The Tigers Franchise Deep Six

Has it been almost a week? Fear not! I have another Deep Six for you! Let's take a look at the Detroit Tigers!

	P	C	1B	2B	3B	SS	LF	CF	RF
1st	Hal Newhouser	Bill Freehan	Hank Greenberg	Charlie Gehringer	George Kell	Alan Trammell	Bobby Veach	Ty Cobb	Al Kaline
2nd	Tommy Bridges	Lance Parrish	Miguel Cabrera	Lou Whitaker	Ray Boone	Donie Bush	Willie Horton	Chet Lemon	Harry Heilmann
3rd	Justin Verlander	Johnny Bassler	Norm Cash	Dick McAuliffe	Brandon Inge	Billy Rogell	Rocky Colavito	Austin Jackson	Sam Crawford
4th	Bill Donovan	Mickey Cochrane	Rudy York	Placido Polanco	Travis Fryman	Carlos Guillen	Bobby Higginson	Curtis Granderson	Kirk Gibson
5th	Jim Bunning	Mickey Tettleton	Darrell Evans	Damion Easley	George Moriarty	Topper Rigney	Charlie Maxwell	Ron LeFlore	Vic Wertz
6th	Dizzy Trout	Ivan Rodriguez	Lu Blue	Frank Bolling	Marty McManus	Harvey Kuenn	Steve Kemp	Jimmy Barrett	Magglio Ordonez

How about those right fielders, eh? The top three are all solid Hall of Famers! After them it's a bit iffy, but Sam Crawford on your 3rd Team? Wow.

Catcher is a bit interesting, because none of the top three are Hall of Famers, but the guy on the 4th Team is, and the guy on the 6th Team probably will be. Drat that lack of longevity!

Third base and left field are probably the weakest positions here. The Tigers have had several fine players at third, but none were great for a long time. Aurelio Rodriguez and Don Wert, the two Tigers with the most games at third base, didn't even make the list. Bobby Veach was an underrated but not great player, but no one else is even close to being the ultimate Tigers left fielder.

The Giants Franchise Deep Six

And already we have another one! For some reason I got through the Giants pretty quickly. I guess they had so much depth that I didn't feel the need to agonize about the exact rankings as much. For less-deep teams, you have to nitpick which player is less mediocre than the other. Let's see how the Giants come out:

	P	C	1B	2B	3B	SS	LF	CF	RF
1st	Christy Mathewson	Buck Ewing	Roger Connor	Jeff Kent	Art Devlin	Art Fletcher	Barry Bonds	Willie Mays	Mel Ott
2nd	Amos Rusie	Buster Posey	Willie McCovey	Frankie Frisch	Matt Williams	George Davis	George Burns	George Van Haltren	Bobby Bonds
3rd	Carl Hubbell	Roger Bresnahan	Bill Terry	Larry Doyle	Jim Ray Hart	Travis Jackson	Monte Irvin	Bobby Thomson	Mike Tiernan
4th	Juan Marichal	Chief Meyers	Johnny Mize	Robby Thompson	Freddie Lindstrom	Dave Bancroft	Kevin Mitchell	Brett Butler	Jack Clark
5th	Mickey Welch	Tom Haller	Will Clark	Danny Richardson	Pablo Sandoval	Al Dark	Jo-Jo Moore	Benny Kauff	Ross Youngs
6th	Tim Keefe	Harry Danning	Orlando Cepeda	Ron Hunt	Hank Thompson	Dick Bartell	Gary Matthews	Fred Snodgrass	Felipe Alou

First base and pitcher were the truly outstanding positions here. Right field and shortstop weren't too shabby either.

While Frankie Frisch and George Davis were greater players than Jeff Kent and Art Fletcher, respectively, they ended up on the 2nd team due to the fact that their resumes at those positions as members of the Giants weren't quite as good. Frisch spent a lot of his best years with the Cardinals, and Davis his with the White Sox.

Left field and center field were impressive for the dropoffs after the 1st Team. It's not just that the guys on the 1st Team were each arguably the greatest ever at their position (though that helped), but that Georges Burns and Van Haltren were not even borderline greats.

As with several other franchises we've seen so far, we have an active player working his way toward the top at one position. Can Buster Posey eventually become the Giants' #1 all-time catcher? He'll have to keep producing for several more years, but it's hardly out of the question.

The Twins Franchise Deep Six

As I mentioned in my Orioles Franchise Deep Six post, this one was going to be strange. The Minnesota Twins are a continuation of the old Washington Senators, but they have a completely different identity. As such, it's a tad odd to see Twins greats mixed with old Senator greats. Them's the rules though, so enjoy it for what it is.

