ALL DECADE RED SOX

Since the curse was broken, the Red Sox lead all of baseball with four championships.... and two came during the last decade! Accordingly, they're one of the most talented squads in the All Decade League!

Dustin Pedroia's MVP season was a season too soon for this team, but a later version definitely made the squad!

MLB SHOWDOWN 2019 SET -- Houston Astros

Another successful season ending in a game 7 defeat to the Washington Nationals, but this very well could be the greatest showdown team to ever be made. With the name of the site being greatestmlbshowdown this team fits the bill in every possible way. This lineup is going to need high rolls all the time to get through it, and if you make a mistake the bases may be getting cleared. Finishing with a 107-55 record winning the AL West and were the first team since the 02-04 Yankees to have three consecutive 100 win seasons. 

ALL DECADE REDS

Cincinnati has gone through a lot this decade. From soaring hopes to the bottom of the NL Central to being a darling in the analytic models despite a sub .500 season, the Reds fans have experienced it all..... except a postseason series victory. For the All Decade teams, Cincinnati can definitely feel good about itself! We're now halfway through the rollout and the Reds are definitely in the upper half of teams so far! However, I think most fans will be underwhelmed initially due to our classic preference for Control and On-Base ... but take a gander at these charts and take a second to think "man, all they need are 3-4 charts in a game to do some REAL damage." Will it lead to postseason success for the Reds? Or will they end up behind their NL Central rivals once more? More importantly, what do you think??

The stellar Canadian slugger Joey Votto is always a win, putting together consistently awesome cards throughout the Decade

MLB SHOWDOWN 2019 SET -- Washington Nationals

So guys… WE DID IT!  The release of the 2019 set is here! The entire Showdown creator team has been looking forward to this date for a great deal of time now. There are loads of changes and new things this season, so stay tuned for a break down of the new changes to the 2019 set in a later blog post. For now, here are the World Series Champions…

THE WASHINGTON NATIONALS

So here they are, standing at an impressive 6,640 points.. They may have only won 93 games and a Wild Card spot, but they sure did deserve everything they won with the team they had. After last year’s dud of a season for the Nats, most fans thought they would see this team fall to the middle of the division standings behind the Braves and possibly the Phillies or Mets with their new acquisitions, however, the Nationals played just well enough to take the N.L. Wild Card to Nationals Park. Once again, the Nationals were definitely doubted in the playoffs because … they’re the Nationals and they hadn’t won a single series in their four franchise postseason appearances. Despite the odds, the Nationals were resilient and edged their way past the Brewers, Dodgers, and eventually the Astros to make history as the first championship to be brought home to Washington

All Time Reds

ALL TIME REDS


Two teams in one week, and we are officially back in the swing of things! Today's team is the Cincinnati Reds. They joined the NL in 1890, and actually played in the NL West from 1969-1993 before joining their current division, the central. They've won five world series, with their first coming from the infamous 1919 Black Sox Scandal. Fun fact, that was one of a few best of 9 game series formats that they tried. They've also won 9 NL Pennants and 10 division titles. The Reds have many players enshrined in Cooperstown, however possibly the most famous is not there due to his alleged gambling ways.

Cincinnati Reds first logo (previously were Red Stockings)

All Time Pirates

All Time Pirates


                     After a LONG layoff, I'm back! Going to try and include more run analysis while doing this. Our first team in the NL Central is the Pirates, one of the oldest teams in the sport. They briefly spent time in Allegheney before moving to Pittsburgh in 1891, and have been there ever since. Over their storied franchise they have won five World Series titles, although none since 1979. They’ve also won nine NL pennants, no central division titles, nine east division titles and three wild card births. Throughout their long history they’ve also had a large number of Hall of Famers don the black and yellow, including Honus Wagner, Roberto Clemente, Ralph Kiner and Willie Stargell. This team won’t have the same punch as the other teams, however they definitely have some fun players to use. 

ALL DECADE RAYS

The Sunshine state's finest, the Tampa Bay Rays! After a miserable first decade or so as the Devil Rays, Tampa rebranded as just the Rays in 2008... and immediately won their first pennant! Since then, the Rays have been consistent playoff contenders despite extremely limited budgets and woeful attendance figures. They've been masters of flipping guys for more valuable prospects (see: Chris Archer for Meadows and Glasnow... who are both on the All Decade team) and their "opener" strategy is the new Moneyball approach. Just like real life, the odds are going to be stacked against them in the All Decade league since they've got to take on the mighty Yankees and Red Sox (and Blue Jays) in the AL East, but the Rays have arguably the best pitching in baseball -- that can be enough to not only help them squeak into a wild card berth, but possibly to win the division and challenge for the pennant!

Archer had big K ranges, but never had the necessarily Tier level to crack the All Decade Rays