Discussion: Who Would You Start A Franchise With?

Wilson Betemitt

Pujols, Santana, Sizemore, Hanley, Mauer.

Hmmm. Five players?

Pujols
Longoria
Hanley
Braun
Halladay

I think that'd be a pretty good start.

Wieters, Porcello, Hanley, Longoria, Sizemore

Mauer, Hanley, Albert, Braun and Longoria. No pitchers, so we gotta score alot of runs.

Joe Mauer
Hanley Ramirez
Evan Longoria
Roy Halladay
Johan Santana

period

Fernando Martinez? Really? ... that aside I think Pujols is the logical choice. And to those who picked a closer, you can't start a franchise with someone who only pitches 1 inning.. and requires a lead to do so.

Rest of list:

Pujols

Hanley
Mauer
Santana
Longoria

in no particular order:

Pujols
HanRam
Sizemore
Lincecum
Mauer

Jose Reyes
Justin Upton
Matt Wieters
Grady Sizemore
Ian Kinsler

Roy Halladay
Hanley Ramirez
Tim Lincecum
Justin Upton
Joe Mauer

Miguel Cabrera
Adam Jones
Evan Longoria
Justin Verlander
Joe Mauer

Mauer
Pujols
H. Ramirez
A-Rod
Hamilton

Derek Jeter
Nick Markakis
Joe Mauer
Johan Santana
Hanley Ramirez

Tim Lincecum
Stephen Strasburg
Hanley
Weiters
Maybin

Not because of age but that core could be contending with an ok cast.
Felix Hernandez
Albert Puljos
Lincecum
Longoria
Ichiro

Konerko, Quentin, hammels, rowand, Peavy

"Anyway, this discussion begins and ends with:

Pujols, M. Cabrera, Braun, Sizemore and David Wright. Next topic."

Okay guys, no reason for any of you to give you opinions. The discussion begins and ends with those 5, because jdr is the discussion master. Next topic.

Ha there are multiple M.Cabreras in the league. By default you get which everyone produces the least for your lack of clarity.

This is a joke from one of my fantasy drafts a while back. Guys kept saying the wrong players names and getting pissed about who they got.

Tim Lincecum- Halladay and Santana are better now, but Tim is young and is more proven than Greinke.

Ryan Braun- I feel he can become an A-Rod like player. Amazing all around hitter and he has a ton of confidence.

Hanley Ramirez- You can bat him anywhere in the lineup and he's just as dangerous. I might lead him off.

Albert Pujols- He'll give you MVP level production every year. He also never had a whole lot of protection, he'd be even better if that's even possible with another legit bat protecting him.

Dan Haren- reminds me of a young Halladay in that he's a workhorse and sort of flies under the radar because he's so consistent. He'll give you at least 7 good innings a night.

Wieters? Strasburg? Upton? Hanson? These guys have accomplished little or nothing at the major league level. There have been a lot of ultra-hyped minor leaguers come into the league and wash out in short order. H Ramirez, Mauer, Pujols, Longoria and Braun. All 26 or under I think...

Albert Pujols is not 26.

Wilson Betemit
Juan Uribe
Shannon Stewart
Bartolo Colon
Lance Broadway

Hands down best team right here....we don't even need 20 more players, we got a stacked team here

Holy sh!t that was funny! OMG DUDE! Legendary! Yeah.... you are like the third one to post 5 guys who suck. And it wasn't funny the first two times.

How in the friggin world did F-Mart get even mentioned on this list??? Might as well just say Jordan Schafer or something...

Anyway, I'd probably go

1. Pujols
2. Mauer
3. Hanley
4. Longoria
5. Santana

Strasburg is highly overrated, remember the Nats couldn't sign Crow last year(which there is talks they might take him at 6 again)....The Nats are going to have to guarantee way too much money into the next draft, for two unknowns, let's go Nats!

Pujols, Adam Jones, Hanley , Brian McCann, and Johan Santana

If you're taking pitching, the only young guy worth considering is probably Lincecum. Okay, I'll hear arguments on Felix Hernandez, Stephen Strasberg, and Zack Greinke... but Lincecum has advantages over each of these guys, and 75% of the time would make the best pick.

With only 5 guys as your core, you're equally concerned with All-Star level offense and Gold-Glove quality defense. I'm a Ryan Braun lover, but I don't take him because even if his glove is passable... you can easily surpass that OF defense (even if it's just 'average' without giving up much production.

Premium positions are C, 2B, and SS. 3B has to be considered. OF is less important if you have Silver Sluggers in the infield (OF defense specialists are a dime a dozen), and while an ace SP is hard to replace he *does* only pitch every five days.

