Selecting MLB's 35 and Up All-Star Team for the 2023 Season
This one goes out to my fellow brethren who have to strap on a knee brace and pop a few anti-inflammatories to survive the weekly bouts of "exercise" on our bottom-division, slow-pitch softball leagues.
It's Major League Baseball's All-Geriatric Team for the 2023 campaign.
Every player on this 26-man roster—as well as each of the 14 additional "inevitable injury replacements"—is in his age-35 (or older) season.
And still playing quite well, I might add. The middle-infield situation is a bit rough, and the outfield would allow more than its fair share of doubles and triples in the gaps, but this fictitious roster is plenty talented enough to contend for a World Series title.
It's really just a question of whether it would physically survive a 162-game season and still be in good shape for October.
Catcher: Martín Maldonado
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2022 Production: 113 games, .186/.248/.352, 15 HR, 45 RBI
Five years ago, Martín Maldonado was one of the top defensive catchers. From 2015-18, he threw out 40.6 percent of would-be base-stealers, earning a Gold Glove in 2017.
That cannon isn't quite what it used to be, though. Maldonado allowed 46 stolen bases with a 74 percent success rate last year, and that's a sizable concern with pilfering likely to be on the rise in 2023 with larger bases and limits on pick-off attempts.
That said, Maldonado remains one of the best pitch-framers and game-callers in the business, serving as the primary backstop for what has been an excellent Astros pitching staff over the past two years.
You do need to bury this turns-37-in-August veteran at the bottom of the lineup, though.
Maldonado has some pop in his bat, hitting a career-best 15 home runs last season. However, he's a career .209 hitter who has been sitting at .179 over the past two years combined.
First Base: Paul Goldschmidt
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2022 Production: 151 games, .317/.404/.578, 35 HR, 115 RBI, 7 SB
Most of the hitters on this list are undeniably past their prime.
Paul Goldschmidt, on the other hand, just had the best season of his career, named NL MVP after leading the league in both slugging and OPS (.981).
Goldschmidt hit .404 with 10 home runs in the month of May and had a similar run (.365 with 13 home runs) in his first 28 games played after the All-Star Break.
His fantastic campaign got a bit overshadowed in our national infatuation with Aaron Judge's quest for 62 and Albert Pujols' quest for 700. But when Goldy was in a groove, no one was better.
He did start to run out of steam shortly before his 35th birthday, though. Goldy hit .235 with just two home runs over his final 33 games played, and went 0-for-7 with four strikeouts in St. Louis' brief stay in the postseason. That's something worth keeping in mind if you're putting together a fantasy team in which you aren't restricted by age when choosing a first baseman.
Among hitters in this exercise, though, Goldschmidt is easily the first choice as the only one who hit at least 20 home runs last season.
Second Base: Matt Carpenter
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2022 Production: 47 games, .305/.412/.727, 15 HR, 37 RBI
Matt Carpenter did not make a single appearance at second base in 2022, but it was his primary position in 2021, and he has logged nearly 2,000 innings there over the course of his career.
If we had another solid candidate for second base, we'd consider Carpenter for third base, designated hitter or a spot on the bench. However, literally the only other option at second is Josh Harrison, who signed a one-year, $2 million deal in late January with Philadelphia, where he will be a backup to 2B Bryson Stott and 3B Alec Bohm.
Regardless of the position he plays in the field, though, Carpenter simply has to be somewhere in the lineup after averaging an absurd 10.3 plate appearances per home run last season.
Dating back to 1945, there have been 24,248 instances of a player logging at least 150 plate appearances in a season. Carpenter became the 12th to do so with a slugging percentage of .725 or better, joining Ted Williams, Frank Thomas, Jeff Bagwell, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire (three times) and Barry Bonds (four times) on that exclusive list.
Carpenter couldn't even get a Major League contract last season, starting out in the Rangers' farm system before latching on with the injury-riddled Yankees. Now, the 37-year-old will be making $6.5 million in 2023 with a $5.5 million player option to return to San Diego in 2024.
Quite the renaissance for the former Cardinal.
Third Base: Justin Turner
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2022 Production: 128 games, .278/.350/.438, 13 HR, 81 RBI
Since plateauing at an impressive .945 OPS in 2017, Justin Turner has been steadily declining in that department. He was at .924 in 2018, .881 in 2019, .860 in 2020, .832 in 2021 and .788 this past season at the age of 37.
Still, .788 is mighty fine. It matches what Francisco Lindor gave the Mets in 2022, good for top 50 among qualified hitters.
Even if he continues to taper off at a rate of about 30 points per season, Turner remains productive enough to be deserving of a near-everyday role on a postseason contender. (Though, it is surprising that Boston gave him a two-year, $21.7 million deal.)
If we're talking regression, though, let's be sure to note that Turner finished 2022 strong after a rough start. Through 59 games, he was batting .206. From June 18 onward, only Freddie Freeman (.351) had a better batting average than Turner's .340, which produced a .940 OPS.
