All League Minimum Team, now with 2010 Values and Full Rotation!
Purely out of interest i decided to compile a team of the best players who earned the league minimum ($400,000) in 2009. Obviously using the players who earned just $400,000 and not a penny more would be a) boring and b) pretty much impossible unless you can consider an army of second-rate relievers a team. Also, i wondered if it was possible for a GM to create such a team using savvy (read: Lucky) Draft picks and clever FA pick-ups, well we'll see...
| Pos | Player | Draft | Team | Salary | WAR |
| C | Pablo Sandoval | Amateur Free Agent | Giants | $ 401,750.00 | 4.8 |
| 1B | Joey Votto | 2002 44th | Reds | $ 437,500.00 | 4.5 |
| 2B | Ben Zobrist* | 2004 184th | Rays | $ 415,900.00 | 7.1 |
| 3B | Evan Longoria* | 2006 3rd | Rays | $ 500,000.00 | 6.6 |
| SS | Elvis Andrus# | Amateur Free Agent | Rangers | $ 400,000.00 | 2.4 |
| OF | Justin Upton* | 2005 1st | Dbacks | $ 412,000.00 | 5.2 |
| OF | Adam Jones* | 2003 37th | Orioles | $ 435,000.00 | 2.5 |
| OF | Matt Kemp | 2003 181st | Dodgers | $ 467,000.00 | 5.8 |
| Bench | Adam Lind | 2004 83rd | Blue Jays | $ 411,800.00 | 3.3 |
| Bench | Jacoby Ellsbury | 2005 23rd | Red Sox | $ 449,500.00 | 2.1 |
| Bench | Mark Reynolds | 2004 476th | Dbacks | $ 422,500.00 | 2.2 |
| Bench | Hunter Pence* | 2004 64th | Astros | $ 439,000.00 | 1.7 |
| Hon. Bench | Skip Schumaker | 2001 164th | Cardinals | $ 430,000.00 | 1.5 |
| SP | Jair Jurrjens | Amateur Free Agent | Atlanta | $ 450,000.00 | 5.3 |
| SP | Yovani Gallardo | 2004 46th | Brewers | $ 414,000.00 | 2.4 |
| SP | Clayton Kershaw | 2006 7th | Dodgers | $ 404,000.00 | 4.2 |
| SP | Brett Anderson | 2006 55th | Athletics | $ 400,000.00 | 3.8 |
| SP | Matt Garza | 2005 25th | Rays | $ 433,300.00 | 3.4 |
| RP | Andrew Bailey#* | 2006 188th | Athletics | $ 400,000.00 | 3.9 |
| RP | Brad Ziegler | 2003 595th | Athletics | $ 405,000.00 | 1.3 |
| Total Payroll | $ 8,528,250.00 | ||||
| Total WAR | 74 | WAR Values from Baseball Reference and FanGraphs | |||
| *All Star | |||||
| #RoY | |||||
Obviously the WAR values for the bench guys would be much lower had they played the season on the bench rather than on the field, so take the total WAR value with a bucket of salt.
And this is the list of players i decided were eligible, this is not a complete list of all players who earned around the league minimum last year, just the ones i thought were best and worth considering. Think of it as a list of honourable mentions.
| James Loney | 1B |
| Joey Votto | 1B |
| Ben Zobrist | 2B |
| Howie Kendrick | 2B |
| Chris Coghlan | 2B/OF |
| Skip Schumaker | 2B/OF |
| Ryan Theriot | 2B/SS |
| Evan Longoria | 3B |
| Mark Reynolds | 3B/1B |
| Jeff Mathis | C |
| Kurt Suzuki | C |
| Pablo Sandoval | C/3B/1B |
| Matt Kemp | CF |
| Adam Jones | OF |
| Franklin Guttierez | OF |
| Hunter Pence | OF |
| Jacoby Ellsbury | OF |
| Justin Upton | OF |
| Micheal Bourn | OF |
| Nelson Cruz | OF |
| Nyjer Morgan | OF |
| Shin-Soo Choo | OF |
| Adam Lind | OF/DH |
| David Aardsma | RP |
| JA Happ | SP |
| Jair Jurrjens | SP |
| Jared Weaver | SP |
| Joe Saunders | SP |
| Yovani Gallardo | SP |
| Asdrubal Cabrera | SS |
| Brendan Ryan | SS |
| Elvis Andrus | SS |
| Yunel Escobar | SS |
| Erick Aybar |
A few notes: 1B seems to be the shallowest position, neither player is particularly great either, Votto only played 130ish games but still put up very good numbers, whereas Loney played nearly every game but his numbers weren't brilliant.
