Your All Time Franchise All-Stars

[TheWarmWind]

Just curious what people's teams would look like if they took what they felt was the best team out of cherry picked years of any of their franchises. Not the highest rated ones, but the ones you performed the best with.

Here is mine.

Rotation

Roy Halladay (09 forced trades) - New to the Show, I was terrible at the game, and even with a stacked team I struggled to win games. However, when Halladay was on the mound, it was easy mode.

Drew Smyly (14 carry over) - For one year, Smyly was an untouchable force on the mound. Winning the cy young with unbelievable numbers, he then failed to perform like that again. He bounced around between leagues and teams before landing back in my rotation for a comeback year, but contract disagreements landed him back on another team, where he is once again struggling.

Adam McMullan (14 carry over) (created player) - 2019 Rookie of the year. Nasty, well balanced lefty.

Jose Lozano (14 carry over) (created player) - Control and movement specialist with a 99 potential. My 2014 first round draft pick.

Henderson Alverez (12 Fantasy Draft) - Performed the best on that team despite being at the bottom of the rotation. Also had two of the most unbelievable games. Once threw a complete game shutout throwing 97 4SFB and 1 CH. Also lost a game where he threw a complete game with no hits and no walks and was 3 for 3 at the plate.


Best Closing Pitcher - Casey Jansen (14 carry over) - Never have I ever been more confident that the game was over when he came up. He declined slowly, eventually losing the closing position to become a setup man, and then falling off a cliff, but in those first two years I had him, when he came out, the game was over. Period.

Lineup

2B - Dee Gordon (14 carry over) - There was a lot of competition for this spot, including Jemile Weeks (12 fantasy draft) and Billy Hamilton (14 carry over), but no-one matched Dee Gordon when it came to the combination of speed, hitting ability and fielding. Just couldn't afford to keep him.

CF - Mike Trout (14 carry over) - I mean, who else?

LF - Alfonso Soriano (09 forced trades) - Struck out a bunch, but was a serious 5 tool threat. Plus gotta love that ridiculous stance. It's like he really needed to go pee.

RF - Bryce Harper (14 carry over) - Again, who else?

DH - Jose Bautista (14 carry over) - I could have put multiple versions of Jose Bautista here, as I always seem to rake with him, but his tenure with my 14 carry over was probably his best.

1B - Cody Bellenger (18 test franchise) - I played this franchise in order to test my sliders and further confirm theories I had for the directional hitting guide. But I raked with Bellenger.

3B - Xander Boegarts (14 carry over) - It's funny, the list of quality 3B players I've had is huge, including names like Manny Machado, Josh Donaldson, Chipper Jones, Pablo Sandoval, and even Brett Lawrie (yes I know he's awful IRL but he was always good for me... until he retired due to injury). Yet this position converted rental player tops the list. Boegarts was a legit middle of the order threat, along with being a versatile situational hitter. And NOTHING got past him at the hot corner. It still kind of makes me sad to see him playing for Texas now.

C - Pablo Sandoval (12 Fantasy Draft) - Wait what? Panda isn't a catcher? This was the first of 2 times that I successfully converted him to the position (ran him a few times there in my 14 carry over as well). He was so good, never changed him back in 12.

SS - Luis Sardinas (14 carry over) - It was a tough call, but having the best defense out of all the options, plus a very good average put him on top.

Honourable mentions -

Josh Donaldson - Great in all three positions I put him in, 3B, C, and 1B.
Brian McCann - Probably the best hitting pure catcher I've ever had.
Eric Hosmer - A staple for most of my teams. It was kind of sad to see him get edged out by Bellenger.
Joey Votto - Had to draft the Canadian.
Josh Hamilton - Anybody remember this guy? 2009 remembers.

There you go. Really curios to see what teams other OS members will have. I want to hear about those crazy performing outliers especially. Can't wait for the one guy who batted .400 with John McDonald.

[KBLover]

Pitchers:

SP Damian Boeve (14, drafted) - still kicking and still pitching well, though not quite as dominating. My favorite player for a lot of reasons, and a story that will never repeat because pitchers can no longer increase velocity or movement naturally through player development.

