Expansion Team Milestones, Miscellaneous Findings, All-Time Team, & Conclusion
Expansion Team milestones (ranked by earliest to reach play-offs)
Team Nth year team reached: .500 play-offs W.S. Championship
Arizona Diamondbacks 2 2 4 4
Colorado Rockies 3 3 15 -
Florida/Miami Marlins 5 5 5 5
New York Mets 8 8 8 8
Kansas City Royals 3 8 12 17
Toronto Blue Jays 7 9 16 16
Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays 11 11 11 -
Sea. P./Milwaukee Brewers 10 13 14 -
Montreal E./Wash. Nationals 11 13 - -
San Diego Padres 10 16 16 -
Los Angeles, etc. Angels 2 19 41 41
Houston Colt 45s/Astros 8 19 44 -
Seattle Mariners 15 19 - -
Wash. Sen./Texas Rangers 9 36 50 -
Although the Nationals and Mariners franchises have never been in a World Series, it would be unfair to their fans not to acknowledge that the Montreal Expos had the best record in baseball in their 25th season, but no post season ensued due to a strike – and that the Seattle Mariners in their 25th season won as many games as any team in the history of Major League Baseball has ever won during the regular season, but lost in the A.L. Championship Series.
Incidental Findings:
It seems an unusual number of highly versatile players are taken in expansion drafts: Chuck Hinton, Felix Mantilla, Bob Johnson, Tommy Harper, Bob Bailor, Garth Iorg, Bob Oliver, Ramon Martinez, Miguel Cairo, and Tony Batista. Those are just the multi-positional expansion picks who made the Top Picks list. Bailor played every position at least once - including pitcher. Infield-outfield versatility has become a necessity on rosters this decade with their 12 or 13 man pitcher staffs. My recollection is that even during the 7 man bench era, there were always one or two guys who could play multiple positions. There are now a much higher percentage of those types on modern 4 or 5 man benches. Another possible reason there were so many expansion picks who were utility players is that if an established team is only going to protect only 15 players, it is unlikely the team’s utility player is going to be one of them. Hence, these players were more available for the taking.
What really jumps out is how many outstanding mangers were once expansion picks. Gil Hodges, Roger Craig, Dom Zimmer, Jim Fregosi, Lou Piniella, Cito Gaston, and Joe Girardi have all managed in the World Series. Buck Rogers and Eric Wedge were highly respected managers who brought smaller market teams into the play-offs. Ken Aspromonte, Maury Wills, and Joey Amalfitano managed, too, but with less success. Ernie Whitt managed Canada’s most recent World Classic Baseball team and managed the Canadian team in this year’s Pan Am games to a gold medal. One expansion pick Haywood Sullivan was drafted by the Senators from Boston, then flipped over to the Kansas City A’s, where he eventually became their manager. Later, he became a general manager and part owner for Boston. In his owner capacity, Haywood was sued by fellow expansion pick Tommy Harper back in 1985 when Harper was one of Boston’s minor league coaches. The suit was over how Harper was treated by the Red Sox which had a relationship with the whites-only Elks Club of Winter Haven, Florida.
Bill Stoneman is another expansion pick who became a general manager – for two teams: first, one year for the Expos – the team for whom he pitched two no hitters . . . and 8 years for the Angels 1999 – 2007. On the respectful side, Stoneman deserves credit for their 2002 World Championship. On the shameful side, he deserves blame for the Gary Matthews, Jr. contract. It is no coincidence that Stoneman’s didn’t last as the Angel’s GM after that deal.
A couple of expansion picks - Jim Rooker and Claude Raymond - had long careers as broadcasters for the Pirates and Expos respectively. There may have been others. After a 10-0 Pittsburgh lead in a game against host Philadelphia, Rooker said he would walk home if the Pirates lost. They blew it and lost. After the season, Rooker made the 300 mile trek across Pennsylvania for charity. Raymond broadcast the Expos games in French for 30 years, and then came out of retirement to broadcast in English for the team’s farewell season. Another expansion pick Julio Cruz does Spanish broadcasts for the Seattle Mariners. The former first round expansion pick pitcher Brian Anderson is currently one of the voices for Tampa Bay Rays games. Another Brian Anderson, who never played in the Major Leagues, broadcasts locally for the Milwaukee Brewers and nationally for TBS baseball.
Two players were drafted twice: Bobby Shantz in ’60 and ’61 and Al Fitzmorris in ’68 and ’76. Ken Aspromonte was picked in 1960, then his brother Bob was picked in 1961. Mike Bell was selected in the 1997 expansion draft and his grandfather Gus Bell was taken in the 1961 expansion draft.
Do expansion picks get traded more often than other players? For many years, Tommy Davis (a ’68 pick) and Bob Miller (a ’61 pick) held the record for playing on the greatest number of different teams. Their record was set at 10 and both had played multiple stints for various teams. They happened to be teammates on the ’63 – ‘66 Dodgers – the team where they spent more years than with any other. I don’t think you could say that mid 1960s Dodgers get traded more often than other players. I do think you can say that expansion picks are typically the type of players who are regarded as fill-ins or trade fodder rather than franchise cornerstones. Role players and fill-ins get traded more often – if they can last long enough.
Finally, I leave you with what would be the ideal 25 man roster based on how valuable each player was over their post expansion pick career – compared to hypothetical replacements.
All-time Expansion Pick team (by AWAR + WSAB/2 and potential role for team)
Player Year From By AWAR + WSAB/2 Pos.
