You got it bmbigdog. We're full now.

Once I get all the rosters, I will start building the buckets. To make it less likely anybody will get stuck with a <300K player, I will combining many of the buckets.

TEXAS

C - Ivan Rodriguez: Easy choice. Jim Sundberg was clearly the next best option and I was able to select him as the backup catcher.
1B - Frank Howard: Probably should be Palmeiro but I left him off for obvious reasons. Plus allowed me to get some Washington Senator history in there. Wanted to go Will Clark, one of my favorite players, but he wasn't good enough for long enough with Texas...clearly a Giant.
2B - Ian Kinsler: Pretty easy choice here.
3B - Adrian Beltre: Tough choice between Beltre and Buddy Bell. There's also a nice group in the tier below--Hank Blalock, Ken McMullen, Dean Palmer (was able to select him as a backup), and Steve Buechele all had nice runs with the franchise at 3B.
SS - Elvis Andrus: Didn't realize quite how long he'd been with Texas, he was #1 on total salary among hitters. Toby Harrah and Ed Brinkman were next in line. Roy Smalley was clearly a Twin, but fit here as a backup IF.
OF1 - Juan Gonzalez: Easy choice, despite being probably overrated, he was very good and won 2 MVPs.
OF2 - Rusty Greer: Underrated, had a nice long run with Texas as a solid, steady OF.
OF3 - Josh Hamilton: Bummed to leave off Ruben Sierra, but Hamilton won an MVP and schwarze allowed me to bend the rules slightly to get his MVP season in there (he was just below both the 600 PA and $8m salary thresholds). I was able to get recent Ranger hero Nelson Cruz in as a backup. And of course gotta get Jose Canseco in when you can!

SP - Fergie Jenkins, Nolan Ryan, Charlie Hough, Dick Bosman, Kenny Rogers: Got a nice little distribution from the Senators in the 60s to the 90s Rangers. Unfortunately, not a lot of pitching talent after that, though could have gone with Yu Darvish, perhaps, for some more recent representation.
RP - Jeff Russell, Danny Darwin, Joaquin Benoit, Neftali Feliz, Jeff Zimmerman, John Wetteland: More recent flair in the relievers group, naturally. Was able to the top 2 save leaders (Wetteland, Russell) and #4 (Feliz).

I like this idea. I am going to post my Twins roster.

MINNESOTA TWINS

C - Joe Mauer: Easy decision here. Mauer played his entire career with the Twins. The next best franchise catchers are Brian Harper, Butch Wynegar and Earl Battey.

1B - Kent Hrbek: This was the toughest call. I really wanted to include Carew's magical 1977 season, but it was his only Twins season at 1B. Hrbek also played his entire career with Minnesota. Oddly, he only had three seasons with over 600 PA and only one season over $5 million salary.

2B - Rod Carew: As a kid, Rod Carew was my favorite player. His 1977 season is the reason I fell in love with baseball (I was 13 years old), and I've always rooted for high-average low-power hitters ever since (Wade Boggs was my favorite player after Carew retired). By the way, Rod Carew is a great follow on Twitter. Had I used Carew at 1B, then Chuck Knoblauch would have gotten this spot. Anybody remember Keith Olbermann screaming "Watch out mom!" during a SportsCenter Knoblauch highlight? See --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnJFklbt0es for the reason why.

3B - Harmon Killebrew: Man, this guy absolutely crushed it. I was too young to remember him live, but looking at his walk, strikeout and HR totals, I think Harmon would fit right in to today's modern "3-true outcomes" game. Did you know hit hit 7 triples in a season? The only other half-way decent 3B the Twins had for a few years were Gary Gaetti and Corey Koskie. The lack of decent 3B is why I slotted Killer at 3B instead of 1B.

SS - Roy Smalley: It was tempting to include the 1965 A.L. MVP, Zoilo Versalles in this spot, but that might have been one of the worst MVP selections of all-time. The only other shortsops worth considering are Cristian Guzman and Leo Cardenas. The Twins franchise was not exactly blessed with Hall-of-Fame worthy players at SS. Smalley played six years for Minnesota and his three best seasons all came while playing for the Twins. In fact, in their history (1961+), a Twins shortstop has had a $5 million season only 5 times and Smalley has 3 of those.

