred McGriff would be on here, around 20, which is roughly where he was for Toronto as well.

Seven of the Top 12 are still in the league, the exceptions being Carl Crawford, Julio Lugo, Carlos Pena, Desmond Jennings, and Aubrey Huff.

Kevin Kiermaier is the only guy on this list still playing for the Rays. Unsurprising given their teardown of the last few seasons. Chris Archer will probably be on here soon. Based on his pitching WAR, he should already be ahead of Huff, which I guess means his scant batting chances have tanked his value just enough.

Looking At Franchises' Best Players - American League Central

I had honestly almost forgotten I was doing this. Let's move on to the AL Central, a division with a few more teams with long histories than the AL West. So expect deeper lists here.

Chicago White Sox (existed since 1901):

Top Player: Luke Appling (74 WAR)

#24 Player: Gary Peters (26 WAR)

# of Players with >30 WAR: 19

# of Players with >50 WAR: 8 (Appling, Ted Lyons, Frank Thomas, Eddie Collins, Ed Walsh, Red Faber, Wilbur Wood, Eddie Cicotte)

# of Players with >100 WAR: 0

Can you make a starting line up of the Top 9? Well, six of their Top 9 are pitchers (Appling, Eddie Collins, and the Big Hurt being the exceptions), so no.

Notes: I expected the White Sox would have someone with a higher total, but they're like the Athletics: deep, but not a real high peak. Frank Thomas (34d, 68 WAR) and Mark Buerhle (in 9th at 48 WAR) are the only two players from the last 50 years, maybe longer than that, in the Top 10.

Eddie Collins comes in slightly higher (#4) on the White Sox list than he did the A's (#5), but he also has 9 more WAR for the ChiSox.

Going by the picture Baseball-Reference used, Ed Walsh had seen some shit. Guy looks scary intense.

Shoeless Joe came in at #23. Paul Konerko finished tied at 28 WAR with Carlton Fisk and Ray Schalk. Luis Aparicio is in 15th place, and Minnie Minoso is 12th, with 41 WAR. I know Fisk was in the later days of his career by his time in Chicago, but I'd pictured him having more in the tank than that.

Chris Sale is the only player currently active on the list. He was 18th, at 31 WAR.

Minnesota Twins (existed since 1901, cripes we're giving them credit for the Washington Senators?):

Top Player: Walter Johnson (165 WAR).

#24 Player: Frank Viola (27 WAR).

# of Players >30 WAR: 20.

# of Players >50 WAR: 6. (Johnson, Rod Carew, Harmon Killebrew, Joe Mauer, Sam Rice, Kirby Puckett)

# of Players >100 WAR: 1

Can you make a starting lineup of the Top 9? Close. Don't know what the defense would be like, but put Killebrew at 3rd and Carew at 2nd, you're only missing a SS and LF. 3 pitchers, though.

Notes: Walter Johnson is over 100 WAR ahead of Carew, which is staggering. Carew is a Hall of Famer, and the gap between him and Johnson is an equal to an even better Hall of Famer. Probably that gap in the level of competition rearing its head again. But regardless, you've got to be damn good for a long time to accumulate that kind of value.

Brad Radke was the 3rd pitcher in the Top 9 besides Johnson and Blyleven.

Johan Santana came in 19th at 35 WAR, just behind Jim Kaat. My dad's a big fan of Kaat, who spent the last four seasons of his 25-year career with the Cardinals. As B-R lists him as below replacement level for those years, he will not be making the Cardinals' list.

Joe Mauer is the only currently active player. He's 7 WAR behind Killebrew, so I'm not sure he can catch him. Two more years like last year would do it, but if he regresses to his 2016 performance, it'll take 4 more years.

There's a clump of 7 guys in the 40s, which isn't too shabby. I thought having the Senators' history as part of theirs would give the Twins a deeper list, but I think I underestimated how miserable the Senators were for most of their history. The Twins' players account for 15 of the 24 on the list, even though they've existed for a few years (57) less than the Senators (60).

Kansas City Royals (existed since 1969):

Top Player: George Brett (88 WAR).

#24 Player: Johnny Damon (17 WAR).

# Players >30 WAR: 8

# Players >50 WAR: 1. Brett, obviously.

# Players >100 WAR: 0

Can you make a starting lineup of the Top 9? The 3 pitchers (Appier, Saberhagen, Gubicza) say no, but you could get close if you were willing to play Alex Gordon at 3rd and Brett at 1st. Still no C or SS, though.

Notes: The Royals do have 4 (Appier, Saberhagen, Willie Wilson, Amos Otis) players in the 40s, which isn't terrible. It isn't great, either. The Mariners have more guys above 50 WAR than KC, and they've existed 10 years less. Although the Mariners beat the Angels and Rangers on that score, too, and they both predate the Royals.

Only having 3 players in the 30s is unimpressive, though. Really fast drop off on this list.

I've read a lot of Royals' fans over the years talk about how underappreciated Kevin Appier is. I hadn't ever really bought in, but 47 WAR is pretty good.

Dan Quisenberry is 12th with 25 WAR. He spent a couple years near the end with the Cardinals, where I really dug that submarine delivery.

As far as currently active players go, there are quite a few. Alex Gordon, obviously, although maybe for not much longer if he doesn't regain the ability to hit. Zack Greinke is in 10th, Lorenzo Cain is tied with Quisenberry right behind him. Recently retired Carlos Beltran is 14th with 24 WAR. Salvador Perez is in 21st with 19 WAR. Since I assume Cain is going to sign elsewhere this offseason, Perez is the only one likely to keep climbing the ladder. If he can match the ~2.5 WAR he's been worth each of the last 3 years, that should get him to 18th next year, between Charlie Liebrandt and Mike Montgomery.

Detroit Tigers (since 1901):

Top Player: Ty Cobb (144 WR)

#24 Player: Rudy York (31 WAR)

# of Players >30 WAR: More than 24, probably.

# of Players >50 WAR: 13, crap. Cobb, Al Kaline, Charlie Gehringer, Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammell, Harry Heilman, Sam Crawford, Hal Newhouser, Justin Verlander, Hank Grennburg, Norm Cash, Tommy Bridges, Miguel Cabrera

# of Players >100 WAR: 1.

Can you make a starting lineup of the Top 9? Nope, and it's not really having too many pitchers (they have two). They have 3 guys B-R lists as Rightfielder/First baseman. No catcher, no third baseman.

Notes: Now that's a deep team. 13 guys with at least 50 WAR? Damn. 8 of those guys have more than 60, and the Top 5 are all at 70 WAR or more. I had the impression Hank Greenburg was one of the greatest players in history, and he barely makes Detroit's Top 10.  It's what you'd expect though. The Tigers have had a lot of stretches of being really good over their long history.

John Hiller, Chet Lemon, and Lance Parrish would all be players with more than 30 WAR who didn't make the Top 24. Parrish is at 29.9, but I assume they'd round up.

Jack Morris is on here, 21st place, with 38 WAR. So he's in the same place on this list as Salvador Perez was on the Royals', but with twice the WAR.

Mickey Lolich's (15th, 47 WAR) picture makes him look a bit like Paul Newman.

The guy just ahead of Lolich is called Dizzy Trout, which is a fantastic name. Pitch like Dizzy Dean, do everything else like Mike Trout. And if the Angels had him, they probably still couldn't make the playoffs.

Verlander and Cabrera are the only two active guys on the list. Verlander was traded away, but Cabrera's still there. Of course, he was below replacement level last year, and has 6 years left on that contract, at about $30 million per. Ouch. If he doesn't turn things around, he's going to descend the list, rather than climb it.

Cleveland Indians (existing since 1901, albeit as the Blues, Bronchos, and Naps the first 14 years):

Top Player: Nap Lajoie (79 WAR)

#24 Player: Elmer Flick (31 WAR).

