81 thoughts on “Off-Day Distractions: The $700 Lineup Game”

1. I made a first pass at a Twins/Senators team as well...

   5 HOFers	SelectShow
   I didn't format this one as nicely. OF - Tris Speaker ($141)134 OF - Dave Winfield($220)64.2 OF - Don Baylor($20)28.5 3B - Joe Crede($90)14.7 SS - J J Hardy($101)28.4 2B - Bret Boone ($14)22.8 1B - George Sisler ($20)56.3 C - Wilson Ramos($7)14.2 P - Steve Carlton($13)90.2 P - Jack Morris ($35)43.4

   1. Spoiler	SelectShow
      Steve Carlton

      was my first pick. My second was

      Spoiler	SelectShow
      Luis Tiant

      1. Ooh, swap out your second one for my second one and you've got an even bigger budget for a 3B improvement.

   2. I can improve on Twin/Senators a tiny bit. OF was the most expensive part thanks to Winfield and Speaker.

      Twins/Senators	SelectShow
      Pos Player Cost rWAR C Wilson Ramos 7 14.5 1B George Sisler 20 53.9 2B Bret Boone 14 22.8 3B Graig Nettles 121 68.0 SS Chris Speier 12 30.6 OF Tris Speaker 141 134.1 OF Bob Johnson 117 57.3 OF Dave Winfield 220 64.2 P Steve Carlton 13 84.1 P Luis Tiant 18 65.6 Total _ $683 595.1

      1. Nice! Big improvement on the left side of the infield.

      2. 6 guys under $20.

         Twins FO is so cheap!

2. Braves

   SelectShow

   I just need to find any shortstop with 51 or fewer innings to round this out. Having trouble finding one. Already have 866.4 WAR P--Gaylord Perry ($23): 93.0 WAR P--Cy Young ($11): 165.6 WAR C--Ernie Lombardi ($105): 46.8 WAR 1B--Dan Brouthers ($126): 79.8 WAR 2B--Rogers Hornsby ($140): 127.0 WAR 3B--Graig Nettles ($112): 68.0 WAR OF--Babe Ruth ($28): 162.1 WAR OF--Enos Slaughter ($11): 55.3 WAR OF--Al Simmons ($93): 68.8 WAR

   1. Oh man, so close.

      1. Can get pretty close to that.

         1. Winner!

            Braves at 880 WAR. Yikes.

            1. and I don't have a PI subscription, so it may be able to improved upon. I just looked at Hall-of-Famers, of which all are except the shortstop

               1. If it's possible to improve on Cy Young, Babe Ruth, and Rogers Hornsby on the same team... It can't be by much.

                  1. I even had to leave off Joe Medwick and Hoyt Wilhelm

3. Re-subscribed to PI for this one. I decided to try with a team known for its boom/bust choices. They also had some Hall of Famer for five games.

   Marlins	SelectShow
   Pos Player Cost rWAR C Mike Piazza 5 59.6 1B Carlos Lee 81 28.3 2B Neil Walker 81 20.9 3B Placido Polanco 118 41.5 SS Rafael Furcal 9 39.4 OF Tim Raines 98 69.4 OF Mike Cameron 45 46.7 OF Andre Dawson 121 64.8 P Kevin Brown 65 68.2 P Mark Buehrle 31 60.1 Total _ $654 498.9 Three Hall of Famers plus one miss.

   1. The most recent expansion teams would be an interesting subset.

      I started on the Diamondbacks, but didn't get much beyond Roberto Alomar.

4. Athletics	SelectShow
   Pos Player Cost rWAR C Manny Sanguillén 152 27.5 1B Dick Allen 54 58.7 2B Joe Morgan 116 100.6 3B Ron Cey 45 53.8 SS Nomar Garciparra 65 44.2 OF Tris Speaker 64 134.1 OF Tim Raines 58 69.4 OF Zack Wheat 88 60.2 P Don Sutton 29 68.2 P Tommy John 11 62.1 Total _ $682 $678.8 Bumped: Willie Randolph's 65.9 rWAR. Hard to compete with Joe Morgan.

