The All-Time MLB Player Draft part X: Who did we miss?

Just for fun I decided to try and put together the best possible team I from all of the players that nobody drafted. I was actually surprised how good the team turned out and after running it through the same analysis, it scored a 140.9; 140.9 would have been last if compared what wended up with, but not by that much.

Offense

The lineup had some easy choices but also a few I had to dig a bit for. The bench also came together fairly quickly although there are still plenty of great players still out there.

Starters

C Joe Torre - 131.6: Torre could really hit and had a pretty long career. He was not a standout with the glove at all but his bat was enough to carry his ACV over 130.

1B Jim Thome 146.5: Someone who probably should have been drafted, Thome is simply one of the best power hitters ever. He also has maintained his level of effectiveness for a very long time and his phenomenal career walk rate only furthers his value.

2B Charlie Gehringer 137.1: A pretty bad omission by us, Gehringer could really hit and wasn't too bad with the glove either.

3B Ron Santo 134.2: If I had control over hall of fame inductions Santo would be one of the first guys I put in. I actually expected him to rate higher. He has power, patience and was an asset in the field. A relatively short career prevents him from being among the all-time great 3B's.

SS Joe Cronin 130.8: An excellent glove man who could hit too, got derailed briefly mid career and that hurt his value but he was still a great player.

LF Gary Sheffield 148.8: The single biggest swing and miss by our group collectively. Maybe once Sheffield retires people will forget that he's a pain and realize how extraordinary of a player he was.

CF Larry Doby 137.2: The first American Leaguer to break the color barrier, just like Robinson, Doby is probably underrated as a player. He didn't have a very long career either, but did everything well.

RF Paul Waner 144.7: Big Poison was another serious miss on our parts. Waner had the misfortune of starting his career just as the home run was coming into favor. If he'd played 20 years earlier he might be considered among the best ever. Waner was a doubles machine and an asset in the field.

DH Harry Heilman 144.0 (145.0): Heilman led the league in batting four times and had plenty of power too. He was a natural with the bat but never at home in the field and that is why he is the DH instead of Thome.

Bench

C Gene Tenace 120.6: Tenace has probably the largest disparity between batting average and walk rate I know of. He's similar to Torre in that he is a hitter first and a catcher second but overall I still think he makes the most sense here.

IF Todd Helton 135.5: There might be better options here but I like Helton's combo of hitting and fielding. The numbers have been inflated by the park a bit but that doesn't change the fact that he's been a great player.

OF Larry Walker 139.8: Defense, speed, power, patience, throwing arm, he had them all.

UTIL Frankie Frish 129.3: A great baserunner and very good defender with enough power to keep hitters honest. Frisch was a very good all-around player who has been forgotten for the most part by casual fans.

UTIL Jim Edmonds 137.6: A spectacular defender, the best of this generation except for perhaps Andruw Jones in his prime. Also had a great eye and plenty of pop.

Pitching

We actually did a really good job drafting starting pitchers. No one really fell through the cracks for the most part, and the bullpen was pretty much more of the same.

SP Kevin Brown 115.6
SP Stan Coveleski 116.6
SP Red Faber 115.5
SP Ted Lyons 115.0
SP Eppa Rixey 113.5

A lot of generations and pitching styles covered here. I'm taking Rixey over Vic Willis to give myself a left-handed starter. All of these guys were essentially very good pitchers who had fairly long careers. None of them really stand out in any particular way, but that is not surprising since in the draft we took pretty much everyone who fit that mold.

RP Harry Brecheen 134.7
RP Troy Percival 121.7
RP John Hiller 129.3
RP John Wetteland 124.5
RP Tom Henke 129.5
RP Francisco Rodriguez 130.0

Brecheen is the only one of these guys who was mostly a starter, and he was a good one. His career got off to a late start, partially due to the war and as a result he was a regular until after his 28th birthday. Most of the rest of these guys were right-handed fireball closers who were dominant for at least a few seasons. Hiller fills the role of lefty-specialist and he was no stranger to the strikeout either.

Overall

While every single guy I drafted here could arguably be more useful than some guys who did make rosters, there were only a few obvious ones that fell through the cracks, particularly the corner outfielders and first baseman. I personally took Vladimir Guerrero to start over Paul Waner, Gary Sheffield and Harry Heilman... whoops.