We coulda been a...well, not really

[Schad]

Another exercise in mid-summer boredom, inspired by the many 'teams' built by Battersbox regulars: a team of Jays' first-round draft picks (including the supplemental round) vs. a team comprised of players selected with the very next pick. With 30 years' worth of picks, it's obviously impossible to build a good 25-man roster, as most flame out before even reaching the majors. Basically, if they made the majors, they probably made the team.

The Real Jays

Batting order

DH: Shannon Stewart (.297/.360/.430, 115 HRs, one top-4 MVP)
LF: Alex Rios (.287/.338/.446, 56 HRs, two ASG)
RF: Shawn Green (.283/.355/.494, 328 HRs, two ASG)
CF: Vernon Wells (.281/.330/.476, 164 HRs, two ASG)
1B: Lloyd Moseby (.257/.332/.414, 169 HRs, one ASG appearance)
3B: Ed Sprague (.247/.318/.419, 152 HRs, one ASG)
2B: Aaron Hill (.284/.339/.409, 28 HRs)
SS: Felipe Lopez (.257/.327/.391, 67 HRs, one ASG)
C: Matt Stark (.179/.207/.214, 28 career ABs)

Bench

OF: Gabe Gross (.242/.341/.406, 25 HRs)
IF: Russ Adams (.248/.314/.376, 17 HRs)
OF: Todd Steverson (.262/.340/.405, 42 career ABs)
1B: Kevin Witt (.233/.267/.376, 399 career ABs)
IF: Dante Powell (.270/.349/.405, 74 career ABs)

Rotation

SP: Roy Halladay (119-61, 3.59/1.22, 1 CYA and two top-5 CYA)
SP: Chris Carpenter (100-69, 4.10/1.33, 1 CYA and one top-3 CYA)
SP: John Cerutti (49-43, 3.94/1.37)
SP: Dustin McGowan (20-20, 4.68/1.38)
SP: Zach Jackson (2-2, 5.36/1.64, 42 IP)

Bullpen

RP: David Purcey (0-1, 11.05/2.46, 7.3 IP)
RP: Matt Williams (3-2, 5.29/1.47)
RP: Jeff Ware (7.47/1.95, 59 IP)
RP: Mark Lukasiewicz (2-2, 5.20/1.54, 60 IP)
RP: Steve Karsay (32-39, 41 SV, 4.01/1.38)
RP: Billy Koch (29-25, 163 SV, 3.89/1.40)

The Faux Jays

Batting order

CF: Johnny Damon (.289/.354/.435, 172 HRs, two ASG)
SS: Troy Tulowitzki (.264/.333/.422, 26 HRs)
LF: Kevin McReynolds (.265/.328/.447, 211 HRs, one top-3 MVP)
RF: Dave Henderson (.258/.320/.436, 197 HRs, one ASG)
1B: Rico Brogna (.269/.320/.445, 106 HRs)
C: Scott Hatteberg (.273/.361/.410, 106 HRs)
DH: Hubie Brooks (.269/.315/.403, 149 HRs, two ASG)
3B: Eduardo Perez (.247/.326/.431, 79 HRs)
2B: Dave Anderson (.242/.312/.318, 19 HRs)

Bench

OF: Jay Payton (.281/.325/.431, 118 HRs, top-3 ROY)
3B: Sean Burroughs (.280/.340/.358, 11 HRs)
OF: Brad Komminsk (.218/.301/.336, 23 HRs)

Starting rotation

SP: Scott Kazmir (41-32, 3.49/1.37)
SP: Bobby Jones (89-83, 4.36/1.35)
SP: Jimmy Jones (43-39, 4.46/1.39)
SP: Ken Dayley (33-45, 3.64/1.38)
SP: John Patterson (18-25, 4.32/1.35)

Bench

RP: Jack Armstrong (40-65, 4.58/1.43)
RP: Dustin Moseley (6-6, 5.54/1.54, 56 GP)
RP: Randy Nosek (1-3, 10.22/2.68, 12.3 IP)
RP: Sean Burnett (5-5, 5.26/1.70, 90.7 IP)
RP: Dan Serafini (15-16, 6.04/1.72, 104 GP)
RP: Ryan Wagner (11-9, 4.79/1.59, 148 GP)
RP: Alan Benes (29-28, 4.59/1.44)
RP: Mike Fetters (31-41, 100 SVs, 3.86/1.47)

Neither team is as bad as you'd expect, really...from 1977-2005, the Jays have made 40 first round or 1s round selections, and over two-thirds made the majors (though there are several cups o' coffee in the mix). This is made more remarkable by the fact that Toronto's 1st rounders were beyond awful in the first decade...only Moseby and Cerruti had real ML careers. Neither team has an all-time great, with Halladay as the best player of the fifty and Shawn Green second, but there are a surprising number of quality major leaguers.

In a series, I'd take the Real Jays in 5.

[zong]

i agree, that faux jays doesnt look that competitive at all

[evilRyu]

Interesting analysis....

the best catcher we've ever selected in the 1st round is Matt Stark? lol never heard of him. But I can understand that a 1st round pick will rarely be used on a catcher, unless he's a special one..

[JN]

Actually, the Jays have had alot of success with there first round picks - pre JP era of course.

In the 90's I use to run simulations on T2, running seasons based on the system a player started. IIRC, the best teams were the Expos, Jays, Brewers and Dodgers.