Build a Team from Scratch

C) Jesus Montero
1B) Eric Hosmer
2B) Dustin Ackley
SS) Dee Gordon
3B) Brett Lawrie
LF) Yonder Alonso
CF) Mike Trout
RF) Bryce Harper
DH) Mike Moustakas

SP: Matt Moore, Mike Montgomery, Jacob Turner, Shelby Miller, Drew Pomeranz
CL: Manny Banuelos (… just to annoy Yankees fans - just kidding!)

this was a very interesting question. I was one of the ones wondering why Teheran wasn’t there, since one of your constraints was winning a few games now, and he seems to be at the top of the list to be able to do that (plus longterm value.) Wasn’t trying to nitpick or anything, just curious. My line-up under your criteria would be something like:

C - Rosario
1B - Hosmer
2B - Kipnis
SS - Franklin
3B - Moustakas
LF - Sands
CF - Trout
RF - Brett Jackson
DH - Montero

SP - Teheran, Banuelos, Turner, Duffy, Kelly
CL - Matt Moore

(No Harper just because I’m not sure he could contribute to a major league team within the next three years)

C. Grandal
1B. Hosmer
2B. Segura
SS. Iglesias
3B. Dominguez
LF. Carter
CF. Trout
RF. Harper
DH. Lawrie

SP. Miller, Banuelos, Lyles, Moore, Montgomery
CL. Coleman

Lineup: 1. Trout 2. Segura 3. Hosmer 4. Carter 5. Harper 6. Lawrie 7. Grandal 8. Dominguez 9. Iglesias

C - Mesaroco
1B - Hosmer
2B - Segura
SS - Cozart
3B - Lawrie
LF - Myers
CF - Trout
RF- Brown
DH - Montero

SP - Teheran, Miller, J. Parker, Montgomery, Pomeranz
RP - Ruffin

How would it impact things if you could only select players who are not on 40-man rosters (Iglesias is one, I believe)?

And I think everybody should pick a city and name for their team - although I think the Johnstown Sickles would probably be the best.

C-Mesaroco
1B-Hosmer
2B-Kipnis
SS-Franklin
3B-Moustakas
LF-Sands
CF-Trout
RF-Harper
DH-Myers

SP-Moore, Teheran, Pomeranz, Banuelos, Taillon
CL Stewart

Line up: Trout, Harper, Hosmer, Sands, Myers, Mesaroco, Moustakas, Franklin, Kipnis

C-Wilin Rosario
1B-Eric Hosmer
2B-Jason Kipnis
3B-Mike Moustakas
SS-Jose Iglesias
RF-Bryce Harper
CF-Mike Trout
LF-Jonathan Singleton
DH-Wil Myers

1.Trout, 2.Kipnis, 3.Hosmer, 4.Harper, 5.Myers, 6.Moustakas, 7.Singleton, 8.Rosario, 9.Iglesias

Bench
C-Sebastian Valle
MI-Jean Segura
CI-Bobby Borchering
OF-Gorkys Hernandez
Extra-Paul Goldschmidt

Rotation
1.Julio Teheran
2.Matt Moore
3.John Lamb
4.Manny Banuelos
5.Drew Pomeranz

Bullpen
Long-Arodys Vizcaino
MR-Tim Collins
MR-Eduardo Sanchez
LOOGY-Donnie Joseph
Setup-Aroldis Chapman
Closer-Craig Kimbrel

My attempt to put up a balanced team with an order balancing speed, power, average, and defense as well as alternating right hangers and lefties in the rotation.

C Delvin Morosco (reds)
1b Eric Hosmer
2b Billy Hamilton(reds) or Delino Deshields Jr.
Ss Hak-Jue Lee
3b Matt Dominguez (Marlins)
OF Desmond Jennings
OF Mike Trout
Of Bryce Harper

SP Matt Moore
SP Charles Brewer (Dbacks)
SP Julio Teheran
SP Chris-Balcom Miller
SP Kyle Gibson (twins)

closer: Andrew Brackman

Position Players:

C/DH - Jesus Montero
1B - Eric Hosmer
2B - Dustin Ackley
3B - Brett Lawrie
SS - Christian Colon
LF - Desmond Jennings
CF - Mike Trout
RF - Domonic Brown
BN - Wilin Rosario
BN - Jose Iglesias
BN - Jerry Sands
BN - Matt Dominguez
BN - Aaron Hicks

