Which team would you choose?

April 3, 2007 by Joe Pawlikowski 7 Comments

We usually leave matters like this to Mike, but I saw Scranton’s Opening Day roster, and I couldn’t resist.

Phil Hughes	SP	Zach Duke
Tyler Clippard	SP	Ian Snell
Ross Ohlendorf	SP	Paul Maholm
Matt DeSalvo	SP	Tom Gorzelanny
Steven Jackson	SP	Tony Armas, Jr.
Chris Britton	SP	Solomon Torres
T.J. Beam	SP	Matt Capps
Colter Bean	SP	Damaso Marte
Justin Pope	SP	Jonah Bayliss
Charlie Manning	SP	Juan Perez
Ben Kozlowski	SP	Jon Wadin
Raul Chavez	C	Ronny Paulino
Eric Duncan	1B	Adam LaRoche
Chris Basak	2B	Jose Castillo
Alberto Gonzalez	SS	Jack Wilson
Andy Phillips	3B	Freddie Sanchez
Kevin Reese	LF	Jason Bay
Kevin Thompson	CF	Chris Duffy
Bronson Sardinha	RF	Xavier Nady

It may net me a worse record this year, but overall, I’m taking the team on the left. As much as I like Duke, Gorzelanny, and Capps, Scranton’s rotation has a much higher ceiling.

I would have done this comparison with the Nationals…but that would have been a slam dunk.

http://riveraveblues.com Mike A.

Well, I’d definitely take Bay and Capps over Reese and Beam, but after that, I dunno…
http://www.riveraveblues.com Joseph P.

Paulino over Chavez, definitely. Gorzelanny over DeSalvo, though you could tinker with the rotation order and the Yanks would win 5-0. Sanchez over Phillips (though there’s no guarantee that Phillips starts at third).

However, Gonzalez over Wilson, in my opinion, is a no-brainer. Guaranteed the Attorney General would outhit Wilson this season.
John

I don’t know…
I think I would take the team on the right long term.
I think the Marlins’ ’05 firesale netted more talent than the team on the left and I think a similiar strategy would improve the Pirates (or at least would have improved them this off-season). You build around Bay and Duke, and you do to Ian Snell what the Fish did to Josh Beckett.
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http://www.canyonofheroes.blogspot.com Mike Plugh

Hey RAB people…

I was thinking along these lines over at COH and I think it’s close. The Pirates win because they have the best established Major League talent. You have Bay and LaRoche as proven MLB commodities, FAR better than any of the offensive players on the Yankees side. Paulino is also much better than Chavez. The rest is fairly debatable, but the rotation is probably a knockout for the Yankees. Phil Hughes should be much better than Duke (as good as he may end up being) and the other players are no worse than equal.

Over 162 games, I’d give the Pirates an 89-73 (.550) record. I projected 4.2 runs scored versus 3.8 allowed and did the Pythag. No scientific basis for that. I just thought that the Pirates offense is better than the Yankees by a wider margin that the pitching advantage for the Yankees. Neither team is good enough to score a lot of runs versus the other, so 4.2 vs. 3.8 is the guess.
http://www.riveraveblues.com Joseph P.

Good to see you around these parts, Mike. I’m enjoying your work at Baseball Prospectus (when’s the next article coming?).

The rotation was the main reason for the comparison. The only wild card in there is Gorzelanny, and even if I think he’s better than Clippard, it’s still 4-1, Scranton.

Anyone else taking Kevin Thompson at least as a wash with Chris Duffy?
http://highandtight.blogspot.com Mr. Faded Glory

Andy Phillips played third? Or DH?

Also that’s a helluva lot of starting pitchers. I know Cashman has been stockpiling, but I am against an 11-man rotation.