The first wave of content presented on Franchise Phenoms will include 25-man rosters of the best players in the history of each of the 30 Major League Baseball franchises.
The process I used to select the players for these teams is not particularly complicated. Even so, I want to define the format for each team, and the criteria that were considered when choosing the players.
25-Man Rosters
Major League Baseball currently operates with a regular active roster of 25 players.
Modern rosters are constructed differently than the way teams were built 100 years ago.
I have taken the approach of selecting rosters largely as teams would be built in the modern day including 13-14 position players, and 11-12 pitchers.
While it’s true that in the past few years, teams have increasingly opted to carry additional relief pitchers, I made the decision to lean towards position players for the final spot or two on each roster.
All-Time Greats
As the purpose of this site is to track the greatest players in the history of each franchise, the selection process begins there.
I looked for the best possible combination of longevity, and elite performance during a player’s years with that franchise.
Players who had lengthy careers with the team are at a distinct advantage in this process. Those players likely accumulated the most value for the team over the course of their careers. My methodology rewards those long careers.
In other cases, a player exhibited extreme excellence for the franchise, but his career was cut short due to injuries, trade, or free agency.
Although I generally lean towards longevity, excellence over a shorter period often wins out in both selection to the team, and in role on the fictional team.
Hall of Fame players were given special consideration.
Starting Position Players
Each team page begins with the starting lineup arranged in a batting order of my choosing. Batting order was based largely on the player’s career OPS+ with the team. The specific nature of the player’s production including considerations of on-base percentage, power, and speed were considered near the top of the lineup.
Selection to the starting lineup is based heavily on the player’s average bWAR per 650 plate appearances during their career with the team. Other factors such as length of career, and intangible value to the franchise were also considered.
Whenever possible, I worked to include players at the primary positions they played during their time spent with the franchise.
Occasionally, starting players are listed at positions they played either secondarily, or perhaps not at all. Such decisions are based on the following considerations:
- Some teams have had several elite players at the same position in their history.
- In an effort to build the best possible rosters, players were sometimes moved into roles that differed from their actual playing careers.
- Any player who appeared in 100 or more games at a defensive position in their career has that position listed next to their name.
- For a player to have appeared that many times at a position, there is an implied basic level of competence at the spot.
- Players were moved off their primary positions to secondary ones if I determined it would help field the best possible lineup.
- All position changes were deemed realistic based on the player’s actual career. For example, outfielders were not moved to catcher if they did not have catching experience at the Major League level.
Bench Position Players
Reserve players are the remaining players who failed to make the starting lineup.
American League teams are given five bench spots for position players since they have a starting Designated Hitter.
National League teams are given five or six bench spots for position players depending on whether or not I saw fit to use the final roster spots on a hitter or pitcher.
All teams must have two players eligible to play catcher on their roster. In most cases, that means the second best catcher in franchise history as one of its bench players.
On most teams, the remaining four bench spots are divided equally between infielders and outfielders.
All decisions were made in an effort to include the best possible players from the franchise’s history while still building a realistic roster with respect to the defensive positions of the players.
Starting Pitching Rotation
Every team has a starting pitching rotation made up of the five best starters in franchise history.
Pitchers were evaluated primarily based on a combination of their career ERA+ with the franchise, and the number of innings pitched for the team.
The exact order of the rotation loosely reflects the ERA+ of its members. Sometimes, players who threw more innings for the team during the course of their careers are moved ahead of players with shorter careers.
Bullpen
Each team has at least six relief pitchers. Some National League teams have seven.
The general bullpen pecking order was determined by the ERA+ of the pitchers. In some cases, players with more career saves were given special consideration for the closer role.
The long relief spot was typically reserved for a player who had experience as both a starter and a reliever, but was unable to crack the team’s top five for the starting rotation.