OF- Kirby Puckett: This was a no-brainer. When you think of Minnesota Twins baseball, Kirby should be one of the first guys you think of. Here's another player that played his entire career with the Twins (I am seeing a trend). Killebrew just missed this distinction with his final year played in KC. Puckett was a unique player in that he would swing at crap outside the strike zone and still get hits. His career .318 average is 61st all-time, which is pretty good for a guy who swung at everything and didn't take walks.

OF - Tony Oliva: Yet another player who played his entire career with the Twins. He was the first ever rookie of the year to also lead his league in batting average. That year (1964), he also led the league in hits, doubles, total bases, runs and runs created. Long overdue, Oliva was finally elected to the Hall of Fame in 2021;

OF - Cesar Tover: I really wanted to include Lyman Bostock here, but he only played 3 years with the Twins, went to California for a year, then was tragically shot and killed. Larry Hisle, Tom Brunansky, Torii Hunter, Bob Allison were also candidates for this last spot, but the quality just wasn't there. Tovar played mostly OF in his career but was versatile enough to play the infield. Those mid-to-late 60's Twins must have been really fun to root for with Oliva, Carew, Killebrew, Tovar, Versalles, Allison, Battey.

SP: Bert Blyleven, Jim Kaat, Johan Santana, Frank Viola, Camilo Pascual : I think the first four pitchers listed here are no brainers. The fifth SP was a tougher decision. The best single season Twins SP not included is Dean Chance's 1968 year, but he only played 3 years with the Twins. Brad Radke was the other reasonable choice due to longevity, but he's a mediocre pitcher at best (not a single sim season over $6 million). Pascual's record with the Twins between 1961-66 was a sparkling 88-57, including two 20-win seasons. Ironically, Pascual played for both the Washington Senators franchises (pre-1961) and the Texas Rangers franchise (1967+).

RP - Joe Nathan, Caleb Thielbar, Eddie Guardado, LaTroy Hawkins, Al Worthington, Rick Aguilera: Not much to say about the relievers. Was tempting to add Doug Corbett but he was definitely a one-year wonder. Relief pitchers move teams so frequently, I tried to get RPs who played a few good year for the Twins. I think this group accomplishes this.

SF Giants


To me most of the starting lineup was clear cut

C Buster Posey

1B footballmm11 Although Will Clark was “clearly a Giant” he can’t make the team ahead of Willie McCovey!

2B Jeff Kent

3B Matt Williams

SS Rich Auerillia
Although other players were considered, these guys were clearly the best.

OF Bonds and Mays were no brainers. 17 of the top 20 OF seasons were by these two guys. The third OF was the problem. In the end I was torn between Orlando Cepeda and Randy Winn. Both had a couple of good seasons, but Cepeda played first sometimes and was also a Cardinal. Winn was a A/A defender and had a season in those top 20 OF seasons so that’s who got the job.

SP Juan Marichal, Tim Lincecum, and Jonathon Sanchez were clear cut. The last two spots were harder Went with 1989 Scott Garrelts and 1981 Vida Blue. Blue had 6 seasons with the Giants and 4 of them were good. Scott G got the last spot by default.

RP I went by IP like Schwarze had in the example.

I'm with you fatguyrd...feels hard to argue the Thrill over Stretch!

Cardinals
C. Ted Simmons. This was a tough call between Simmons and Molina but Simmons was the better offensive player.

1B. Albert Pujolis. Another tough call between King Albert, Keith Hernandez, and Mark McGwire. But it could be argued that Pujolis was the best player during the first part of this century.

2B. Jose Oquendo. Other considerations were Tom Herr, Matt Carpenter, and Fernando Vina. Jose’s defensive ratings of A/A+ made the difference here.

SS. Ozzie Smith. On the Mt. Rushmore of all time shortstops.

3B. Joe Torre. He might be the best catcher of the 1960s but for the Cards his 1971 season at 3b is the best. Scott Rolen Terry Pendleton and Ken Boyer were other considerations.

OF Willie McGee, Ray Langford, and Jim Edmonds. Tough choices here with base stealing champs Lou Brock and Vince Coleman but they were liabilities on defense.

