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Best Dodger Team Ever from 1989-2008

On BBTF, commenters tried to come make up with an All-Star team of Pirate players from 1993 to 2009 that would compete for the division title (since the Pirates haven't had winning season since 1992). On that note, I thought it would be interesting to come up with a "team" of Dodger players from 1989 to 2008 that would do the same. I went on BBref and selected players who either had a minimum of 400 plate appearances for position players, 120 innings for starting pitchers, and 40 appearances for relievers. There are no repeats, meaning if a starting pitcher or a reliever had more than one really good season  I selected the highest one and went on to the next pitcher. Also, if a position player or a pitcher has the same OPS+ in multiple seasons (as in the case of Brett Butler and Shawn Green), I went with the one that had the most plate appearances or innings/appearances. Here's my team:

Star-divide

 

C Mike Piazza 185 OPS+ 1997

1B Eddie Murray 158 OPS+ 1990

2B Jeff Kent 133 OPS+ 2005

SS Jose Offerman 112 OPS+ 1995

3B Adrian Beltre 163 OPS+ 2004

LF Gary Sheffield 176 OPS+ 2000

CF Brett Butler 130 OPS+ 1992

RF Shawn Green 154 OPS+ 2001


Rotation

Hideo Nomo 150 ERA+ 1995

Orel Hershiser 148 ERA+ 1989

Ismael Valdez 146 ERA+ 1997

Brad Penny 151 ERA+ 2007

Kevin Brown 169 ERA+ 2000

Bullpen

Jay Howell 217 ERA+ 1989

Takashi Saito 327 ERA+ 2006

Joe Beimel 210 ERA+ 2008

Paul Quantrill 231 ERA+ 2003

Eric Gagne 335 ERA+ 2003

Notes: I was kind of hoping Chad Billingsley's 2007 would make it on here just to silence the doubters, however seeing Brad Penny and Ismael Valdez on here is a bit of a surprise. Also a shock: no one from the 1991 or 2002 teams made the list despite being two of the three most winningest seasons since 1988, yet a player each from the 1992 and 2005 teams did.

Players from this year that have a good shot of making this team:

Matt Kemp 127 OPS+ (needs 131)

Clayton Kershaw 145 ERA+ (needs 147)

 

Players that would have to haul-ass to make it:

Manny Ramirez 155 OPS+ (needs 177)

Ronald Belisario 202 ERA+ (needs 211)

Andre Ethier 132 OPS+ (needs 155)

Randy Wolf 130 ERA+ (needs 147)

It'll be interesting to see if, by the end of the year, I'll have to update this team. Then again, I'm kind of hoping I won't have to...

0 recs  |  Comment 10 comments

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Very nice list, and a cool idea.

by Eric Stephen on Sep 8, 2009 6:21 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Re: Penny ?

wasn’t this the same guy who came out of Vero a few years back tagged as the ACE of the Dodger staff?

… just asking ….

by shooterm1 on Sep 8, 2009 7:12 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Very cool. That bullpen would be unstoppable.

You wanna know how great baseball is? The greatest basketball player ever left his sport to play baseball.

by Jesse S. on Sep 8, 2009 11:18 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

I figured KB would be on the list

but I didn’t realize he had the best ERA+ amongst starters during this time.

Also, Beimel had an ERA+ of 210 in 2008; should be on the team over Mota circa 2003.

by Michael White on Sep 9, 2009 7:46 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Plus that pen needs a lefty!

by David Young on Sep 9, 2009 3:29 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Interesting idea

Obviously defense isn’t accounted for in your position player selections, but I think would only possibly come into play at SS, where Jose Offerman was quite the butcher. I think I take 2005 Rafael Furcal with a 107 OPS+, assuming his superior defense at SS – a crucial defensive position – outweighs 5 OPS+ “points”.

I’d forgotten that Mark Grudzielanek played only SS in 1999 when he put up a 110 OPS+.

by David Young on Sep 9, 2009 3:24 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

What if we used something than ERA+ for relievers

Because it’s based on ERA, which is an iffy stat for relievers especially, with all the inherited and bequeathed runners.

Just to try something else, here’s the list of relievers sorted by OPS+ allowed. (2003 Gagne is so ridiculous, his .375 OPS against translates to an OPS+ of 4. Just 4!) Using that as the criteria, the top five relievers would be:

2003 Gagne, OPS+ allowed 4
2007 Saito, 17
2008 Kuo, 52
2003 Mota, 52
2003 Quantrill, 55

Broxton this year is allowing a .496 OPS, which is around a 30 OPS+ this year. If he maintains that, that is Gagne/Saito territory.

by David Young on Sep 9, 2009 3:42 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

what about

1995 Eric Karros at first base.

by early818 on Sep 9, 2009 11:32 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Karros only had a 145 OPS+ that year.

by Nofatmike on Sep 10, 2009 1:29 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

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