   1. Bump Dick Allen for Willie McCovey. $11 for 64.5 WAR

      1. Oh, and Mike Piazza with his $83 for 59.6 WAR at catcher

         1. That saves $112 and adds 37.9 WAR

            1. Thanks. I was using a too restrictive PI search and fixed it when building the Twins list. I forgot to go back and fix the Athletics.

               Updated Athletics	SelectShow
               Pos Player Cost rWAR HOF C Mike Piazza 83 59.6 Y 1B Willie McCovey 11 64.5 Y 2B Joe Morgan 116 100.6 Y 3B Ron Cey 45 53.8 N SS Nomar Garciparra 65 44.2 N OF Tris Speaker 64 134.1 Y OF Tim Raines 58 69.4 Y OF Zack Wheat 88 60.2 Y P Don Sutton 29 68.2 Y P Tommy John 11 62.1 N Total _ $570 716.7

               1. I have no recollection of Piazza on the A's.

               2. Is there room for Ty Cobb's OF worth 151 at $228?

                  1. Indeed!

                  2. Can swap out Nomaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah for Terry Turner. Only -6 rWAR but saves $27.

                     Athletics with Cobb	SelectShow
                     Pos Player Cost rWAR HOF C Mike Piazza 83 59.6 Y 1B Willie McCovey 11 64.5 Y 2B Joe Morgan 116 100.6 Y 3B Ron Cey 45 53.8 N SS Terry Turner 38 38.0 N OF Ty Cobb 228 151.0 Y OF Tris Speaker 64 134.1 Y OF Tim Raines 58 69.4 Y P Don Sutton 29 68.2 Y P Tommy John 11 62.1 N Total _ $683 801.3

                     1. *nods approvingly*

                     2. Nicely done

5. Toronto Blue Jays	SelectShow
   C - Lance Parrish - $70 - 39.5 1B - Frank Thomas - $171 - 73.9 2B - Jeff Kent - $65 - 55.4 3B - Edgardo Alfonso - $12 - 28.8 SS - Omar Vizquel - $60 - 45.6 OF - Dave Parker - $13 - 40.1 OF - Dave Winfield - $156 - 64.2 OF - Rickey Henderson - $44 - 111.2 WAR P - Jack Morris - $61 - 43.5 P - Phil Niekro - $3 - 96.9 Total Cost: $655 Total WAR: 599.1

   1. Your second pitcher I think wins on WAR/$.

      1. Yeah, that was a hell of a find.

      2. Cincinnati has one that's over three times better.

         1. Maybe I'll try Cincinnati next. Easy to start a team when it's $1 for nearly 100 rWAR.

   2. This is pretty awesome for post-1970 names only.

      1. I'm sure Rickey can help out several franchises in this game. Anaheim? He played for them? Geez

         1. He's exactly where I started - "What HOFer played for a bunch of different teams?"

         2. Anaheim's got Eddie Murray too.

      2. Yeah, I was a little jealous of not getting about 60 more years worth of people to pick through.

   3. Update

      Spoiler	SelectShow
      OUT P - Jack Morris - $61 - 43.5 IN P - Roger Clemens - $67 - 93.8 Total Cost: $661 (+$6) Total WAR: 649.4 (+50.3)

      I just went up 50.3 WAR for only $6

      (update to the update, I was looking at wins, not total games)

      1. Clemens costs $67, so you're losing 6 dollars, but still a good swap.

         I think you counted his Wins instead of Games Played. But man, 41 wins in 67 games.

