The greatest Brewers team ever

Inspired by one of my favorite baseball stat geek blogs Beyond the Boxscore and their All True Brewers Team I wanted to take a different approach.

What if you could field a team consisting of players that had the best single seasons in franchise history.

How we're going to do this:

• Strictly based on WAR (wins above replacement) according to Baseball Reference
• 5 starting pitchers
• 7 relief pitchers (6 with a DH substituted in for an AL lineup)
• 2 relievers will be converted starters to fill long relief needs
• 1 will be the closer
• 2 backup infielders
• 2 backup outfielders
• 1 backup catcher

The 25/26 man roster:

POSITION	PLAYER	WAR	YEAR
SP	Teddy Higuera	8.4	1986
SP	Mike Caldwell	7.5	1978
SP	Teddy Higuera	7.0	1988
SP	Ben Sheets	6.3	2004
SP	Teddy Higuera	6.1	1987
RP	Marty Pattin	5.2	1970
RP	Ben McDonald	5.1	1996
RP	Ken Sanders	3.5	1970
RP	Ken Sanders	3.5	1971
RP	Doug Jones	3.2	1997
RP*	Derrick Turnbow	3.0	2005
CP	Rollie Fingers	4.1	1981
C	Darrell Porter	3.8	1975
C	Ted Simmons	3.8	1983
1B	Cecil Cooper	6.7	1980
2B	Paul Molitor	4.9	1979
3B	Tommy Harper	7.7	1970
SS	Robin Yount	11.5	1982
IF	Robin Yount	7.5	1983
IF	Paul Molitor	7.0	1982
LF	Ryan Braun	7.7	2011
CF	Scott Podsednik	6.3	2003
RF	Sixto Lezcano	5.2	1979
OF	Greg Vaughn	7.4	1993
OF	Ben Oglive	6.4	1980
DH*	Paul Molitor	6.2	1987

*7th RP is replaced by DH in AL games

The breakdown:

SP1: Teddy Higuera 1986

• 8.4 WAR
• 20-11
• 2.79 ERA
• 248.1 IP
• 15 CG
• 4 SHO
• Cy Young runner-up

SP2: Mike Caldwell 1978

• 7.5 WAR
• 22-9
• 2.36 ERA
• 293.1 IP
• 23 CG
• 6 SHO
• Cy Young runner-up

SP3: Teddy Higuera 1988

• 7.0 WAR
• 16-9
• 2.45 ERA
• 227.1 IP
• 0.999 WHIP

SP4: Ben Sheets 2004

• 6.3 WAR
• 12-14
• 2.70 ERA
• 237.0 IP
• 0.983 WHIP
• 10.0 K/9
• 8.25 K/BB

SP5: Teddy Higuera 1987

• 6.1 WAR
• 18-10
• 3.85 ERA
• 261.2 IP
• 240 K's
• 14 CG
• 6th in Cy Young voting

RP1: Marty Pattin 1970

• 5.2 WAR
• 14-12
• 3.39 ERA
• 233.1 IP
• 11 CG

RP2: Ben McDonald 1996

• 5.2 WAR
• 12.10
• 3.90 ERA
• 221.1 IP

RP3: Ken Sanders 1970

• 3.5 WAR
• 5-2
• 1.75 ERA
• 13 SV
• 0.964 WHIP

RP4: Ken Sanders 1971

• 3.5 WAR
• 7-12
• 136.1 IP
• 1.91 ERA
• 31 SV (league leader)
• 1.064 WHIP
• 83 games, 77 finishes (both led league)
• 16th in MVP voting

RP5: Doug Jones 1997

• 3.2 WAR
• 6-6
• 2.02 ERA
• 36 SV
• 0.884 WHIP
• 9.11 K/BB
• 73 games finished (league leader)

RP6: Derrick Turnbow 2005 *

• 3.0 WAR**
• 7-1**
• 1.74 ERA**
• 39 SV**
• 1.084 WHIP**

*noooooooooooo

**yes these all really happened

CP: Rollie Fingers 1981

• 4.1 WAR
• 6-3
• 1.04 ERA
• 28 SV (league leader)
• 0.872 WHIP
• AL Cy Young winner
• AL MVP