# of Players >30 WAR: At least 30.

# of Players >50 WAR: 5. Lajoie, Tris Speaker, Bob Feller, Lou Boudreau, Stan Coveleski.

# of Players >100 WAR: 0

Can you make a starting lineup of the Top 9? Nope, too many outfielders. 3 CFs (Speaker, Kenny Lofton, Earl Averill), plus Lajoie (sine Thome would have to play first).

Notes: Not quite what I was expecting. It's a deep list, but a low peak, like the Athletics. They do have two players with more than 70 WAR in Lajoie and Speaker, and Feller and Boudreau are both in the 60s. 9 players between 40 and 50 WAR, though, which isn't bad. On par with the Twins. I'm guessing the 50 years of being terrible post-World War II have something to do with the state of this list.

There are at least four players who would qualify as having more than 30 WAR who didn't make the list, including Omar Vizquel and Manny Ramirez. Well, Manny's at 29.9, but as with Lance Parrish, I'm assuming they'd round up.

There's Shoeless Joe again, this time at 19th with 34 WAR. Larry Doby is 13th, at 43 WAR.

As you might have guessed from my comment about the lack of color photos, there are no active players on this list. I would have expected another couple of guys from the late '90s teams to have made it on here, at least at the bottom.

Looking At Franchise's Best Players - American League West

Baseball-Reference has started including, on each team's franchise page, a list of their top 24 (or 12, in a few cases) players, as measured by Wins Above Replacement. So I'm going to go through each division and look at some of the results. We'll take it one division at a time.

Los Angeles Angels (existed since 1961):

Top Player: Mike Trout (55 WAR)

#24 Player: Doug DeCinces (18 WAR)

# of Players with >30 WAR: 10

# of Players with >50 WAR: 2 (Trout and Chuck Finley)

# with >100 WAR: 0

Can you make a starting lineup out of the Top 9? No. Four pitchers (Finley, Nolan Ryan, Jered Weaver, Frank Tanana).

Comments: Does it speak more to how great Mike Trout is that he's already the most valuable player in team history, or to how the Angels have had any longtime standout players in their 55+ year history? There are some pretty good players on there - Nolan Ryan (#5), Brian Downing (#6), Vlad Guerrero (#16), Jim Edmonds (#22) - just none of them were there for long. Everybody from #11-22 has a WAR somewhere in the 20s, which suggest either they were really good for a few years, or unspectacular for several years.

Rod Carew's number was retired by the team, but is not in the top 24, as he generated 17.3 WAR for the Angels (versus around 64 WAR for the Twins).

Oakland Athletics (counting time in Philadelphia and KC, existed since 1901):

Top Player: Eddie Plank (76 WAR)

#24: Barry Zito (30 WAR)

# of Players with >30 WAR: 24

# of Players with >50 WAR: 8 (Plank, Rickey Henderson, Jimme Foxx, Lefty Grove, Eddie Collins, Sal Bando, Al Simmons, Eddie Rommel).

# of Players with >100 WAR: 0

Can you make a starting lineup out of their Top 9? No. Three pitchers (Plank, Lefty Grove, Eddie Rommel), only two outfielders.

Comments: It appears the A's need to look into exploiting the untapped "Eddie" market. Seems to have worked out pretty well for them in their Philly days.

I expected the A's to have someone with a higher total, but instead it's a deep roster, but with a low peak. Their 24th most valuable player would be 11th on the Angels list. Eddie Collins, their #5 player, would be first on L.A.'s, (until about one month into next season at the rate Trout accumulates value).

The list skews old, which may be a recurring theme. It seems like it was easier for players in the early 20th Century to accumulate value compared to now. Maybe because there was so much bigger of a gap between guys who were actually good, and the guys who wouldn't have been in the league if black players weren't barred from playing. The best guys padded their numbers against the Sisters of the Poor.

Anyway, only 10 of Oakland's guys played recently enough to get a color picture. Sal Bando and Bert Campaneris played long enough ago to have been Kansas City Athletics. Eric Chavez, Tim Hudson, and Barry Zito are the only ones to play for them in the 21st Century. Rickey Henderson finished 2nd overall; I expect to see him on at least one more team's Top 24.

Texas Rangers (since 1961, including time as the Washington Senators):

Top Player: Ivan Rodriguez (49 WAR)

#24: Kevin Brown (17 WAR)

# of Players with >30 WAR: 10

# of Players with >50 WAR: 0

# of Players with >100 WAR: 0

Can you make a starting lineup out of their Top 9? No. Two pitchers, two catchers, no outfielders

Comments: With all the big offensive numbers members of the Rangers have put up, I'd expected somebody to be further up there. I also expected Nolan Ryan to be on here somewhere, but no, he generated 15 WAR for the Rangers. Still got his number retired by them. Someone who will be on two lists is Fergie Jenkins, who ranks 17th here, and will come in significantly higher on the Cubs' list.

Alex Rodriguez is tied with Michael Young for 13th on the list. Adrian Beltre is third, behind Pudge and Rafael Palmeiro. He's only three WAR behind Palmeiro, so he might be able to catch him, depending on how much he's got left in the tank. I keep expecting him to show his age. Other than him, Elvis Andrus is the only person currently on their roster on the list, at #11.

Charlie Hough and Kenny Rogers are the most valuable pitchers in franchise history, at 33 and 32 WAR, which puts them 7th and 8th, respectively. Fairly light on pitchers, only 5 total (Yu Darvish being the only one I haven't mentioned so far).

Seattle Mariners: (since 1977):

Top Player: Ken Griffey Jr. (70 WAR)

#24 Player: Nelson Cruz (13 WAR)

# of Players with >30 WAR: 7

# of Players with >50 WAR: 4 (Griffey, Edgar Martinez, Ichiro, King Felix)

# of Players with >100 WAR: 0

Can you make a starting line of their Top 9? While I'm loathe to doubt Ichiro, three pitchers (Felix, Randy Johnson, Jamie Moyer), no catcher, and they'd have to risk playing Edgar Martinez somewhere on the field.

Comments: It drops off fast. Felix is at 52 WAR, the next guy is the Big Unit at 39 WAR. By the time you reach Alvin Dark in the 12th spot, you're below 20 WAR. Which reflects the relatively short time the franchise has existed, as well as the fact they were pretty awful for the first 15 years.

Alex Rodriguez is on here, at #6. Adrian Beltre is also here, at #10 (21 WAR). Robinson Cano is #11, if he replicates last year, he'll jump to 9th. If Nelson Cruz can duplicate his results last year, that would get him to around 17th or 18th. Kyle Seager is in 8th, he's probably a couple of seasons away from catching Moyer, maybe more if this year is indicative of his level of play going forward.

Speaking of people on multiple teams' lists, Mark Langston is on here (19 WAR) and on the Angels' (26 WAR) list, and he's in 13th place for both teams. Kind of a neat coincidence.

Houston Astros (since 1962):

Top Player: Jeff Bagwell (79 WAR)

#24 Player: Richard Hidalgo (17 WAR)

# of Players with >30 WAR: 10

# of Players with >50 WAR: 3 (Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Jose Cruz)

# of Players with >100 WAR: 0

Can you make a starting lineup of the Top 9? Nope. Two pitchers (Roy Oswalt and Larry Dierker), and no shortstops or third basemen.

Comments: Jose Altuve is 11th right now, at 29 WAR. He should pass Dierker (32 WAR) in 8th easily next year.

Nolan Ryan may not have made it with the Rangers, but he does qualify with Houston, coming in 15h with 23 WAR. J.R. Richard in 18th is the last player above 20 WAR. There's a pretty big drop between Jim Wynn at 7th and Dierker, from 41 to 32 WAR. Cesar Cedeno and Lance Berkman both got close to 50, but didn't quite make it.

