More Lists

Yesterday I outlined the process behind drawing up a comprehensive, informative, and aesthetically pleasing list summarizing a baseball team's performance over the course of a season. I also provided two examples of such lists: the two participants in the World Series. Today I'm going to show a few more lists of teams that might draw some interest from my loyal readership. First, the hometown Los Angeles Dodgers:

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POS	Name	swp	swp/g
SS	Rafael Furcal	1,562	10.4
2B	Orlando Hudson	1,578	10.6
LF	Manny Ramirez	1,449	13.9
RF	Andre Ethier	2,223	13.9
1B	James Loney	1,724	10.9
C	Russell Martin	1,244	14.8
CF	Matt Kemp	2,347	14.8
3B	Casey Blake	1,675	12.1
DH	Juan Pierre	1,211	8.4	LF
SP	Randy Wolf	1,940	57.1
	Chad Billingsley	1,467	44.5
	Clayton Kershaw	1,655	53.4
	Hiroki Kuroda	991	47.2
CL	Jonathan Broxton	2,152	29.5
RP	Ramon Troncoso	825	11.3
	Ronald Belisario	732	10.6
	Guillermo Mota	467	7.7
	James McDonald	407	9.0
P	Jeff Weaver	552	19.7

Note the use of only four reliable starting pitchers, like the Yankees. Surprisingly enough, four 2009 contenders (the Angels and Tigers are the other two) couldn't find a suitable fifth starter. Nowadays, given C.C. Sabathia's heroic efforts pitching every day of the week and new research findings suggesting that the human arm might need only three days, rather than four, to fully recuperate after a day of pitching, maybe these four-man rotations will become a bit more common.

Manny Ramirez's season numbers are down because of that nasty 50-game suspension, but if you look at his points per game (13.9 ppg), you can tell that when he did play he performed right up with the best of them (or, at least the very good of them). Notice also Matt Kemp, the team leader in swp, batting towards the bottom of the order. This was Joe Torre's attempt to get Kemp some at-bats in a low-pressure spot in the batting order so as not to lay too much on the shoulders of the youngster (Kemp was only 24 in 2009). By the end of the season and the playoffs, Kemp had moved up the ranks and spent most of his time in the number 2 or 4 spots in the lineup.

Next, just because I feel like it, my favorite, the Oakland Athletics:

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POS	Name	swp	swp/g
3B	Adam Kennedy	1,558	12.1
SS	*Orlando Cabrera	967	9.6
1B	*Jason Giambi	759	9.1
LF	*Matt Holliday	1,258	13.5
DH	Jack Cust	1,593	10.7
C	Kurt Suzuki	1,691	11.5
RF	Ryan Sweeney	1,319	9.8
2B	Mark Ellis	1,132	10.8
CF	Rajai Davis	1,477	11.8
SP	Trevor Cahill	830	25.9
	Brett Anderson	1,315	43.8
	Dallas Braden	868	39.5
	Gio Gonzalez	402	20.1
	Vin Mazzaro	177	10.4
	Josh Outman	624	44.6
CL	Andrew Bailey	1,903	28.0
RP	Michael Wuertz	1,166	15.8
	Brad Ziegler	667	9.7
	^Craig Breslow	652	10.9
	*Russ Springer	231	4.8
P	Edgar Gonzalez	87	3.3

A lot of player movement here, as the A's entered fire sale mode by the middle of the season. Matt Holliday (whose 13.5 ppg show that he was surprisingly effective while playing in Oakland, despite cries of overyhype and altitude sickness) went on to put the Cardinals' offense on his shoulders. Orlando Cabrera took over the shortstop position for the Twins. Jason Giambi had some pinch hits for the Rockies down the stretch. The big success story for the A's offense has to be Kurt Suzuki, who's blossoming into one of the league's premier young catchers.