	P	C	1B	2B	3B	SS	LF	CF	RF
1st	Walter Johnson	Joe Mauer	Harmon Killebrew	Rod Carew	Eddie Yost	Joe Cronin	Goose Goslin	Kirby Puckett	Tony Oliva
2nd	Bert Blyleven	Earl Battey	Kent Hrbek	Chuck Knoblauch	Corey Koskie	Cecil Travis	Heinie Manush	Clyde Milan	Sam Rice
3rd	Johan Santana	Butch Wynegar	Joe Judge	Buddy Myer	Gary Gaetti	Greg Gagne	Roy Sievers	Torii Hunter	Bob Allison
4th	Brad Radke	Muddy Ruel	Mickey Vernon	Bucky Harris	Eddie Foster	George McBride	Gary Ward	Stan Spence	Tom Brunansky
5th	Camilo Pascual	Brian Harper	Justin Morneau	Ray Morgan	Ossie Bluege	Roy Smalley	Larry Hisle	Jimmie Hall	John Stone
6th	Frank Viola	Rick Ferrell	Chick Gandil	Brian Dozier	Buddy Lewis	Zoilo Versalles	Jacque Jones	Sam West	Matt Lawton

Though he no longer plays catcher, we got to see something truly special with Joe Mauer behind the plate. It's a real shame he needed to be moved to first base. A.J. Pierzynski just missed the cut. I chose Ferrell for the 6th Team only because he played for the franchise a bit longer.

Second base was surprising to me. I didn't think Brian Dozier in his brief career had done enough yet to show up in the keystone column, but there truly wasn't anyone more deserving that I could find. For all those fine players, there wasn't a lot of depth beyond them.

I named Corey Koskie this franchise's all-time third baseman a few years ago, but upon revisiting the numbers, I think you have to go with the Walking Man, Eddie Yost. His longevity is just too great a factor, even if Koskie at his best was a little better. It's no insult to be on the 2nd Team, Corey.

The Phillies Franchise Deep Six

Franchises that haven't historically been cloaked in glory are often more interesting to me than those that have. The Phillies are one such franchise. They've had their periods of prominence, but they've generally experienced more downs than ups. Today we're going to look at their positional depth chart.

	P	C	1B	2B	3B	SS	LF	CF	RF
1st	Pete Alexander	Jack Clements	John Kruk	Chase Utley	Mike Schmidt	Jimmy Rollins	Ed Delahanty	Richie Ashburn	Bobby Abreu
2nd	Robin Roberts	Darren Daulton	Ryan Howard	Nap Lajoie	Dick Allen	Larry Bowa	Sherry Magee	Roy Thomas	Johnny Callison
3rd	Steve Carlton	Carlos Ruiz	Dolph Camilli	Dave Cash	Scott Rolen	Dave Bancroft	Del Ennis	Lenny Dykstra	Chuck Klein
4th	Jim Bunning	Andy Seminick	Fred Luderus	Juan Samuel	Willie Jones	Bob Allen	Greg Luzinski	Garry Maddox	Gavvy Cravath
5th	Cole Hamels	Spud Davis	Von Hayes	Tony Taylor	Pinky May	Granny Hamner	Pat Burrell	Billy Hamilton	Sam Thompson
6th	Curt Schilling	Bob Boone	Don Hurst	Otto Knabe	Pinky Whitney	Mickey Doolin	Morrie Arnovich	Cy Williams	Elmer Flick

The Phillies are surprisingly strong at pitcher and in the outfield. In center and right fields, respectively, Shane Victorino and John Titus were fine players who just missed the cut.

Left field was a funny one. The top five were easy choices (as well as the franchise's top five in games played at the position), but after that the cupboard was pretty bare. I went with Arnovich on the 6th Team only because he had some degree of longevity, but he's hardly a clear-cut choice. There were plenty of other unnotables who could've been argued for.

The Phillies have never had an all-time great catcher, as you can see, but they've had a lot of good ones. That spot on the 6th Team came down to Boone, Clay Dalrymple, and Mike Lieberthal, and it was almost a coin-flip. The catcher on the 1st Team, Jack Clements, is sadly underrated.

The infield is an area where the Phillies are surprisingly weak. Chase Utley was so far and away the top choice at second base it was almost laughable. Nap Lajoie was an immortal, but his time with the Phillies was relatively brief, and before he blossomed into a legend. Third base and shortstop are both top-heavy.

