The best MLB rosters of all time (Part 3/5)

In today’s third entry in my little series to identify the best roster (by single-season WAR) each Major League Baseball team can put together in its history, I get to teams 13-18, and with them I get to teams that have existed more than 60 years.

In Part 1 (Teams 25-30, plus the explanation of process and such), every team was from the expansion era (including four of six that came into existence in the 1990s). In Part 2 (Teams 19-24), every team came into existence in the 1960s or later. Today? Some of these teams have an extensive history, dating back as far as, well, the first professional team in baseball history (spoiler alert: The Reds are today). The research for this exercise is limited to 1901 or later, so that “first team” history isn’t that important, but it does make for an interesting tidbit.

It also means we’re getting into some names that average baseball fans aren’t that familiar, and not (as was the case with Toby Hall in Part 1) because it was a player with one decent year on a team with few strong performances. Rather, we have some surprise names here because … well, because 1905 or whatever was a long time ago, and some of these names get kind of forgotten.

Here are teams 13-18.

18. Los Angeles Angels (cumulative WAR: 118.4)

C: Brian Downing 1979, 5.6
1B: Albert Pujols 2012, 4.8
2B: Howie Kendrick 2014, 6.1
3B: Troy Glaus 2000, 7.8
SS: Andrelton Simmons 2017, 7.8
LF: Darin Erstad 2000, 8.3
CF: Mike Trout 2016, 10.5
RF: Tim Salmon 1995, 6.6
DH: Mike Trout 2012, 10.5
SP1: Dean Chance 1964, 9.4
SP2: Mark Langston 1993, 8.5
SP3: Frank Tanana 1977, 8.4
SP4: Nolan Ryan 1977, 7.8
SP5: Chuck Finley 1990/Nolan Ryan 1973, 7.7
RP1: Bob Lee 1964, 4.3
RP2: Ken Tatum 1969, 4.3

In 11 years with the Cardinals, Pujols’ worst WAR was 5.3, in his last year there. So his best year in Los Angeles has half a win worse than his worst year in St. Louis, yet it was still the best single-season first base WAR in Angels history. Sure, 4.8 WAR is nothing to sneeze at (it’s gotten a good bit worse for Pujols since that 2012 season), but it’s also the worst first-base WAR on this list other than No. 30, the Marlins. Other than that on the bottom end and the Trout dominance on the top end, Angels history has been marked by some very good, but very few great, seasons. Seven- and eight-win seasons are excellent — often MVP-caliber — but as far as “historic” goes, it’s basically only Trout in Angels history.

17. Pittsburgh Pirates (cumulative WAR: 122.0)

C: Tony Pena 1984, 5.9
1B: Ralph Kiner 1951, 8.0
2B: Johnny Ray 1983, 5.1
3B: Bill Madlock 1982, 6.2
SS: Honus Wagner 1908, 11.5
LF: Barry Bonds 1990, 9.7
CF: Andrew McCutchen 2013, 7.8
RF: Roberto Clemente 1967, 8.9
DH: Honus Wagner 1905, 10.2
SP1: Babe Adams 1913, 8.3
SP2: Vic Willis 1906, 8.3
SP3: Babe Adams 1919,7.4
SP4: John Candelaria 1977, 7.4
SP5: Preacher Roe 1945, 7.3
RP1: Goose Gossage 1977, 6.0
RP2: Roy Face 1962, 4.0

The biggest surprise on the Pirates list? It’s arguably an absence: Willie Stargell. Stargell had seasons of 7.9 and 7.2 WAR as the Pirates’ primary left fielder, but that’s where Bonds was dominant. He had some big (albeit less-big) seasons as the team’s first baseman, but Kiner actually led the team in games at first base in 1951 (despite playing more games in the outfield — sometimes the methodology yields weird results) and he takes it … and even if you do want to quibble with a methodology that has Kiner as a first baseman, Stargell’s best season as the Pirates’ primary first baseman would be behind Kevin Young, Bob Robertson, Elbie Fletcher, and Gus Suhr. The other big surprise on this list is likely Gossage, who it’s easy to forget spent one season as a Pirate in 1975 at 25-years-old. He played 72 games, pitched 133 innings, put up a 1.62 ERA, and was all-in-all one of the game’s best relievers.

16. Baltimore Orioles (cumulative WAR: 125.2)

C: Chris Hoiles 1993, 6.8
1B: George Sisler 1920, 9.8
2B: Bobby Grich 1973, 8.3
3B: Brooks Robinson 1968, 8.4
SS: Cal Ripken Jr. 1991, 11.5
LF: George Stone 1906, 8.7
CF: Paul Blair 1969, 7.1
RF: Frank Robinson 1966, 7.7
DH: Cal Ripken Jr. 1984, 10.0
SP1: Jim Palmer 1975, 8.4
SP2: Mike Mussina 1992, 8.2
SP3: Urban Shocker 1921, 7.8
SP4: Hoyt Wilhelm 1959, 7.6
SP5: Bump Hadley 1933, 7.4
RP1: Zach Britton 2017, 4.1
RP2: B.J. Ryan 2004, 3.4

