Decade: The New Millenium (2000-2009)
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Team Decade Pages (Average Win Shares / Points per year in decade):		Top Team Builders In Decade:
AMERICAN LEAGUE:	NATIONAL LEAGUE:	1 - Bill DeWitt Jr (Owner), Walt Jocketty (GM), Tony LaRussa (Manager) - Cards
New York Yankees - 120	St. Louis Cardinals - 114	2 - Gene Michael (VP), Joe Torre (Manager), George Steinbrenner (Owner) - Yankees
Boston Red Sox - 114	Atlanta Braves - 110	3 - Larry Lucchino (Owner), Theo Epstein (GM), Terry Francona (Manager) - Red Sox
Anaheim Angels - 111	Los Angeles Dodgers - 107	4 - Bobby Cox  (Manager), John Schuerholz (GM), Leo Mazzone (Pitching Coach) - Braves
Oakland A's - 110	San Francisco Giants - 106	5 - Ed Wade (GM), Pat Gillick (GM) - Phillies
Minnesota Twins - 107	Philadelphia Phillies - 105	6 - Billy Beane (GM) - A's
Chicago White Sox - 106	Houston Astros - 103	7 - Artie Moreno (Owner), Bill Stoneman (GM), Mike Scioscia (Manager) - Anaheim
Seattle Mariners - 104	New York Mets - 101	8 - Gerry Hunsicker (GM) - Houston
Cleveland Indians - 101	Florida Marlins - 100	9 - Terry Ryan (GM), Ron Gardenhire (Manager) - Twins
Toronto Blue Jays - 99	Chicago Cubs - 100	10 - Dave Dombrowski (GM) - Florida
Texas Rangers - 96	Arizona Diamondbacks - 99	11 - Kenny Williams (GM), Ozzie Guillen (Manager) - White Sox
Detroit Tigers - 90	Colorado Rockies - 95	12 - Pat Gillick (GM), Lou Piniella (Manager) - Seattle
Baltimore Orioles - 86	San Diego Padres - 95	13 - Jerry Colangelo (Owner), Joe Garagiola Jr (GM) - Arizona
Tampa Bay Rays - 86	Cincinnati Reds - 93	14 - John Hart (GM), Mark Shapiro (GM) - Cleveland
Kansas City Royals - 83	Milwaukee Brewers - 92	15 - Andrew Friedman (GM), Joe Maddon (Manager) - Tampa Bay
	Washington Nationals - 88
	Pittsburgh Pirates - 84
Decade Highlights
□ Analytics were the big story of the decade.
Money Ball changed everything. Sandy Alderson and Billy Beane of the A's had determined, thru math, that a lot of players who had high OPS were guys who were underapprreciated and
undervalued and you could win with them on the cheap. Michael Lewis wrote a book about it in 2003. Meanwhile, Bill James had been parsing data for years, mining gold nuggets of factual
information about whether old beliefs about baseball strategy could actually be supported by the numbers, or not. He used these statistical methods to evaluate ballplayers, as well.
Between these two, a revolution of a statistical rather than empirical approach to managing and general managing baseball teams was born.
Not that this was anything new. Other industries had been using statistical techniques such as regression analysis, simulations, simplex method, spectral analysis of time series, etc. for decades
to assist management in decision making. For whatever reason, these methods were late to the party when it came to baseball. However, once introduced, within a decade or so, statistical
analysis as applied to management became dominant. So much so, that, unfortunately, it has completely overshot it's mark. The natural progression will see people pulliing back from using
statistical methods as the bible, the be all, end all, end of story word on how things should be done. In the real world, statistical methods are used to assist management in making decisions
with the knowledge that whatever model you use is not perfect because it cannot account for every variable, so you use it as a guideline, not as a hard and fast rule. Baseball hasn't
gotten there yet.
A couple of examples that I just shake my head at. The reticence to steal bases. It's difficult to quantify the threat of stealing bases and of speed. As an analogy, think of
quarterback Tom Brady. If you give him time in the pocket, he will slice you apart. If you make him hurry with a good pass rush, he becomes a less than average passer.
The same for pitchers, catchers, infielders and outfielders. You hurry them up, they don't do so good. Speed does that. The threat of stolen bases does that. Even tho' you can't quantify
a threat, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Also, a good base stealer doesn't affect his own stats so much as he affects the stats of those after him. The pitcher changes his motion and slide
steps. The pitcher has to divide his attention between the batter and the base runner. Fielders can't play in their optimal defensive positions because they've got to protect against the
stolen base. Once the ball is in play, fielders must hurry because there's a fast guy on the bases. All this doesn't help the base runner's stats, but it's all real.
A quick second example is the current Yankees. They have three right handed strikeout machines plunked squarely in the middle of their lineup: Aaron Judge; Giancarlo Stanton and
Gary Sanchez. All tremendous hitters, but all are candidates for 200 strike outs a year. They all have the ability to hit pop ups that land in the right field stands for home runs.
However, if they don't do that, they're useless. In essence, they are one trick ponies. All with the same trick, home run or die. I would think that the analytics guys would be running
simulations with a wide variety of scenarios, one being what if there's a righty in there that these guys can't take out of the park? In that case, they're cooked, no fallback option.
As a Yankee fan, I cringe when I see this lineup. Yet, analytics tells Yankee management that this is optimal.