I picked Reynolds over Longoria for two reasons, although Longo made the All Star team and Reynolds didn't i think the DBacks man had the better year and because i personally like Reynolds as a player and think he's very undervalued. People can't seem to see past his trend of breaking his own strikeout records for some reason. Annoyingly, the more stats i look at the more Longoria is the better player... *EDIT*:Sometimes you have to admit you're wrong. I don't think i can justify keeping Reynolds in there over Longoria, almost every conventional and sabrmetrical says Longo is the better player.
Surprisingly only 4 of these guys were taken in the 1st round of the draft (Ellsbury, Upton, Longoria and Garza). And with the exception of the Ellsbury-Upton-Garza clash in the 1st Round of the 2005 Draft (even though the Boston's 23rd pick (Ellsbury) that year was compensatory) all of these guys could have ended up on the same team. Its extremely unlikely, but it could've happened.
Skip Schumaker is given an honoury bench spot for being my favourite player ever. More on that later.
So there you go, For around $8.5mil (Which is incidently, roughly what the Cards will pay Kyle Lohse next year... ouch) you could have 6 All Stars and a Rookie of the Year, i know that sounds like a Marlins fan's wet dream, but its true. I will gladly read any and all suggestions/disagreements/hate mail.
On why i didn't include the NL Rookie of the Year Chris Coghlan; when the Marlin-er first won the award i was a huge fan and supported the decision, however with time my feeling has cooled somewhat for a couple of reasons. First, the number of games 128 is good but not great and second his defence, we all know he is a second baseman and was pushed into the OF, however the incumbent Marlins 2B-man is Dan "The Butcher" Uggla, if Coghlan can't beat the "Chris Duncan of the Infield" to the position then he's probably not too good.
And finally, if this is recieved well i spin the long yarn about how a British guy became a baseball fan, let alone a Cardinals fan. If that wasn't tantilising enough it will be titled 'How i was almost a Phillies Fan'.
Thanks to Fourstick for the reliever ideas.
And as requested, here are the WAR values for these guys in 2010. Unfortunatley i can't find decent values for the pitchers.Most of these guys will still be earning around the minimum next year, those going to Arb can obviously expect raises, Longo is guaranteed $950,000.
| Pos | Player | WAR |
| C | Pablo Sandoval | 3.3 |
| 1B | Joey Votto | 3.6 |
| 2B | Ben Zobrist | 3.8 |
| 3B | Evan Longoria | 5.1 |
| SS | Elvis Andrus | 1.5 |
| OF | Justin Upton | 3.8 |
| OF | Adam Jones | 3.4 |
| OF | Matt Kemp | 4 |
| Bench | Adam Lind | 2.1 |
| Bench | Jacoby Ellsbury | 3.9 |
| Bench | Mark Reynolds | 3.3 |
| Bench | Hunter Pence | 2.7 |
| Hon. Bench | Skip Schumaker | 1.6 |
| SP | Jair Jurrjens | N/A |
| SP | Yovani Gallardo | N/A |
| SP | Clayton Kershaw | N/A |
| SP | Brett Anderson | N/A |
| SP | Matt Garza | N/A |
| RP | Andrew Bailey | N/A |
| RP | Brad Ziegler | N/A |
| WAR values from CHONE Projections | ||
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Comments
AND
he was worth 5.0 WAR more than Kim Jong Il last season.