It might be hard for some people to believe, but the Phillies have never had a truly great first baseman. Ryan Howard may have the longevity there, but John Kruk, in his brief-but-glorious run as Phillie first-sacker, was simply a better player.  And after them, there's not a whole lot to get excited about. Any young, talented first baseman who wants to be on some franchise's 1st Team should try to find his way to Philadelphia.

The Orioles Franchise Deep Six

We're back for another of these Deep Six thingies, this time with a franchise that had two distinct identities. It's the Orioles franchise, which spent nearly half its existence as the St. Louis Browns. It probably seems odd to put them together (perhaps not as odd as the Twins/Senators one will be), but it's how I've chosen to do this project. Let's see what we've got:

	P	C	1B	2B	3B	SS	LF	CF	RF
1st	Jim Palmer	Chris Hoiles	George Sisler	Bobby Grich	Brooks Robinson	Cal Ripken Jr.	Ken Williams	Paul Blair	Frank Robinson
2nd	Mike Mussina	Rick Dempsey	Eddie Murray	Brian Roberts	Harlond Clift	Bobby Wallace	George Stone	Baby Doll Jacobson	Ken Singleton
3rd	Urban Shocker	Hank Severeid	Rafael Palmeiro	Del Pratt	Doug DeCinces	Mark Belanger	Don Buford	Adam Jones	Nick Markakis
4th	Ned Garver	Matt Wieters	Boog Powell	Roberto Alomar	Melvin Mora	Miguel Tejada	Goose Goslin	Brady Anderson	Jack Tobin
5th	Harry Howell	Gus Triandos	Jim Gentile	Davey Johnson	Jimmy Austin	Luis Aparicio	Heinie Manush	Wally Judnich	Harry Rice
6th	Carl Weilman	Wally Schang	George McQuinn	Marty McManus	Manny Machado	Vern Stephens	B.J. Surhoff	Mike Devereaux	Merv Rettenmund

It's probably no surprise that most members of the 1st Team are from the Baltimore era. However, the St. Louis era is in the majority on the 5th and 6th Teams.

This franchise is surprisingly deep at both first base and shortstop, and third base ain't too shabby either. I expect to see Manny Machado move up the list in the future. The only reason he ranks behind Jimmy Austin is the fact that Austin played for the Browns so long.

This franchise is surprisingly shallow in the outfield; the only inner-circle great at any of the outfield positions is Frank Robinson. Goose Goslin is an acceptable Hall of Famer, and Heinie Manush is in, though he probably shouldn't be, but the rest are just very good players, and the pickings were slim for the lower teams.

In the starting pitcher column you have two Oriole aces, then four straight Brownies. Despite the renowned pitching staffs that have been seen down Baltimore way, none of them has ever been laden with long-lasting superstars. Give the Orioles credit for being able to assemble strong groups without individual standouts.

The Cubs Franchise Deep Six

Time for another one! Today we have the lovable North Siders who can't seem to win a World Series, the Cubs!

	P	C	1B	2B	3B	SS	LF	CF	RF
1st	Fergie Jenkins	Gabby Hartnett	Cap Anson	Ryne Sandberg	Ron Santo	Ernie Banks	Billy Williams	Hack Wilson	Sammy Sosa
2nd	Clark Griffith	Johnny Kling	Frank Chance	Billy Herman	Stan Hack	Bill Dahlen	Riggs Stephenson	George Gore	King Kelly
3rd	Mordecai Brown	Jody Davis	Mark Grace	Johnny Evers	Ned Williamson	Joe Tinker	Abner Dalrymple	Bill Lange	Bill Nicholson
4th	Pete Alexander	Randy Hundley	Derrek Lee	Rogers Hornsby	Heinie Zimmerman	Charlie Hollocher	Jimmy Sheckard	Andy Pafko	Kiki Cuyler
5th	Hippo Vaughn	Rick Wilkins	Vic Saier	Fred Pfeffer	Harry Steinfeldt	Billy Jurges	Hank Sauer	Jimmy Ryan	Andre Dawson
6th	John Clarkson	Bob O'Farrell	Phil Cavarretta	Glenn Beckert	Aramis Ramirez	Tom Burns	Augie Galan	Adolfo Phillips	Frank Schulte

These things are always tough to make. Ideally, I'm trying to rank these players based on how much they epitomize the position for the franchise. That's why I try to weigh both longevity and peak value. Sometimes though, you end up with forgotten players outranking fan favorites. Phil Cavarretta, for instance, was something of a Cub legend, while most fans today probably don't know anything about Vic Saier. Based on the numbers though, I had to give Saier the edge, because Cavarretta didn't spend enough time specifically as a first baseman, and his greatest season came during wartime, when the talent pool was weaker. Anthony Rizzo is actually surprisingly close behind Cavarretta already. It'll be a shame to see such a beloved Cub end up in the Conigliaro Zone.

