The Best Team $34,943,000 Can Buy

According to CBSSports.com, the New York Yankees lead the MLB in team payroll for 2010 by spending $206,333,389 in player salaries.  On the other end of the spectrum, the Pittsburgh Pirates have spent a measly $34,943,000 in player salaries for the 2010 season.  For kicks and giggles, let’s see the best team money can buy while having a budget limited to that of the Bucks.  All salary information is courtesy of Cot’s Baseball Contracts and rounded to the hundredths place.  The low salaries for star players are correspondent with how the arbitration system works for the MLB.  Thus, many players on the list considered stars of major league baseball are not making the big bucks quite yet.  Without further ado, here is the roster I filled out followed by analysis:

C: Carlos Santana, Cleveland Indians ($0.45 million)

1B: Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds ($0.55 million)

2B: Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay Rays ($0.44 million)

3B: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays ($0.95 million)

SS: Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins ($7 million)

LF: Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers ($3.25 million)

CF: Andrew McCutchin, Pittsburgh Pirates ($0.43 million)

RF: Nelson Cruz, Texas Rangers ($0.44 million)

DH: Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers ($1 million)

Bench (4): Martin Prado, Atlanta Braves, UTL ($0.44 million) – Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants, C/1B ($0.45 million) – Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers, SS ($0.42 million) – Andres Torres, San Francisco Giants, OF ($0.43 million)

Starting Pitchers (5):

Josh Johnson, Florida Marlins ($3.75 million)

Jon Lester, Boston Red Sox ($3.75 million)

Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals ($2 million)

David Price, Tampa Bay Rays ($1 million)

Mat Latos, San Diego Padres ($0.41 million)

Long Relief (1): Sean Marshall, Chicago Cubs ($0.95 million)

Middle Relief (3): Hong-Chih Kuo, Los Angeles Dodgers ($0.95 million) – Evan Meek, Pittsburgh Pirates ($0.42 million) – Luke Gregerson, San Diego Padres ($0.42 million)

Set-Up (2): Matt Thornton, Chicago White Sox ($2.25 million) - Joaquin Benoit, Tampa Bay Rays ($0.75 million)

Closer (1): Neftali Feliz, Texas Rangers ($0.4 million)

Total Team Salary: $33,300,000 ($1,543,000 under budget)

The Lineup:  The projected batting order with the current starting 9 would be as follows:

1. Hanley Ramirez (R)

2. Ben Zobrist (S)

3. Ryan Braun (R)

4. Joey Votto (L)

5. Evan Longoria (R)

6. Josh Hamilton (L)

7. Nelson Cruz (R)

8. Carlos Santana (S)

9. Andrew McCutchin (R)

The lineup is obviously extremely dangerous and features a multitude of talented hitters.  In addition, the lineup has the potential to run R-L until the turnover.  Leading off would be Hanley Ramirez, who employs a career .392 wOBA and .384 OBP.  As the leadoff hitter, Hanley instantly starts the lineup with a player that possesses a rare blend of power and speed.  Hanley is also the undisputed top hitting shortstop in the game today.  In the 2-hole Ben Zobrist fits nicely as he’s a switch hitter and has a track record of getting on base.  Despite the drop off in power this season, Zobrist has compensated with his legs as he’s racked up 19 steals already.  As we hit the heart of the lineup, the 3-6 hitters are terrifying.  Though having a rough season by his standards, Ryan Braun is still an elite hitter that hits for average, power, and also has the ability to swipe a bag.  Despite the rough goings early on, Braun is still credited with a career .390 wOBA, .251 ISO, and a .302 batting average.  Potential National League MVP Joey Votto earns the cleanup spot by having a sensational season that includes leading the NL in wOBA and OPS. Two spots behind Votto is Josh Hamilton, who ranks in the top two in the current American League MVP discussion, only behind Miguel Cabrera and that’s debatable.  Hamilton, like Votto, is having a tremendous season and leads the majors in batting average and ranks 3^rd in OPS and wOBA in the majors.  Sandwiched between two potential MVP’s is a huge right handed bat and arguably the games best third basemen in Evan Longoria.  Following Hamilton is another Ranger slugger, Nelson Cruz, who despite being plagued by injuries has still managed to have himself a huge year.  Rookie sensation and a future top-3 catcher in baseball Carlos Santana follows.  His extraordinary plate discipline (.414 OBP), power (.238 ISO), and the fact he’s a switch hitter makes the 8-hitter in the budget controlled lineup also a terror to deal with.  And, finally, capping off murderer’s row is Andrew McCutchin, the Pirates centerfielder who despite being young has already flashed his potential and is already one of the most exciting players in the game. 

The Bench: The bench features four players that all come at cheap cost.  Martin Prado will assume the utility role with the squad as he’s capable of playing second base, third base, first base, and even shortstop in an emergency situation.  The backup backstop is another rookie Buster Posey, who like Santana has excelled offensively thus far in his young career.  Posey provides a nice right handed bat off the bench and has the ability to play both catcher and first base.  Andres Torres makes the team with the role as a late game pinch runner and defensive substitution, as he’s capable of playing top-tier defense at all three outfield positions and has stolen 17 bases this year; the .390 wOBA isn’t too shabby either.  Lastly, Elvis Andrus is a great backup shortstop and would be a pinch runner late in games and provide defensive insurance as he is notoriously known as a plus defensive player.  In addition, the designated hitter Braun is capable of playing  left field, though his defense is atrocious, so he’d be used primarily in the field when the options are limited.  Zobrist receives high ranks for both his defense at second base and in the outfield, so he can rotate out there to get a guy like Prado or Andrus in the lineup.  Zobrist is also a one time converted shortstop, so he’s also another emergency option at the position.