You may run like Hayes, but you hit like shit.
Heh
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Jong-il
He definitely doesn’t edit his wikipedia.
by vivaelpujols on Jan 18, 2010 8:26 PM EST up reply actions
now for you next assignment
tell me what the WAR was on that team in 2009, then tell me their salaries and projected WAR (based on CHONE projections) for 2010.
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Jan 13, 2010 12:18 PM EST reply actions
oh, and fun post.
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Jan 13, 2010 12:19 PM EST up reply actions
If i can be bothered...
Considering how annoying it was to a) find the 2009 WARs and b) Format the damn post, those might take a while. But fear not! i have every intention of thinking about doing just that, perhaps, maybe.
wow, i seriously was not expecting you to actually do that
pretty cool stuff. you have earned yourself a rec.
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Jan 14, 2010 11:29 PM EST up reply actions
now that you've entered the WAR values, adjusted them to projected 2010 values,
and completed the rotation, i think you need to provide a translation into attic greek and add some dancing moose gifs.
get on it!
if you don't know what is wrong with me, then you don't know what you've missed. - macmanus
oh reali
"It was like two ankles." AVENGE BOOG
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there. They can't be bargained with. They can't be reasoned with. They don't feel pity, or remorse, or fear." - THT
by Yadi2Second on Jan 15, 2010 12:27 PM EST up reply actions
my goodness, a fellow brit
hail, sir! We appear to be taking over this blog.
I’m a bit confused by the fact you’ve only got 2 SPs and your bullpen seems to be empty. There are quite a few very good SPs around the league who’re only making the minimum. Picking Mark Reynolds ahead of Longoria seems frankly bizarre, as well.
I wonder if you couldn’t find a place on your list for our own Colby Rasmus?
And finally, if this is recieved well i spin the long yarn about how a British guy became a baseball fan, let alone a Cardinals fan.
That was one of the ideas on my “fanposts to do” list, but I don’t think my tale is particularly interesting so maybe I’ll just tack my story onto yours as a comment, if you get round to doing this. I find I always have 4 or 5 fanpost ideas going round my head and not enough time to actually execute them…
RELEASE THE CENTIQUID!!!!
What ho!
I have always wanted to do a post on how i became a baseball fan, but was never sure how it would be received, better to try and get people interested first with something baseball related.
About Colby… personally i wasn’t enamoured by his 2009 season, when he starts using that speed to steal bases and becomes more consistent then maybe. He certainly has a ton of promise though.
YOU NEED COMMA'S AROUND THE "UNFORTUNATELY"
APPOSITIVE’D, BITCH!!!
(Sorry, I’m studying grammar right now and I find myself getting more pissed off by the second).
by vivaelpujols on Jan 18, 2010 8:29 PM EST up reply actions
You just took me back to sophomore year of high school.
Thanks.
Although if my teacher had written APPOSITIVE’D, BITCH on our papers maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.
Who needs affection when you can have blind hatred?
Doesn't Longoria make more than League Min at this point?
In football, the object is for the quarterback, otherwise known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his recievers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use the shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's defensive line.
In baseball the object is to go home! And to be safe! "I hope I'll be safe at home!"
-George Carlin (RIP)
Well...
Longo is the only player of the bunch to have signed a a contract extension, which paid him a base of $500,000 in 2009, so for the purposes of this he’s within the bounds of League minimum.
Ahhhh, just wanted to make sure I wasn't oblivious.
Works for me.
In football, the object is for the quarterback, otherwise known as the field general, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his recievers with deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use the shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy's defensive line.
In baseball the object is to go home! And to be safe! "I hope I'll be safe at home!"
-George Carlin (RIP)
Even with our special relationship between us cousins
we simply cannot allow you to take over this blog. You see if you tip the first domino all other stalwarts of americana will fall. First, this blog, then baseball is renamed to ‘American Style Cricket’, then you rename the Washington Monument to Gordon Brown’s Obelisk. No, my good man I will not have it. I have not yet begun to fight.