Right field was another weird one. Kelly, Nicholson and Cuyler all have noise in the data that makes them hard to evaluate. Either they spent a lot of time at other positions in addition to right field, or World War II distorted their value. I ultimately went with Kelly on the 2nd Team because he was the greatest player of the bunch, but honestly, you could probably put those three in any order and have a valid defense for it.

I hated putting Rogers Hornsby on the 4th Team, since he played only 250 games at second base for the Cubs. However, he did spend three seasons in Chicago with that as his primary position, abbreviated though some of them might have been, and was a monster. Pfeffer and Beckert were good players who spent a lot more time with the Cubs, but they never approached Hornsby's peak value. It didn't feel right to put such a dominant player on the 6th Team behind those two.

It's interesting that the most recent player from the center field column is Adolfo Phillips on the 6th Team. The Cubs have had several fine center fielders, but they all played at least half a century ago. It's about time they found another star at that position, wouldn't you say?

Tinker, Evers and Chance almost all ended up on the same team, but I decided Chance was just a bit better than Mark Grace. Tinker to Evers to Grace is hardly anything to be disappointed with, though.

The Red Sox Franchise Deep Six

Last time I did the real Sox, now it's time to do the fake Sox! (Little joke there, Red Sox fans).

	P	C	1B	2B	3B	SS	LF	CF	RF
1st	Roger Clemens	Carlton Fisk	Jimmie Foxx	Dustin Pedroia	Wade Boggs	Nomar Garciaparra	Ted Williams	Tris Speaker	Dwight Evans
2nd	Cy Young	Jason Varitek	Mo Vaughn	Bobby Doerr	Jimmy Collins	Rico Petrocelli	Carl Yastrzemski	Fred Lynn	Harry Hooper
3rd	Pedro Martinez	Rich Gedman	Kevin Youkilis	Pete Runnels	Larry Gardner	Freddy Parent	Jim Rice	Reggie Smith	Trot Nixon
4th	Lefty Grove	Rick Ferrell	George Scott	Billy Goodman	Frank Malzone	Joe Cronin	Manny Ramirez	Jacoby Ellsbury	Jackie Jensen
5th	Luis Tiant	Bill Carrigan	Jake Stahl	Mike Andrews	Mike Lowell	John Valentin	Mike Greenwell	Dom DiMaggio	Buck Freeman
6th	Jon Lester	Lou Criger	Mike Napoli	Hobe Ferris	Bill Mueller	Johnny Pesky	Duffy Lewis	Ellis Burks	J.D. Drew

Several things about these teams surprised me. For starters, the BoSox are surprisingly shallow at both catcher and first base. Jason Varitek and Mo Vaughn seem more like 3rd Teamers than 2nd Teamers, but there they are, on the 2nd team of such a storied franchise. I didn't really like including Mike Napoli, since it's early in his third season with the franchise, but I decided to assume that by the end of 2015 he'll look like a much better selection. The Red Sox really don't have a lot of great options at the initial sack.

Left field, of course, is a famous position on the Red Sox, since there have been so many great players there. Equally worthy is pitcher, where they're four-deep with top-tier Hall of Famers. Tiant, of course, has a borderline Hall of Fame case too.

Shortstop and center field were both deeper than I expected. Vern Stephens and Johnny Damon, respectively, both just missed the cut at those positions.

Some might quibble with me putting Pedroia over Doerr at second base, but I think the time has come. Doerr might have the longevity advantage, but Pedroia at his best was better than Doerr ever was, and he's been producing long enough that he deserves the top spot. After those two, second base was another position that turned out to be weaker than I expected.

The 4th Team is an interesting one; you have three Hall of Famers, plus another who played at a Hall of Fame level in Manny Ramirez. In the cases of Lefty Grove and Ramirez, it's because the Red Sox have so much depth at their positions. In the case of Joe Cronin, it's because his best years were spent with a different franchise, and in the case of Rick Ferrell, it's because he wasn't really a worthy Hall of Famer.

Some of you diehards might be upset that I gave the right field spot on the 6th Team to J.D. Drew rather than franchise icon Tony Conigliaro, but I couldn't justify it based on the WAR numbers. Believe me, I tried.