Return to the Team-Building Exercise - The Starting Lineup

I know, it's been 5 months. I was focused on football. But with Arizona's season over, and the majority of the team left in the playoffs being ones I either despise (New England, Seattle), or figure are doomed (Indy), I'm tuning out on that. So time to wrap this up. I think for the starting position players we'll ditch chronological order and go through in in order of the positions.

Catcher: Yadier Molina, 2012 - 138 games, 563 PAs, 505 at-bats, 65 runs, 159 hits, 28 2Bs, 22 HRs, 76 RBIs, 12 SBs, 45 BB, 55 Ks, .315 AVG/.373 OBP/.501 SLG/.874 OPS, 137 OPS+, 6.9 WAR

Molina's always had the defensive chops, he's generally been regarded as a fine handler of pitchers, and the data they're starting to collect now suggests he's quite good at pitch framing, though one of his brothers is supposed to be a real whiz at it. So in that regard, almost any of his 9 years (at the end of 2013) as a starter would have worked. 2012 is the obvious choice though, because it's his best offensive season. He set career highs (so far) in plate appearances, at-bats, homers, stolen bases, on-base and slugging percentage, and isolated power. It's his second best year for runs, hits, walks, batting average, and RBIs. 2013 is the lead year for most of those, but he's not quite as spectacular a player overall that season, and besides, there's a better option at a position with fewer of those in 2013 as well.

Ted Simmons had been regarded as the clear cut best catcher in franchise history, and I wonder sometimes whether that's changed yet, or if it will. Simmons was a better defensive catcher than his general reputation, but he was essentially average. Baseball-Reference's two defensive stats - Total Zone and BIS Defensive Runs Saved - list him as being at 0 and 1 runs above average, respectively, across his 10 years at starter. Molina was at 9 years after 2013, and he scored +104 and +98, respectively. But SImmons was a vastly superior hitter. The stretch Molina's had from 2011-2013, where he posted OPS+ of 124, 137, and 129? That's basically what Simmons did for a solid decade. All 10 of his years are between 114 and 148, and his WAR stays solidly between 3 and 5. When Molina can hit like Simmons, he's a much better player, owing to his defensive value. When he hits as he did for most of his career, he doesn't appear to be (acknowledging how little we know about their respective pitching framing abilities), and it isn't close. I don't think 3 years are enough, but I'm hoping he'll bounce back in 2015 to make it an argument.

First Base: Albert Pujols, 2008 - 148 games, 641 PAs, 524 at-bats, 100 runs, 187 hits, 44 2Bs, 37 HRs, 116 RBIs, 7 SBs, 104 BBs, 54 Ks, .357/.462/.653/1.114, 192 OPS+, 9.2 WAR

There really wasn't another player in the running. He's too good. McGwire's best years would be some of Albert's worst as Cardinal. This was the year of his second MVP award (with a third to follow in '09), and it was after this season he had a minor surgery on his elbow to move a nerve that was periodically getting pinched and going numb. As I noted at the time, this meant he posted a 192 OPS+, while playing with essentially one arm part of the time. Which is ridiculous. 2008 was still in the time period when the Cards were transitioning from the MV3 of Albert/Edmonds/Rolen, and were not always able to put sufficient protection around him. Which is part of why this was his first season with over 100 walks (though he'd topped 90 each of the 3 previous years). It's not his best year on the basepaths (7 out of 10 on steals, so right at the break even), and 2009 was in some ways an even more prolific season (WAR of 9.7!). But again, there was a more pressing need that season could fill, and Albert's worth about 1 win on his defense alone in both years, which is a nice plus.

Second Base: Matt Carpenter, 2013 - 157 games, 717 PAs, 626 at-bats, 126 runs, 199 hits, 55 2Bs, 7 3Bs, 11 HRs, 78 RBIs, 3 SBs, 72 BBs, 98 Ks, .318/.392/.481/.873, 140 OPS+, 6 WAR

And this is part of the reason 2013 Molina was never in serious consideration. The Cards haven't exactly had a lot of great seasons out of second basemen over this stretch, and so the only other candidate was Oquendo in '89. But a) there was another player who was over a win better from that season, and b) Carp still beat the Secret Weapon by half a win, anyway.

It remains to be seen whether the power Carpenter demonstrated in 2013 was a fluke or not. The 7 triples probably were to a certain extent, but I'd like to think the doubles power and low double digit home run totals are legit. But since we're going to be using 2013 Carpenter, it's there for the purposes of this exercise. I figure Matt's going to be leading off, anyway, so the OBP is the most critical part. I would hope this lineup would be able to drive him in from first if need be. Matt's not exactly likely to excel defensively (though B-R has him at 0.3 defensive WAR), but with the other guys I'm putting in the infield, it shouldn't matter.

Third Base: Scott Rolen, 2004 - 142 games, 593 PAs, 500 at-bats,109 runs, 157 hits, 32 2Bs, 4 3Bs, 34 HRs, 124 RBIs, 4 SBs, 72 BBs, 92 Ks, .314/.409/.598/1.007, 158 OPS+, 9.1 WAR

Holy crap. Rolen doesn't have another season within 3 wins of this one. Probably because of his crazy defensive numbers. Don't get me wrong, the hitting is good (his 2nd best OPS+ is 139 in '98), but he had other years where his offensive WAR is close to '04's numbers. But in 2004, his defense was worth 3.3 wins all by itself, and there's no other season where it's above 2 (which is still damn good).

Anyway, this was the height of the MV3, and for this year, Rolen was the best of the 3. So naturally he finished 4th in MVP voting, because the voters penalized him (and Albert and Edmonds) for having each other as teammates. Also for winning their division by like 15 games, so they didn't play meaningful September games. Because sportswriters are idiots. Anyway, this was about as good as it got for Scotty. The next year he collided with Hee-Seop Choi and injured his other shoulder. In '06, he and LaRussa started to have problems when Tony benched him during the NLCS for Spiezio. In '07 his power evaporated, and then he was traded for Troy Glaus. But 2004, what a season.

Shortstop: Ozzie Smith, 1989 - 155 games, 664 PAs, 593 at-bats, 82 runs, 162 hits, 30 2Bs, 8 3Bs, 2 HRs, 50 RBIs, 29 SBs, 55 BBs, 37 Ks, .273/.335/.361/.696, 97 OPS+, 7.3 WAR

Like it was going to be anyone else. The odd thing is that, like Rolen, this is graded as an unusually good year for Ozzie defensively, rather than offensively. He's rated at 3.5 oWAR, but that's worse than each of his previous 4 seasons, and his 1991 year. But his dWAR is a ludicrous 4.7, which is over a win better than any other year. And he did this in his age-34 season.

It is a bit of a strange season at the plate for Ozzie, though. His batting average is almost dead on for his Cardinals' career (.272), but his OBP is 15 points lower, and his slugging is 17 points higher, I'm guessing because of the 8 triples (he never had more than 6 in any other season). Between his 25 steals in 1982, and his 21 in 1993, the 29 he had in 1989 is his lowest total, though admittedly it's very close to his 31 in '85 and '86.

Left field: Matt Holliday, 2010 - 158 games, 675 PAs, 596 at-bats, 95 runs, 186 hits, 45 2Bs, 1 3Bs, 28 HRs, 103 RBIs, 9 SBs, 69 BBs, 93 Ks, .312/.390/.532/.922, 149 OPS+, 5.9 WAR

The Cardinals haven't had a lot of standouts at left field over the previous 25 years. Coleman was kind of a limited player, Gilkey had his best years after he left, Lankford was in decline by the time he moved to left. This was Holliday's first full season here, and far and away his best so far. Best batting average, best on-base and slugging (though not best OPS+), most steals, most homers, most doubles. Matt's not going to be winning any Gold Gloves, but as with the other Matt, I expect Holliday's outfield cohorts to more than pick up the slack there.