Starting Line-up:
Tommy Harper ’68 Cle. Pilots 41.50 3B-2B-OF
Bobby Abreu ’97 Hou. T.B. 140.70 RF
Randy Winn ’97 Fla. T.B. 49.75 LF-OF
Jeff Conine ’92 K.C. Fla. 49.30 DH-1B-OF
Nate Colbert ’68 Hou. S.D. 36.20 1B
Ruppert Jones ’76 K.C.R. Sea. M. 41.45 CF
Jim Fregosi ’60 Bos. Angels 93.50 SS
Ernie Whitt ’76 Bos. Tor. 31.80 C
Eric Young ’92 L.A.D. Col. 26.20 2B
Bench:
Carl Everett ’92 N.Y.Y. Fla. 40.05 OF
Lou Piniella ’68 Cle. Pilots 36.95 LF-RF
Vinny Castilla ’92 Braves Col. 23.75 3B
Eddie Bressoud ’61 S.F. Hou. 23.40 SS
Brad Ausmus ’92 N.Y.Y. Col. 18.45 C
Honorable Mention:
Dmitri Young ’97 Cin. T.B. 30.30 OF-1B-DH
Chuck Hinton ’60 Bal. Was.2 28.80 OF-IF
Joe Randa ’97 Pit. Ariz. 24.50 3B
Damian Miller ’97 Min. Ariz. 19.10 C
Nate Colbert is the starter over Carl Everett in our fantasy expansion team, because the outfield already has three speedy defenders while Colbert was a better firstbaseman defensively than Conine – plus: Colbert hit righties better than Everett. You could platoon the two. Since Lou Piniella mashed lefties, while Rupert Jones was stymied by them, the line-up vs. LHP would have Everett take center and Piniella be the DH. Without a DH, Colbert goes to the bench and Conine plays first. Vinny Castilla beats out Joe Randa for the roster spot, because he played some shortstop and has a higher platoon split. (Harper and Randa both hit righties as easily as lefties.)
Therefore, Castilla would make a better player for the bench. Otherwise, they would be very close. Heck, considering Tommy Harper played the outfield or second-base more games than he played thirdbase, Randa might be the best all-time expansion picked third baseman. It depends on your formula. Hence, we have list of honourable mentions. No worries here about having ample back-ups for each position: Harper, Bressoud, and Castilla each covered multiple positions. Brad Ausmus gets the nod over Damian Miller as back-up catcher, because he had a much greater platoon split that fits in nicely with left-handed batting Ernie Whitt. Ausmus, by the way, stuck longer in the Majors after his selection than any player other than Trevor Hoffman – and about tied with Jim Fregosi – unless Bobby Abreu or Miguel Cairo play another two-and-a-half years.
Rotation:
Dean Chance ’60 Bal. Was.2 70.05 SP
Dick Drago ’68 Det. K.C.R. 45.20 SP
Dave Roberts ’68 Pit. S.D. 42.70 SP (lefty)
Jim Clancy ’76 Tex. Tor. 40.50 SP
Marty Pattin ’68 Angels Pilots 39.35 SP-RP
(5th starters slowly evolved from the late ‘60s to the mid ‘80s)
Bullpen:
Trevor Hoffman ’92 Cin. Fla 91.00 Closer
Mike Marshall ’68 Det. Pilots 50.40 RP
Skip Lockwood ’68 A’s Pilots 44.60 RP-SP
Tom Burgmeier ’68 Angels K.C.R. 39.40 RP (lefty)
Andy Ashby ’92 Phi. Col. 38.40 SP
Jim Rooker ’68 N.Y.Y. K.C.R. 35.85 SP (lefty)
Honourable Mention:
Ken Johnson ’61 Cin. Hou. 36.35 SP
Turk Farrell ’61 L.A.D. Hou. 36.00 SP-RP
Carl Morton ’68 Braves Mtl. 36.50 SP
Pete Vuckovich ’76 Chi.W. Tor. 34.45 SP-RP
Jeff Suppan ’97 Bos. Ariz. 32.70 SP
Dave Giusti ’68 St.L. S.D. 37.35 RP
Hal Woodeshick ’60 Min. Was.2 28.00 RP (lefty)
Bob Miller ’61 St.L. Mets 26.65 RP
The 11 pitcher staff is a compromise between the 10 pitchers usually carried in the 1960s and the 12 or 13 pitchers usually carried now. Starters take the long man spots in the bullpen, because long men are the 6th and 7th starters on their teams – and starters have unfairly high ERAs compared to relievers. You know they do because 1) they get tagged for many runs that relievers let in and 2) starters have to pace themselves.
Notice Bob Miller just barely sneaks onto the honourable mention list as the Mets’ only representative here. Montreal didn’t do much better, except Carl Morton is a more indisputable honourable mention – and gave the Expos a 285 inning Rookie of the Year performance. After the Mets gave Miller a year in an undefined pitching role, he was traded to the Dodgers where he thrived. In return the Mets received two players who never amounted to anything (in MLB that is).
Concluding Remark
For all the fun expansion drafts have given us, let’s hope there won’t be another one – at least not without a corresponding contraction. Expansion may be a great thing for baseball and for the incoming metropolitan areas. However, there is something that is overlooked. Baseball is a world we can believe we have some expertise in. With all the chaos in our lives, it is wonderful to indulge in a contained world of such order. It isn’t overwhelming to have a good idea of who the different characters are participating in the story of each season’s quest for the championship. Well, actually, it is overwhelming; As it is, I spend way more time keeping speed on players as is healthy – and that’s mostly just the American League teams. Adding more teams to the leagues would be going in the wrong direction – away from a world we can understand.