Building the Perfect MLB Superteam, Unit by Unit

Karl BuscheckMar 9, 2015

Entering the 2015 season, there are an array of MLB squads with frighteningly good position groups.

The Washington Nationals have a rotation of aces. The Miami Marlins will be trotting out an unheralded but electric outfield. Then there's the Kansas City Royals and that bullpen, which has an uncanny knack for turning out the lights.

No general manager will ever have the luxury of piecing together an MLB superteam consisting exclusively of the best of the best, but right now, we have the opportunity to do just that. Imagine poring through the league and building a team that features the top infield, outfield, bench, rotation and farm system.

In the construction process, 2014 stats are the most important factor taken into consideration. Of course, the ways in which teams augmented (or subtracted from) their rosters in the offseason was also factored into the equation.

The end result is simple: a team that no one in baseball would ever want to face.

The Super Infield

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Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

In the Running: Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Cardinals and Baltimore Orioles

The Super Infield: Boston Red Sox

C: Christian Vazquez

1B: Mike Napoli

2B: Dustin Pedroia

SS: Xander Bogaerts

3B: Pablo Sandoval

Talk about a stacked infield.

Christian Vazquez has a limited big league resume, but the 24-year-old is already renowned for his glove work. Rick Porcello told Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com that Vazquez is the "best" pitch framer he's ever worked with.

The owner of a career .491 slugging percentage, Mike Napoli has crazy pop. The first baseman will also be playing in a contract year in 2015. Dustin Pedroia is not just one of the scrappiest players in baseball, but he is also a future Hall of Famer.

Xander Bogaerts is admittedly the wild card here. The shortstop couldn't buy a hit last summer, but at just 22 years old, the Aruban and former top prospect still has a tremendous upside. Then there's free-agent acquisition Pablo Sandoval.

The switch-hitter is a Gold Glove-caliber defender at the hot corner, and he's never met a pitch he didn't like. Plus, the Panda is always good for a quote. When asked by Bleacher Report's Scott Miller if it was difficult to leave behind the San Francisco Giants, with whom he snagged three World Series rings, Sandoval didn't hold back.

"Not hard at all. If you want me around, you make the effort to push and get me back," Sandoval said. "... It is not about money. It is about how you treat the player."

That's a lot of honesty from the Venezuelan. In 2015, Sandoval and the rest of his Boston Red Sox teammates don't just promise to be one of the most entertaining infields, but also one of the most productive.

*Note: For the purpose of this exercise, the designated hitter's spot wasn't taken into consideration because that would give an unfair advantage to all American League clubs.

The Super Outfield

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In the Running: Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals, Kansas City Royals and Boston Red Sox

The Super Outfield: Miami Marlins

LF: Christian Yelich

CF: Marcell Ozuna

RF: Giancarlo Stanton

This outfield doesn't get anywhere near the amount of respect that it deserves.

Well, Giancarlo Stanton, who inked a $325 million deal in the offseason, does, but Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna are criminally underrated.

In 2014, Yelich scooped up a Gold Glove in his first full season and swiped 21 bases. The Miami Marlins left fielder also did all of that while playing the entire season as a 22-year-old.

Ozuna is a rising star as well. The 24-year-old Dominican not only covers all sorts of ground at a premier defensive position, but he also has big-time pop. Last season, the right-handed hitter went yard 23 times, which was tied for the fourth-highest total among all big league center fielders.

Remarkably, Stanton is the grizzled veteran of the group at the age of 25.

The Pittsburgh Pirates also have a young trio of outfielders worth mentioning. Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte have already arrived, and Gregory Polanco has the look of a future All-Star.

The Super Bench

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Chris Carlson/Associated Press

In the Running: San Francisco Giants, Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres

The Super Bench: Los Angeles Dodgers

Darwin Barney, INF
A.J. Ellis, C
Andre Ethier, OF/Chris Heisey, OF
Scott Van Slyke, OF/1B
Justin Turner, UTL

Don Mattingly, the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is going to have some great options on the bench in 2015.

Most teams would love to have any outfielder who posts a .910 OPS, and the NL West squad has a reserve in Scott Van Slyke who did just that last year. Then there's the highly versatile Justin Turner, who logged time at every infield spot in 2014. The right-handed hitter was the MVP of bench players a season ago, as he checked in with a .340 average, an .897 OPS and 21 doubles.

A.J. Ellis, who has been deposed as the starter thanks to the arrival of Yasmani Grandal, provides the squad with a savvy backup game-caller. Plus, there might not even be room on the Opening Day roster for Andre Ethier, who is absurdly overpaid at a price tag of $18 million in 2015, but who is still a more than competent part-time player.

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The Super Rotation

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In the Running: Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, and Seattle Mariners

The Super Rotation: Washington Nationals

Max Scherzer
Stephen Strasburg
Jordan Zimmermann
Doug Fister
Gio Gonzalez

Simply put, this was the easiest selection.

The Washington Nationals would have claimed this honor even if the club hadn't gone and dished out a $210 million deal to Max Scherzer in the offseason.

Now that the Nats made that move, ultra-confident right fielder Bryce Harper is expecting a big return in the upcoming campaign.

“To be able to have a guy like [Max] Scherzer come in?” said Harper, via Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post. “I just started laughing. I was like, ‘Where’s my ring?’ You know what I mean? It’s stupid. It’s absolutely stupid how good our staff is.”

It is stupid. Absolutely stupid when a guy like Tanner Roark, who posted a 2.85 ERA in 2015, can't even crack a spot in the rotation.

The Nats don't have the only staff in the NL East that is worth watching out for. The New York Mets—especially with the return of Matt Harvey—are on the verge of joining the conversation of the best rotation in baseball.

Following the right-hander's first trip to the mound since undergoing Tommy John surgery, ESPN's Dallas Braden perfectly summed up the showing. The former big leaguer tweeted: "Harvey 93-97 with the cheese biscuit, a K, a broken piece of lumber and I'm sure Rajai Davis' hands will feel like he's been on a jackhammer."

The Super Bullpen

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Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

In the Running: Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates

The Super Bullpen: Kansas City Royals

Greg Holland
Kelvin Herrera
Wade Davis
Jason Frasor
Chris Young
Brandon Finnegan
Luke Hochevar

There was a myriad of options to choose from here, but none could match up with the filthiness of the Kansas City Royals relief corps.

The trio of Greg Holland, Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis have generated a ton of buzz, and it's all been deserved. Last year, all three racked up at least 60 innings of work, and all three checked in with sub-1.50 ERAs. Before the Royals accomplished that feat, no team had ever had two relievers do that, let alone three, as Steve Gardner of USA Today noted.

The success of bullpens has a way of fluctuating wildly from year to year, but for now, there's just no way to pick against the historic brilliance of Holland, Herrera and Davis.

The Super Farm System

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In the Running: Minnesota Twins, Houston Astros, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves

The Super Farm: Chicago Cubs

There's no way not to pick the Chicago Cubs.

The undergrads at what manager Joe Maddon calls the "Cub University" are just too good to ignore. Kris Bryant headlines the farm, but the third baseman is only one of a slew of franchise cornerstones who's on the doorstep of Wrigley Field.

Bryant claims the No. 2 spot on the MLB.com top 100 prospects list, while shortstop Addison Russell checks in at No. 5. All told, the Cubs have six prospects on the list, and none ranks lower than No. 57.

The Minnesota Twins, who are currently buried in the AL Central, are also worth an honorable mention. The organization has the No. 1 and No. 11 prospects in baseball in center fielder Byron Buxton and third baseman Miguel Sano.