Center Field: Jim Edmonds, 2000 - 152 games, 643 PAs, 525 at-bats, 129 runs, 155 hits, 25 2Bs, 42 HRs, 108 RBIs, 10 SBs, 103 BBs, 167 Ks, .295/.411/.583/.994, 147 OPS+, 6.2 WAR

The MV3 trifecta! '04 is actually a better year for Jim, but he was still worth 2 fewer wins than Rolen that year, so on to 2000. 25 doubles seems kind of low, and he did hit at least 30 each of the next 5 years, but his homer total also fell (2004 excepted), so maybe it was a case of some of those doubles traveling just that little extra distance. Or he had something to prove after having been traded for Adam Kennedy and Kent freaking Bottenfield. Ignore the fact stupid 2000 Calvin thought it was a bad trade for the Cards.

Look, I had reasonable concerns about the stability of the Cards' rotation, and thought Bottenfield was a valuable potential fallback.

This is a pretty standard Edmonds season, though. Lotta power, lotta walks, shit load of strikeouts, good defense. Jim will be on the Hall of Fame ballot next year. I have to think he's a longshot (he won't even be the best centerfielder in his first year on the ballot), though I hope he'll at least get enough votes to hang on the ballot for awhile, maybe build up some support. The Cards have had a lot of good centerfielders in my lifetime (Jon Jay, who is at least average is probably the worst, which is saying something), but Edmonds was easily the best.

Right Field: Brian Jordan, 1998 - 150 games, 617 PAs, 564 at-bats, 100 runs, 178 hits, 34 2Bs, 7 3Bs, 25 HRs, 91 RBIs, 17 SBs, 40 BBs, 66 Ks, .316/.368/.534/.902, 134 OPS+, 7.0 WAR

Right field has been an unstable position for the Cardinals over the last 25 years, or really, since the end of the George Hendrick era. The only guys to be the starter for even three seasons are Jordan (3), Ryan Ludwick (3), and J.D. Drew (4). Which isn't to say they haven't had good players. Those 3 were all good, not to mention Larry Walker, Lance Berkman, Carlos Beltran, just that there hasn't been a good longterm solution. Jordan could have been that guy, but the Cardinals didn't want to give him a longterm, big money contract. Makes a certain amount of sense, considering Jordan's difficulties staying healthy, although then they turned the job over to Drew. At least Jordan missed time for legit injuries like separated shoulders, instead of turf toe or whatever. But they definitely would have been buying based on past production, rather than what he would do.

This is Jordan's best offensive year, and it's his second best defensive year (behind 1996), and they're close enough on that score that the offense makes a big difference. But that defense is pretty sweet. B-R's defensive stats rate him as 22 and 27 runs better than average in right field in 1998. Not quite up to the +27 and +31 from two season earlier, but, combined with Edmonds in center, I think they can compensate for Holliday being essentially average in left.

The biggest surprise here is how little speed is on this team. Other than Ozzie and Jordan, there's really no one who can run. I mean, Albert and Yadi will try, but neither of them has blazing speed. Of course, Ozzie is the only starter whose season isn't coming from the LaRussa era, which probably accounts for it. The Cards didn't exactly have a lot of runners during his tenure. Neither did baseball in general, though.

Return to the Team-Building Exercise - The Bench

I know, it's been over a month. I've been distracted, and busy. But since football season is about to start, I better get on this before I get completely distracted by whatever's going to happen with Arizona's season. Six-man bench, lot of positional versatility, I think. We'll just stick to chronological order.

1) Tom Pagnozzi, 1990 - 69 games, 239 PAs, 20 runs, 61 hits, 15 2Bs, 2 HRs, 23 RBIs, 1 SB, 14 BB, 37 K, .277 AVG/.321 OBP/.373 SLG/.694 OPS, 91 OPS+, 2.0 WAR

Pagnozzi had been a Cardinal for three seasons prior to this, but had seen only sporadic use.He got 53 PAs as the third catcher (behind Tony Pena and Steve Lake) in 1987, then 209 PAs as a backup catcher, but mostly at first base in 1988. That the Cardinals were reduced to using someone who would have a .359 SLG for his career as their first baseman, tells you a lot about the '88 squad's struggles. In '89 he was back solely behind the plate, but managed just 88 PAs, and posted an abysmal .391 OPS.

By 1990, Tony Pena was gone, but the starting job was handed to the young slugger Todd Zeile. As it turned out, Zeile might be able to hit a little (he led the team with 15 HRs), but he wasn't much of a catcher. After Herzog quit, and especially when Torre took over as manager for the last third of the season, Zeile was moved largely to third, and Pagnozzi took the lion's share of the starts behind the plate, since he at least seemed solid defensively. He came through on that count. His Total Zone Runs score is +10 in just 520 innings, which projects to a +23 if he'd played 1200 innings. And considering he'd post a +19 in 1156 innings the next season, that +23 might not be out of line. He also threw out 45% of would-be basestealers that year. And, he had his best year hitting up to that point. Admittedly a low bar to clear, but most teams would take a 91 OPS+ from their starting catcher, especially with Pagnozzi's defensive chops. As usual, he didn't get on-base much, but he had a little pop, and that was enough. There were only two seasons in his career - 1994 and 1996 - where he'd post a better OPS or OPS+ than he did in his first extended chance at catcher. Anyway, Zeile still played more innings at the position that year, so he's the starter of record, which is how I can use Pags as the backup catcher, since it was the role he fulfilled most of the year.

2) Milt Thompson, 1991 - 115 games, 361 PAs, 55 runs, 100 hits, 16 2Bs, 5 3Bs, 6 HRs, 34 RBIs, 16 SBs, 32 BBs, 53 Ks, .307/.368/.442/.810, 127 OPS+, 3.7 WAR

For a long time, I thought Milt was the primary left fielder in 1991, but no, that's Bernard Gilkey. By about 26 innings. So this might be fudging it a bit, but too bad. This was Milt's third year with the team. In 1989, he'd taken over in CF when McGee went down, and had a good year. His OPS+ was 107, his Total Zone score was +14, and he was worth 4.2 WAR. The next year, he primarily played in RF, after the team traded Brunansky in April, and didn't acquire Felix Jose until late July. That year, did not go well. OPS+ of 71, 0.7 WAR. His defensive numbers in RF were good, though. Milt's issues, like Pagnozzi's was that much of his value comes down to batting average. Milt didn't walk much, so if the hits didn't fall, he didn't get on base. And he didn't have that much power, so he tended to hit a lot of singles. So he wouldn't make up for poor average with a lot of powerful blasts.

But when it all comes together, you get a year like this: Good average, high OBP, pretty good power (his career ISO in 98, so a 135 is a big step up). '91 is only the third best year of Thompson's career by WAR, but in the other two, he was a full-time starter, so he had more opportunity to acquire value then. His OPS is the best of his career by over 30 points, his OPS+ beats any other year by 11 percent. His Total Zone score is +8 in LF, projecting to a +17 over 1200 innings. He was certainly caught stealing too many times (9) for his number of successes, but that was true of most of the team. They had no power (Zeile led them with 11 HRs), so they ran like mad. Tom Pagnozzi stole 9 bases in 1991. And was caught 13 times.

