Best Team Money Can Buy

The general consensus is that the New York Yankees have the best team money can buy, but the fact is that's just not true as evident by their current AL East 3rd place standing. This idea got me thinking about big money contracts, so I decided to do some research. Taking a look at Baseball Reference's list of Top 100 Career Salaries, I felt compelled to create a 25-man roster. The 1st 12 pitchers in terms of career earnings were selected for my staff, but they weren't necessarily the best (ie- Hampton, Mike). You'll also notice Jeff Kent is nowhere near the level of money that the other players are, but he is the top earning 2nd baseman of all-time. Overall, these players were/are the best of the best in baseball in their primes. However, many have performance enhancing substance connections (Sheffield, Bonds, Piazza, A-Rod, Clemens, Sosa, Giambi, and Pettitte), so I guess it goes to show cheating does pay.

(Career stats as of 4/28/09)

Lineup:
1. Derek Jeter/SS ($161,230,000) 1480 r, 2560 h, 415 dbl, 57 trpl, 210 hr, 1013 rbi, 279 sb, .316/.386/.459. Rookie of the Year, 3 Gold Gloves, 3 Silver Sluggers, and 9 time all-star.
2. Jeff Kent/2B ($86,250,617) 1320 r, 2461 h, 560 dbl, 47 trpl, 377 hr, 1518 rbi, 94 sb, .290/.356/.500. 1 MVP, 4 Silver Sluggers, and 5 time all-star.
3. Alex Rodriguez/3B ($198,416,252) 1605 r, 2404 h, 428 dbl, 26 trpl, 553 hr, 1606 rbi, 283 sb, .306/.389/.578. 3 MVP's, 10 Silver Sluggers, 2 Gold Gloves, and 12 time all-star.
4. Barry Bonds/LF ($188,245,322) 2227 r, 2935 h, 601 dbl, 77 trpl, 762 hr, 1996 rbi, 514 sb, .298/.444/.607. 7 MVP's, 12 Silver Sluggers, 8 Gold Gloves, and 14 time all-star.
5. Manny Ramirez/RF ($162,258,269) 1460 r, 2418 h, 513 dbl, 18 trpl, 531 hr, 1739 rbi, 37 sb, .315/.412/.594. 9 Silver Sluggers and 12 time all-star.
6. Ken Griffey Jr./CF ($147,353,682) 1620 r, 2691 h, 504 dbl, 38 trpl, 613 hr, 1775 rbi, 184 sb, .287/.372/.545. 1 MVP, 7 Silver Sluggers, 10 Gold Gloves, and 13 time all-star.
7. Jeff Bagwell/1B ($128,134,019) 1517 r, 2314 h, 488 dbl, 32 trpl, 449 hr, 1529 rbi, 202 sb, .297/.408/.540. Rookie of the Year, 1 MVP, 3 Silver Sluggers, 1 Gold Glove, and 4 time all-star.
8. Mike Piazza/C ($120,176,002) 1048 r, 2127 h, 344 dbl, 8 trpl, 427 hr, 1335 rbi, 17 sb, .308/.377/.545. Rookie of the Year, 10 Silver Sluggers, and 12 time all-star.
9. Sammy Sosa/DH ($124,068,000) 1475 r, 2408 h, 379 dbl, 45 trpl, 609 hr, 1667 rbi, 234 sb, .273/.344/.534. 1 MVP, 6 Silver Sluggers, and 7 time all-star.

Bench:
*Ivan Rodriguez/C ($115,073,932) 1262 r, 2621 h, 527 dbl, 48 trpl, 298 hr, 1225 rbi, 124 sb, .301/.338/.475. 1 MVP, 7 Silver Sluggers, 13 Gold Gloves, and 14 time all-star.
*Carlos Delgado/1B/DH ($134,299,000) 1234 r, 2027 h, 480 dbl, 18 trpl, 472 hr, 1505 rbi, 14 sb, .279/.383/.546. 3 Silver Sluggers and 2 time all-star.
*Jason Giambi/1B/DH ($125,058,996) 1126 r, 1826 h, 365 dbl, 9 trpl, 397 hr, 1287 rbi, 18 sb, .285/.407/.531. 1 MVP, 2 Silver Sluggers, and 5 time all-star.
*Gary Sheffield/UTL ($154,008,550) 1596 r, 2620 h, 455 dbl, 26 trpl, 500 hr, 1637 rbi, 251 sb, .292/.393/.515. 5 Silver Sluggers and 9 time all-star.

Rotation:
1. Roger Clemens ($121,001,000) 354-184, 4916.2 ip, 4672 k, 3.12 era, 1.17 whip. 7 Cy Youngs, 1 MVP, and 11 time all-star.
2. Greg Maddux ($153,845,000) 355-227, 5008.1 ip, 3371 k, 3.16 era, 1.14 whip. 4 Cy Youngs, 18 Gold Gloves, and 8 time all-star.
3. Randy Johnson ($167,550,019) 296-162, 4058.1 ip, 4810 k, 3.27 era, 1.17 whip. 5 Cy Youngs and 10 time all-star.
4. Pedro Martinez ($146,259,585) 214-99, 2782.2 ip, 3117 k, 2.91 era, 1.05 whip. 3 Cy Youngs and 8 time all-star.
5. Mike Mussina ($144,533,619) 270-153, 3562.2 ip, 2813 k, 3.68 era, 1.19 whip. 7 Gold Gloves and 5 time all-star.

Bullpen:
*Mariano Rivera/Closer ($99,530,125) 68-49, 1032 ip, 945 k, 486 sv, 2.28 era, 1.02 whip. 4 Rolaids Relief Awards and 9 time all-star.
*John Smoltz/Setup ($130,095,446) 210-147, 3395 ip, 3011 k, 154 sv, 3.26 era, 1.17 whip. 1 Cy Young, 1 Silver Slugger, 1 Rolaids Relief Award, and 8 time all-star.
*Curt Schilling/Setup ($114,158,000) 216-146, 3261 ip, 3116 k, 22 sv, 3.46 era, 1.14 whip. 6 time all-star.
*Andy Pettitte/LHP ($108,082,416) 217-128, 2759 ip, 2018 k, 3.88 era, 1.36 whip. 2 time all-star.
*Kenny Rogers/LHP ($82,665,500) 219-156, 3302.2 ip, 1968 k, 28 sv, 4.27 era, 1.40 whip. 5 Gold Gloves and 4 time all-star.
*Mike Hampton/Mop-Up ($122,550,270) 142-106, 2175.1 ip, 1332 k, 4.00 era, 1.44 whip. 5 Silver Sluggers, 1 Gold Glove, and 2 time all-star.
*Kevin Brown/Long Relief ($130,890,502) 211-144, 3256.1 ip, 2397 k, 3.28 era, 1.22 whip. 6 time all-star.

Observations:
12 of the 25 players were at one time a New York Yankee. There is a nice mix of white, black, and Hispanic. In total they've collected 17 MVP's, 20 Cy Youngs, 195 all-star appearances, and 68 Gold Gloves. The batters have hit 6198 homeruns and the pitchers have won 2772 games. Wow!


Pink Floyd- Money