Also, for as advanced as he is in years, the now-38-year-old Turner still has a solid glove at the hot corner. Certainly, no one is mistaking him for Nolan Arenado or Manny Machado, but he had a respectable .961 fielding percentage last season.
Shortstop: Brandon Crawford
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2022 Production: 118 games, .231/.308/.344, 9 HR, 52 RBI
In the second base discourse, we mentioned that Matt Carpenter and Josh Harrison were the only eligible options.
The pickings are even slimmer at shortstop, where it is Brandon Crawford or bust.
The only other possible candidate was, once again, Harrison, who logged as many innings at shortstop in 2022 as he did at pitcher—3.0 of each.
And while we're happy to include this 36-year-old, three-time All-Star who batted .298 with 24 home runs in 2021, the fact that Crawford is the only viable 35-and-up candidate at shortstop has to be a little terrifying for both the Phillies and Padres, who are committed to Trea Turner and Xander Bogaerts through their age-40 seasons.
Because even at 35, Crawford was just OK last season.
He had a slightly worse batting average in 2019 (.228), but his .652 OPS in 2022 was the lowest of his career since struggling to a .584 mark as a rookie in 2011. It was also the first time since 2011 that he appeared in fewer than 85 percent of San Francisco's games, ending up at 72.8 percent because of a pair of trips to the IL. (He also missed a chunk of 2021 with an oblique injury.)
Maybe the four-time Gold Glove winner will bounce back in 2023, though.
Outfield: Michael Brantley, Andrew McCutchen and Tommy Pham
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Michael Brantley's 2022 Production: 64 games, .288/.370/.416, 5 HR, 26 RBI, 1 SB
Andrew McCutchen's 2022 Production: 134 games, .237/.316/.384, 17 HR, 69 RBI, 8 SB
Tommy Pham's 2022 Production: 144 games, .236/.312/.374, 17 HR, 63 RBI, 8 SB
From a defensive standpoint, our outfield situation could be a bit of a disaster. Neither Brantley nor Pham played anywhere other than left field in 2022. And while "Cutch" was a Gold Glove center fielder a decade ago, he has logged just 13 innings in center over the past three seasons combined.
But not having a viable center fielder was to be expected. It's a young man's game. Brett Gardner being able to serve as the Yankees' main man in center in 2021 at the age of 37 was very much the exception to the rule. Lorenzo Cain was the only 35-and-up centerfielder to log at least 50 innings this past season, and that went horribly for the Brewers.
While the range will be problematic, at least the bats are still good.
McCutchen and Pham had nearly identical years at the dish in 2022 and got another season for $5 million and $6 million, respectively. But five-time All-Star Brantley will rake in more than both of them on a one-year, $12 million deal after an injury-shortened season. He's a career .298 hitter, though, and he was showing no signs of slowing down prior to suffering a torn labrum. And after the year Justin Verlander just had for them, one can appreciate the Astros' willingness to bank on a well-established veteran coming back from a major surgery.
Designated Hitter: José Abreu
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2022 Production: 157 games, .304/.378/.446, 15 HR, 75 RBI
Paul Goldschmidt is our clear No. 1 choice among hitters, but José Abreu is a close No. 2 on the list.
Abreu turned 36 last month, but that didn't scare Houston away from signing him to a three-year, $58.5 million deal this offseason.
Nor should it have concerned the Astros, as the former White Sox first baseman has been one of the most consistently productive (and consistently healthy) hitters since his arrival in 2014.
Abreu is one of just seven players with at least 200 home runs and at least a .290 batting average over the past nine years, and the other names on that list are Mike Trout, Paul Goldschmidt, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Nolan Arenado and JD Martinez.
Not a bad group there.
Though Abreu did have the worst slugging campaign of his career in 2022, it's hard to argue with a .304 batting average and an .824 OPS. And while he'll presumably be the everyday first baseman in Houston for the foreseeable future, in this fictitious lineup, he gets to be the DH and solely focus on all of the RBI situations in which he has thrived over the years.
Reserve Hitters
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Josh Donaldson, 3B: Third base is so deep on this roster that we've got Justin Turner starting, Matt Carpenter starting at second base, Donaldson as a reserve and no room for Evan Longoria. Although, if Donaldson continues to hit like he did in 2022 (.222 AVG, .682 OPS), we might have to give Longo a mid-season call.
J.D. Martinez, DH: Martinez has been an All-Star in each of the past four seasons with an All-Star Game, and if he had made so much as one appearance in the field last season, his bat would've gotten him the nod for a starting outfielder gig. As it is, he's one heck of a pinch hitting option and/or a backup DH when either Goldschmidt or Abreu need a night off.
Charlie Blackmon, OF: Blackmon hasn't been worth his six-year, $113 million contract over the past few seasons, but he's still productive enough to be a valuable backup corner outfielder on this team. He hit .264 with 16 home runs last season.