Lot of top of the order types, here is the lineup:

1 - Desmond Jennings
2 - Dustin Ackley
3 - Mike Trout
4 - Jesus Montero ©
5 - Eric Hosmer
6 - Brett Lawrie
7 - Domonic Brown
8 - Jerry Sands (DH)
9 - Christian Colon

Rotation:

SP - Julio Teheran
SP - Matt Moore
SP - Shelby Miller
SP - Mike Montgomery
SP - Jacob Turner
Spot Starter - Manny Banuelos

CL - Dellin Betances

C - Tony Sanchez

1B - Eric Hosmer - I’d love Freddie Freeman though, but who isn’t high on Hosmer?
2B - DJ LeMahieu - Homer pick, but he’s so legit. One of the most underrated prospects in the game. Breakout season coming. If this is too homer-y then I’d love Kipnis from the Indians.
SS - Grant Green
3B - Josh Vitters - Please prepare to hop on the bandwagon.

LF - Desmond Jennings
CF - Aaron Hicks
RF - Wil Myers - Like everyone else on the planet I love the skillset and polish at such a young age.

Rotation:

Tyler Matzek
Casey Kelly
Martin Perez
Shelby Miller
Jacob Turner

CL: Chris Archer - If Tampa does anything this year I see him being a key piece out of their rebuilt bullpen. Two pitch combo can be K-Rod-esque.

C- Rosario
1B - Hosmer
2B- Kipnis
3B- Chisenhall
SS- Iglesias
LF- Sands
CF- Trout
RF- Brown
DH- Montero

Line-up: Trout, Kipnis, Hosmer, Montero, Sands, Brown, Chisenhall, Rosario, Iglesias

SP- Tehrehan
SP- Miller
SP- Moore
SP- Montgomery
SP- Turner
CL- Brothers

C - Mesoraco
1B - Hosmer
2B - Kipnis
3B - Moustakas
SS - Gordon
LF - Sands
CF - Trout
RF - Myers
DH - Montero

LINEUP - Trout, Kipnis, Myers, Montero, Hosmer, Sands, Moustakas, Mesoraco, Gordon

BN - Rosario, Segura, Hicks, Hamilton

SP - Teheran, Moore, S. Miller, Turner, Duffy
LR - Banuelos, Archer, Parker, Collins
SU - Kelly, Brothers
CL - Stewart

Same challenge, but using none of the players chosen anywhere in this thread, so this is basically a team of semi-prospect replacement players. Still, I think there’s some upside here:

C Robinson Chirinos (TB), Taylor Teagarden (TEX),Matt Pagnozzi (STL)
1B Mat Gamel (MIL), Paul Goldschmidt (ARI)
2B Cord Phelps (CLE), Alexei Amarista (LAA), Logan Forsythe (SD), Scott Sizemore (DET)
3B Russ Canzler (TB), Josh Harrison (PIT), Conor Gillaspie (SF)
SS Chase d’Arnaud (PIT), Trevor Plouffe (MIN)
LF Brandon Guyer (TB), Blake Tekotte (SD)
CF Jordan Schaefer (ATL), Gorkys Hernandez (PIT), Starling Marte (PIT)
RF Josh Reddick (BOS), Charlie Blackmon (COL)
DH Jeff Larish (DET), Clint Robinson (KC),

SP: Alex Cobb (TB), Alex Torres (TB), Blake Beavan (SEA), Brandon Dickson (STL), Tom Koehler (FLA)
RP: Ross Detwiler (WAS), Wily Peralta (MIL), Kelvin de la Cruz (CLE), Philippe Aumont (PHI), Joe Bateman (OAK)
CL: Brandon Gomes (TB)

Lineup is probably Schaefer/Guyer/Larish/Gamel/Reddick/Canzler/Chirinos/Phelps/d’Arnaud.

This is probably a 40-win team, but I’m guessing they’d be a hell of a lot more fun to watch than, say, the Houston Astros.

I don’t think I’ve seen anyone mention Mike Minor. Has he lost eligibility?

Also, interesting to note that Hosmer is unanimous.