Today's team is the Montreal Expos, who are no longer a team. I debated combining the Expos and Nationals, but I felt that there were just too many good cards that I wanted to showcase here. To bolster the team a bit I decided to include David's "What If" Expos . The Expos were created in 1969 and failed to post a winning season in their first ten years. They only managed to make the playoffs in the strike shortened 1981 season when they won the NL East, however they were in a prime position to be a competitive club when the 1994 strike crippled their chances, and their existence as an organization. In 2002 the MLB purchased the club and in 2005 they moved them to Washington DC to create the Nationals.
The Expos lineup has some great players early in their careers, and some OK players. They will inevitably be bottom of the barrel due to their lack of depth, but have some pop that'll make them fun to play with. Leading off is the dangerous (and new!) Andre Dawson card who, despite his 8 OB, comes in at 4.94 expected runs. He hits a 1B+ at 9 and a double at 10 which is absolutely ludicrous, and with his speed he's extremely dangerous at the top of the lineup. Vlad will bat second, and he gives you 10 OB, 23 speed, good defense and a bunch of doubles and home runs for 6.44 expected runs. Batting in the third spot will be the "What If" Larry Walker who comes in at a beastly 6.70 expected runs with his 10 OB and 17-20 HR range. Giving him some protection will be the manager's son who comes in at 5.92 expected runs with a bunch of extra base opportunities. With a couple of doubles, a triple, and three home runs, he has plenty of extra base power to drive in some runs. Hall of Famer Gary Carter will bat fifth with his 10 OB and home runs for 5.20 expected runs. Jose Vidro will bat sixth with a couple of home runs and doubles range for 4.75 expected runs.
Cliff Floyd slots in at 1B with a decent 3.95 expected runs, with his 5 outs really hurting him, and being a bit below an average all time first basemen. Cordero is an ok shortstop at 3.83 expected runs, but will give you 20 speed in case he can manage to get on base. Fernando Tatis (having recently become SR when this card was made) will round things up for us with his 9 OB and give us some pop heading back to the start of the lineup with 4.74 expected runs. The rotation has some top end punch, with Pedro's dominant 1997 card leading the way. He has 5 control, 7 IP, 18 to get on base and no doubles for a dirty 4.89 expected runs. Henry gives this team the 1-2 punch with 4 control and a 19 to get on base, though his only 4 IP will be a bit of a drag, for a 5.37 expected runs. Fassero is our only other pitcher under 6, at 5.84 and gives a solid 6 control with 6 IP to help combat the high OB lineups we'll see.
Dennis Martinez's new 1991 card slots in the fourth slot with a solid 6.06 expected runs and gives another 6 control, 7 IP card to this rotation. ill get the job done. The final starter will be Hill's 1994 card that may only have 3 control but takes a 19 to get on base and comes in at 6.09 expected runs. The bullpen is solid, and heavily boosted by the What If squad, and to lead the way is Gabe White's solid 5 control, 18 to get on base card that comes in at 5.39 expected runs. Urbina is next with a 6 control, 16 on base and no doubles card for 5.53 runs. Shaw, Kline and Strickland all come in below 6 expected runs each .1 of ahead of the other in that order.
Wetteland keeps the high control train rolling and comes in at 6.06 expected runs and Rojas finishes it off with a solid 4 control and 2 IP at 6.71. This bullpen might not have the high out dominance of other bullpens, but their high control will limit big innings and will force opposing managers to keep the rolls high to stay alive. Overall, if you're playing the statistics, this bullpen will speak to you. Unfortunately, the bench isn't going to provide a ton of relief in any aspect, but there is some valuable pieces for this team. Rondell White is the top card at 4.15 expected runs, and he'll get a spot due to that and his +2 defense in the outfield. After him the next two guys are catchers, and Carter has them beat in every regard (they're both below 4 expected runs too). There's no real upside to any of the remaining players, so I'll go with Grissom and his 23 speed as a pure pinch runner replacement. Tony Armas is the top starting pitcher available, and comes in at a respectable 6.56 runs, with Mike Thurman .01 behind him. In the bullpen the top two arm is Heredia, who is almost identical to Rojas.
Overall this team isn't going to compete with the top end talent, but it will be deceptively competitive with a few stud hitters and a deep set of arms that will fair well in the high OB environment. The lineup comes in at just 3,920 points which is on the low end of the lineups we've seen. The lack of OB will hurt, but they've got enough firepower to put up some runs. The starting rotation comes in at 2,720 points which is very competitive, and probably brought down a bit due to lack of cards from the 2000s and on. The bullpen is 1,500 points on the dot, which seems to be the benchmark between good and great 'pens. The bench is 1,350 points which is definitely one of the lowest we've seen. All in all the team is 9,490 points which is definitely on the low end. I'd take them as a sneaky team to considerably out perform their (low) expectations.
Hitters
SP
RP
Due to the lack of cards post 2002, I actually reached out to @mlbshowdowncup to help bolster this lineup, and he was able to provide the Gary Carter, Andre Dawson and Dennis Martinez cards, which would've been the three players I would have highlighted at this point in the article, so thank you. Up next are the Miami Marlins!
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