3) Gerald Perry, 1994 - 60 games, 92 PAs, 12 runs, 25 hits, 7 2Bs, 3 HRs, 18 RBIs, 1 SB, 15 BBs, 12 Ks, .325/.435/.532/.967, 153 OPS+, 0.8 WAR

Perry was in his 4th season with the Cardinals in '94. He was a sporadically used player, most a pinch-hitter, otherwise he'd play first every once in awhile, a more pressing need when he first arrived, since Pedro Guerrero was decaying before our eyes, and Andres Galarraga was the worst first baseman they've had in my lifetime. Since the Cardinals had Gregg Jefferies in 1994, they didn't have much need for Perry at first. He played just 93 innings in the field all year (and posted a Total Zone of -0), which was still more than the 70.2 he played the year before. Perry was there to hit, and he did that. His OPS was .950 in 1993, coming out to a 158 OPS+, and a 0.9 WAR. Which is pretty good value for a guy playing no more often than Perry. That's largely how I envision him, bring him in when I need a lefty pinch-hitter. That's handy, a lot of my power hitters in the starting lineup are righties, so it's good to have an option from the other side. Thompson's a lefty, but he's not much of a power hitter. Also, Perry brings some patience, considering he walked about once every 6 PAs, and once more often than Pags did, in less than half the PAs.

4) Eli Marrero, 2002 - 131 games, 446 PAs, 63 runs, 104 hits, 19 2Bs, 1 3B, 18 HRs, 66 RBIs, 14 SBs, 40 BBs, 72 Ks, .262/.327/.451/.778, 104 OPS+, 1.6 WAR

No we start getting into the versatility. It's one thing to have a guy like Thompson, who can play all 3 outfield spots, and play them well. But Marrero played all 3 outfield spots, plus catcher, and a smidgen of first base. Now admittedly, his scores for catcher and LF are both poor (-4 for both in roughly 200 innings), and 11 innings at first is practically meaningless, but the potential exists. By this point, the Cardinals had given up on Marrero as a catcher, I guess, preferring the good defense and awful hitting of Mike Matheny. Eli had chances in 1998 and 1999, and while his defensive numbers were good (+13 over roughly 1310 innings across the two seasons, and he threw out 48 baserunners in 121 attempts), he couldn't hit a lick, due to some serious illness, the specifics of which I've forgotten. So he gradually developed into a super-utility, one who could legitimately play catcher, which is pretty rare. Sure, Daniel Descalso can play catcher, but he's not a catcher anymore than he is a SS. This was Eli's second best year (behind his '04 in Atlanta), his busiest year. Most hits, most home runs, most stolen bases (and only caught twice), second best OPS+ (again, behind '04 in Atlanta). He brings a nice combo of Thompson's speed with Perry's power. Ought to come in handy.

5) Scott Spiezio, 2006 - 119 games, 321 PAs, 44 runs, 75 hits, 15 2Bs, 4 3Bs, 13 HRs, 52 RBIs, 1 SB, 37 BBs, 66 Ks, .272/.366/.496/.862, 120 OPS+, 1.6 WAR

Continuing the theme of guys who play everywhere. Spiezio played 4 positions for the Cards in '06, not counting DH: 3B, LF, 1B, 2B. He played only 26 innings at second, and 55 at first, only 216 in LF, and had a negative score there (-2). His score at 3rd, where he played about 200 innings, was a +4. The next season, he'd add RF and pitcher to the list, but that would be his final season, as he'd struggle with substance abuse issues. In 2006, though, he was the Cardinals most valuable bench player. Depending on how you look at it, maybe too valuable. He was good enough LaRussa felt confident in benching Rolen for Spiezio during the NLCS, which was what wrecked the relationship between Rolen and TLR. Hopefully such problems can be avoided here.

2006 is one of Spiezio's better years. Not as good as his 2001 or 2002, but on par with his 1997 and 2003. Except for '97, he was largely a utility guy for all those seasons. Even in '02 and '03, when he was the starting first baseman, he'd play three or four other positions. Offensively it's his best year, by a decent amount. He beats his career average by almost 20 points, his career OBP by 36, and his slugging by 77 points. And he's a switch-hitter which allows for some intriguing options.

6) Brendan Ryan, 2007 - 67 games, 199 PAs, 30 runs, 52 hits, 9 2Bs, 4 HRs, 12 RBIs, 7 SBs, 15 BBs, 19 Ks, .289/.347/..406/.753, 95 OPS+, 1.6 WAR

I debate sometimes who the manager is in this fantasy. Is it me, or did I select the manager from one of the options from this 25 year stretch? If it's the former, I put Boog on here in part because I like, and want him on the team. If it's the latter, then he's here in part because the manager would have to be LaRussa, and I want to torment him by giving him two of his least favorite players as the only options at SS. Which I guess means if I'm not the manager, I'm at least the GM, and I'm the one holding the whip hand.

This was Ryan's first year on the team, and it kind of foreshadowed how his time in StL would go. It was an odd-numbered year (and he wasn't injured), so he hit well. For him. He fielded well when given the chance (+4 in 163 innings at SS, +1 in 150 innings at 3rd, league average in 125 innings at 2nd). And he pissed off LaRussa, noticeably getting benched in the 2nd inning of a game against Philly because he swung away on a 3-0 count. Interestingly, LaRussa did not bench either Molina or Schumaker the next night when one of them missed either a stop or go sign, and so both wound up at 3rd base simultaneously. Which is how it went, Boog getting punished, while other players got to skate for some reason or another.

Yeah, if I'm Tony's boss in this scenario, I'm gonna make his life hell.

At any rate, I need someone defensively competent to be the backup middle infielder. None of the other guys can play short, and Spiezio's the only one who can play 3rd or 2nd. I'll likely take Speez over Boog at 3rd, but at 2nd, I'll stick with Brendan Ryan. In fact, he'll probably get a lot of play there as a late-innings defensive replacement, much like Thompson likely will in LF.

Return To The Team-Building Exercise - The Bullpen

And we're back! I just haven't felt terribly motivated the last 3 weeks, but if I don't get another of these done this week, I won't be getting any done until mid-August. So here we are, checking in on the 'pen. I've once again opted to go with a 6-man bullpen, as I did in my revised attempt of my first go around. The way I figure it, with 5 starts each contributing roughly 220 innings (they add up to 1152 innings), it's ridiculous to have 7 relievers. I'm just going to list them chronologically, and also try to describe their role.

1) Mike Perez, 1993 (8th Inning Set-Up Guy) - 65 games, 77.7 IP, 7-2, 7 saves, 58 K, 20 BB, 4 HRs, 2.48 ERA, 159 ERA+, 2.97 FIP, 1.17 WHIP, 1.5 WAR, 0.9 WAA

I also considered taking Paul Kilgus from this season. He had the same WAR, but it was less than 29 innings. That's impressive, but it kind of suggests small sample size fluke, even for a relief pitcher. As for Perez, this is possibly his best year, depending on what you value. He has a lower ERA in '92, but his K rate is much higher in '93, and his BB rate is lower. He goes from a K/BB of 1.44, to 2.90, far and away the best of his career. 1993 marked his lowest walk rate, and 3rd highest K rate. And the two years where he struck out more guys were his last 2 seasons, when he threw a combined 47 innings for the Cubs and Royals. Perez gained the closer's role late in '93, when the Cardinals sent Lee Smith elsewhere, but he couldn't hold it in '94, losing it to Rene Arocha, as Torre continued to shift guys from the rotation to the bullpen, as if the Cardinals had an overabundance of good starting pitchers. Seriously, he did it with Arocha, Rheal Cormier, Omar Olivares, I'm sure he would have done it with Donovan Osborne if Osborne could have stayed healthy.

