End of era(s)? Available Players...

[jaybird2001wi]

I am looking at available free agents and the names that are available stand out to me and makes me think that if this were 1996, the players available could form a very good team or perhaps a World Series-caliber team with the players available.

 

Here is what amazes me the most, I will put together a roster of the players available (those who had an at-bat in 1996, Middle infielder FAs are very short now) and their stats from 1996:

 

C) Mike Piazza - .336 BA, .422 OBP, 36 HR, 105 RBI (w/Dodgers, 27 years old, now 39)

1B) Julio Franco - .322 BA, .407 OBP, 14 HR, 76 RBI (w/Indians, 37 years old, now 49)

2B) Tony Graffanino - Rookie Year in 1996 (24 years old w/Braves, now 35)

SS) Neifi Perez - Rookie Year in 1996 (23 years old w/Rockies, now 34)

3B) Jeff Cirillo - .325 BA, .391 OBP, 15 HR, 46 2B, 5 3B, 83 RBI (w/Brewers, 26 years old, now 38)

LF) Barry Bonds - .308 BA, .461 OBP, 42 HR, 129 RBI, 40 SB, 151 BB (w/Giants, 31 years old, now 43)

CF) Kenny Lofton - .317 BA, .372 OBP, 14 HR, , 35 2B, 75 SB, 132 R (w/Indians, 29 years old, now 40)

RF) Sammy Sosa - .273 BA, .323 OBP, 40 HR, 100 RBI (w/Cubs, 27 years old, now 39)

 

SP) Roger Clemens - 3.63 ERA, 10-13, 1.32 WHIP, 257:106 K/BB (w/last season as Red Sox, 33 years old, now 45)

SP) David Wells - 5.14 ERA, 11-14, 1.32 WHIP, 130:51 K/BB (w/Orioles, 33 years old, now 44; 1995 All-Star with Tigers)

SP) Aaron Sele - 5.32 ERA, 7-11, 1.64 WHIP, 137:67 K/BB (w/Red Sox, 26 years old, now 38)

RP) Jose Mesa - 3.73 ERA, 39 Saves, 1.34 WHIP (w/Indians, 30 years old, now 42)

RP) Bob Wickman - 4.42 ERA, 7-1, 1.56 WHIP (w/Yanks and Brewers (traded w/ G. Williams remember that?), 27 years old, now 39)

 

Key reserves: Ryan Klesko (36 years old), Orlando Palmeiro (39 years old), Reggie Sanders (36 years old)

 

Aside from all of this, does anyone believe any of these players have an at bat or pitch left in them? I would immediately eliminate Bonds and Clemens by default, maybe Sosa too. But it is amazing that I could "almost" put together a decent team of veterans with what is left out there.

I would anticipate Lofton may be forced into retirement, he basically "ran out" of offers early on when teams began signing others (Jenkins to Philly, Cameron to Brewers, Luis Gonzalez to Marlins, etc.) I also heard Steve Finley is trying to stick with a Major League club and was at the winter meetings.

Piazza is a sad story in and of itself, but at the stage he is in now, it was inevitable. He stuck with catching for so long and was too stubborn to switch to 1B when everyone knew his knees were beginning to fail and everyone knew he did not have the ability to call a quality game.

Franco will probably try to find some type of playing employment, whether its a minor league deal or indy league team. But since he said he wanted to play until he was 50 and is now 49, I would anticipate he will hang them up.

[endaround]

Eliminating Bonds eliminates the only one with any real value

[Tisko]

I don't know about Graffanino. The only reason that he isn't employed in my opinion is because of his knee. I bet that he catches on with a team midseason when he is ready to resume baseball.

 

I would not be surprised to see Lofton sign on with a team before the end of spring training. The Rays are already interested, and someone is going to lose an OF due to injuries.

[dadofandrew]

Almost any of them could be reserves. However, once you've been an everyday guy, it's tough to get 100 AB's, especially if you have $20M in the bank.

[apirk]

Eliminating Bonds eliminates the only one with any real value

True

 

 

I'd probably add Lohse to the SP.

I think teams ae doing the right thing by not going after guys like these and instead letting younger players get aB/innings. Plus, they are cheaper.

[jaybird2001wi]

Keep in mind, the reason I didn't include Lohse to the SP is that he didn't pitch in 1996. I was only doing it based on the 1996 season and essentially trying to do a retrospective as to how far they have gone since then. But if you factor in everyone left as free agents, you can create an entire roster.

But the irony of my comparisons is that four of them I included are/were suspected of using PEDs with two being included in the Mitchell Report. The other two are Sosa and Perez (Neifi was suspended for using greenies).