The next team up is the Kansas City Royals, who much like the Tigers, are in a period of rebuilding- although they have had success more recently. Founded in 1969 as an expansion team they have won the World Series in 1980 and in 2015, while losing in 1985 and 2014. They also have 6 AL West titles, one Central title and a wild card berth.
Royals Logo 1969-1978
The Royals lineup falls just short of being very competitive, however will provide speed, defense and combined with a few powerful bats should give them a fighting chance. Leading off will be Lorenzo Cain's speedy 2015 card, which provides plenty of extra base opportunities, defense, and gives you 5.37 expected runs. Batting second will be the best hitter in the lineup, George Brett's 1980 card, which ranks as a top 30 card due to his 11 OB and plethora of extra base hits for a whopping 6.80 expected runs. Soler will bat third with his monstrous HR and doubles range, giving him 6.21 expected runs. Dozier will provide protection with even more extra base opportunities and some solid glove-work for 5.96 expected runs. Mayberry and Porter provide great protection in the form of 10 OB with a lot of pop for 5.87 and 5.67 runs respectively.
Zobrist will bat 7th with a solid all around card, providing +4 defense, 15 speed and a bit of pop for 4.83 runs. Mondesi's 2019 card was slotted in here, however after some extensive digging I found a 2012 Alcides Escobar 2012 card that nudged him off. By no stretch is this Escobar card good, however the bump up from 6 to 7 OB gives you an extra half run at 2.75 vs. 3.26. Some may still want to run with Mondesi and his stellar defense and speed, however I think I am going to slide him to the bench for a pinch runner and defensive sub. McRae will bat in the 9-hole with his 5.30 expected runs, and I seriously considered batting him lead off. However, he's a bit slower and doesn't have as much pop, so I went with Cain. The rotation is a strong point of this team, with Cueto leading the way with 6 control, although only giving you 4 IP. He comes in at 5.20 runs for a top tier ace, and Greinke and Saberhagen both come in just below 5.50 for two additional studs to lead off this rotation. They both give 7 IP which will help after Cueto and each come about their expected run averages through opposite means- Greinke giving a 4 control and 18 to get on base whereas Saberhagen rolls out a 6 control but only 16 to get on base with no doubles. Both guys can provide you 7 solid innings against opposing teams.
Shields provides another solid card at 6.10 expected runs- although it's slightly inflated due to him having three singles and not giving up a walk. Leibrandt finishes out the line up with a solid 4 Control, no doubles card that gives you 6.40 expected runs due to getting on at 16. The bullpen comes out FIRING, with three relievers under 5 expected runs. Davis leads the way at 4.39 with his Billy Wagner like 2015 card. Holland gives the studly 6 Control, 17 to get on base and no doubles card a whirl for 4.68 expected runs, and Herrera comes in at 4.90 with a no doubles 4 control, 19 to get on base card. Madson is .45 back but provides a very similar card to Herrera, however with a double on his chart.
Pattin, Hochevar and Quisenberry round out the bullpen all coming in just above 6 expected runs. This gives you three different approaches with solid cards to help support the already dirty bullpen. As long as the offense can put up enough runs, this pitching staff should be able to get the job done for you. The bench has a few options. Edison Volquez is the top starter at 6.50 expected runs, which is better than the top relieving option before you factor in his 6 IP instead of the 2 that Santiago gives you as the top bullpen option. Batting options do give us four players with over 5 expected runs, however half are outfielders and the other half are first basemen, which doesn't give us a ton of value. Gordon's 2013 card tops the list at 5.19 expected runs, with Dye and Sweeney both coming in just behind at 5.15 each. Gordon makes sense to add to the bench with 10 OB, the top bat and +2 fielding. He can pinch hit for Zobrist or Escobar late in the game, and can also be used as a defensive and OB substitute for Soler later in the game. Since Mondesi got knocked out because of Escobar, I'm going to fill him in here because of his ridiculous speed and ability to slide to short as part of a potential defensive upgrade/pinch runner double switch. This leaves us with one last spot, and I'm going to give it to give it to Hosmer to give us one final defensive plug in while still giving us the ability to pinch hit for our middle infielders in a tight spot.
This team undoubtedly has some fire power, and their pitching is going to be a big driver to their success, although I can't help but feel like it's missing some of the depth that our other All Time Teams have had. The lineup comes in at a lowly 3,680 which is most likely due to Brett's card being severely undervalued. Porter's card, another old school card, comes in at what feels like a very valuable 370 points, and although those are both cheap, they are rolling out a 220 point card in their all time squad- not ideal. The starters come in at 2,700 which puts them in the range of the best of the best- and they do it without topping 600 for any of their cards, showing their depth. The bullpen comes in at 1,520 which is on the higher end, and their bench at 1,490. This gives them a total of 9,390 which is on the lower end, but definitely still competitive.
Hitters
SP
RP
George Brett unsurprisingly dominates the list of top seasons for the Royals, and Mayberry and Porter also sneak in there. Jose Offerman's 1998 season might be an addition to the lineup, in which he slashed .315/.403/.438 and led the league with 13 triples, and collected 191 hits and had 45 stolen bases. Sadly he plays second and not shortstop, but could be an upgrade over Zobrist. Mike Aviles' 2008 might be another candidate- in his rookie season he slashed .325/.354/.480 and collected 136 hits, 27 doubles, 10 HRs and 51 RBIs. Sadly his low OBP might limit him in actually being a viable replacement for Escobar. There really isn't much else beside Freddie Patek's 1971 in which he hit .267- but led the league with 11 triples, which somehow managed to get him 6th place in the MVP voting. Otherwise the Royals have gone 50 years without much of any talent at short-although Mondesi is giving them a real hope. In the starting rotation you are seeing the top performances aside from Kevin Appier's early 90s run, peaking in 1993 with a 18-8 record and league leading 2.56 ERA. These stats along with 186 strike outs in 238 IP got him third place in the Cy Young voting. David Cone, the OG MLB Showdown starter, also makes an appearance for his strike shortened 1994 season in which he won the Cy Young award with a 16-5 record, 2.94 ERA and 132 strike outs over 171.2 IP in 23 starts. In the bullpen Jeff Montgomery racked up a bunch of saves in the early 90s, and Joakim Soria had three years in the late 2000s with a bunch of saves. Those additions could really make this bullpen absolutely unstoppable. Overall, this team is going to be heavy reliant on their pitching staff and taking advantage of timely hitting to make a run into the postseason.
No comments:
Post a Comment