SP Bob Gibson, John Tudor, Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, and Jose Deleon. Pretty much straightaway here. Maybe Bob Tewksbury or Dick Hughes instead of Deleon. Hughes only played two years. Any of the current guys haven’t been around long enough.

KC Royals

C - Salvador Perez: I originally had Darrell Porter here as he was great in his time as a Royal, but overall he could also be considered a Brewer or a Cardinal. Salvy deserves this spot, and Mike Macfarlane is a solid backup.
1B - John Mayberry: Not a long-time Royal (6 seasons) but clearly those were his best years including 2 All-Star appearances. I considered sliding George Brett here and putting Kevin Seitzer at 3rd but thought better of it.
2B - Frank White: Pretty easy choice here, Whit Merrifield was the only other name even close.
3B - George Brett: Obvious choice, and to make things interesting I selected his $15M, 515 PA season.
SS - Freddie Patek: It was either Patek or Alcides Escobar and I love old school so there you go. KC has never had a long-term stud at SS.
OF1 - Willie Wilson: Obvious.
OF2 - Amos Otis: Long, solid career with KC. Underrated overall I think.
OF3 - Alex Gordon: Also considered Johnny Damon and Carlos Beltran here. Both had solid starts to their careers in KC, Beltran even won ROY. But Alex spent his entire career there and won 8 gold gloves so he deserves this spot. Also he was a Nebraska Cornhusker so don't think that didn't play a big part LOL.

SP - Bret Saberhagen, Mark Gubicza, Paul Splittorff, Dennis Leonard, Kevin Appier: Hated to leave out Larry Gura. Also considered David Cone as he had a great season in a Royal uniform, but he's a Met or a Yankee.
RP - Jeff Montgomery, Dan Quisenberry, Joakim Soria, Greg Holland, Wade Davis, Kelvin Herrera : The first 4 were easy, they are 1-4 career saves leaders for KC, and it's a huge drop to #5.

As for my 4 bench players I didn't go with Royal "icons" I simply went for a mix of power, speed, and defense to provide late game help.

TIGERS

C - I went with Freehan. Lance Parrish was the other consideration but Freehan has the best collection of Detroit catching seasons. Matt Nokes is the back up

1B - Triple Crown MVP Miggy was my first consideration but I snuck him into 3B so I could use longtime Tiger, Norm Cash and his 1961 season here.

2B - Kinsler had some solid seasons but I had to go with the obvious selection of Lou Whitaker

3B - There’s no real standout Tigers at third but Cabrera had a couple of good seasons at the hot corner before moving over to first so I used one of those to sneak Cash into the line up at first.

SS - If I have Whitaker I have to take Trammell as his double play partner.

OF1 - Al Kaline. Another obvious choice but surprisingly most of his seasons are under 600pa.

OF2 - Lots of choice for the rest of the Tiger outfield spots. Many had a couple good seasons (Gibson, JD Martinez, Castellanos, etc) but I went with Curtis Granderson in CF. He had a nice Detroit run before playing for every other team in the league

OF3 - Sim legend, Tony Phillips.

SP - This was pretty straightforward with Lolich, McLain, Morris, Verlander, and Scherzer.

RP - had to take MVP Willie Hernandez and Saves leader Todd Jones. John Hiller had lots of decent Tiger seasons and then I rounded out with a good Saucier and Shane Greene and recent all star Justin Wilson.

Bench has a lights out pinch hitter in Gates Brown, a speedster in Gary Pettis and a couple of others.

L.A. Dodgers

Already did some of this...

C - Piazza - Last rd draft selection... Probably only a Dodger, or even a MLer, b/c he was somehow related to Lasorda...Think that's mostly right...I'm sure someone is clearer than me about this...Wanted a Roseboro BU, but all his seasons had too many PAs...

1B - Garvey - Had to be...

2B - Lopes - Just always liked him...

3B - Penguin - After a couple of decades of the Dodgers rotating guys thru 3B (Garvey started at 3B, but couldn't make the throw to 1st), Cey came in and FINALLY stuck at third...Beltre had a better season, but Cey was more 'iconic' IMHO...

SS - M Wills - Just a wonderful/magical '62 season...Held the single season SB record for quite awhile til Brock/Rickey came around...

