With the world of baseball being in shambles, taking a moment to try to remember the history of our sport can cope with these rougher times. The NFL recently did an All-Time team with the 100-year anniversary squad, and while the MLB isn’t celebrating its centennial season, it doesn’t make trying to construct an All-Time team any less fun. I’ll be using a lot of advanced metrics to fill in the team, and I will use PED users, but only guys who had shown to be great even without juicing.
The team will have 8 position players in the starting lineup, with a DH included as well. There will be 4 bench players, and a total of 13 pitchers, 5 starters, 8 relievers to have a total of 26 players. This team is going to be loaded, but this article will cover the lineup and the bench, with the next being about the pitching.
Catcher: Johnny Bench
Starting at catcher is the GOAT of catchers, with a career 125 wRC+, the highest fWAR of all-time amongst catchers at 74.8, 389 home runs (2nd), and whopping 97 Total Zone in Runs Above Average, one of the only defensive stats around at the time. He is often regarded as one of the greatest of all time, and in my opinion, he belongs on this squad at Catcher.
First Base: Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig’s 173 wRC+, .447 OBP, 477 wOBA, and .632 SLG are the best marks for any first baseman of all time. While he’s second in fWAR amongst 1st baseman (as Fangraphs considers Musial a 1st baseman AND outfielder), Musial had 22 seasons of play compared to Gehrig’s 17, so per 150 games Gehrig had a better fWAR. While defensively he was never truly highly regarded statistically, I will take great offense at 1st and take the defensive hit as a defense at first is less valuable than offense at 1st.
Second Base: Rogers Hornsby
The sweet-swinging righty from Texas Rogers Hornsby is offensively unrivaled at the second base position, as a 173 wRC+ trumps any of his competitors at the 2nd base position. He leads all second basemen in OBP, SLG, and wOBA, and has the 4th most home runs as well. His 2 MVPs and 1038 walks simply add on to the greatness that is Hornsby. The icing on the cake? A 130.3 fWAR leads all 2nd basemen, and the person behind him (Eddie Collins) is behind him by 9.8 but has nearly 800 more games played. Defensively he had a 54 total TZ, as he had played well at multiple defensive positions, definitely belonging on this list.
Third Base: Mike Schmidt
The greatest Phillie of all time is also the greatest 3rd baseman of all time, and while A-Rod was a close 2nd, due to fWAR/150, wRC+, and Total Zone and Defensive Rating showing Mike Schmidt was the better defensive 3rd baseman, I had to give it to Schmidt. Also with A-Rod’s use of PEDs, I had to peg his stats down a bit, but that won’t be the last mention of PEDs on this list.
Shortstop: Honus Wagner
Now again, A-Rod came in second for me, but I’ll get to him later (epic foreshadowing), Honus Wagner’s 147 wRC+ and insane 138.1 fWAR is incredible, and because of it there’s no denying that this is Wagner’s spot. He has to be one of the most explosive players of the deadball era, with 722 stolen bases and a great ability to play defense at this critical position. Defensively Wagner is hard to gauge over A-Rod because we only have Total Zone, but TZ does give Honus Wagner a great defensive rating, and so I’m inclined to put Wagner’s defense at short, as SS is a crucial position defensively.
Left Field: Barry Bonds
Arguably the most controversial player in MLB history, Bonds is probably the greatest hitter of all time. Yes, PEDs helped his numbers, but he’s rumored to have begun juicing in 1998, but in the years prior? Gold Gloves, MVPs, and a whopping 90.7Â fWAR in only 11 seasons of play. He averaged an 8.2 fWAR for his pre-PED years and was a great baserunner and defender in those years along with great offense. He played a lot of left fields and was great defensively out there, so we’re going to get a great speed, great defense, and great power out of our left-field position.
Center Field: Mike Trout
“B-b-b-but he’s not as good as ______” Sorry, I don’t speak wrong when it comes to GOAT players, and there’s no doubting Mike Trout’s GOAT level of play. He has the best wRC+ out of all Center Fielders, best SLG, is 5th in OBP, and has the best fWAR per 150 games out of any of his Center Field competition. To give you context, his only competitor here Willie Mays has a 7.5 fWAR per 150, Trout? Just chilling at a whopping 9.1 fWAR/150. He’s just that great, and there’s no denying his spot on this team, STARTING.
Right Field: Babe Ruth
With the highest fWAR of all time despite having the least amount of games played in the top five of fWAR, the greatest wRC+ of all time, the greatest SLG% of all time, the second-best OBP of all time, and the greatest wOBA of all time. He also had an 80 TZ in Right Field, which is surprising for most to believe that he was actually a good defensive outfielder for the most part, and so I put him in the outfield instead of the DH of this squad, as the DH isn’t great defensively in the outfield. Speaking of the DH…
Designated Hitter: Ted Williams
For DH, I need the best hitter possible, and that is Ted Williams. He has the second-best wRC+, the best OBP, the second-best SLG, second-best wOBA, and a 130.4 fWAR, which is 8th all-time. He is incredible with the bat, and while his defense is poor, it doesn’t matter as he’s going to DH. It’s why I had Bonds, Trout, and Ruth in the outfield and neither of them at DH because they were the better defensive outfielders. Now with the lineup set, we need depth.
Bench
- Willie Mays:Â Willie is the best player not on the starting lineup, and he would’ve been my 4th outfielder of choice, and the DH, if it wasn’t for Williams, is the better hitter. He has a 154 wRC+ and a 149.9 fWAR, and his defense is well documented. His 338 stolen bases also show his speed that accompanies his 660 Home Runs, and had it not been for Mike Trout existing, he’d have been in the lineup. His reason for not starting boiled down to is he the better than Trout, Bonds, or Ruth? No, and is he a better hitter than Ted Williams? No, but he is a better player than Williams, however at DH only your bat matters. Willie Mays is a top 4 player all time, the issue is the 3 guys ahead of him are outfielders.
- Mickey Mantle: The power-hitting outfielder is a great bat off the bench if they need to go to him for some late-inning heroics. With a 170 wRC+ as a switch hitter, he’s going to be able to handle any matchup that he’s put into unless he faces a switch-pitcher, which would be hilarious.
- Alex Rodriguez: I can’t have a 3rd outfielder off the bench, so instead I’ll take a player who offensively has both speed and power and can play very well defensively at shortstop. He can also play 3rd, and in the case that Mike Schmidt needs to be pinch ran for or Honus’ power doesn’t suffice for the job, A-Rod will be ready off of the bench.
- Mike Piazza: Johnny Bench is the GOAT catcher but Piazza is the GOAT catcher offensively. If I need to upgrade my bat at the catcher position mid-game, I can throw Piazza as the bat or have him come in to catch after subbing Bench out for either Mantle, Mays, or A-Rod. Piazza gives me a ton of options with the lineup during a game, and there’s nothing wrong with having options
That covers the lineup and bench of this squad, with the pitching being next, let me know what you’d do differently with this team!