The "What If" Montreal Expos

In the original MLB Showdown 2000 set, the Expos are one of the worst teams and for good reason. They were 68-94 in 1999, the year the game based its stats on. They only received a single foil, Vlad Guerrero. It was a team devoid of many dangerous hitting cards, had a weak rotation led by Mike Thurman of all people, and definitely reflected the team's reality -- they were way off from making the playoffs. And that got me thinking about one of my favorite questions: what if the 1994 Strike never happened? Not only in terms of "do the Expos win the World Series" or "would the Expos keep their core and start a dynasty to match the Braves in the 90s?" Instead, I thought about how cool would it be if Montreal won in '94 and kept on competing... therefore making enough money (in my head canon) to keep their stars like Pedro, Walker, and Alou. In this crazy scenario, all the starters from the 1994 season stick around! And that made me think.... what would the Expos have been like in the original MLB Showdown 2000 game if life played out like that? Thus, the "What If" Expos were born!!

The "What If" Expos are a collection of the 1994 Expos players that were playing and received Showdown cards in the original 2000 set, plus Gabe White's 01 card since he didn't get one in 2000. Surprisingly, of the 1994 Expos team, an incredible 15 guys earned card in the 2000 set!! Of those 16 players, a mere one was still on the team. So conceivably, if they'd all stuck around, here's what the 1999 Expos would've looked like, and it's a monster Showdown team!

Yes, Vlad Guerrero and Jose Vidro are notably absent, but I wanted to keep this as fun and "what if the 1994 team stuck it out and just kept rolling" as possible. Plus, they would be incredibly overpowered vs realistically a World Series contender with those two guys providing upgrades (which really makes you think "wow, if only" if you still miss the Expos). In reality, I'm sure Vlad would've beaten out Grissom and Vidro definitely would have replaced Lansing, but it's more fun in my mind to give y'all more "new" look cards to use! Actually, the only non-1994 member on this team is Ugetha Urbina, filling the final available bullpen slot valiantly. Also, everyone is using their original 00 card charts except Gabe White, since he's one of my favorite cards in the 01 set and unfortunately did not receive a card in the original set. Also, since Rondell White is literally the only 1994 Expo worth mentioning who stuck around, he's keeping his original card! Finally, this was a fun challenge of my cut out and editing skills that I think mostly worked out ok... frankly, it's hard to find good images of players from the early 90s!

Lineup: "What If" Montreal has an impressively deep and balanced lineup. Grissom does not have the high OB you'd like in a leadoff man, but he's got speed and good extra base pop to lead things off. He's followed by traditional outfielder Cliff Floyd, who's still playing first for the Expos, who has always been one of my favorite bargain players. Getting speed A at first and not losing outfield defense with his +0 makes him even *more* valuable here. Their incredible superstar Larry Walker hits third, where he's going to put up the same incredible numbers his Colorado counterpart did (fun fact: 00 Larry Walker took home the MVP in my 36 game, no-points-limit league where I just put all the best players from the original 00 & 01 and Colby's 2011, 12, & 13 sets together). Cleanup is another 00 Foil hitter, although from the Pennant Run collection. Alou brings a bunch of power behind Walker, giving him some nice protection. Another pair of OB 8 hitters with HR at 18 pop are still there at the 5-6 slots, which will make their 2-5 slots a real murderer's row for low control pitchers. While Berry is a total punt at the nine spot, Cordero and Lansing are decent OB 7 hitters and definitely a better 7-8 combo than the vast majority of squads in the 00 set. I have to compare the point values, but I'm pretty sure if the "what if" scenario happened, the Expos would've had the best lineup in the original showdown set, although they'd get competition from the Indians, Rangers, Rockies (even without Walker), Braves and Reds.

Rotation: Yes, the Expos are led by the best starter in the original set -- Pedro Martinez! The only Tier 1 starter in the 00 set, Pedro brings a great control, stellar IP 7, and that excellent 1-17 out chart. I almost went with his 01 version, but that just seemed unfair. He's supported in the #2 spot by solid Tier 3 starter Gil Heredia, a long reliever on the '94 team who became a decent starter. Following him is probably the team's greatest weakness, the 3 and 4 starters. Rueter is Tier 4 and although I appreciate his high Control, he's probably going to give up a frustrating amount of baserunners. Hill, despite being Tier 5, is almost a pitcher I'd prefer because I trust in my rolling... but both guys will be quick pulls for me, thanks to Montreal's deep and impressive bullpen. That 'pen will get to rest when Pedro comes to the mound to turn the rotation over. Definitely not one of the better rotations we've seen, but it's a weakness that features the 00 set's best starter and is supported by the team's greatest strength!

Bullpen: This was completely unexpected for me, but the bullpen is an absolute strength for the What If Expos! Their three relievers from the '94 team all ended up being extremely stellar cards, giving them two Tier 2, Control 6 closers and a tier 1 foil reliever in Gabe White. Adding in Urbina from the original set, and WOWZA this team is loaded on the backend. Honestly, this may actually the deepest, strongest bullpen we've produced yet... at the very least, it puts the 2015 Royals on official notice! They may not be needed much for Pedro, but it definitely will help a manager with the other parts of the more suspect rotation.

Overall: The "What If" Expos clock in at 5230 points, making them (by pure point values) in the same ballpark as the Braves and their four starters worth 450 points or more! To keep the team really pure 5000 points, I suggest subbing out Gabe White for Steve Kline's card, which still keeps them at 5130 points and with another Tier 2 Control 6, still probably the best bullpen in all of Showdown. Although there's concern at the backend of the rotation, I honestly believe this team would (a) easily make the playoffs and (b) be my preseason pick to win the World Series if you played a 30 team, MLB Showdown 00 only league with this squad subbed in for the Expos. Yes, it'd be an epic battle between them and the Braves & Mets for the division crown and wild card, but I trust Pedro, this deep enough lineup, and their absolutely dominate bullpen. If you end up playing with them, let me know how it goes -- my plan is to eventually do a league with one classic team per franchise and feature this Expos team in it, so one way or another my predictions will be tested!

Hopefully you really enjoyed this experiment, but if you're hankering for the '94 Expos as they were that season, they were one of the first teams I ever made on the site. They don't look as good, but the charts remain legit and playable!

I didn't love the way the prototypical Expos blue turned out, so I made it the "foil" color. But hey, even if it's not my favorite, perhaps someone else will prefer this look to the powder blue backings! The cards that had foils in their original Showdown renditions received foils in this experiment too, so that was the method behind the madness.