Keeping all this in mind, here's who I'd take:
* 1B Albert Pujols - a little older than I'd like for this, but not by much. Best hitter in baseball, legit Gold Glover.
* 3B Evan Longoria - if ages were the same, I'm taking David Wright here. I'm still open to swapping the two - IRL I'd examine defense very closely before making this call.
* C Matt Wieters - all the defensive and offensive tools you could ask for. Mauer would be an alternate, but for his injury issues and lack of power track record before this year (that last being a VERY thin objection)
* SS Jose Reyes - I like Hanley Ramirez, but I don't think he'll be a SS in a few years.
* SP Tim Lincecum - against my initial better judgment. I like Adam Jones (I'm a believer with him!), Nick Markakis, Ian Kinsler, possibly Dustin Pedroia, and to some extent Grady Sizemore... but I don't like any of them better than Lincecum. A couple months might change that opinion, but I doubt it.

Adam Jones
Nick Markakis
Albert Pujols
Hanley Ramirez
Matt Wieters

What the freak happened to my first post?

This is hard.

Pujols
Longoria
Halladay
Haren
Adam Jones
Jose Reyes

It's a 3 way tie between Haren, Jones, and Reyes for the last 2 spots.

I get it. It's a little test.

"Which one of these is not like the others."

"I know. I know. Teacher, teacher call on me."

"Fernando Martinez!"

Well, Ben Nicholas-Smith just made it abundantly clear that he's a Mets fan. Nobody, except a Mets fan, would ever mention Fernando Martinez in a conversation that deals with 'any 5 players to start a franchise with'. F-Mart???? Of all of the young prospects in baseball, he goes with F-Mart???????

I'd go with this:

Longoria
Pujols
Lincecum
Sabathia
Joba

As far as closers go, I think its a joke to list somebody that pitches 50 innings a year.

If this little exercise were done a couple of years ago I suppose Lastings Milledge would have been included. Be afraid of Mets prospects. Be very, very afraid. Beware Hype Machine ahead.

My 5 players playing today to start my franchise would be:

1B Pujols
2B Utley
3B Longoria
C Weiters
LHP Santana

Its all about position scarcity/production for me.

1B is not a scarce position but Pujols is far and away the MOST productive 1B, IMO.

Gotta be strong up the middle

C - Joe Mauer
2B - Pedroia
SS - Jeter
CF - Grady Sizemore
P - Linececum

Best young ace in the game, 3 gold glove winners, and say what you will about the Captain, but the guy is a flat out winner, who is clutch, and the ultimate professional.

Hanley Ramirez
Justin Upton
Evan Longoria
Joe Mauer
Dan Haren

I figure you gotta take a pitcher, but they're so risky i'd only take one. Only a few years back and Dontrelle and Mulder etc wouldve been all over this list. When it comes to position players only one, upton, is still somewhat "unproven," but in my opinion you wanna go with as much athleticism as you can get.

some of these picks r horrible (felix worst)

Longoria- young and he is a RBI machine
Albert pujous- just can hit
Jurringen- young and always has low ERA
Brian mccann- still young great hitter (a leader)
Schafer- i know he started off bad but he will improve to a star

It happened...someone actually said Jordan Schafer. Wow.

it's so funny to see some of these picks being on the same team, and then seein the teams name right there in the poster's name. you see:

Longoria
Pujols
Pablo Sandoval (great power!)
Lincecum
Fred Lewis (young, speed + defense!!!) and are confused until you see its posted by giantsfan4life or something like that... hahaha

Give me, in no particular order:

Nick Markakis
Hanley Ramirez
David Wright
Tim Lincecum
David Price

I debated Soria and Broxton, but decided I would get more value with a 2nd ace.

mauer- as much as i love brian mccann, i think mauer has a chance to be a once in a generation type of catcher.

pujols- albert freaking pujols. enough said. period

ian kinsler- best second basemen in the game. how many second basemen are there that can go 30-30 and play stellar defense?

ryan braun/josh hamilton- i cant make up my mind. i think id go with braun

tommy hanson- this may be somewhat of a homer pick, but ive seen him a few times and he is without a doubt the BEST prospect ive ever seen in person in my life.

Fernando Martinez is the Mets biggest prospect, by far, since Wright and Reyes. Milledge never had the natural talent Martinez does. I mean, I can't speak for the rest of the fan base, but even in 2006, when Milledge debuted, I always considered Martinez a much bigger prospect, even as a 17 year old.

1. Hanley Ramirez
2. Evan Longoria
3. Albert Pujols
4. Tim Lincecum
5. Stephen Strasburg

I'd have to go:

1. Hanley Ramirez
2. Evan Longoria
3. Albert Pujols
4. Justin Upton
5. Dustin Pedrioa

Easy.

C Joe Mauer
SS Hanley Ramirez
CF Grady Sizemore
SP Tim Lincecum
SP Clayton Kershaw

You can easily get production from the corners. Start with the best catcher in the game, one of the best shortstops, and the best center fielder (my personal opinion). Add to that two young, cost-controlled aces.

1 person put Utley?!
If were basing this on having the contracts they currently have,

Pujols
Utley
Lincecum
Hanley
Mauer

I have to admit, it seems that Utley and Kinsler have been overlooked by many, including myself.

Mauer
Lincecum
Haren
Longoria
Hanley Ramirez