SP Taylor Guerreri (13, Rays prospect) - This kid is my second favorite because he came from nowhere to get a 99 H/9 rating (and it was basically his only good rating) and he made a career out of it. Used him as a pure pitch-to-contact guy, had Maddux-like 80-90 pitch complete games if things went his way.

SP Clay Huff (15 I think, drafted) - See: Taylor Guerreri

SP Moses Bartlett (16, trade) - Knuckleballer that was a bit of a slow bloomer but when he got on, he was very solid. Had to let him go later for budget reasons and continued to have a solid career for the next five years before flaming out.

SP Ozzie Luis (15, drafted) - Like Boeve and Huff, he is still playing and he's still working with Boeve. Technically, Luis was drafted as and played as a reliever even though his stamina shot up out of the blue (another story that won't happen again). I call him "the best long reliever in baseball" but on a fresh team, he'd get the first nod as my 5th starter.


Lineup:

C: Tommy Cruz (15, trade) - Never have much luck with catchers. Still don't lol. Cruz was a bit of a success story and he did come along as a good contact hitter. He was disappointing to a degree and wanted a ton of money so...yeah...catchers just die in my hands I guess.

1B: Chris Davis (16, Free Agency) - Took a gamble with a high-dollar contract for him and it paid off big time. He played until 43 and was still productive as he turned 40. He refused to drop off and created a logjam at 1B. Completely lost everything except hitting and power vs RHP but raked vs RHP so often he stuck around.

2B: Raul Mondesi (18, Fantasy Draft) - Fits the description of "not good ratings but guys you love" because he was, and still is, very much mediocre. But his defense is excellent and he hits well-enough (sometimes surprisingly well). Love his speed as well.

3B: Joey Gallo (16, Fantasy Draft) - Wow. This guy just turned into a literal 99 contact, 99 power hitter vs RHP and one season batted .370 with 65 HR. I have no idea why he took off but even if his contact stayed lower (like it is so far in MLB18) his power is just fun (especially in Coors where he's playing). And if there was ever an excuse to hold up and use square to hit, it's Gallo

SS: Yunel Escobar (13, Rays) - Another veteran that hung around and helped the team. Always seemed to come through with runners on base. Did a lot of things decently well, even if nothing great. Just one of those guys that can help a team but not stand out much.

LF: Wil Myers (13, Rays) - To this day, I have no idea why I hit so well with Myers. When MLB13's time had come, Myers was on a 36-game hitting streak and batting .430 in June with both doubles and home runs. His ratings weren't bad, but they did not indicate he'd hit like that. I don't know what it was but he just always hit the ball hard for me. I swear twice as hard when the cowbells were ringing (I loved the sound of them in MLB13).

CF: Bo Winter (15, trade) - When I traded for Winter, he seemed like a raw, somewhat slow timetable prospect. The potential was evident and he had some game skills, but nothing stand out and a "risk" of being "just a solid player". At one point, he picked up the pace and started growing into his power while refining his play in the field. He became the cornerstone of the offense and a dominant center fielder (right when Byron Buxton was, by far, the best hitter in the game by ratings). Built a showboat/cocky personality for him as a result of him trying to out-do Buxton.

RF: Ichiro Suzuki (16 and 18, fantasy draft) - My favorite IRL hitter ever, I took Ichiro in both fantasy drafts for new franchises I started - fantasy Red Sox in MLB16 and fantasy Rockies in MLB18. In both, I love his defense, his awesome swing at the plate, and his still consistent poking the ball, making contact, and enough speed to still be a threat when he gets one into the gap or down the line. Defense is still top tier and always occupied at least a platoon role (vs LHP despite being a LHB due to his reverse splits).


Honorable Mention:


SS Jorge Mateo - another guy I loved using his speed in as many ways as possible. Annoyed me on defense sometimes...always seemed to underplay his range rating.

CF Delino DeShields, Jr. - Loved the way he played Fenway's CF. Had plenty of range to go back and cover everything not smoked. Arm left a lot to be desired, though, and that bat would just up an disappear sometimes.