I like all your suggestions for new nomeclature
and I will ensure they become law when I am the Prime Minister of America.
RELEASE THE CENTIQUID!!!!
by Felonius_Monk on Jan 17, 2010 6:54 AM EST up reply actions
as a compromise, if you will, i would concede
Changing from ‘as Americans as apple pie’ to as Americans as spotted dick if youd agree to rename the monument after Margaret Thatcher.
by ADMDrayson on Jan 17, 2010 5:38 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
if you did that, you'd have to change it from an obelisk
to a giant handbag
They say that it's never too late, but you don't get any younger...
I'm not sure about that
granted, I have a dirty mind, but the Washington monument looks like something Thatcher might have used.
Lighten up, Francis - Sergeant Hulka
* sarcasm might be involved in this comment
Thatcher's favourite tool was the ball-grinder, I think
it’s much more serrated and fits neatly into an everyday purse.
RELEASE THE CENTIQUID!!!!
by Felonius_Monk on Jan 18, 2010 6:16 AM EST up reply actions
A Thatcher Memorial in DC
would certainly attract more tourism to the area, i can’t imagine what thousands of angry northeners and scots would do to such a towering symbol of repression…

Something like that?
The heart is the general, the eyes are the scouts, the fists are the arrows, the body is the bow.
I'm amazed some of these guys are still making close to league-minimum
Very fun idea for a fanpost, I think. Obviously people are going to disagree about how you fill in your lineup. I would be tempted to replace someone in the OF for Kemp, but that’s based on gut, not research. I agree with your fellow Brit Felonius (one of you really does need to do a fanpost about how you got here, I truly think people would find it interesting) about swapping Reynolds and Longo, but hey, it’s your post, you do what you wanna.
Good stuff.
Albert Pujols does not have "down" years. He has "~6 WAR" years.
Relief pitchers....
I’d take
- Brandon League®
- Daniel Bard®
- Andrew Bailey®
- Luke Gregerson®
- Heath Bell®
- Jonathan Broxton®
Forget the LOOGY’s — with that collection of studs, we don’t need ’em.
Can Colby round out our new MV3?
whoever has registered all those names as a trademark will make a lot of money off MLB this year
wish I’d thought to do that…
RELEASE THE CENTIQUID!!!!
by Felonius_Monk on Jan 14, 2010 5:31 AM EST up reply actions
re: bullpen
I’m pretty sure nearly the entire oakland pen is making the minimum. I’d certainly have a healthy Bailey, Devine and Zeigler in my pen. Throw in Bard, and maybe Marmol? I haven’t checked, but as he’s only been round a couple of years, it wouldn’t surprise me if Brian Wilson is still on the minimum (though he might be due a raise next year). Anyways, there’s a lot of good, cheap bullpen arms around!
RELEASE THE CENTIQUID!!!!
by Felonius_Monk on Jan 14, 2010 5:33 AM EST up reply actions
I would have to play Kemp over Jones as well
He’s just a better hitter and he’s better defensively too
Can Colby round out our new MV3?
The phylosophy behind this is very similar to "Money Ball"...
Read it, read the follow up and see where that went. It’s kind of like communism, it sounds good on paper but just doesn’t translate in reality.
Are you NOT entertained!?!? -Maximus
This is even better than Joe Morgan-
I hope he really loses it soon and starts inserting himself into stories about the cold war and vietnam.
“Yeah, the thing is, you gotta have consistency in the organization. In ‘Nam the US kept switching managers, but sometimes you have to ride it out with a particular leader and a particular philosophy. Sure, the United States elects its leaders, but I think the voters need to put more emphasis on consistency. I always used to tell people that the purpose of foreign policy is to score more runs than the other team. When you don’t score more runs than the other team, you’re going to have a hard time winning the game, and I think that’s what the New York Mets are experiencing right now. Also, Dave Concepcion.”
