Analyzing Successful Major League Rosters: Part 1
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by user Mopupduty
Over the next few articles, I’m looking to look at how successful major league teams have constructed their rosters in today game. To begin with, we’re going to take a look at the construction of pitching staffs. Well, what is the most effective way to construct a pitching staff? It may take some time to get to this conclusion but to start with, let's look at the rosters of the four American League playoff teams of 2006. For this analysis, we're going to break the rosters into four main categories; Drafted by the Team or Undrafed Free Agent Signing, Obtained through a "prospect" trade, obtained through a major league "established” trade, and lastly free agent signings.
Detroit Tigers
Draft:
- Joel Zumaya
- Justin Verlander
- Fernando Rodney
- Jeremy Bonderman
- Wilfredo Ledezma
- Andrew Miller
- Zach Miner
Prospect Trade:
Free Agent Acquisition:
Minnesota Twins
Draft:
- Johan Santana
- Jesse Crain
- Juan Rincon
- Brad Radke
- Matt Garza
- Scott Baker
- William Eyre
- Dennys Reyes
- Pat Neshek
Prospect Trade:
- Boof Bonser
- Fransico Liriano
- Matt Guerrier
Established Trade:
- Joe Nathan
New York Yankees
Draft:
- Mariano Rivera
- Scott Proctor
- Chien-Ming Wang
- Jeff Karstens
Free Agent Acquisition:
- Mike Mussina
- Carl Pavano
- Jaret Wright
- Mike Myers
- Kyle Farnsworth
Established Trade
- Randy Johnson
Oakland Athletics
Drafted:
- Ron Flores
- Rich Harden
- Barry Zito
- Joe Blanton
- Hudson Street
Young prospects:
- Justin Duchscherer
- Kiko Calero
- Kirk Saarloos
- Danny Haren
Established Trade:
- Brad Halsey
Free Agent:
- Esteban Loaiza
I was expecting something along these lines, but not this drastic. It appears that the majority of these pitching staffs have been "raised" by the teams in question, either through the draft, undrafted free agents or through young prospect trades. Very few key successful components have been obtained through the free agent market. In fact, it would be safe to say that only three players (Loiaza, Jones & Rogers) made significant, positive impacts to their respective staffs. We won't draw a conclusion this early in the game, but the evidence is already starting to mount.
Coming up on Tuesday on our homepage, we're going to look at offensive side of the American League playoff rosters, and see what we find. While the Yankees have spent large sums on free agents, Jeter, Posada, & Cano are all examples of "raised" players. What about the other playoff rosters? It may not be as cut and dry as you think.
Parting Questions. What do you think of the construction of the above pitching rosters? Does this make you question the construction of your favorite team's current pitching staff?
This article was originally produced in a different format, at www.mopupduty.com Part 2 can be found Tuesday at the http://www.mopupduty.com homepage.