The rotation was ravaged by injuries (Outman, Braden) and marked by ineffective young pitchers who haven't yet found their grooves in the major leagues (Cahill, Gonzalez, Mazzaro). Given a few years to mature, the majority of these guys will probably develop into very effective, if not dominant, starting pitchers. Speaking of dominance, rookie Andrew Bailey closed out games with the big boys. He's my bet to win the AL Rookie of the Year.

Next, the Minnesota Twins:

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POS	Name	swp	swp/g
CF	Denard Span	1,923	13.3
SS	Brendan Harris	832	6.8
C	Joe Mauer	2,340	17.0
1B	Justin Morneau	1,986	14.7
DH	Jason Kubel	1,962	13.4
RF	Michael Cuddyer	2,131	13.9
LF	Delmon Young	1,031	9.5
3B	Joe Crede	910	10.1
2B	Nick Punto	935	7.5
SP	Nick Blackburn	1,204	36.5
	Scott Baker	1,621	49.1
	Francisco Liriano	401	13.8
	Glen Perkins	305	16.9
	Kevin Slowey	685	42.8
	^Carl Pavano	472	39.3
CL	Joe Nathan	2,247	32.1
RP	Matt Guerrier	861	10.9
	Jose Mijares	585	8.2
	Jesse Crain	384	6.9
	R.A. Dickey	236	6.7
P	Brian Duensing	609	25.4

Had Morneau not spent the end of the season on the DL, he would likely have broken the 2,000 point barrier. Joe Mauer's numbers put him in a good position to win league MVP, especially due to his recently awarded gold glove award. (His main MVP competition, Mark Teixeira, also won a GG and had a slightly better offensive season, but good defense from a catcher is much more valuable than good fielding from a first baseman. Also, good hitting catchers are extremely rare, while good hitting first basemen are a dime a dozen.) Missing eligibility on the list is the acquired SS ^Orlando Cabrera, who put up a respectable 743 (12.6 ppg) line for the Twins.

The Twins' rotation also suffered from injuries (Slowey, Liriano) and ineffectiveness (Liriano, Perkins), but Carl Pavano's clutch arm helped them down the stretch. Joe Nathan was one of the best closers in the league, as usual.

The Seattle Mariners:

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POS	Name	swp	swp/g
RF	Ichiro Suzuki	1,980	13.6
CF	Franklin Gutierrez	1,696	11.1
2B	Jose Lopez	1,797	11.7
LF	Ken Griffey Jr.	1,099	9.4	DH
3B	Adrian Beltre	1,111	10.0
1B	Russell Branyan	1,556	13.4
DH	Mike Sweeney	681	9.2
C	Kenji Johjima	560	7.9
SS	*Yuniesky Betancourt	403	6.4
SP	Felix Hernandez	2,671	78.6
	*Jarrod Washburn	1,267	63.4
	Ryan Rowland-Smith	701	46.7
	Jason Vargas	412	17.9
	Erik Bedard	845	56.3
	^Ian Snell	391	32.6
CL	David Aardsma	1,835	25.1
RP	Mark Lowe	662	8.8
	Miguel Batista	486	8.7
	Sean White	579	11.1
P	Chris Jakubauskas	461	13.2
	Brandon Morrow	524	20.2

I cheated a little on this one: Ken Griffey didn't play enough games to qualify as the left-fielder; he was pretty much a dedicated DH. But the M's didn't have anyone else who played left field consistently. And if Griffey plays in left, that opens up the DH slot for Mike Sweeney. Franklin Gutierrez, acquired from the Indians in the off-season primarily because of his stellar defense, was a surprise offensively. Russell Branyan showed that he can still produce when given a chance to play regularly - the last time he played over 100 games in a season was 2002. Yuniesky Betancourt, who approached absolute zero with both his bat and his glove, was shipped off to Kansas City in June.

King Felix Hernandez has a shot to win the Cy Young. Jarrod Washburn pitched well before being traded to the Tigers, but don't let that asterisk fool you: during his stay in Detroit, he pitched so poorly that he actually put up a negative swp total in his eight starts. Erik Bedard pitched well when healthy, but health was not a frequent state for him.

Four is enough for today. Maybe some more lists another time.