6. Initial Orioles team

   Spoiler	SelectShow
   C - Del Rice $1 - 6.1* 1B - Jim Thome $28 - 72.9 2B - Billy Goodman $73 - 26.9 3B - Pete Ward $8 - 20.2 SS - Vern Stephens $104 - 45.5* OF - Reggie Jackson $134 - 74.0 OF - Tim Raines $4 - 69.4 OF - Steve Finley $223 - 44.3# P - Curt Schilling $44 - 79.5# P - Pat Hentgen $41 - 33.0 Total - $690 - 471.8 WAR *cheated and didn't use Browns seasons #Nice trade

   1. I wanted to do an Orioles lineup just to include Gus Triandos, but he played 953 games for Baltimore, so that wasn't going to work.

      1. Sorry looking man. Looked like this little kid who got left at the bus station by his parents.

7. Initial Red Sox team

   Spoiler	SelectShow
   C - Javy Lopez - 29.7 - $18 1B - John Olerud - 58.2 - $87 2B - Ian Kinsler - 57.2 - $37 3B - Adrian Beltre - 95.6 - $154 SS - Lou Boudreau - 63 - $86 OF - Rickey Henderson - 111.2 - $72 OF - Al Simmons - 68.8 - $40 OF - Mike Cameron - 46.7 - $81 P - Tom Seaver - 109.9 - $16 P - Fergie Jenkins - 84.1 - $58 724.4 WAR, $649 used

   It was surprisingly hard to find a decent third outfielder that didn't blow the budget. It would have been nice if a certain famous power hitting Yankees rightfielder was an option, but the Red Sox used him quite a bit in the field during that last season they had him.

   1. Nice. I think this is second place so far

8. Randy Johnson and is 103.5 WAR can go to either Montreal (/Washington if you're so inclined) or Houston for only $11

   1. A good deal for the Giants too at $22.

9. A start for the Expos*

   EXPOS 1969-2004	SelectShow
   C 1B - Pete Rose - $95 - 79.7 2B 3B - Graig Nettles - $80 - 68 SS - Maury Wills - $47 - 39.7 OF - Felipe Alou - $19 - 42.2 OF OF P - Randy Johnson - $11 - 103.5 P - Mudcat Grant - $11 - 19.3

   *This by my definition you wore the Expos uniform for at least one game of your career. Any WSH stats count, but not if you only ever played for Washington

   1. I don't think you can include your 1B anymore.

10. Dodgers

    SelectShow

    Pos Player Cost RWAR HoF P Maddux $19 106.6 Y P P. Martínez $67 83.9 Y C Carter $101 70.3 Y 1b Thome $17 72.9 Y 2b Lazzeri $14 50.0 Y 3b K. Boyer $108 62.8 N SS Belanger $54 40.9 N LF R. Henderson $30 111.2 Y CF Lofton $129 68.3 N RF F. Robinson $103 107.3 Y Total Bums $642 774.2 7 In a couple more seasons Belanger gets regulated for Manny Machado, but I think this is about as good as it gets for now.

    Giants	SelectShow
    Pos Player Cost RWAR HoF P R. Johnson $22 101.1 Y P W. Spahn $16 99.7 Y C Carter $92 70.3 Y 1b Brouthers $2 79.8 Y 2b Lazzeri $13 50.0 Y 3b Elliot $98 50.4 N SS McGraw $60 45.7 Y LF Snider $91 66.4 Y CF Lofton $46 68.3 N RF Beltrán $44 69.6 N Total Gigantes $484 701.3 7

    1. Why is Lofton as a Giant so prominent in my memory? , I would have been absolutely positive he played at least 200 games for them.

    2. We have a new #2 franchise.

    3. Giants have money to splurge to upgrade Lazzeri to Hornsby.

       1. Good catch. I think I got a little obsessed with getting 700 rWAR with less than $500 spent. Here’s the swap.

          Giants w/Hornsby	SelectShow
          Pos Player Cost RWAR HoF P R. Johnson $22 101.1 Y P W. Spahn $16 99.7 Y C Carter $92 70.3 Y 1b Brouthers $2 79.8 Y 2b Hornsby $155 127.0 Y 3b Elliot $98 50.4 N SS McGraw $60 45.7 Y LF Snider $91 66.4 Y CF Lofton $46 68.3 N RF Beltrán $44 69.6 N Total Gigantes $626 778.3 7