The Rotation: The starting rotation would have to be classified as the team’s biggest strength as it contains five staff aces that each employ plus stuff.  In fact, collectively the rotation boasts an ERA of 2.48.  Staff ace and National League Cy Young favorite Josh Johnson earns the nod as the ace as he’s posted a terrific 2010 campaign that includes a 1.72 ERA, 2.27 FIP, and 1.00 WHIP.  Next in the rotation would be the lefty from Boston, Jon Lester.  Despite still battling through control issues (3.18 BB/9), the young pitcher has managed to accumulate impressive numbers: 2.92 ERA, 2.89 FIP, and 1.09 WHIP – all improvements over his 2009 stats.  In the middle of the rotation would be the phenom Stephen Strasburg, whose arsenal features a 4-seam fastball that reaches triple digits, a 2-seam fastball that rest in the mid-90’s with a sharp sink, a change up that keeps hitters off balance, and a devastating curve that drops right before a hitter’s eyes.  Claiming the four spot in the rotation would be the American League All Star Game starter and Tampa Bay Rays southpaw David Price.  Though Price has struggled as of late, many predicted a breakout year for the former Vanderbilt product and so far he’s lived up to expectations, pitching his way to a 2.90 ERA, 3.71 FIP, and 1.23 WHIP.  Rounding out the staff would be another great rookie pitcher who emerged this year on the West Coast, Mat Latos of the San Diego Padres.  Latos has been dazzling this year and has been relying on mostly three pitches: a 4-seam fastball that sits comfortably in the low-to-mid 90’s, a 2-seam fastball that sits in the low 90’s with a sinking motion, and a devastating slider that has a crisp backdoor break.  Latos collectively has thrown the mentioned pitches 95.5% of the time, with the other 4.5% being allocated to his changeup.  The youngster’s repertoire has mounted into instant success evident by Latos’ 2.48 ERA, 3.35 FIP, and 0.99 WHIP.  The staff has a nice balance of three right handed pitchers versus two lefties, and uniquely each pitcher has the pure stuff to work his way out of jams through the strikeout.  The cost controlled rotation is deadly and would be unmatched in terms of raw skill. 

The Bullpen:  Most teams struggle to find a bridge between the starting pitcher and closer, but not this team.  Assuming the closing duties would be Neftali Feliz, the flame throwing closer for the Texas Rangers who currently is tied for the AL lead in saves.  Neftali has had his case of growing pains, but the body of work is too much to overcome for the bargain price of $400,000: 28 saves, 3.65 ERA, 3.27 FIP, 3.64, 1.02 WHIP, and a terrific 9.74 K/9.  Setting up for Neftali would be lefty Matt Thornton, who is widely considered one of the elite set up men in the game thanks to his 2.48 ERA, 1.86 FIP, and 12.15 K/9.  Helping Thornton out in set up duties is Ray’s bullpen cog Joaquin Benoit.  Benoit’s emergence this year has been about as unexpected as the Padres winning the west. Nevertheless, he’s posted a staggering 0.76 ERA, 1.84 FIP, 12.99 K/9, and 1.53 BB/9.  The middle relief features a lefty in Hon-Chi Kuo (0.79 ERA and 1.83 FIP) and right handers Evan Meek and Luke Gregerson, whose ERA’s sit at 1.28 and 2.55, respectively.  Sean Marshall has experience starting games, so pegging him into the long relief role makes sense.  Plus, he’s pitched brilliant for the Cubs this season with a 1.71 ERA, 2.07 FIP, and 10.42 K/9.  As an added bonus he brings another lefty to the pen.  All the way from long relief to the closer, the bullpen is nearly impeccable.  It features a nice number of right and left handed throwers all with exceptional stuff, command, and 2010 success.  Given the pedigree of the starting rotation and the dominance of the pen, it’s conceivable this team can pitch a number of shutouts in which the bullpen plays a significant role. 

Conclusion: Thanks to the premium MLB team’s are placing on young talent, rushing their prospects through the farm faster than ever before, and the arbitration process, there are plenty of quality players that are currently playing for a bargain compared to their market value.  The above team despite checking in at $1,543,000 less than the lowest MLB payroll would clearly be the most talented team in the league and more likely than not the favorites to win the World Series.  The team features a deadly lineup, a rotation with five starters capable of holding you scoreless on any given night, and a bullpen from top-to-bottom with pitchers capable of striking you out and preventing you from scoring runs.  The only glaring weakness I see with the team is the lack of a left handed power bat off the bench.  Besides that, there isn’t much.  However, if we want to nit pick, ideally we would like to have better starting defenders at the shortstop and catcher position.  In the end, despite the financial constraints, the imaginary low budget team features a star studded lineup that would be the class of the major leagues.