MLB Decade review
I am in the process of using the computer formula I used to rank all of the NBA teams in my book, “The NBA From Top to Bottom,” to rank all of the teams in MLB history. I started with the 2009 season and am working my way backward. I just finished the recently-completed decade and thought it would be interesting to share some of the findings. Why listen to these ratings? Historically, the system does a better job of projecting league champions than regular season records.
BEST TEAM OF THE DECADE: 2007 Boston Red Sox
An interesting fact about the 2000s: Only 1.5 teams that had the best record in a season went on to win the World Series. (The Red Sox and Indians tied for the best record in 2007, thus the half). The 2007 Red Sox were one of those teams. The 2009 Yankees were the other. The 2007 Red Sox outscored their opponents by 210 runs. The 2009 Yankees outscored their opponents by just 162 runs. My vote for team of the decade goes to the 2007 Red Sox.
WORST TEAM OF THE DECADE: 2003 Detroit Tigers
And it’s not even close. The 2003 Tigers were 43-119 and were outscored by 337 runs. The had to win five of their last six to crack the 40-win “barrier.” It makes you appreciate the job Jim Leyland did to get this team into the World Series just three years later.
BEST TEAM NOT TO WIN A WORLD SERIES: 2001 Seattle Mariners
The computer ranks them as the best team of the decade. Lest we forget, the 2001 Mariners were 116-46 and probably one of the top five regular season teams of all time. Why they fell apart in the playoffs – they barely got by Cleveland in the first round and lost in five against the Yankees in the ALCS – is still a mystery to me.
WORST TEAM TO WIN A WORLD SERIES: 2006 St. Louis Cardinals
I have the 2006 Cardinals as the 177th-best team of the 2000s. That said, the Cardinals probably deserved to win a World Series in the 2000s – they won 100 games in 2004 and 2005 – so this championship didn’t bother me very much.
BEST TEAM TO MISS THE PLAYOFFS: 2002 Boston Red Sox
I have this team as the seventh-best of the whole decade, but they couldn’t even make the playoffs. Reason: Six American League teams won 93 or more games in 2002, and only four teams can make the playoffs.
WORST TEAM TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS: 2005 San Diego Padres
The Padres squeaked in with an 82-80 record. The computer rates them 221st of 300 teams in the 2000s. They were outscored by 42 runs over the course of the season, but no one else in the NL West had a winning record that year so San Diego got in.
BEST FRANCHISE OF THE DECADE: New York Yankees
Nine playoffs appearances, four World Series appearances, two World Series titles, most wins total … yes, they probably should have gotten more bang for their buck, but you can’t deny the Yankees were the team everyone feared most in the 2000s. The computer gives the Yankees the best 10-year average rating of the decade by a smidge over the Boston Red Sox.
WORST FRANCHISE OF THE DECADE: Kansas City Royals
Seven 60-win seasons, two 50-win seasons, and they did it against arguably the easiest schedule in baseball. The AL Central is the one division without a team with a significant monetary advantage, and the Royals in no way took advantage of that opportunity. The computer gives the Royals the worst 10-year average of the decade, by a healthy margin over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Kyle Wright
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1/7/2010 12:00:00 AM
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