If you were starting a MLB franchise.....?

Question

what position player, starter, and closer would you want to start with? Money doesn't matter, and you can pick absolutely anyone you want. Make sure you give me some good arguments though, I wanna see some good ones!

Answer 1

Roy Halladay because he is the most dominant pitcher in baseball according to his peers in a recent SN article I read.  

Answer 2

For starting pitcher: Johan Santana (barely gives up more than 3 runs and his outings are always great. He's also my favorite pitcher this day and age.)

Closer:Papelbon (great closer can usually get the job done)

Postion Player:Dustin Pedroia (My favorite player and he's one of the best hitters this year. He's very consistent and has a swing that asks, "how'd he hit that??"

Answer 3

1B: Pujols: It doesn't matter the situation, he hits in them all: bases empty, runners on, game on the line. Hit for a high average and has a ton of power. And unlike other power hitters (ahem Arod, Braun, etc), he puts the ball in play rather than cooling off the catchers with all the whiffs. Just look at his numbers this year, and imagine what he would be doing without the bad elbow.  Oh and also he plays a little D with gold glove caliber first base.

SP: Lincecum: Call me a homer, but you can't ignore how dominant he has quickly become. Throw out the wins (because it's so expected that he'll win 20 games with the Giants offense and bullpen backing him), and he just blows away everyone else.  Consistently keeps the team in the games, eats up innings, and can get the strikeout when he needs to.

CP: Nathan: The most underrated closer in the game. Rather than taking someone who can throw 99 mph, I'll take the guy who won't walk the tying run on.  And he's proven that he can consistently get the job done since becoming the Twins' closer.  He may not have the shiny number of saves that Krod has, but he has some of the best peripheral stats of all the closers.

Answer 4

for position I would take either Hanley Ramirez, or Ian Kinsler, both are young and put up great numbers, and you won't find middle infield production just anywhere..

Starter...Linsecum, young and throws nasty stuff..also his delivery protects him from injury

closer...I would say K-rod right now, nobody is better, but down the road I really like Soria(KC), and Marmol(CHC)

Answer 5

SP-Carlos Zambrano.  Reason:  He may not be the best in the league, certainly other answers has better stats, but he is a top quality staff ace.  More importantly for a new team, he will fill seats.  His combination of talent and personality bring people to the park.

Closer-Joe Nathan.  Reason:  He's one of the best, and somewhat quirky with all his flinches and facial tics he does while pitching.  Fans get into that sort of thing.

Position Player-Albert Pujols.  Reason:  The best hitter in baseball.  Solid defensively, and brings no personal baggage with him.

Answer 6

I'm assuming you mean active players...

Roy Halladay - the most reliable pitcher in the MLB over the past couple years.

Joe Nathan - In my opinion, the only closer who has been better that K-Rod.

Albert Pujols - Best hitter in the MLB and also has a great glove.

Answer 7

SP:Brandon Webb-He keep increasing his wins every year at is likely gonna win his 2nd Cy Young this year.

CP:K-Rod-He's on pace to breaking the single season save record and is the best closer.

1B:Albert Pujols-He's arguably the best hitter in baseball of this era.

Answer 8

SP: Cliff Lee - best pitcher in baseball

CP: K Rod - to help keep Lee's wins

3B: David Wright - hes a young 3rd baseman

Answer 9

Well, CC Sabathia........  hes amazing.

Freddy K......................hes amazing.

Mike Schmidt.................i liked him.  

Answer 10

SP- CC Sabathia. He still has pretty many years left in him and has been as good as any pitcher in baseball since being traded. Everytime he pitches it seems like he will either go the distance or give the Brewers a really good chance of winning. Come on. In 10 starts he has 8 wins, 5 complete games, 2 shutouts, and a 1.59 ERA? Not to mention he had 3 more complete games and 2 shutouts with the Tribe. Besides being lights out on the mound, he is a pretty good hitter too.

CP- K-Rod. Although he has an attitude problem, he is young and is getting saves seemingly everyday and will be good for years to come.

LF- Ryan Braun. He is also very young, good attitude, plays really good D even though he was 3B last year, hits homers, and has a pretty good average. Braun is also the 2nd fastest player ever to get 50 home runs and has a shot at getting more home runs than anyone has hit in their first two seasons.

Answer 11

Position Player:  David Wright.  He's young and he does it all.  .300 hitter with 30 homer power and 30 steal potential.  Great glove.  Hanley Ramirez comes close too but I consider Wright as much of a cornerstone as you can get right now.

Starting Pitcher:  I can't believe everyone saying Halladay.  He's clearly nearing the downward portion of his career.  Building a franchise requires young talent.  And in my book you can't do any better than Tim Lincecum.  Put this guy on a good team and just imagine the numbers he could put up.  In just over a full year in the bigs he's established himself as one of the best pitchers in all of baseball.  Already an ace, and a future Hall of Famer.  

Closing Pitcher:  Awfully close between Francisco Rodriguz and Joakim Soria.  What Soria is doing on a bad team is incredible.  I think K-Rod is overrated simply because of his save total.  No doubt K-Rod is a great pitcher but Soria could have just as many saves if he played for the Angels.  I'll take Soria as my closer, because I think he has room to get even better, where K-Rod has likely peaked.