11. Brewers	SelectShow
    Pos Player Cost RWAR HoF P Sabathia $17 63.0 N P Greinke $49 70.3 N C Sundberg $110 40.5 N 1b J.Franco $42 43.5 N 2b Randolph $124 65.9 N 3b McMullen $63 34.0 N SS T.Fernandez $28 45.3 N LF F.Alou $3 46.9 N CF J.Wynn $36 55.9 N RF H. Aaron $222 143.0 Y Total BrewCrew $684 609.3 1

    1. There's a wrinkle. No HOFers allowed.

       1. Lowering the budget or prohibiting HoFers would really heighten the challenge.

          1. Replace Hank Aaron with a $2 Boomstick lowers the WAR considerably, but provides a lot more money to spend elsewhere

             1. $8 Boomstick

                1. Still a bargain

12. Mets pay $135 for Say Hey's career numbers

    1. Only an idiot would take a pass at that.

       1. I've done my best with the Mets, but it ain't good enough. And that's considering they also have Ricky's numbers for $31.

          1. Rickey's almost 5x that costly in Queens...?

             1. Yup, I see that now. BR had his time split between a total and I missed it.

                1. Best I could do:

                   Mets	SelectShow
                   Pos Player Cost rWAR HoF P Spahn $20 99.7 Y P Tanana $29 57.1 N C Berra $4 59.8 Y 1b Hodges $65 44.8 N 2b Randolph $90 65.9 N 3b Uribe $44 23.8 N SS Bell $72 37.2 N LF R. Henderson $152 111.2 Y CF Mays $135 156.4 Y RF Abreu $78 60.0 N Total Amazin's $689 715.9 4

13. TEAM	COST	WAR
    Braves	$698	887.2
    A's	$683	801.3
    Giants	$626	778.3
    Dodgers	$642	774.2
    Red Sox	$649	724.4
    Cleveland	$524	724.2
    Mets	$689	715.9
    Yankees	$555	714.1
    Blue Jays	$661	649.4
    Phillies	$681	634.7
    White Sox	$691	633.7
    Pirates	$678	613.1
    Brewers	$684	609.3
    Cubs	$695	599.8
    Twins	$683	595.1
    Padres	$658	563.6
    Reds	$653	537.4
    Marlins	$654	498.9
    Orioles	$690	471.8
    Diamondbacks	$681	414.6

    1. One team's cost really sticks out.

       1. Even though it bumped them up to second place, I'm kinda bummed to send Giants over the $500 mark.

14. My friend Dan Lee put together this Cleveland team on the Book of Faces (I've invited him in the past):

    Cleveland	SelectShow
    Pos Player Cost RWAR HoF P C. Young $63 163.3 Y P Carlton $23 90.2 Y C Parrish $10 39.5 N 1b K. Hernandez $43 60.4 N 2b Kent $39 55.4 N 3b Donaldson $16 42.2 N SS T.Fernandez $120 45.3 N LF Damon $64 56.4 N CF Winfield $46 64.2 Y RF F.Robinson $100 107.3 Y Total Cleveland $524 724.2 4

    Only change from his team is that I replaced Ralph Kiner with Johnny Damon

15. Yankmes	SelectShow
    Pos Player Cost RWAR HoF P R.Johnson $67 101.1 Y P Clemens $175 139.2 N C I.Rodriguez $33 68.7 Y 1b Olerud $49 58.2 N 2b Frey $25 38.8 N 3b Harrah $88 51.4 N SS Tulowitzki $5 44.2 N LF Veach $56 47.7 N CF Berkman $37 52.1 N RF P.Waner $10 72.8 Y Total Bronx Bombers $555 714.1 3

    1. Somehow, they're very cheap. That's without downgrading from Clemens to Gaylord Perry to save another $165. Feel free to try to put that excess money to work.