"Of course Kolby Rasmus was going deep! That’s what Kolby Rasmus does! You don’t give Kolby Rasmus second chances!" -Kolby Rasmus
by hazel on Jan 14, 2010 12:31 AM EST up reply actions 7 recs
frankly, they should've concetrated on keeping the viet cong in check early on.
Those guys have a nasty slidepiece.
RELEASE THE CENTIQUID!!!!
by Felonius_Monk on Jan 14, 2010 5:35 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
you'll fit right in on this blog
Of course, hope means being cut down on some street corner, as you run like mad, by a random bullet.
he read moneyball
he just didn’t read The Communist Manifesto.
RELEASE THE CENTIQUID!!!!
by Felonius_Monk on Jan 17, 2010 6:54 AM EST up reply actions
Best subthread ever.
"Of course Kolby Rasmus was going deep! That’s what Kolby Rasmus does! You don’t give Kolby Rasmus second chances!" -Kolby Rasmus
I haven’t a clue what the Total WAR means in real terms, if someone could enlighten me i would be much obliged.
A replacement-level team should win something in the region of 48 games or so (somewhere in the late 40s, anyhow, I usually just say “about 50” as a shorthand) so, realistically, your team is probably about 5-10 wins better than the 2010 New York Yankees (and that’s assuming your remaining SP/RP slots are taken up with replacement-level guys!).
It’s probably not a fair comparison, however, as a) 2009 is not representative of what these guys will do in 2010 – a good projection system (CHONE?) is probably a better guide. It’s merely a representation of what they did last year, and b) it’s probably not reasonable to give your bench guys their 2009 WAR as this would’ve been gained with full playing time – Adam Lind’s 3.3 WAR was gained as more or less the full-time DH for the Jays, whereas on your team he’ll maybe get a maximum of 150 or so PAs as a PH and occasional starter in LF (where he’s a butcher with the glove), so it’d be pretty much impossible for him to hit that level again. Though of course you knew that, just pointing out that the 61 WAR probably isn’t representative of how good this team would be. Just as a wild-ass guess, I’m reckoning (even with only 2 SPs) it’s still a team that’d sniff 100 wins, with a prevailing wind.
RELEASE THE CENTIQUID!!!!
a look at all the projection systems and last year’s stats is what I do… I don’t think it’s fair to say that 2009 is not representative at all of what they do next year, but I guess that is probably considered in the projections…. maybe average all that together?
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Jan 14, 2010 7:16 PM EST up reply actions
I didn't say 2009 was not representative "at all"
just that there are better ways of deciphering what a player might do in 2010. For instance, Franklin Guttierrez and Felipe Lopez put up a combined total of nearly 10 WAR in 2009, whereas Lance Berkman and Ryan Ludwick were worth about half that. Want to bet which pair of players will be worth more in 2010? A better way to do it is to look at things like how well they’ve done in previous years, how often/long they’ve been injured, how they’ve done (if applicable) in minor league baseball etc etc and make some sort of weighted prediction based on all that data.
That is basically what the various projection systems do, with minor differences. Some are really simple in methodology (Marcels) whereas some take a bit more info into account (ZiPS and Bill James’, for instance).
RELEASE THE CENTIQUID!!!!
by Felonius_Monk on Jan 15, 2010 6:56 AM EST up reply actions
the all-underpaid them could probably beat the all-star team
by Cards Fan in Chitown on Jan 14, 2010 7:17 PM EST reply actions
wasn't there another fanpost like this?
I think it was Cards only.
"It was like two ankles." AVENGE BOOG
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there. They can't be bargained with. They can't be reasoned with. They don't feel pity, or remorse, or fear." - THT
Oh man, that was an awesome fanpost.
I forgot all about the cub fan on the horsey.
Lighten up, Francis - Sergeant Hulka
* sarcasm might be involved in this comment
the green comments rocked.
"It was like two ankles." AVENGE BOOG
"But listen, and understand: more Molinas are out there. They can't be bargained with. They can't be reasoned with. They don't feel pity, or remorse, or fear." - THT

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