Post by Erbes on Apr 8, 2014 10:30:37 GMT -5
Ranking the Franchise Players!
So yes this was Play's idea, but that doesn't mean it was a bad idea! It was pretty interesting to go look at some of these guys and see who people thought were 'franchise' worthy. It was also pretty hard to rank these guys because some of them are still developing and the stats don't match the ratings so I had to balance alreadye existing stats vs. future stats. Let's dive in!
15. SS Drew Henson, Los Angeles Dodgers
Ratings: G/G/A/B/A/B
Franchised: Age 24, 2004
Best season: .250/.290/.442/.732, 27 HRs, 79 RBIs, 21 2Bs (2004)
When franchising goes wrong. Henson had all the makings of being an awesome player - great ratings, great smile, and soft hands. Probably why the Yankees loved him so much in real life. Anyways, Drew just isn't very good. I guess you could blame it on the stadium, but his home/road splits this season aren't very dissimilar so far. I don't think there was anything wrong with franchising Henson, I mean some guys on this list have worse ratings, I just think he's one of those players that doesn't sim well regardless of stadium or any external factors. Pretty sure Dale slapped the tag on him after his first season where he hit well in limited at-bats. I might have waited for a full season to see if he was a pretender.
14. LF Adam Dunn, Cleveland Indians
Ratings: G/A/P/B/B/A
Franchised: Age 24, 2004
Best season: .290/.373/.509/.883, 33 HRs, 118 RBIs, 72 BBs (2003)
So let's get this disclaimer out of the way now: there aren't bad players on this list. Well maybe Henson, but I mean Dunn is a great player, I just don't think he's as good (or will be as good) as the players ahead of him. This is also another case of not living up to your ratings. Dunn should probably be hitting way more homers and taking way more walks. He's also been getting worse and worse, which isn't a great thing for a player you could be locked into for the next ten seasons. His batting average, OBP, and SLG have all decreased (substantially) since 2005. If you're a one trick pony and you aren't doing your one trick well it might be time to be put out to pasture.
13. 1B Adrian Gonzalez, Arizona Diamondbacks
Ratings: G/B/F/B/G/B
Franchised: Age 20, 2003
Best season: .265/.306/.464/.770, 21 HRs, 94 RBIs, 48 2Bs (2005)
I don't blame Darell one bit for wanting to franchise A-Gon so quickly. Seems like nobody has worse PD luck than good guy D-Rell. But, by calling up Adrian so quickly I feel like he stunted his growth a bit. Adrian also has a horrible split problem when facing lefties. It's not showing up so much this season (chalk it up to SSS), but that ratings gap is no joke and should be rectified if possible. Nothing like paying $15M a year to a future platoon hitter. On the bright side, he's already clubbed 7 homers this year and looks to be putting the power puzzle pieces together which would be a huge for a struggling Diamondbacks franchise.
12. SP Jake Peavy, New York Mets
Ratings: 10 AR B/A/G/B/B
Franchised: Age 20, 2002
Best season: 2.34 ERA, 262.0 IP, 22-7, 198 Ks (2005)
Peavy is good. Borderline great, but he's the worse pitcher who's been franchised. That's how hard these rankings are. To me a career 3.33 ERA for a franchise starter is mediocre, especially over 1,000+ IP. I'd need to see something a bit lower for it to be worth it to me. Peavy, still only 25, has a very bright future in front of him, but with a large contract looming this offseason is he worth $15M a year? Hmmm not so sure. The ratings say yes, just not the numbers. To me anyways. Would love to see what he would do in a pitcher's park. My guess is sub-3.00 ERA. Again, can't blame James for franchising Peavy because of the sexy ratings, but how these guy perform is important too.
