The Lineup: A 31st Team
TOWER GROVE — With less than one month to go before pitchers and catchers report to spring training, there are more than 150 free agents still on the market, including, amazingly, the National League’s starting pitcher from this past year’s All-Star Game, Ben Sheets. From the pool of free agents still out there, It is possible to put together an imposing lineup, with an All-Star at each position, and outfit a pretty compelling rotation.
Not to mention there’s a bench that could have a couple future Hall of Famers on it.
Saw this fact mentioned a few places, including first at Buster Olney’s blog at ESPN.com, and it got me thinking not just about the lineup you could create from the free agents — a nomadic modern-day Port Ruppert Mundys, if you will — but how competitive would such an “expansion” team be? How would it fare in the National League Central, a division that overall this winter has had as many teams step back as step forward?
That’s the poll that follows today’s lineup: A 31st Team, the bailout roster, and where it would finish.
THE LINEUP: The Unsigned Nine
(click on the position for complete list of free agents still available)
- Orlando Hudson, 2B
- Orlando Cabrera, SS
- Bobby Abreu, RF
- Manny Ramirez, LF
- Adam Dunn, 1B
- Jim Edmonds, CF
- Joe Crede, 3B
- Jason Varitek, C
- Ben Sheets, SP
The rest of a balanced rotation would be LHP Oliver Perez, RHP Jon Garland, RHP Braden Looper and LHP Randy Wolf. There is also the cornerstones of a capable bullpen with LHP Wil Ohman, LHP Brian Shouse, RHP Juan Cruz and potential closer RHP Brandon Lyon. If you wanted to go for glitz, you could sub in a a former Cardinal — SS David Eckstein — and have that all All-Star lineup. Ty Wigginton would be a valuable member of the bench, and there’s probably room somewhere for Ken Griffey Jr. And so on …
And so, where would that lineup and that rotation finish in this coming season’s NL Central:
Loading …Lagniappe: Predictions, even those about Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, shouldn’t be this easy (from Monday’s riffs entry) — he told the New York Post this week that if a team neads a left fielder, wants a guy who can get on base he’s the guy to call. He said he’d lead the league in steals, even at 50 and even as a Hall of Famer. … The cover story on this week’s Riverfront Times is St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa as “GuitARF Hero”, and in the the Q&A he talks about where he would bat Huey Lewis.
The answer seems obvious: Fore!
Be here all week.
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
Good lineup but only a few teams could afford it…
Hudson - 10M
Cabrera - 9M
Abreu - 9M
MRam - 23M
Dunn - 10M
Edmonds - 6M
Crede - 6M
Varitek - 5M
Sheets - 14M
Starting Lineup = 92M
80 games.
http://tinyurl.com/7jdp7y
They probably would finish 3rd or maybe 4th, just behind the Brewers. Good lineup, good pitcher on the front of the rotation, but after Sheets that’s not a great rotation or bullpen.
This would look to be a very strong defensive team with the likes of Edmonds, Hudson, and a very underrated defender in Joe Crede patrolling the field on defense. I have concerns with corner OF’ers Adam Dunn and Manny, of course. But, with those two exceptions I’d say this would be one of the better defensive teams in the National League.
erik’s right. Once you get past Sheets the rotation is think. LH relief would appear to be a strength, and Lyons is a reliable closer.
80 wins is a good guess, I think. I’ll predict a 4th place finish.
Would Andy Pettitte make the rotation any better?
The second sentence in the second paragraph should read: “Once you get past Sheets the rotation is thin”.
Hopefully, that makes it a bit easier to read.
DG,
I’d add Pettitte and subtract Braden Looper.
old. a very old lineup. and one with a history of injuries. my guess is less than 3 play 125 games this season.
That outfield defense would not look pretty. Then again, Jon Garland would be exposed as the fraud he is (Ok, maybe not fraud, but definitely just a fifth starter really).
Pettitte would improve the team by one win.
I’d still take Rickey Henderson over Duncan and bat him first!!!
DG; Pretty creative lineup. If the playing feild was even as far as health goes I’d say this team could be posed to take 2nd behind the Cubs. I think that staff looks pretty good with Pettite in there. Especially when you compare it with the balance of the rest of the NLC.
