The Dream Team

It is my contention that one cannot truly be a baseball fan if they aren’t willing to admit that there are great players on teams that aren’t their favorite. Many times in baseball a fan will be too proud to admit that the star player on their rival team is a great player. To me this is childish and doesn’t show a love for the game. I’m a Yankee fan, but have no problem showing respect for other great players. To show this, I’ve drafted my own personal dream team, filled with the best players (in my humble opinion) at each position.

Catcher- Joe Mauer. Hands down. The problem with catchers is that since they get so beat up behind the plate, their shelf life dwindles quickly, and their performance sinks. There are 3 types of catchers in the game. Catchers who are great hitters but are sub-par defensively, such as Mike Piazza, catchers who are good defensively but can’t hit such as Jason Varitek or Jose Molina, and then there is the rare breed who can do both. That group would have Joe Mauer as its shining example. Mauer is a two time batting champion in 6 seasons in the majors. As a catcher. No contest.

First Base – My vote goes to Albert Pujols. Simply put, he’s the best hitter at the position. Forget Ryan Howard, forget Teixeira (who is vastly better defensively, and would be my runner-up) and forget Youkilis (third place, honorable mention). Albert gets the job done at first base, while hitting at least 30 home runs in each of his 8 full seasons and the man has never hit below .314. For a power guy that’s absolutely ridiculous. He has the highest lifetime batting average of any active player (.334), and he can pick it a little at first base. That’s all you need. If a guy could hit like that, I don’t care where he’s put on the field, he’s in that lineup.

Second Base – This was a tough one. There wasn’t a clear cut winner in my mind. I have it down to Dustin Pedroia or Chase Utley. Utley’s a bigger power and RBI guy, but arguably Pedroia is the better all around hitter. Pedroia bats for average and hits rather than home runs and RBIs. I’d give the defensive edge to Dusty, but Utley is still a low .300 hitter even with his 30 HR and 100 RBI. I’ll give it to Utley. Arguments and criticisms welcome. Moving on.

Third Base – Everyone knows the answer to this one. Since it’s rather unclear when he actually started taking steroids, it’s tough to say how much they helped and whatnot, so I still have to give this one to Alex Rodriguez. He’s better that 34 than most guys are at 24. The career numbers are there, the home runs and RBIs are there, the batting averages are there. But it’s tough to say what kind of player he would be if he didn’t take PEDs. My favorite player not in Yankee pinstripes is Evan Longoria, third baseman for the Rays. It’s pretty clear this kid will be a superstar, but he’s only been in the bigs for one full season. Granted, he’s having a hell of a year right now, 13 HR and 55 (good for second in the league behind Jason Bay), but he doesn’t have enough to show me that he’s good enough to surpass someone such as A-Rod or even David Wright. David Wright gets my runner up vote. David is a pure, clean player (we hope) and is also a low .300 guy who hits 30/100 each year. While he’s no A-Rod, he’s a pure talent which goes a long way.

Shortstop – This is also a tough one. There’s no shortstop in the AL worth mentioning. Derek Jeter isn’t Derek Jeter anymore (although he can still play, but he’s not in his prime) and there are two in the NL that have their obvious downfalls. Jose Reyes is a low power guy and a good leadoff hitter. His OBP is at a consistent .350 or so each year and he’s a stolen base machine. He’s good for a home run total in the teens somewhere, which is decent for a leadoff hitter. His average fluctuates from year to year. He’ll hit .300, then next year it’ll be .280, then .297, then .273. His lack of consistency is a problem. But he’s young and still maturing as a ballplayer. Jimmy Rollins is another choice. Rollins is more of a power hitter (and a leadoff hitter strangely enough) having hit 30 homers and had 94 RBI in his MVP season in 2007. However, he’s not a .300 hitter, having hit .290 once as a career high. He doesn’t have Reyes’ speed and he’s older. I’d give a slight edge to Jose Reyes. He’d be my shortstop.