C: Darrell Porter 1975

• 3.8 WAR
• .232/.371/.418
• 18 HR
• 60 RBI
• 89 BB

C: Ted Simmons 1983

• 3.8 WAR
• .308/.351/.448
• 13 HR
• 108 RBI
• 76 R
• 185 H
• 39 2B

1B: Cecil Cooper 1980

• 6.7 WAR
• .352/.387/.539
• 25 HR
• 122 RBI (league leader)
• 335 TB (league leader)
• 219 H
• 33 2B
• gold glove
• silver slugger
• 5th in MVP voting

2B: Paul Molitor 1979

• 4.9 WAR
• .322/.372/.469
• 9 HR
• 62 RBI
• 188 H
• 274 TB
• 27 2B
• 33 SB

3B: Tommy Harper 1970

• 7.7 WAR
• .296/.377/.522
• 31 HR
• 82 RBI
• 179 H
• 315 TB
• 35 2B
• 38 SB
• 6th in MVP voting

SS: Robin Yount 1982

• 11.5 WAR (team record)
• .331/.379/.578
• .578 slugging and .957 OPS both led league
• 210 H (led league)
• 46 2B (led league)
• 12 3B
• 29 HR
• 114 RBI
• 129 R
• gold glove
• silver slugger
• AL MVP

IF: Robin Yount 1983

• 7.5 WAR
• .308/.383/.503
• 178 H
• 42 2B
• 10 3B (led league)
• 17 HR
• 80 RBI
• 291 TB

IF: Paul Molitor 1982

• 7.0 WAR
• .302/.366/.450
• 751 PA (led league)
• 666 AB (led league)
• 136 R (led league)
• 201 H
• 26 2B
• 300 TB
• 41 SB
• 12th (!!) in MVP voting (4th place among Brewers!!)

LF: Ryan Braun 2011

• 7.7 WAR
• .332/.397/.597
• .597 slugging and .994 OPS led league
• 187 H
• 109 R
• 38 2B
• 33 HR
• 111 RBI
• 33 SB
• silver slugger
• (*MVP status to be determined*)

CF: Scott Podsednik 2003

• 6.3 WAR
• .314/.379/.443
• 175 H
• 100 R
• 29 2B
• 43 SB
• 2.0 dWAR

RF: Sixto Lezcano 1979

• 5.2 WAR
• .321/.414/.573
• 28 HR
• 101 RBI
• 77 BB
• gold glove

OF: Greg Vaughn 1993

• 7.4 WAR
• .267/.369/.482
• 97 R
• 28 2B
• 30 HR
• 97 RBI
• 89 BB
• 2.0 dWAR

OF: Ben Oglive 1980

• 6.4 WAR
• .304/.362/.563
• 180 H
• 26 2B
• 41 HR (led league)
• 118 RBI
• 333 TB
• 13th in MVP voting
• silver slugger

DH*: Paul Molitor 1987

• 6.2 WAR
• .353/.438/.566
• 1.003 OPS
• 114 R (led league) in 118 games
• 41 2B (led league) in 118 games!!
• 16 HR
• 75 RBI
• 45 SB in 118 games!!
• 5th in MVP voting
• silver slugger

*only to be used in games in AL stadiums


Notes: 

• How good was that 1982 team??  They had 6 of the top 18 AL MVP canditates
• How good was Paul Molitor in 1987??   Led the AL in runs scored and doubles despite only playing 118 games
• How good were Molitor and Yount??  5 slots between them, yet Yount's 1989 MVP season gets stuck on the bench behind Scott Podsednik
• How good was Teddy Higuera??  Good enough to not only be the ace of this starting rotation but also take the 3 and 5 slots
• How good was Ken Sanders??  First 2 seasons in the Brewers history in Milwaukee were the 2nd and 3rd best relief seasons behind Rollie Fingers' Cy Young/MVP performance in 1981
• Prince Fielder did not make the roster but Derrick Turnbow and Scott Podsednik did
• JJ Hardy would be the starting SS if not for 5 better seasons by Yount
• Brewers haven't had a catcher over 3.0 WAR since 1983.  BJ Surhoff had a 3.5 in 1995 but only played 18 games behind the plate

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