I wonder why nobody ever mentions Henderson during the steroid talk. Is it possible to have a skinny upper body but powerful legs while on steroids? I am just asking, as I don’t know. You see, Rickey was an Oakland A for quite a bit. As was a few other people we know. People seem to get suspicious of fireball pitchers who end up pitching into their 40’s. Just because Henderson wasn’t a homerun king, why does he get an automatic pass? Is it because his arms aren’t Ron Gant-sized? Didn’t he play in the bulk of the steroid era, in two major steroid-ridden towns (NY and Oakland)? I am not accusing. I’m just asking if anyone knows why he gets an automatic pass just because he isn’t a HR madman. Aren’t we supposed to doubt that era?
I don’t remember his looking this huge when he was young: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/2005/07/08/3000.club/content.20.html
That lineup would be about 80 wins with the stick, I think — but that defense would be absolutely horrendous. Manny, Edmonds AND Abreu in the OF? With the flyball tendencies of Garland and Perez, it would be like a hail storm out there. Substituting Griffey only makes it worse. Dunn is atrocious at 1B, and Varitek is super-old, and is not good at holding/throwing out runners anymore. Only Hudson, Cabrera and Crede have any business being on a Major-League defense. I think the true-talent level of this team is somewhere between 65-72 wins.
Derrick,
This group is getting close to a borderline alumni day team/roster finishing fourth…
my observations are;
Orlando Hudson…worth the risk right now and only a tad more expensive than Kennedy.
Orlando Cabrera…not an upgrade from Khalil Greene…also hacks too much.
Bobby Abreu…looks good in a uni…not an impact guy anymore…maybe a “roid” guy…
Manny Ramirez..great, great hitter…but Terrell Owens MLB style…also not the brightest guy turning down $20M from the Dodgers.
Adam Dunn…has not committed himself to being a great major leaguer…poor defensively, strikes out too much…starting to look like offensive tackle…great DH candidate.
Jim Edmonds…cannot play anymore
Joe Crede…good everyday guy…not an impact guy…
Jason Varitek…not an impact guy any more…
Ben Sheets…great pitcher when his back, elbow, shoulder and hamstring isn’t bothering him
Oliver Perez and John Garland are both Lohse types…I hope the Cardinals are considering them….otherwise, waiting for Carpenter, Mulder, Gibson, Andujar, Folkers, De Leon and Tudor to finally come around just won’t cut it!
Free Looper
Over and out
I just don’t understand how the Cardinals can just sit on their hands. Spend the money for Sheets, Griffey would be a great platoon player, even with the abundance of outfielders, maybe he could be a mentor to Rasmus. Please Cards do something!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111
I think a few people have pointed out how much that lineup would cost. Spread that around a bit:
Defense: LF Jim Edmonds, CF Jay Payton, RF Bobby Abreu, C Javier Valentin
3B Joe Crede, SS Orlando Cabrera, 2B Orlando Hudson, 1B Kevin Millar
Rotation: Ben Sheets, Oliver Perez, Jon Garland, Tom Glavine, Orlando Hernandez.
Bullpen: Keith Foulke, Eddie Guardado, Jon Lieber, Brandon Lyon, Wil Ohman, Juan Rincon, Russ Springer.
Bench: C Paul Bako, IF Ty Wigginton, IF Alex Cora, OF Emil Brown, OF Jonny Gomes.
Lineup: Ss Cabrera, 2b Hudson, Rf Abreu, 3b Crede, Cf Edmonds, 1b Millar, C Valentin, P pitcher.
Made a mistake editing that lineup, should be:
SS Orlando Cabrera
2B Orlando Hudson
RF Bobby Abreu
3B Joe Crede
LF Jim Edmonds
1B Kevin Millar
C Javier Valentin
CF Jay Payton
P pitcher.
Sorry, started thinking about the whole “pitcher batting 8th” thing and left off the 9 hitter
If only we needed OFs this year huh?
Jow why arent the Cardinals interested in Ohman, or what is their stance on him? Thank you in advance.