DNL's 25 Man Roster Challenge
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by user DNL
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After the shark provided us with The Ultimate 25-man Roster, I went out to do the same, but only using active rosters. About half-way through the team, I noticed that I had used few MLB teams twice, and none three or more times. So, I added a rule -- only one player per team.
My team is below, but first, some more background, for the uninitiated and the like.
The Rules
Create a team of 25 active major leaguers, with no more than one player per team, and no more than one player per letter of the alphabet (by last name). Use a DH, have a starter at every position, five starting pitchers, and at least five relievers and a backup catcher, outfielder, and infielder. (That leaves three wildcard positions.) Players are only eligible at the positions they actually play. Sounds simple, no?
Add your lineup to category "25 Man Roster Challenge" when you enter it in the opinion creation form. I'll set up a page for the Challenge entries tonight. Oh, and if you're not registered here, create an account on the right, first.
The Dilemmas
Let's start with A -- for A-Rod, which I guess is really starting with "R." But that means no other Yankees and no other "R"s. So, no Mariano Rivera, B.J. Ryan, or Derek Jeter. Oh, and Miguel Cabrera has to be a backup... and David Wright a utility player. Or something.
There's more. Joe Mauer is obvious, right? But that means no Francisco Liriano and Johan Santana. And it means no Pedro Martinez. So, would you rather have Mauer or Pedro/Johan? It's harder than you think.
Like, this matchup: Roger Clemens, Roy Oswalt, or Chad Qualls. Yes, Chad Qualls. The Q list is rather sparce, and Qualls is easily the best of the bunch. Not fun.
The Team
So, here we go.
Starting Pitchers
These guys are not in rotational order. So don't be moanin' lest you want a lot of negative votes.
1) Scott Kazmir. As a Mets fan, it pains me to admit that this guy was one of the easier player to put on the team. He's a Devil Ray, so that's an advantage -- I use up a team I wouldn't otherwise. (Remember, 7 teams will go unused -- hello, Kansas City!) And I use up the "K", with apologies to Ian Kinsler, who was also in the running, and Paul Konerko, who for the first time in recent memory is cursed to be a White Sox player.
2) Roger Clemens. Quallis, be damned -- I couldn't blow my Astros spot on a RP when one of the greatest pitchers of all time sat ripe for the plucking.
3) Roy Halladay. Pains me to put him in here, as I miss out on Ryan, Vernon Wells, and Travis Hafner. Hafner was easily the best player I couldn't get on this roster. There was just no room, for reasons I'll address later.
4) Johan Santana. It was between him and Liriano, and I went with the Santana because there's a guy I wanted to use the L on, and amazingly, no one jumped out at me in the "S" world. Yeah, I guess I could go with Ichiro Suzuki or Ben Sheets (the latter is more intruging, again for reasons to be explained), but the former was honestly easy to pass over.
5) Brandon Webb. After much consternation, I went with the guy I should have gone with in the first place.
Starting Lineup
By position. Make a lineup if you wish.
Catcher: Victor Martinez.
One of the easier placements. Costs me Pronk and Pedro. But the tradeoff isn't that bad, as the other option -- Joe Mauer -- also would have cost me Pedro, and also Halladay (due to Hafner's "H") and Santana. See?
First Base: Albert Pujols.
I started the list by putting him in, which is kind of strange. Could I find a better use of "P", first base, and the Cardinals if I split them up? Maybe... but maybe not! This makes Kazmir simple, too, because there's no way I'm wasting my backup infielder spot on Konerko.
Second Base: Chase Utley.
Poor Dan Uggla. Could be the second best guy at his position, and I could have used a Marlin here. But Chase bests him and let's face it, Ryan Howard wasn't beating out Hafner, Halladay, Pujols, etc. anyway. Bobby Abreu was close.
Shortstop: Miguel Tejada.
Baltimore gets filled and I don't give up anything in the process.
Third Base: Alex Rodriguez.
He wasn't a question for very long, but still, here was the brief reason for pause. I could take A-Rod and Billy Wagner(who I ended up passing on; or I could take David Wright and Mariano. But this allowed me to go with Webb, too.