P Nate Jones - I LOVED pitching with Nate in MLB13. Was the first guy I ever had that threw over 100 and I used him as much as possible.

P Carter Capps - Throws hard? Check. Nasty movement? Check. Funky delivery? Check. Yep. That's my kind of guy.

[LowerWolf]

Good idea for a thread!

My history with the series dates back to the PS1 days. I did a Braves season in 97 and 99 and ran with the Indians in 98 and 00. It's been all Braves since coming back to the series with MLB 07.

For a lot of guys, I can't remember specific seasons per se. So I'll cheat a little.

• Catcher - Brian McCann (07-13). Pretty easy choice here.
• First Base - Freddie Freeman (11-present). He's really hit well for me the last two seasons.
• Third Base - Chipper Jones (07-12). Duh.
• Shortstop - Jed Lowrie (12). Jack Wilson was my starting shortstop at the start of the season. Lowrie was my big deadline acquisition and raked for me the rest of the way.
• Left Field - Eric Thames (18). Traded for him right at the end of May. He was hitting .240 with 12 homers and 24 RBIs when I acquired him. After exactly two months with me, he's hitting .316 with 36 homers and 77 RBIs.
• Center Field - Andruw Jones (07). Along with Chipper, he carried me that season.
• Right Field - Jason Heyward (11-14). Neither Frenchy nor Markakis have ever really done that well for me.
• Starting Pitcher - Mike Foltynewicz (15-present). I've always done really well with Folty.
• Relief Pitcher - Arodys Vizcaino (17-present). I had one lights out year with Kimbrel, but otherwise always struggled with him for some reason.

Honorable Mention

• Jim Thome (1B, 00)
• Dan Uggla (2B, 11-14) - He played for me like he was supposed to in real life.
• Eric Young (CF, 15) - I think I hit .350 with him. So so fast.
• Chad Ogea (SP, 00) - I don't remember specifics, but I shut down the CPU with him.
• Jose Ramirez (RP, 17-present) - He's actually been better than Viz for me this season.

[millertime98]

There was a thread for '16 game that I subscribed to that showed drafted studs with OVR at draft time and how they progressed. I think that would be an interesting one to bring back for each year's game. It might not fit into a new post so maybe people can post screenshots, stats etc here??

I've played franchise for several years and have only had a handful of position players that turned out to be studs. Usually it's a SP or CP.

Anyway,

SP
Cueto - '13 Show - He could not be stopped. I used him on player lock with elevated sliders and dominated. Still didn't win the Cy Young (Damn you, Kershaw!!)

Antoine Sanchez - '16 Show - Drafted in 4th round with the A's. Won game 7 of the World Series. 99 velo with 88 stamina and a slider that broke off a table. Won 17-19-16-24 games his first 4 seasons.

RP
Andy Hersh - '18 Show - Drafted with Padres in 6th round. RH with decent attributes but had a 0.92 career ERA after 6 seasons.

CP
Almost (literally?) every franchise I've done is a rebuild and every single time by the third year I have to pass up a Blue Chip CP because I've already drafted 1 in each of the previous drafts. At one point I had an entire bullpen of 26 and under Blue Chip CP's.
SO, waaaay too many to mention. There are dozens of back end studs.

C - none. I've never had a stud C.

1B
Votto - every version of The Show since '11

Jesus Espinoza - '17 Show - Drafted 3rd overall with Miami. Hit 30+ HR for several seasons.

INF
2B Phillips - '13 Show - steady with the bat and dominant with the glove
SS Iglesias - '16 Show - Detroit rebuild, he ended up being a Gold Glove SS with a .300 + bat
3B Jose Sanchez - '17 Show - Drafted 8th overall with Reds. Almost hit for triple crown

OF
Almost all of my best hitters have been OF, both especially top draft picks.

[TheHusbandGamer]

Melky Cabrera ('17 CWS) - His hitting style made hitting very easy. Can always count on hits with him.


Khalil Greene ('12 STL) - Best batting stance of all time in the Show IMO. I would add this guy to my squad even when he was a Free Agent.