       1. I guess they could upgrade Tulo to Campaneris. The extra WAR comes with a lot of extra cost, but the Yankees have $$ to burn

       2. I'd like to see this Yankmes squad square up with the first edition of the Giants.

16. White Sox	SelectShow
    Pos Player Cost RWAR HoF P Seaver $81 109.9 Y P Griffith $63 62.5 Y C Pena $31 24.7 N 1b Cash $71 52.0 N 2b Evers $1 47.1 Y 3b Santo $117 70.5 Y SS Stephens $66 45.5 N LF Manny $24 69.4 N CF Junior Griffey $41 83.8 Y RF Lofton $93 68.3 N Total Mighty Whities $691 633.7 5

    1. Had Colavito in the back pocket, but he's just riding the bench with this bunch

17. Cubs	SelectShow
    Pos Player Cost rWAR HoF P Roberts $11 85.9 Y P Grimes $47 52.7 Y C Kendall $57 41.7 N 1b Foxx $85 96.6 Y 2b Lazzeri $54 50.0 Y 3b Gaetti $150 42.1 N SS Garciaparra $105 44.2 N LF Edmonds $85 60.4 N CF Lofton $56 68.3 N RF Bonds $45 57.9 N Total Orphans $695 599.8 4

    A familiar name appears!

18. Padres	SelectShow
    Pos Player Cost rWAR HoF P Maddux $59 106.6 Y P G. Perry $69 90.0 Y C Piazza $126 59.6 Y 1b D. Lee $22 34.6 N 2b Baerga $33 19.6 N 3b Cirillo $33 34.6 N SS Tejada $59 47.3 N LF Edmonds $26 60.4 N CF W. Davis $141 60.7 N RF Lynn $90 50.2 N Total Friars $658 563.6 3 Carlos Baerga — woof.

19. Diamondbacks	SelectShow
    Pos Player Cost rWAR HoF P Greinke $114 70.3 N P Schilling $105 79.5 N C Laird $1 6.4 N 1b Sexson $23 18.0 N 2b Alomar $38 67.1 Y 3b Cirillo $28 34.6 N SS Mora $42 28.3 N LF Reggie Sanders $126 39.8 N CF Devon White $146 47.3 N RF JD Martinez $62 23.3 N Total Snakes $681 414.6 1

    1. Scherzer and Flash Gordon both provide some significant cost savings over Schilling if you can find a way to upgrade elsewhere (like catcher!)

20. Pirates

    SelectShow

    Pos Player Cost rWAR HoF P Blyleven $112 94.4 Y P Reuschel $99 69.5 N C Tenace $53 46.8 N 1b Greenberg $125 57.6 Y 2b Randolph $30 65.9 N 3b Herman $15 54.8 Y SS Cronin $50 66.4 Y LF Manush $25 45.8 Y CF Lofton $84 68.3 N RF Klein $85 43.6 Y Total Bucs $678 613.1 6 Dazzy Vance gets 86% of Reuschel's rWAR with a cost 99% lower, but the only areas clearly ripe for upgrades are the corner outfield, and there's simply no help I could find that kept things within budget.

21. Reds

    SelectShow

    Pos Player Cost rWAR HOF C Johnny Kling 80 28.9 N 1B Harry Heilmann 157 72.2 Y 2B Claude Ritchie 101 34.6 N 3B Terry Pendleton 50 28.5 N SS Joe Tinker 110 53.1 Y OF Jim Edmonds 13 60.4 N OF Tommy Leach 107 47.0 N OF Curt Flood 8 41.9 N P Christy Mathewson 1 97.6 Y P Old Hoss Radbourn 26 73.2 Y Total Reds $653 537.4 4 The Reds have an absurdly good pitching situation. Right behind Old Hoss is Amos Rusie's 65.2 rWAR for only $3. But, few position players at low costs and high WAR total for a disappointing total of 537.4 rWAR.

    1. I added the Cubs, Padres, Diamondbacks, and Reds to DG's list.

Comments are closed.