{"id":2657,"date":"2011-10-04T09:44:54","date_gmt":"2011-10-04T13:44:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=2657"},"modified":"2011-10-04T09:44:54","modified_gmt":"2011-10-04T13:44:54","slug":"roster-construction-of-the-playoff-teams-and-the-nats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=2657","title":{"rendered":"Roster Construction of the Playoff teams (and the Nats)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Curtis Granderson was in the middle of a trade that affected 3 of the 8 playoff contenders. Photo unknown credit via baseballsblackheritage.com<\/p><\/div>\n

One of my pet projects over the years has been to analyze the Roster construction methods that successful teams use, in order to determine if there’s any trends or patterns to be had (some of the 2010 rosters are here in this Google spreadsheet<\/a>).\u00a0 Now that we’ve got our 8 playoff teams set for the 2011 season, here’s a quick run down on the way these teams arrived at their core rosters.<\/p>\n

In the 2011 spreadsheet<\/a> (available online via the links section along the right hand side of the blog, with sections cut-n-pasted below), I’m only looking at the core of the roster: the starting 8 out-field players, the 5 man rotation, the setup and closer, and (if in the American League) the DH.\u00a0 So each team has either 15 or 16 players categorized.\u00a0 The player acquisition is broken down one of four ways:<\/p>\n

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  1. Draft<\/strong><\/em>: The player is with the original team that drafted him.\u00a0 In the case of international free agents, if they’re signed as prospects they are considered in this category as well (i.e., Ichiro Suzuki<\/strong> is not a developed player, but an international Free Agent).\u00a0 It could be better defined as “Club developed players.”<\/li>\n
  2. Traded MLBers<\/strong><\/em>: The player was acquired by the team by virtue of trading an established MLB player.\u00a0 Most of the time these days, this means the player was acquired as a prospect (since most trades seem to be of the prospect-for-established player kind).<\/li>\n
  3. Traded Prospects<\/strong>: <\/em>The player was acquired by the team by virtue of trading prospects.\u00a0 This is essentially the reverse of #2.<\/li>\n
  4. FA<\/strong><\/em>: The player was acquired in free agency.\u00a0 This category also includes two other types of acquisitions: waiver claims and cash purchases.\u00a0 These three categories are lumped together since all three indicate that a team has acquired a player with zero outlay in terms of development or prospects.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Here’s a breakdown of your 8 playoff teams:<\/p>\n\n\n<\/col>\n<\/col>\n<\/col>\n<\/col>\n<\/col>\n<\/col>\n<\/col>\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Season<\/td>\nTeam<\/td>\nDrafted\/Developed<\/td>\nTraded Prospects<\/td>\nTraded MLBs<\/td>\nFA\/Waivers<\/td>\nTtl<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    2011<\/td>\nNYY<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n9<\/td>\n16<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    2011<\/td>\nTampa Bay<\/td>\n9<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n16<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    2011<\/td>\nTexas<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n16<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    2011<\/td>\nDetroit<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n16<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    2011<\/td>\nPhiladephia<\/td>\n9<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n15<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    2011<\/td>\nSt Louis<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n15<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    2011<\/td>\nMilwaukee<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n15<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    2011<\/td>\nArizona<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n15<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    A couple of quick notes on these numbers:<\/p>\n