OF - Gibson, the driving force behind the '88 championship...Oh yeah, he went 1 for 1 in the WS...Dusty, a Dodger...Kemp, a solid OFer...Coulda gone w/ Betts, but he's a 'hired gun', not a Dodger...Maybe coulda gone w/ B Butler, but didn't...

SP - Given the Dodgers history, OBVIOUSLY the toughest call...Koufax/Drysdale were easy...They still may be the only teammates in sports history to stage a holdout together...Sutton, the perm, nuff said...Fernando(mania), Another magical season in Dodger lore...Orel, the other driving force from the '88 champs...TOUGH to leave out the current guys, esp. Kershaw, but I'm old school, and I stand by my decisions...

RP - P Regan (aka The Vulture), a for his time choice...M Marshall, 106 gms, 209 IP as a reliever...NEVER gonna see that again...S Howe, the poster child for the drugged '80s, Gagne, most expensive RP season in the sim(?)...

OAKLAND A'S
Built with players falling into the 5 following ERAs: The Mustache Gang (70's 3-time WS Champs); Billy Ball (Early-Middle 80's); Bash Brothers (Late 80's/Early 90's); Moneyball (Late 90's-Middle 2000's); and Post Moneyball (2005-Present)

C - Terry Steinbach (Bash Brothers) : Not a historically strong position, it boiled down to Steinbach and Tenace. I chose Steinbach specifically because I wanted to use Gene Tenace (Mustache Gang) as my utility catcher. Another option included a couple of solid seasons by Jason Kendall.
1B - Jason Giambi (Monebyall) : This was a 2-horse race b/w Giambi and McGwire. I chose my 1B for similar reasons as my catcher, so I could use Mark McGwire's (Bash Brothers) injury plagued utitily season, which doesn't get used often.
2B - Jed Lowrie (Post-Moneyball) : The weakest position in Oakland history. Randy Velarde's combined season is the strongest, but didn't fit the theme. Dick Green never had over 600 PAs. Tony Phillips' (Billy Ball) best seasons were not with Oakland, though he qualified for a utility position here.
3B - Carney Lansford (Bash Brothers) : This contest was b/w Lansford, Eric Chavez, and 70's hero, Sal Bando. It was easy for me, as Lansford was the glue that held the Bash Brothers teams together..
SS - Bert Campaneris (Mustache Gang) : Miguel Tejada has better seasons for sure, but Campy held almost all of the A's longevity records before Rickey surpassed them. Plus Tejada never played all 9 positions in a single game!
OF1 - Jose Canseco (Bash Brothers) : The first 40/40 player ever and that season does very solidly in WIS.
OF2 - Reggie Jackson (Mustache Gang) : My all-time favorite player until Rickey came along.
OF3 - Rickey Henderson (Billy Ball): Rickey qualifies as a Bash Brother too, but he started out as a Billy-Baller and helped the A's make the playoffs two years after losing 109 games. He literally owns almost every A's record and is the greatest lead-off hitter of all time. WIS' programs always has him underachieving, but I wouldn't be playing WIS if he wasn't available. My all-time favorite, as i was 13 years old his rookie season and grew up watching him. Matt Stairs (Moneyball) is an underrated offensive power and will help any team. Mike Davis (Billy Ball) had a couple of decent years for the early 80's A's. Other OF's could have included Joe Rudi, Dave Henderson, Tony Armas, Dwayne Murphy, Coco Crisp, and Billy North.

SP - Vida Blue (Mustache Gang); Catfish Hunter (Mustache Gang): The 2 powerhouse pitchers led the A's to 3-straight WS championships and 5-straight AL West Crowns. Catfish is a Hall of Famer, and Blue should have been, if he hadn't been overused back in the day.
SP- Barry Zito (Moneyball); Tim Hudson (Moneyball): These 2, along with Mark Mulder were the main reason the A's made the playoffs regularly in the Moneyball ERA. They could never quite get past the early rounds though.
SP- Dave Stewart (Bash Brothers): A 4-time Cy Young runner up and the King of the Bash-Brothers Staff. He just needs to stay away from hiring escorts. Other SP's that would have been just awesome include Bob Welch, Mike Moore, Ken Holtzman, Mulder, Sonny Gray, Billy-Ball studs Mike Norris and Steve McCatty, along with Matt Keough and Rick Langford.
RP - Rollie Fingers (Mustache Gang) - The 1st closer in MLB history and one of the few RP in the HOF
RP - Dennis Eckersley (Bash Brothers) - His 1988-1992 might be the most dominate run for a closer in MLB history. Also a HOF; Gene Nelson (Bash Brothers) and Rick Honeycutt (Bash Brothers): These 2 set up men were as reliable as they came for the A's 3 WS runs 88-90.
RP- Huston Street (Post-Moneyball) and Blake Tiernan (Post Moneyball): Street is one of the most consistent closers in the last 2 decades. Tiernan also may not quite fit the theme, but his all-star season is quite significant. So many other A's relievers could have been chosen. Too many to name.