Right Field – Ichiro Suzuki. Second highest career batting average (.332), he’ll hit .330 or higher each year, 200 hits at least, and at least 35 steals each year. No arguing with that, the man is arguably the best slap hitter in the game. His OBP is through the roof, he only fell below .400 once in his career. Not to mention he has one of the most feared arms in the outfield. The other feared arm is coming up next.

Centerfield – Carlos Beltran. Beltran has the best cannon among centerfielders. Rick Ankiel might be slightly better, but Beltran is a way better hitter than Ankiel. Beltran is good for at least 25 HR a year, with a career high of 41 in 2006. He’s notched 100 RBI in 8 of his 12 major league seasons. 3 Gold Gloves in a row can’t be a mistake. He glides around centerfield effortlessly and will gun down anyone who dares to run on him. Easily the best all-around centerfielder in the game.

Left Field – Left Field is not known for its defensive demands, so a sub-par defender will do here. Since I did this for A-Rod, I must be fair and say Manny Ramirez. Manny hits everything, and is now the most feared hitter in the National League, cheater or not. Who knows when he started using. When he was starting to decline or maybe his whole career. He’s a great hitter. But with A-Rod I chose a clean alternate, so I shall do the same with Manny. I’d actually pick Jason Bay, who is the current AL RBI leader with 56. Not a high average guy, hitting around .285 with one venture into .300 territory in his career, but he’s an easy 30/100 hitter. He’ll do the job.

Pitching Staff is as follows:

#1 Starter – Johan Santana. Best pitcher in baseball, hands down. 2 Cy Youngs, a nasty win percentage (.684) and a career ERA barely over 3 as a lefty, it’s no contest this guy is the ace among aces.

#2 Starter – Roy Halladay. 2003 Cy Young winner, a complete game machine and he lead the league in innings pitched 3 times. Doc Halladay may give up a lot of hits but is masterful enough at his craft that he can just mow people down and get out of jams. Definitely the best pitcher currently throwing a baseball in the AL and the highest win total of anyone on my staff.

#3 Starter – CC Sabathia. Also an innings pitched fiend, Sabathia is a Cy Young award winner as well (although in my opinion undeserved) in 2007. What he did for the Brewers last season was incredible. He makes his starts and has the capability to carry a team to the postseason. His hits to IP ratio isn’t that good but his K/IP is almost 1 to 1. He has 1,000 more IP than ER. Pretty impressive. Capable of being the ace of any staff, albeit not the best in either league.

#4 Starter – Tim Lincecum. 2008 Cy Young Winner, led the National League in strikeouts and winning percentage last year (.783). Clearly the future of pitching. 265 strikeouts is nothing to sneeze at, and winning the Cy Young over the guy who won 22 games is also impressive and shows talent and promise. He’s a solid back-end starter with the possibility of ace status in a few more years. He may be on the front end of the Giants rotation, but on this one, I hope he’ll understand why he’s taking a backseat.

#5 Starter – Josh Beckett. Beckett is the only one on this staff without a Cy Young, compliments of CC Sabathia. Beckett was my choice for the 2007 Cy Young Award, having won 20 games in ’07 to Sabathia’s 19. Also has about a strikeout for every inning pitched like the others, Beckett has a low walk total and is good for about 30 starts a year. He only had one year where his season record was a losing one (2002). He’s the frontline starter for Boston, but is only the fifth best starter in the game, if that. I’d take him on my staff obviously.

I’m skipping middle relief because nobody really cares about them.

Closer – Francisco Rodriguez. The new single season saves leader strikes out an enormous total for only pitching one inning a game. That’s the only knock on him is he’s a 3 out pitcher. As much as I’d love to say Mariano Rivera is my closer, Mariano can still get the job done but his career is close to over and K-Rod’s is just beginning. He’s only 27, and at one inning per outing, he’ll be around for a long time and will be dominant for a long time. Aside from Rivera, Rodriguez is easily the most feared reliever in the game.