Midseason "Moneyball" All-Stars – American League

By Ryan McGowan

Like my colleague Trevor Freeman, Michael Lewis’ Moneyball is one of my favorite books.  For any baseball fan, the inside story of Billy Beane’s quest to change traditional thinking and manage a baseball team based entirely on analyzing statistics and turning the conventional wisdom upside down is a fascinating read.  Looking at the 2006 season up to this point, I have chosen a 25-man American League All-Star team that accomplishes the major goals of any team driven by a Moneyball philosophy.

In no particular order, these goals are:

1. Find players who get on base (high on-base percentage, or OBP) and hit for some power (the combination of the two produces a high on-base plus slugging, or OPS, the golden statistic of Moneyball).
2. Pay no attention to fielding statistics.
3. Spend as little money as possible.

STARTING LINEUP:

1B – Kevin Youkilis, Boston ($335,000)

Youkilis is one of the minor stars of Lewis’ book, earning the nickname “The Greek God of Walks” from Beane, even though he is actually Jewish.  In his first season starting for Boston, Youk has racked up a .426 OBP and .924 OPS, and has displaced the speedy Coco Crisp (brought in as a replacement for the departed Johnny Damon), a more conventional leadoff hitter, from the #1 spot in the dangerous Red Sox lineup.

2B – Jose Lopez, Seattle ($335,000)

Lopez gets a nod over the Yankees’ Robinson Cano because of his better power and production numbers (9 HR to 4 for Cano, and 53 RBI to 27, despite Cano’s presence in the powerful Yankee lineup).  He checks in with a .782 OPS.

3B – Hank Blalock, Texas ($3,050,000)

Third base is the one position in the AL where all the top OPS players are all making a ton of money.  Hey, even Billy Beane has to open his wallet sometimes.  Blalock is an absolute bargain at $3+ million, with an .816 OPS, 11 HR, and 54 RBI.  

SS – Jhonny Peralta, Cleveland ($750,000)

Peralta gets the nod over the A’s own Bobby Crosby because of his higher number of walks (33 to 21).  He also has a .721 OPS and 7 HR’s.

OF – Nick Swisher, Oakland ($335,000)

Swisher is another of the darlings of Lewis’ book, a player whom Beane coveted above all others in the 2002 draft but for whom no other general manager particularly cared enough.  Now in his second full season in Oakland, Swisher is proving his GM right.  He checks in with a .966 OPS (.402 OBP), with 19 HR and 49 RBI, all at a league-minimum salary.

OF – Grazy Sizemore, Cleveland ($666,667)

Sizemore is the product of Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro’s decision to emulate the Moneyball philosophy by jettisoning the Indians’ high-priced stars who led them to perennial success in the 90’s in favor of some new blood who are the backbone of the recent resurgence of the Tribe.  He has a .923 OPS, with 15 HR and 38 RBI, has walked 31 times and gets on base at a .375 clip.

OF – Curtis Granderson, Detroit ($335,000)

One of the stars of the surprising Tigers, owners of the best record in baseball, is Granderson, thanks to his .890 OPS with 11 HR and 42 RBI.  He has walked a solid 44 times and has a .388 OBP.

C – Joe Mauer, Minnesota ($400,000)

One of the true surprises of the first half of the season, the AL’s leading hitter (.377) and former #1 overall draft pick is also an OPS machine, checking in at .968, good for 7th in the league.  He has walked 33 times and has a .444 OBP.  It remains to be seen how the rigors of catching (and of playing on the turf in the Metrodome) will affect his play over the second half of the year; indeed, no catcher has won a batting title since Ernie “Schnozz” Lombardi of the 1942 Boston Braves.  No American League catcher has ever won the batting title.  However, if Mauer keeps getting on base, he will put himself in a good chance to contend.

DH – Travis Hafner, Cleveland ($2,700,000)

Hafner, along with Sizemore one of the key “new blood” of Indians, checks in at an outstanding 1.075 OPS, which includes a .450 OBP.  In addition, he has slugged 21 HR, 62 RBI, and has reached base via base on balls 63 times.  

STARTING PITCHERS:

Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay ($371,000)

Imagine what kind of damage the Mets could be doing this year if they had held onto Kazmir instead of trading him to the Rays for Victor Zambrano.  Kazmir has been the first true ace the franchise has ever had.  He is 9-4 with a 3.21 ERA, with 35 walks and 100 strikeouts, tied with Mike Mussina for third in the league.

Nate Robertson, Detroit ($402,500)

One of two Tigers on this left, Robertson has been a big factor in the rebirth of the Motown franchise this season.  He is 7-3 with a 3.38 ERA, 33 BB and 66 K.

Justin Verlander, Detroit ($980,000)

Although he has cooled down recently from his hot start, Verlander checks in at 9-4 with a 3.39 ERA, 31 BB and 58 K, with an impressive 1.28 WHIP.

Francisco Liriano, Minnesota ($327,000)

Liriano is one of the real surprises of the season, whose best moment probably came on June 22 when he outdueled Roger Clemens in the Rocket’s first start of the season in a Twins win over the Astros.  Despite not starting the season in the starting rotation, he is 7-1 with a 2.17 ERA, a 1.06 WHIP, and a great strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.89.

Dan Haren, Oakland ($550,000)

Haren gets the nod for the fifth starter over the Angels’ Ervin Santana despite Santana’s better won-loss percentage.  Haren has a 3.56 ERA to Santana’s 4.03, and leads him in WHIP (1.14 to 1.21), walks (22 to 28), and strikeouts (81 to 64).

BENCH PLAYERS:

1B – Justin Morneau, Minnesota ($385,000)

.891 OPS, 19 HR, 62 RBI

2B – Robinson Cano, New York ($381,100)

.792 OPS.

SS – Bobby Crosby, Oakland ($800,000)

.686 OPS, 8 HR.

UTIL – Yuniesky Betancourt, Seattle ($677,500)

.792 OPS, 30 RBI.

OF – Jonny Gomes, Tampa Bay ($355,800)

.872 OPS, 17 HR, 48 RBI

DH – David Ortiz, Boston ($6,500,000)

Hey, for $6.5 million a year, Ortiz seems like a bargain.  Would you rather have him or Alex Rodriguez for a scant $18.5 million more?  Still, for the purposes of this team, we’ll keep Hafner in the starting lineup because of his salary, even though in real life Big Papi would be the #4 hitter in this lineup.

RELIEF PITCHERS:

Jonathan Papelbon, Boston ($335,400)

2-1, 0.46 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 23 saves, .159 BAA.

Huston Street, Oakland ($339,625)

1-3, 3.74 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 18 saves, .198 BAA.

Chris Ray, Baltimore ($335,000)

1-2, 3.38 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 19 saves, .198 BAA.

J.J. Putz, Seattle ($415,000)

1-0, 2.50 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 12 saves, 6 BB, 50 K, .195 BAA.

Ervin Santana, Los Angeles ($350,000)

8-3, 4.03 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 28 BB, 64 K.  We’ll use him as a spot starter and a long man out of the bullpen.  Not a bad luxury to have here.

The final tally for this 25-man roster: $22,411,592.  Just $7 million more than the red-hot Florida Marlins, and only $177 million less than the Yankees.