2) Tom Henke, 1995 (Closer) - 52 games, 54.3 IP, 1-1, 36 SVs, 48 Ks, 18 BBs, 2 HRs, 1.82 ERA, 229 ERA+, 2.81 FIP, 1.104 WHIP, 2.3 WAR, 1.4 WAA

One of the easiest selections. Lee Smith in 1991 was the only other closer I seriously considered, but '91 had other viable options. Unless I wanted to take Tony Fossas, 1995 really didn't. Anybody else that had a good season, there was someone for that same role that had a better season in some other year (some times it was the same guy). Henke and Smith were listed as being equally valuable. This was Henke's only year as a Cardinal, and his last year in the majors. He was a good guy to have around, if a bit useless since the rest of the team was so bad. The Cardinals actually had a good bullpen that year, but their rotation was mediocre (Osborne, Mike Morgan, and Mark Petkovsek had decent years, Ken Hill, Danny Jackson, and Allen Watson had horrible seasons), and the offense was a train wreck. Probably should have tried trading Henke for some good young players, but then who would I select from this season? Fossas, I guess.

3) Rick Honeycutt, 1996 (LOOGY) - 61 games, 47.3 innings, 2-1, 4 SVs, 30 Ks, 7 BBs, 3 HRs, 2.85 ERA, 148 ERA+, 3.17 FIP, 1.035 WHIP, 1.2 WAR, 0.7 WAA

What better way to celebrate the first year of the LaRussa Era than with a situational reliever? Feel the excitement? On the other hand, Honeycutt's wins above average is tied for 3rd highest on the team that year with Andy Benes. Which says more about the general mediocrity of the Cards' pitching staff than anything, but there you go. Honeycutt didn't have a great K rate, only 5.7 batters per 9 innings, though that's quite a bit higher than his career average (4.3). More critically, he walked people at a rate half his career average (1.3 versus 2.7). Which is how he managed the best K/BB ratio of his career (4.29, his next best is a 3.2 in 1992). But that's kind of what he'd have to do. If he's only being brought in to get one, maybe 2 guys at most, he can't very well walk the guy. Actually he averaged a little over 3 batters faced per appearance, but that includes guys he didn't get out. Anyway, Honeycutt's career would end abruptly the next season after just 2 innings, beginning a multi-year stretch where the Cardinals couldn't find a decent lefthanded reliever. It was ended finally in 2001 by Steve Kline, who I seriously considered for the team, but I wanted Darryl Kile, so here we are.

4) Heathcliff Slocumb, 1999 (Last Resort) - 40 games, 53.3 IP, 3-2, 2 SVs, 48 Ks, 30 BB, 3 HRs, 2.36 ERA, 198 ERA+, 3.81 FIP, 1.481 WHIP, 1.7 WAR, 1.2 WAA

The only two pitchers that were more valuable in 1999 were Kent Bottenfield and Darren Oliver, which tells you most everything you need to know about the state of the Cardinals' pitching staff that year. Slocumb was a midseason acquisition, picked up after the Orioles released him. You can tell he was the beneficiary of some good fortune during his stint in St. Louis, based on the gap between his ERA and his FIP. Have to expect that, if you're going to walk over 5 batters per 9 innings. The crazy thing is, that's not even unusual for Slocumb. His career BB rate is 5.1/9, compiled over 631 innings, so this was right in line with his past performance. But he maintained his HR rate (0.5/9), and raised his K rate a little (from 7.3 to 8.1), and had a hit rate almost a full hit less than his career norm (8.3 vs. 9.1). Which is funny, because I don't remember the 1999 team being much for defensive excellence, but I guess things just work out that way. Anyway, judging by all this, Slocumb's gonna be the last guy out of the 'pen, or the guy I use in blowouts, when I can tell him to just throw strikes and not dick around. Maybe that'll get the walk rate down some.

5) Kiko Calero, 2003 (Whatever I Need) - 26 games, 38.3 IP, 1-1, 1 SV, 51 Ks, 20 BB, 5 HRs, 2.82 ERA, 147 ERA+, 3.71 FIP, 1.278 WHIP, 1.0 WAR, 0.7 WAA

The scary thing is Calero's WAR is 4th among Cardinals pitchers that year, behind Woody Williams, Matt Morris, and Garrett Stephenson, all of whom threw at least 4 times as many innings (though Williams and Morris are at least appropriately far ahead). Calero has the best WHIP of any of the relievers other than Isringhausen, which is kind of sad, but there you go. Calero's walking too many guys (4.7/9), and the HR rate's kind of high (1.2/9, though Izzy and Kline are the only 2 relievers with lower HR rates), but he's also striking out 12/9. And Calero wound up being a pretty effective reliever in 2004 (though his WAR and WAA are the same). He still struck out a batter per innings, but he cut the BB rate to about 40% of what it was, and dropped the HR rate a little. Which is why his FIP dropped to 3.14 that year, even if his ERA barely moved. Anyway, even with Slocumb being worse than I initially realized (the dangers of trying to use WAR as a quick and dirty sorting method), there's still enough other guys I don't have to place too much pressure on Calero.

6) Jason Motte, 2011 (Fireman) - 78 games, 68 IP, 5-2, 9 SVs, 63 Ks, 16 BBs, 2 HRs, 2.25 ERA, 166 ERA+, 2.48 FIP, 0.956 WHIP, 1.3 WAR, 0.7 WAA

Look, Fernando Salas led the team in saves that year, so Baseball-Reference lists him as the closer. I was going to take one or the other, and for awhile Tony used Motte pretty much whenever he absolutely needed an out, like the way "closers" were originally used, before it became all about saves and the 9th inning. So that's what Motte's gonna do. His K rate (8.3/9) isn't anywhere near Calero's, granted, but neither is his walk rate (2.1/9), and his HR rate is a quarter of Calero's. If I can't use Henke in a dire situation, then I'll most likely turn to Motte (maybe Honeycutt if it's a lefty, since Motte allowed a .454 OPS to righties that year, but a .738 to lefties). So Motte might end up being the first guy out of the 'pen, depending on how often I'd have to pull my starter because he was struggling and we needed to get out of an inning right now.

As far as other relievers I considered, I already mentioned Salas, Paul Kilgus, Lee Smith, and Tony Fossas. Frank DiPino's 1989 was in the running, but there were two excellent seasons for starting position players ahead of him by considerable margins. I though about John Habyan's 1994, but he's pretty marginal. He would have been a 7th reliever, and I didn't want to do that again. I though about Petkovsek in 1996, but I wanted a lefty, and he and Honeycutt were basically equivalent in value. Juan Acevedo in 1998, but he spent some time in the rotation, as well as the closing, so I wasn't sure how to describe him, also there was another really good position player in front of him. Steve Kline in 2001 and Al Reyes in 2005 lost out to starting pitchers, Russ Springer in 2007 to a bench guy I really wanted. Like I said, relievers are at the bottom rung here.

Return To The Team-Building Exercise - The Rotation

Five years - five years?! - ago, I did this little thing where I constructed a 25-man roster for the St. Louis Cardinals from their previous 25 seasons, 1984 through 2008. I'm going to try and do it again, moving the timescale forward 5 years. So it'll be 1989 through 2013.

The rules are the same. I'm selecting a player based on their performance in that season only. In theory. In reality, I'm going to play favorites a bit because it's my team, damnit. The team has to be built with some sense of reality. There are going to be bench players, relievers, and so on. The players selected must have fulfilled those roles in the seasons I'm selecting them from. Only one player per season, and no player can be chosen more than once, even if they'd qualify for more than one spot.

Today, we start with the starting rotation. When I list stats, I'm going off Baseball-Reference, rather than Fangraphs. It's mostly relevant when it comes to the wins above replacement numbers, and defensive stats, if I list those.

1) Bob Tewksbury, 1992 - 33 games, 32 starts, 233 IP, 5 CG, 16-5, 91 K, 20 BB, 15 HR, 2.16 ERA, 158 ERA+, 3.13 FIP, 1.017 WHIP, 6.5 WAR, 4.7 WAA

In the early '90s, Bob Tewksbury was the guy in the Cardinals' rotation. He was a Herzog scrap heap pick-up, surrounded by all these young guys from the farm system. Omar Olivares, Donovan Osborne, Rheal Cormier, Mark Clark, Allen Watson. But Tewksbury might have had the best career (Cormier had the longest, but that was as a lefty reliever). I certainly didn't try to imitate the pitching style of any of the others when I was a kid, and none of them had a season like this.