11. CF Grady Sizemore, San Diego Padres
Ratings: G/B/G/G/B/G
Franchised: Age 20, 2002
Best season: .237/.342/.412,.754, 15 HRs, 81 BBs, 38 2Bs
Poor Grady. Probably plays in the worse hitter's ballpark in the league. San Diego is a ding dang blackhole for any semblance of an offense. Pretty surprised Aaron doesn't let Grady run more. Doesn't have that A/B speed, but he does have the A stealing ability which in most cases is more valuable than the actual speed. Gotta love that B defense in CF. So much value in defense up the middle. You get a shutdown CF like Grady and the other two OFs almost don't even matter. Would be fun to see Grady hit in a hitter's park, obviously. I think he'd be an easy candidate for .300 BA, 20 HRs, and 45 2Bs. But alas, he doesn't. At least San Diego is sunny!
10. 1B Joey Votto, Seattle Mariners
Ratings: B/B/F/G/G
Franchised: Age 20, 2004
Best season: .359/.398/.523/.922, 12 HRs, 97 RBIs, 62 2Bs (2006)
Votto is a monster. 62 doubles in a season!?! Nuts. But he's a 1B. So people need to think about stats, and I think position rarity. You'll always be able to find a monster 1B or LF or RF in my opinion. On the other hand, not sure you're going to be able to find that kind of production from a hitter who plays half his games in SafeCo. So it's a two sided coin for sure. Joey has gotten better each season stat-wise and while he's gotten off to a slow start this year I'd imagine he'll start to pick it up soon. Wonder why Nanz didn't franchise Ross? Did he miss the age requirement? I fee like he did. Oh well. I'd have no problem paying Votto.
9. SS Hanley Ramirez, Pittsburgh Pirates
Ratings: G/B/A/B/G/G
Franchised: Age 20, 2004
Best season: .313/.339/.510/.849, 16 HRs, 51 2Bs, 60 SBs (2006)
Han-Ram. The first non-all power/walk guy on the list. 60 SBs is no joke. It was pretty tough putting Hanley this low since he hasn't fully developed his brilliant homers rating or any of his ratings to be honest. Still, I'd like to see more than 16 homers (his high for one season) before we catapult him up the list. I mean let's be honest, speed is great, but it being able to hit 40 dingers is so much more valuable. The one thing Hanley has above anyone else in this ranking is defense - A's all around the infield is so valuable and they can't go down. That's pretty hot. We'll see how Hanley does this year with his homers and if he can take that next step.
8. RF Miguel Cabrera, Florida Marlins
Ratings: B/B/P/B/B/G
Franchised: Age 20, 2003
Best season: .339/.408/.476/.884, 10 HRs, 72 BBs, 52 2Bs (2005)
Man where are the homers Miggy? That's the only reason why he's #8 and not higher. The ratings are so freaking fantastic. Ashes made a great move by trading Sabathia (his old franchise player) and locking in Miggy. It's just the homers. Thankfully he's already got 4 this year so it looks like that might be turning around. The only other knock would be his defense. Dude should not be in the outfield. Probaly costing Ashes a couple of wins each season defensively. Need to improve his defense in ST. Wait, is Miggy the only player with brilliant in hits, homers, and walks? Think he might be. He's too good.
7. SS David Wright, Colorado Rockies
Ratings: G/B/F/B/F/G
Franchised: Age 22, 2005
Best season: .317/.338/.481/.819, 16 HRs, 99 RBIs, 57 2Bs (2006)
Oh boy am I going to get ripped for putting Wright ahead of Cabrera. But for me it's all about the stats with these two. Sure Davey boy gets to play in Coors, but that's not his fault. Outside of the OBP he's already on pace to beat out Cabrera in a lot of stat categories. Funny thing is is that he's probably the worst rated franchise player. If it weren't for Coors, Wright would be pretty mediocre. Only two brilliants and two fairs! Who would franchise that!? Oh wait... Anyways I expect big things out of Wright in the future, especially since it'll be spent in Colorado. Dude could crush 45-50 homers once he develops fully.