It’s not that Chris Hoiles wasn’t a good ballplayer. He had six years (1992-1997) with at least 2.1 WAR each year, including that ridiculous 1993 when he his .310/.416/.585 and finished 16th in the MVP voting (and probably should have fared even better). It’s just that, between him being overshadowed by the Ripkens and such in his Orioles era and his career only lasting 10 years, him having that season is largely forgotten, even moreso when you see the all-time names that are surrounding him on this Orioles roster (and also Bump Hadley). Also, fun game: If I were to assign you the task of identifying the players who make it onto multiple teams’ rosters, you could probably fare pretty well. Barry Bonds, Rogers Hornsby, etc., etc. You could get a fair number of them. How long, though, would you have to take at that particular game before you thought of B.J. Ryan? Ryan had 3.4 WAR with the Orioles in 2005 and 3.6 with the Blue Jays in 2007. Outside of that three-year stretch (he had 2.4 in 2006), Ryan had 2.1 career WAR, with a season high of 1.6 and four seasons in the negative. Hot and bright, man. Hot and bright.

15. New York Mets (cumulative WAR: 125.3)

C: Gary Carter 1985, 6.9
1B: John Olerud 1998, 7.6
2B: Edgardo Alfonzo 2000, 6.4
3B: David Wright 2007, 8.3
SS: Jose Reyes 2006, 5.9
LF: Bernard Gilkey 1996, 8.1
CF: Carlos Beltran 2006, 8.2
RF: Darryl Strawberry 1987, 6.4
DH: David Wright 2012, 7.1
SP1: Dwight Gooden 1985, 12.2
SP2: Tom Seaver 1973, 10.6
SP3: Tom Seaver 1971, 10.2
SP4: Jacob deGrom, 2018, 9.9
SP5: John Matlack 1974, 9.1
RP1: Tug McGraw 1972, 4.3
RP2: Tug McGraw 1971, 4.1

See McGraw there? It’s not that remarkable ultimately, but it’s worth noting that the Mets are one of only two teams with the same reliever at both the RP1 and RP2 slots (the other is one we’ll get to on Thursday, and I doubt you’ll guess them). Relievers just don’t typically put up a bunch of dominant seasons. Also, it’s worth noting that this is the last expansion-era team on the list — everybody after this has existed at least since the first decade of the 20th century, and most longer than that. But while the Mets haven’t had that many players with sustained success (it’s basically just Wright and Seaver), man have they had some absolute bright spots in their history.

14. Atlanta Braves (cumulative WAR: 129.1)

C: Javy Lopez 2003, 6.8
1B: Hank Aaron 1971, 7.2
2B: Rogers Hornsby 1928, 9.0
3B: Darrell Evans 1973, 9.0
SS: Denis Menke 1964, 6.7
LF: Lonnie Smith 1989, 8.8
CF: Hank Aaron 1961, 9.5
RF: Hank Aaron 1963, 9.1
DH: Hank Aaron 1959, 8.6
SP1: Phil Niekro 1978, 10.0
SP2: Irv Young 1905, 9.9
SP3: Greg Maddux 1995, 9.7
SP4: Warren Spahn 1947, 9.4
SP5: Phil Niekro 1977, 8.9
RP1: John Smoltz 2003, 3.3
RP2: Craig Kimbrel 2012, 3.2

No Freddie Freeman (Aaron played more games at first base than any other position in 1971). No Chipper Jones or Eddie Mathews (random-ass Evans season). No Andruw Jones (Aaron was everywhere). No Tom Glavine. Smoltz’ only appearances is as a reliever. The Braves have had a lot of good players in their history. And then they’ve also had Denis Menke, who was very good in 1964, but also plied his trade at a position where the Braves have just never had monster performances in their history. (Also, keep an eye on Hornsby up there. Because you’re going to see his name so many times over the rest of this series.)

13. Cincinnati Reds (cumulative WAR: 133.1)

C: Johnny Bench 1972, 8.6
1B: Joey Votto 2017, 8.1
2B: Joe Morgan 1975, 11.0
3B: Tony Perez 1970, 7.2
SS: Barry Larkin 1996, 7.2
LF: George Foster 1977, 8.4
CF: Cy Seymour 1905, 8.0
RF: Frank Robinson 1962, 8.7
DH: Joe Morgan 1976, 9.6
SP1: Dolf Luque 1923, 10.7
SP2: Ewell Blackwell 1947, 9.4
SP3: Jose Rijo 1993, 9.2
SP4: Noodles Hahn 1902, 8.6
SP5: Jim Maloney 1965/Bucky Walters 1939, 8.2
RP1: Ted Abernathy 1967, 6.2
RP2: Rob Dibble 1990/Doug Bair 1978, 4.0

Rijo is sitting there looking like a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, representing 1993 when the rest of the starters on the Reds’ all-time team come from a time before Rijo was even born. But it’s easy to forget just how good Rijo was for a while there — his year-by-year WAR totals from 1990 to 1993 were 5.7, 5.5, 5.5, and then that massive 9.2, when he had a 2.48 ERA in 257.1 innings, but only won 14 games so didn’t get the award-season love he deserved. (My dad was a regular radio guest in the Reds’ area in 1992 and tried to coin the phrase “Rijo and Pugh and rain out a few,” but it never caught on.) It’s also worth noting that, while we remember Morgan as a Hall of Fame player, I do wonder if his increased notoriety as a garbage announcer has clouded our memory of him as a player, because that dude was stupid good at baseball.

(Coming Thursday: Part 4, including teams 7-12 and basically the best second-tier teams across baseball history.)