This was easily Tewksbury's best season. 1998 is the only season where his WAR is even half of what it was here, and he never had a season with a wins above average half of the 4.7 in 1992. And it's a perfect Tewksbury season. He struck out only 3.5 batters per 9 innings, but also walked only 0.8 per 9, which is how he lead the league in K/BB ratio, at 4.55. He'd manage the same trick in 1993, with a slightly better K rate, and a ratio of 4.85. So it isn't a complete outlier. His FIP was actually slightly better in 1990 (3.12), and it was only 3.36 in 1993. He allowed 0.6 HR/9 each year from 91-93. The big difference in '92 was he had greater success (or luck) in not allowing hits. His hit rate was 8.4/9, which is at least one less than he allowed in any other full season. He allowed only 7.5 in 1989, but you're talking 30 innings. Beyond that, his next best showing was 9.4 in 1990, which is also the only year besides '92 where his WHIP is below 1.2. Tewksbury couldn't strike guys out, so he had to hope he could minimize the contact he allowed, and that his guys could catch it. I don't think the Cardinals' defense was anything special in 1992, not with Zeile at 3rd, and Galarraga or whomever at first, so mostly luck. But I plan on putting an excellent defense behind him, so luck won't be such a necessity.

2) Adam Wainwright, 2009 - 34 starts, 233 innings, 1 CG, 19-8, 212 K, 66 BB, 17 HR, 2.63 ERA, 155 ERA+, 3.11 FIP, 1.21 WHIP, 6.2 WAR, 4.4 WAA

Not really Wainwright's strongest year. 2014 will probably be better when it's all said an done, and 2010 and 2013 are basically even with 2009, maybe a little better. His K rate is basically the same across them all, but the BB rate is a bit higher than 2010's, and about half of 2013. He allowed one fewer hit per inning in 2010 than the other two years, but the HR rate is basically even. FIP is considerably higher, but ERA+ is better for 2009 than 2013, and pretty close to 2010.

But there were other candidates who filled vital needs in those seasons (we'll get to them in later posts), so here we are. Not a bad season, though. This is the one that put Wainwright on the map as a starting pitcher. The Cards had a three-headed monster at the front of the rotation, but Wainwright was probably the main piece. Carpenter might have pitched better, but made only 28 starts and threw less than 200 innings after missing almost all of the prior 2 seasons. Joel Piniero had the best season of his career, basically by mimicking Tewksbury's 1992, but Wagonmaker led the way in innings, and wasn't so reliant on good defense and luck. I'm surprised to see just the one complete game, though. Anyway, he's one of two young, curveball dropping hurlers in this rotation. Not to be confused with the older, curveball dropping hurlers in the rotation.

3) Chris Carpenter, 2005 - 33 starts, 241.7 innings, 21-5, 7 CG, 4 SHO, 213 K, 51 BB, 18 HR, 2.83 ERA, 150 ERA+, 2.90 FIP, 5.8 WAR, 3.9 WAA

Baseball-Reference says his 2009 was better by WAR, but I couldn't pick that season over this one, where he threw 50 more innings even before you count postseason numbers. And outside of that, there's no season of his to match his Cy Young year of 2005. This was the year where Carp became the big man in the rotation. If he hadn't gotten hurt in September of 2004, it would have happened then, and perhaps the Cards don't trade Dan Haren for Mark Mulder. Geez, Carp, Haren, Wainwright, talk about a 3-headed monster.

But it wasn't to be, and if Carp had trouble finishing other seasons, it wasn't a problem this year (though yeah, his September wasn't great, and he admitted it was because the Cards had already locked up the division, and he was on cruise control. But he was a major reason they managed that. In June and July of that year, he threw 80.7 innings, and allowed only 9 runs, basically an ERA of 1.00 for two months. Crazy.

On the whole, it was what became a standard healthy Chris Carpenter season. Strikeout rate between 7 and 8 per 9 innings. Walk rate between 1.5 and 2. Home run rate between 0.5 and 1.0. The hit rate is 7.6 per 9 innings, which was bettered only by 2009's 7.3 per 9. Some of his other good seasons are between 8 and 9 hits, so there's an element of good fortune, but that's par for the course, I guess.

4) Darryl Kile, 2001 - 34 starts, 227.3 IP, 16-11, 2 CG, 1 SHO, 179 K, 65 BB, 22 HR, 1.289 WHIP, 3.09 ERA, 140 ERA+, 3.74 FIP, 4.8 WAR, 3.1 WAA

I guarantee you when that season happened I was disappointed in DK because of that 16-11 record. To be young and stupid again. This is Kile's last full season before his unfortunate and sudden death, and the one where Matt Morris started to take the lead in the rotation. But it hadn't happened yet, and as good a year as Morris had, Kile was still a bit better. The numbers aren't great, but you have to adjust a bit for the era. This was the year everyone finally decided they cared about steroids, what with Barry Bonds setting the home run record. So big offense all around. This is Kile's second best ERA+, after the 1997 he had with the Astros that got him that disastrous contract with Colorado. His FIP is basically in line with that year and 1996 as well. HR rate is OK for him, little lower than with Houston, but he wasn't in the Astrodome any more, so that makes sense. Hit rate is worse than either of his other 2 St. Louis seasons, walk rate is up from his first year there.

But I don't care so much about that. Kile's strength was that you could count on him to take that ball every five days and give you a chance to win. He might or might not stack up against the very best pitchers in the league, the ones he often faced, but he was close enough to give you a chance. I like guys like that, I think most fans do, honestly. Todd Stottlemyre was like that for them, and I loved that guy. I would have put him on here if he had a season good enough I could have justified it. Kile did have a season good enough. And he helped Morris become that good too, for a little while until the injuries came back.

5) Matt Morris, 1997 - 33 starts, 217 IP, 12-9, 3 CG, 149 K, 69 BB, 12 HR, 1.276 WHIP, 3.19 ERA, 131 ERA+, 3.51 FIP, 3.9 WAR, 2.2 WAA.

2001 was Morris' best year, but not as good as Kile's. So here's 1997, which didn't have a preponderance of other options. The key with Morris in 1997 was he was the one guy who stayed healthy the whole season. Stottlemyre missed September with a tired arm. Andy Benes had back issues, Alan Benes' career effectively ended with a shoulder injury, Donovan Osborne missed half the year (big surprise). Morris was the only guy to top 200 innings or 30 starts for the Cards that year. Probably that was too much work. His total number of minor league innings was only about 165 when he was called up, and he blew past that in by over 50 innings. Then he missed half of 1998, and then he had Tommy John, missed all of 1999, and spent 2000 in the bullpen.

But in 1997, he was healthy, and he was good. Not great, he was a work in progress. The walk rate was around 3 per 9 innings, but he'd eventually get that down to around 2 per 9. The strikeout rate never went up much, outside of 2001 and 2002, but in 1997, the potential is there. As the #1 starter, he'd be exposed, but as the #5, he'll be just fine. Plus, this team is going to be a lot better than the 1997 team was.

Next time, whenever that is, the bullpen.

If You Needed More About How Unusual A Player Albert Pujols Is

There was an interesting thing I noticed over the course of that last little study I did. The Cardinals have essentially had five first basemen that stand head and shoulders above the rest: Keith Hernandez, Jack Clark, Gregg Jefferies, Mark McGwire, and Albert Pujols. Of course, they aren't all created equal. Jefferies lags behind Hernandez, Clark, and McGwire, worth about 1 win less per 162 games than each of them. And those three are well behind Albert (worth about 3 wins less per 162 games). But what was interesting was you can sort of group them as players, Hernandez and Jefferies, Clark and McGwire.