Ken Griffey Jr. ('07 CIN) - Home Run beast with him and Adam Dunn that year.


Adam Dunn ('07 CIN) - Powerful in game hitting duo with Griffey.


Jose Reyes ('08 NYM) - Quick and efficient base runner that year for me in game. Put good bat on the ball too.


Carlos Delgado ('08 NYM) - Game over!!! Don't dare throw a low fastball down the middle. I think I hit 50 homeruns with dude that year.


Todd Frazier ('17 CWS) - Kept my sorry White Sox competitive along with Melky.

[flyer1985]

Quote: Originally Posted by millertime98

There was a thread for '16 game that I subscribed to that showed drafted studs with OVR at draft time and how they progressed. I think that would be an interesting one to bring back for each year's game. It might not fit into a new post so maybe people can post screenshots, stats etc here?? I've played franchise for several years and have only had a handful of position players that turned out to be studs. Usually it's a SP or CP. Anyway, SP Cueto - '13 Show - He could not be stopped. I used him on player lock with elevated sliders and dominated. Still didn't win the Cy Young (Damn you, Kershaw!!) Antoine Sanchez - '16 Show - Drafted in 4th round with the A's. Won game 7 of the World Series. 99 velo with 88 stamina and a slider that broke off a table. Won 17-19-16-24 games his first 4 seasons. RP Andy Hersh - '18 Show - Drafted with Padres in 6th round. RH with decent attributes but had a 0.92 career ERA after 6 seasons. CP Almost (literally?) every franchise I've done is a rebuild and every single time by the third year I have to pass up a Blue Chip CP because I've already drafted 1 in each of the previous drafts. At one point I had an entire bullpen of 26 and under Blue Chip CP's. SO, waaaay too many to mention. There are dozens of back end studs. C - none. I've never had a stud C. 1B Votto - every version of The Show since '11 Jesus Espinoza - '17 Show - Drafted 3rd overall with Miami. Hit 30+ HR for several seasons. INF 2B Phillips - '13 Show - steady with the bat and dominant with the glove SS Iglesias - '16 Show - Detroit rebuild, he ended up being a Gold Glove SS with a .300 + bat 3B Jose Sanchez - '17 Show - Drafted 8th overall with Reds. Almost hit for triple crown OF Almost all of my best hitters have been OF, both especially top draft picks.

Do you have a link to that '16 thread? would love to give it a read

[ShadyFan25]

Id have to look back on my saves to do a whole lineup but one guy instantly comes to mind for me. Steve Lombardozzi Jr. from 15. This dude went from being the utility man barely making the opening day roster to a complete superstar. It was pretty fun to watch.

[SFNiners816]

I'll highlight 2 from my carryover save from MLB 14. First is a created prospect version of Kris Bryant from my CUBS franchise:


KRIS BRYANT
2014 .275 ave 12 HR 20 RBI
2015 .264 ave 32 HR 88 RBI
2016 .265 ave 49 HR 130 RBI
2017 .299 ave 30 HR 114 RBI
2018 .292 ave 39 HR 134 RBI
2019 .294 ave 47 HR 138 RBI
2020 .305 ave 57 HR 143 RBI
2021 .330 ave 53 HR 154 RBI
2022 .305 ave 37 HR 125 RBI
2023 .296 ave 46 HR 134 RBI
2024 .301 ave 31 HR 83 RBI (about 108 games in)


Next guy is a guy I drafted and I guess hes kinda of my Ryne Sandberg Clone (Ryno is my all time favorite Player). He's a power hitting 2nd Baseman.



MORGAN DURAN
2016 .319 ave 18 HR 55 RBI
2017 .276 ave 33 HR 110 RBI
2018 .320 ave 25 HR 90 RBI
2019 .306 ave 35 HR 94 RBI
2020 .311 ave 38 HR 112 RBI
2021 .310 ave 34 HR 119 RBI
2022 .291 ave 28 HR 108 RBI
2023 .307 ave 36 HR 104 RBI
2024 .291 ave 19 HR 86RBI (108 games in)