Right Field: Carlos Lee.
Remember how I said I had wanted to save the "L"? It's for this guy. He's not the greatest LF to have, but he's pretty darn good. And let's face it, there was no way that Ben Sheets was beating out Johan Santana anyway.
Center Field: Carlos Beltran.
All the other Mets worth taking, with the potential exception of Carlos Delgado, have been a victim of a conflict. Beltran's .274 BA doesn't do him justice; the two grand slams in two games does. (OK, not really.) And I wanted a true CF. The downside? This cost me Jason Bay, which means no Pirates.
Left Field: Adam Dunn.
Originally, I had Vladimir Guerrero in right, Lee in left, and Dunn on the bench. But I needed to use the Angels spot on another player, and besides, there are a good number of "G"s out there and few "D"s.
Designated Hitter: David Ortiz.
With Pronk out of the way, Big Papi comes to town. Sorry, Jonathan Papelbon (as if you were beating Albert Pujols anyway).
Relief Pitchers
1) Bobby Jenks.
Not terribly difficult. Jose Contreras or Roger Clemens? Andruw Jones or Carlos Beltran? Jenks made these decisions easier.
2) Joel Zumaya.
Carlos Zambrano? Barry Zito? Both were early scratches from this team. Zumaya's 11.12 K/9 made him a great addition; his last name made him perfect.
3) Scott Eyre.
At this point, I'm plugging holes by going through lists of eligible players... and guys like Eyre make it an easy job.
4) Brian Fuentes.
See above. Pretty good numbers for a Rockie (4.46 ERA, 1.21 WHIP), and definitely servicable for this team.
5) Joe Nelson.
Reliever. Kansas City (!). Starts with "N." Not "Jeff." Good enough for me.
Bench
Backup Catcher. Sandy Alomar Jr.
Okay, this one sucks. I'm the first to admit it. Here's the thing: I needed an "A." I could use a Dodger. And I needed catcher. He fit all three. I could have gone with Bronson Arroyo (and almost did), but that'd cost me a wild card slot or a lot of revision from top to bottom. It boiled down to plugging in Alomar or replacing Utley with Uggla and going with Bobby Abreu. I did it this way.
Utility Infielder. Michael Young.
Almost made the team over Tejada. Chris Young would have made the team but for the fact that the starting pitching is so good. I took the Ranger over the Padre, in what is effectively a wild card.
Utility Outfielder: Raul Ibanez.
Quietly putting up 77 RBI, which, while a junk stat, is pretty good for a junk stat. Fills Seattle and "I". Sweet!
Wild Card: Marcus Giles
A year ago, it'd have been Andruw Jones over Bobby Jenks, and probably Jon Garland over Giles. Now, I'm pained to put Giles on the team, but I guess he's good trade bait.
Wild Card: Jose Vidro.
The "V" could have been Justin Verlander or Javier Vazquez, but I think I did well with my starting rotation, and the two relievers their teams got me made Vidro -- a National -- a decent enough choice.
Wild Card: Robb Quinlin.
I needed a "Q." Think of him as some Rule 5 guy I'll offer back if Paul Quantrill comes out of retirement ... and signs with the Marlins. Actually, Quinlin actually has upside.
The Aftermath
There were a lot of guys I wanted to use but just couldn't, and not just guys on good teams. Jason Bay was on my original draft, and in other years, Dontrelle Willis would have made the team over BWebb.
I could have put in Omar Vizquel instead of Vidro, without having to make other changes. That would also allow me to bump Tejada, but there aren't a ton of "T"s out there. So I went with the 2B... which is a bit silly, because I have like seven. I'd like another RP.
I'm also not too thrilled about having two corner outfielders who are defensively less than adequate, but I'll live.
My favorite addition to the team? Ibanez. He's truly the perfect guy for a squad like this. He's on a suspect team, has good stats, and can fill in at CF in a pinch (I guess).
Comments? Mistakes I made? Let'em rip.
Date
Wed 07/19/06, 4:15 am EST