6. SP Josh Beckett, Cincinnati Reds
Ratings: 10 AR, B/B/G/B/B
Franchised: Age 23, 2003
Best season: 1.95 ERA, 299.2 IP, 25-6, 248 Ks (2006)
Why don't people value pitching anymore? Look what Beckett is single handidly doing for Cincy this year! You get one ace stud muffin and you're good to go. This is still a bit of a projection, but I mean come on. 1.95 ERA last year and sub-.80 so far this year. Dude is here to stay. Oh and you want a stikeout per inning this year, asks Becks. You got it! His only loss so far this year was because his offense couldn't score more than a run (hint, hint stutter). Only thing we need to watch for here is the prone injury rating. If Stutter loses Josh for an extended period of time it's all over him in the NL Central.
5. LF Matt Holliday, Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Ratings: B/B/F/G/G/B
Franchised: Age 25, 2005
Best season: .353/.385/.586/.971, 23 HRs, 98 RBIs, 60 2Bs (2003)
Matty Franchise is the only player to be franchised by TWO teams! History. He deserves it. Since his rookie season he's never had an OPS below .855 and he's hit no fewer than 18 HRs. He's also a double machine averaging 52 per season. Oh and he's never struck out more than 92 times. So much value in just putting the ball in play. His defense is pretty adequate. But here's another guy who needs to steal more. Greeme has got a keeper here.
4. SS Nomar Garciaparra, Boston Red Sox
Ratings: B/B/A/A/A/G
Franchised: Age 24, 1998
Best season: .366/.402/.595/.997, 23 HRs, 63 2Bs, 44 SBs (2004)
How underrated has this guy been in his career? Probably because Boston has been pretty irrelevant for the past 5 or so seasons. Anyways, you could make a case for Nomar being one of the top 10 most valuable players since the beginning of this league. Career .331 BA, .373 OBP, and .887 OPS are outstanding. Did I mention he plays SS?! Position scarcity, position scarcity, position scarcity. Franchising a SS like this may have been break's smartest move here. Too bad this guy will never win a World Series.
3. 1B Jack Cust, Baltimore Orioles
Ratings: B/A/P/B/G/B
Franchised: Age 22, 2001
Best season: .328/.385/.565/.950, 38 HRs, 128 RBIs, 55 BBs, 38 Ks
Might catch some flack for putting Cust so high, but I feel like he's one of the few players on this list that has actually lived up to his ratings so far. Obviously, he's older and more developed, but a lot of these guys are 24-25 already and aren't doing much. I'd take production over prediction any day if I'm building a team. Cust hits homer, takes walks, and doesn't strikeout. What more could you want? He's having a monster start to the 2007 and is probably the main reason why the Orioles are where they are. I feel like that's a good observation to use to analyze whether your guy is a franchise player or not: if your team is winning while he's crushing, or if your team is losing while he's sucking then he's a franchise guy. Cust fits that mold.
2. 1B Albert Pujols, Toronto Blue Jays
Ratings: B/B/P/G/G/B
Franchised: Age 21, 2001
Best season: .404/.464/.635/1.100, 28 HRs, 131 RBIs, 48 2Bs, 65 BBs, 51 Ks (2005)
Prince Albert. The first player to hit .400 in a season since Ted Williams. Wow. What a season that was. Look at those BB-K numbers! Pretty classic real life Edwin Encarnacion if you ask me. There's not a lot to nit pick here. Just no flaws in his game. Great offensively and great defensively. He'll go down as one of the best ever in BBSBL.
1. SP Johan Santana, Chicago Cubs
Ratings: 10 AR B/G/B/B/G
Franchised: Age 19, 1998
Best season: 1.82 ERA, 317.1 IP, 28-5, 216 Ks (2003)
Yep this shouldn't be a surprise. A Cub because of a technicality, Johan has thrived on the South Side. He's been the best and most consistent pitcher in the league since 1999. Closing in on a decade of dominance, Santana sports a career 2.36 ERA and crazy 32 complete game, shutouts. No single player has been more valuable in the league - ever.