Clark and McGwire are the more traditional 3 True Outcomes (HR, K, BB) sluggers with limited speed and defensive abilities. Over 162 games, Jack Clark would average 688 plate appearances. And 311 of those would end with one of the 3 True Outcomes (45%). For McGwire, it's 365 of 665 (54.9%). In contrast, only 25.4% of Hernandez' PAs ended with one of those outcomes (178 of 700), and just 18.3% (128 of 701) of Jefferies' PAs. Both Clark and McGwire were poor defensively, Clark being 11 runs below average total over his 3 years as starter, McGwire a -28 over his 4 years. They had limited speed (2 SBs/162 for Clark, 1 for McGwire), and both were injury prone. Clark played fewer than 2 full seasons worth of games in three, and McGwire played in just 57% of the Cards' games his last two seasons (several of those in 2000 as a pinch hitter).

In contrast, Hernandez and Jefferies are more limited power, high contact hitters, who supplement their value with speed, and in Hernandez' case, defense. Jefferies was a .335 hitter, Hernandez .306. But their ISOs were both around .140 or .150, compared to Clark's .248, and McGwire's .411. But Hernandez averages about 18 SBs (albeit a 65% success rate), and Jefferies 38 SBs, with an 80.55% success. Jefferies is a slightly minus defender (-4 runs over 2 seasons), whereas Hernandez is excellent (+36 across 3 years).

What's most interesting is how Albert is some odd amalgamation of all 4 of them. In his 8 years as starting first baseman, Albert had a .326 average (Jefferies), but he walked an average of 99 times in 711 PAs (Hernandez, who averaged 97 in 700 PAs). But combined with his batting average, that gives Albert a .422 OBP, halfway between Clark (.413) and McGwire (.429). His slugging is .620, which is still over sixty points behind McGwire's, but almost 100 points ahead of Clark's. His ISO is .294, which is much further behind McGwire's but still well ahead of Clark's. Even so, Albert's Three True Outcomes score is only 29%, much closer to Keith Hernandez than the other two. Defensively, Albert was worth 98 runs above average over his 8 years. That's +12.25 runs per season, which is slightly better than Hernandez (+12), and much better than the others, who are all varying degrees of below average (from -2 to -7). Albert only averaged 10 SBs per 162 games, but his success rate is 73.8%, basically exactly halfway between Hernandez and Jefferies.

Also, it's worth noting the Cardinals didn't run as much during Albert's years. The Hernandez Cards stole 405 (135 per season) bases from 1980-1982, 45 (15 per season) by Hernandez, and that's with Herzog not arriving until partway through 1980, and 1981 being shortened by a strike. The Jefferies' Cards stole 229 in 2 years (115) - one of which was also strike shortened - and Jefferies accounts for 58 (29). The Albert Cardinals stole 593 in 8 years (74), of which 76 were by Albert (9.5). Going by that, Hernandez accounts for 11% of the team's SBs, Jefferies 25%, and Albert 13%.

So he hit for contact like Jefferies, drew walks and played defense like Hernandez. He got on-base and hit for power better than Clark, but not quite at McGwire's level. Compared to his team, he stole bases like Hernandez, but at a better success rate. And he stayed healthy pretty much throughout, or healthy enough to keep playing.

The Cards Over The Last 32 Seasons - Right Field

Like I said last week, right field is the least stable position, pretty much regardless of the manager. There's only been one player that was starter for more than 3 years, and that's J.D. Drew, who played 48% of the possible innings in RF over the 4 years he was starter (it increases to 60% if you include innings played at other outfield spots). Beyond that, there are a few players with 3 years, and quite a few one-year wonders. Or not so wonders, as the case may be.

Herzog Era: 7

Best: George Hendrick has the years. Even excluding the years he was starter before Herzog came along, he still has three ('81, '82, '84). But Andy van Slyke has the production. Across two seasons as starter, he was worth 4.1 WAR/162, versus Hendrick's 2.3. Of course, the thing about van Slyke is he and Herzog didn't get along, which is why he was ultimately traded to Pittsburgh as part of the Tony Pena deal (which wound up being a really bad trade for the Cardinals). I don't know. Hendrick has the power, van Slyke the speed and defense (Hendrick over three years: 9 runs below average. van Slyke over two: 21 runs above). But Andy played a lot of first base in 1986 when Jack Clark was hurt, so that may be boosting his defensive numbers.

Well, my dad's not going to like it, but I'll take Andy van Slyke.

Worst: Milt Thompson. He was only the starter in '90 until Felix Jose showed up (from the Willie McGee trade), but he was exactly replacement level for that period of time, which puts him a win and a half, at minimum, below all the other possibilities. Strange thing to note: Excluding Thompson, the other six guys all have an OPS between .730 and .790. If you remove Hendrick (.779), and van Slyke (.784), the other 4 (Durham, Green, Ford, Brunansky) are all between .730 and .750. Of the six, none have an OBP below .302 (Durham), or above .339 (van Slyke). SLG stays between .408 (Curt Ford) and .446 (Hendrick, with van Slyke 1 and Durham 5 points behind).

Torre Era: 3

Best: The best is really Brian Jordan. His 6.8 WAR/162 is more than Felix Jose and Mark Whiten's combined. Problem: Jordan was only the starter in 1995, so we're talking one-third of a shortened season. Admittedly the other guys are only starters for about two years. Whiten a little less when you consider one was a strike year, Jose a little more since he was starter for Torre's portion of '90. But the longevity gap is a little much. Of the other two, I give the nod to Felix Jose. Their offensive numbers are fairly similar, Jose with a .788 OPS, Whiten with .784. Whiten walks more and hits for more power (63 BBs and 26 HRs vs. 51 and 13 for Jose). But Jose has a 30 point batting average edge which somewhat mitigates those advantages, at least as far as OBP and SLG. Jose is more of a speed threat (27 SBs to 17). Given that neither one was much of a defender, I'm curious how Jose was worth 2.6 WAR/162, and Whiten 2.1.

Worst: Well, it certainly isn't going to be Jordan, so Mark Whiten by default.

LaRussa Era: 9

Best: Yes, Lance Berkman had a really good year last year. But it's just one year, and we're not so hard up for choices that he's going to win. Ludwick has 3 years as starter, but his performance (3.8 WAR/162) lags well behind the other two guys with similar time. So it really comes down to Brian Jordan vs. J.D. Drew. As I mentioned up top, Drew has 4 years as starter, at a rate of 5.4 WAR/162. Jordan has just two, but produced at a rate of 7.0 WAR/162. Across 4 years, Drew played 2800 and 1/3 innings in right field. In two years, Jordan played 1991 and 2/3 innings. Drew was better at drawing walks and hitting for power (ISO of .216 vs. Jordan's .197), but Jordan has the speed, average, and outstanding defense - 54 runs above average over those two years. Drew's 4 year total is a not insignificant 39 runs above average, but it's still 9.75 per year versus 27 per year.

At the end of the day, Jordan does have a pretty significant edge in performance, and while he was prone to injury, so was Drew. Plus, nobody was really sorry to see Drew go, since the best thing he ever did for St. Louis was headline a trade that netted the Cards Adam Wainwright. Go Brian Jordan!

Worst: Juan Encarnacion. Two years as starter, -0.7 WAR/162. I think Juan had a tough road to climb from the first, being the major free agent signing of the Cardinal's offseason going into 2006, plus taking over for Larry Walker. The expectations from fans were out of line with what Juan's career numbers said to expect. That being said, his career numbers didn't suggest he'd be this lousy either. Still sad that his career was ended by that Aaron Miles line drive.