Josh Harrison, 2B/SS/3B: Can't have a proper roster without a utility man, and Harrison has played at least 265 innings at each of 2B, 3B, LF, RF and SS in his career. Harrison has hit at least .250 in nine of the past 10 seasons and would be a welcome spot starter at a bunch of different positions.
Yan Gomes, C: Also can't have a proper roster without a backup catcher, for which the options are just Gomes or Manny Piña. We'll take the one who was healthy enough to appear in more than five games last season.
Starting Rotation
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Admittedly, the lineup is not the 1927 New York Yankees. But this starting rotation would make up for it and then some.
Ace: Justin Verlander, RHP
Fresh off winning his third AL Cy Young with a 1.75 ERA, 40-year-old Verlander gets the nod as our Opening Day starter. Whether he actually edges out Max Scherzer for that honor with the Mets remains to be seen, but what he was able to do in 2022 fresh off Tommy John surgery was incomprehensible. JV was already likely to be a Hall of Famer one day, but that might have pushed him over the top to first-ballot status.
No. 2: Max Scherzer, RHP
Mad Max made multiple trips to the IL last year with an oblique injury, but he is still unquestionably one of the best in the business when healthy. Scherzer posted a career-best 2.29 ERA in 2022, averaging 10.7 K/9 and 7.2 K/BB.
No. 3: Jacob deGrom, RHP
Speaking of aging veterans who are still dominant when they're able to take the mound between trips to the IL, deGrom averaged 14.3 K/9 and a K/BB of 12.7 or better for a second consecutive season. His ERA (3.08) was higher than usual but still better than most and predominantly the product of an elevated home run rate. It's probably a sample-size issue and nothing for the Rangers to worry about with what they hope will be their ace for the next half-decade.
No. 4: Clayton Kershaw, LHP
Lather, rinse and repeat the Scherzer and deGrom sentiments. Kershaw hasn't made 30 starts in a season since 2015, but he still had a 2.28 ERA, a sub-1.00 WHIP and a better than 1.0 K/IP ratio in 2022. The Dodgers lefty was named an All-Star for the ninth time in his career, and should still have at least one good year left in the tank after turning 35 later in March.
No. 5: Yu Darvish, RHP
Darvish as the fifth starter in any rotation is kind of hilarious. The 36-year-old just signed a six-year, $108 million extension with the Padres after a healthy campaign resulting in a 3.10 ERA, a 0.95 WHIP and some NL Cy Young votes.
The Bullpen
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Kenley Jansen, RHP: Jansen has been constantly flirting with disaster over the past five years, but he keeps getting the job done. In fact, he led the NL with 41 saves and would likely get the first crack at the ninth-inning gig in this bullpen.
Daniel Bard, RHP: Did you know Bard got votes for NL MVP last year? The same number of votes that Edwin Díaz received? High praise for the soon-to-be 38-year-old who posted a 1.79 ERA in over 60 innings of work for the Rockies.
David Robertson, RHP: After logging a combined total of 18.2 IP from 2019-21, Robertson was back in a big way in 2022, saving 20 games for the Cubs and Phillies while lowering his career ERA a smidgen to 2.89.
Adam Ottavino, RHP: Ottavino has bounced around between four different teams over the past five seasons but with a cumulative ERA of 2.82 and K/9 of 11.6. Even now at 37 years old, he remains one of the best middle relievers.
Anthony Bass, RHP: Out of nowhere, Bass had a phenomenal season with the Marlins and Blue Jays, posting a 1.54 ERA and 1.01 WHIP with a career-best strikeout rate (9.3 K/9) in 70.1 innings of work. Impressive stuff from a guy who had a 4.52 ERA from 2013-21, but we'll take a flier on him repeating that performance.
Daniel Hudson, RHP: Hudson missed the final three-plus months of last season after suffering a torn ACL, but the former closer for the 2019 World Series champion Nationals gave the Dodgers a 2.22 ERA before the injury. And maybe the 2011 Silver Slugger can pinch hit in a jam.
Aroldis Chapman, LHP: Got to have a lefty somewhere in the bullpen. Maybe you prefer Aaron Loup or Brooks Raley, but we'll take a shot on Chapman bouncing back from a rough 2022 campaign.
Inevitable Injury Replacements
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We've got our 26-man roster, but it should really be a 40-man roster to account for the inevitable injuries that will pile up.
So here are our 14 backups, which is still a strong list of players who will be expected to contribute in 2023. A lot of oldies but goodies across the majors this season.
C Manny Piña
1B Carlos Santana
1B Joey Votto
1B Brandon Belt
3B Evan Longoria
OF David Peralta
OF AJ Pollock
SP Charlie Morton
SP Lance Lynn
SP Adam Wainwright
SP Carlos Carrasco
RP Collin McHugh
RP Craig Kimbrel
RP Brooks Raley
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