Final Count:
Mustache Gang: 6
Billy Ball: 3
Bash Brothers: 8
Moneyball: 4
Post Moneyball: 3

Nothing special about the Milwaukee Brewers line-up - all of the usual suspects. I am happy that I was able to get a decent "Seattle Pilot" onto the roster though. Greg Goossen will be a great bench player for someone...

Phillies

C- Darren Daulton - Strongly considered Carlos Ruiz, but chose the 1980 World Series catcher over the 2008 World Series catcher.

1b - Ryan Howard - Between the 2006 and 2009 seasons, his lowest home run output was 45.

2b - Chase Utley - No other second baseman came close.

3b - Mike Schmidt - Dick Allen and Scott Rolen were stars with the Phils, but Schmidt may be the overall best third baseman in MLB history.

SS - Jimmy Rollins - Larry Bowa was the other possibility, but I was always a much bigger fan of JRoll.

OF - Bobby Abreu, Shane Victorino, Johnny Callison - Abreu had holes in his game, but, man, what a hitter. Victorino was a key player during the most successful era in Phils' history. Callison was my favorite player when I first started paying attention to baseball. Lenny Dykstra? Sorry, not a fan.

SP - Steve Carlton, Jim Bunning, Chris Short, Roy Halladay, Aaron Nola - Lefty's '72 season, winning 27 games for a team that won a total of 59 games, will never be forgotten. Although Bunning and Short weren't Koufax and Drysdale, they definitely were two of the top pitchers from that era. Halladay and Nola have been two of the few modern-day Phils' starters to find their way into the Cy Young Award discussion. Wish I also could have included Cole Hamels. Considered Zach Wheeler, as well, but he's only been in Philly for two seasons.

RP - Bill Wilson, Gene Garber, Tug McGraw, Billy Wagner, Jonathan Papelbon, Hector Neris - Tried to include as many eras as possible. Some of these guys are popular WIS players; admittedly, a few others -- such as Wilson and Neris -- are not.

LOVE this stuff...


DBP

Just finished the NYMets roster so I'm going to post when everything is still fresh on my mind.

C- Mike Piazza. Was a tough choice considering he played just as many seasons for the Dodgers as the Mets. The mainstays of the Mets like Jerry Grote, Todd Hundley and John Stearns just never were very good. Hundley had a good 1996 season but that was about it. Considered Gary Carter but I immediately think of Montreal. I added Grote to the bench.
1B- Keith Hernandez. Originally went with Pete Alonzo but swapped Alonzo for Hernandez.
2B- Daniel Murphy. Not sure I made the right choice here. Maybe should have went with Edgardo Alfonso but I thought he'd be better placed at 3B.
3B-David Wright. The obvious choice even though Alfonso would have worked too.
SS-Jose Reyes. Again no problems deciding who goes here. HoJo was a 1 year wonder with his '89 season.
OF-Darryl Strawberry, Carlos Beltran, Lee Mazzilli. Strawberry was an easy pick.Beltran had some really good seasons with the Mets and the last spot was between Mazzilli and Mookie Wilson.
Bench- I added Jerry Grote, Bud Harrelson, Hubie Brooks, Michael Conforto and Wally Backman.

SP-Dwight Gooden, Tom Seaver, Jacob deGrom, Sid Fernandez, Jerry Koosman. Considered Jon Matlack, David Cone and Matt Harvey but thought the 5 I took screamed Mets more.
RP-Jesse Orosco, Jeurys Familia, John Franco, Armando Benitez, Tug McGraw, Jeff Innis. Not many solid long-time Mets relief pitchers to choose from.