Maybe overall it is, but, to me, flexibility helps. While these guys will bludgeon you in certain situations, because they are one trick ponies, they are useless
in others. I like guys who can beat you a lot of ways. Handle the bat, go the other way, bunt, run, not be so susceptible to right handed pitching, etc. While pundits are bemoaning all
of the injuries that have befallen these three and speculate how many more wins the Yankees would have if they weren't hurt, I think that the Yankees are lucky that these three
can't stay on the field. It allows them to bring in guys with a much wider skillset. In other words, I'm not surprised that the Yankees are doing better without them, despite what the
analytics tell us.
□  It's sort of odd to say this, but maybe the worse thing that ever happened to blacks and baseball was Jackie Robinson breaking the color line. The game was a lot better when there were
a lot of black players playing the game. After Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Bonds in the early 2000's black players have all but disappeared from the game. Mookie Betts currently being the exception
that proves the rule. This trend started noticably happening in the two thousand oughts. No one's sure about what's going on, but it's undeniable. Black kids are just not interested in playing
baseball.  The World Baseball Classic is great to watch because you see how the different cultures approach playing the game.  The discipline and technical proficiency of Oriental players, the
flair and style and pure joy of Latino players. Black players brought an easy grace to the game. I'm guessing that black kids have more fun playing sports like basketball and football.
Maybe they can express themselves more in those sports or their culture is allowed to flourish more in those sports.
I read stories and see old pictures of the Negro leagues. Those guys were having fun. What happened?
□ Steroids were still in their heyday in the early 2000's.
Barry Bonds, who would have been a first ballot Hall of Famer without the 'roids, won the NL MVP four years running from'01 to '04 and deservedly so.
The gig was up in 2005 when several steroid use reports came out and a congressional hearing was conducted. Everybody knew what was going on way beforehand but steroids had made
baseball too exciting for anyone, from Commissioner Selig on down, to have any interest in stopping it. One of the most entertaining things to watch in baseball was Barry Bonds hitting.
You couldn't sneak anything by him in the strike zone. He was going to hit it hard. Teams were actually intentionally walking him with the bases loaded rather than having to face him.
Anyway, baseball turned on a dime in 2005, suddenly making anyone who was involved with steroids a pariah.
It's interesting to compare the careers of Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr.
Both were sons of outstanding major league players who were not quite as gifted as their sons. Both Barry and Ken Junior were other worldy, first ballot Hall of Fame talents.
Both left their original teams for their fathers's original teams in free agency. Barry to the Giants. Ken Junior to the Reds. Apparently their fathers had great affection for their
original venues and these were the sons' home towns. Both Bobby Bonds and Ken Senior soured on the baseball industry as they were traded around the big leagues. Both obviously loathed
their tenures in New York playing for George Steinbrenner. Both Barry and Ken Junior didn't appear to enjoy playing baseball very much. Presumably jaded from their father's experiences
once their fathers had left their initial venues in the major leagues. I bring this up because I believe there may be a connection between the two best black players of the game not liking
to play very much and the subsequent loss of interest in the game by black youngsters.  Is it that the morose demeanor of these two during their playing days helped cause the malaise or was
their demeanor a symptom of an already present malaise and their behavior was just a harbinger of things to come?
Back to steroids, Ken Junior didn't take them and his career ironically nosedived (due to injuries) while Bonds took them and his career skyrocketed. Until the roids, they were both on an equal par.
□  We hadn't seen the mercenary side of baseball ownership manifest itself for thirty years since Bob Short moved his Washington Senators team to Arlington Texas in 1972. That is a good thing.
It started with Walter O'Malley moving the Dodgers from Brooklyn to LA in 1957, Horace Stoneham moving the Giants from New York to San Francisco in 1957, Calvin Griffith moving the Washington
Senators to Minneapolis St. Paul in 1961, Bill Bartholomay moving the Braves from Milwaukee to Atlanta in 1966, Charlie Finley moving the A's from Kansas City to Oakland in 1968,
Bud Selig moving the Pilots from Seattle to Milwaukee in 1970 and, of course, Bob Short. These moves all had something in common. They moved teams out of viable major league cities to
other cities purely for personal gain. Most of the time, it was for sweetheart stadium, concession and TV deals. By the early 1970's baseball popularity was in steep decline, in large part due
to the mercenary actions of these owners. You can't treat fans like they don't matter and not have them repay your lack of loyalty with a lack of loyalty of their own. The game dies if it kills its fans.
I mention all of this because, after a welcome thirty year respite from this nonsense, Bud Selig and his cohorts dredged it up again in 2002. Warning: what comes next is complicated and convoluted.
Montreal had a terrible ball park, Olympic Stadium. It was one of those crappy, un charming multipurpose stadiums built in the Seventies. On top of that, it is frigid in Montreal in April and May
and you need a roof. Meanwhile, Montrealers do not want to waste their precious few balmy summer nights indoors. You need a stadium with a retractable roof. Montreal had one, the problem
was that the roof never worked. And when it did, it had a little problem of dropping huge chunks of concrete onto the field and seats below. Montreal needed a new stadium. The Expos also
had an ownership problem ever since Charles Bronfman sold the team to a consortium of fourteen owners in 1990. In 1998 Jeffrey Loria bought into the team and then proceeded to buy up the
shares of most of the other fourteen owners, getting a 92% share of the club by 2002. At that point, the city of Montreal offered 100 million towards the building of a new retractable roof
stadium and LaBatt Breweries offered a sponsorshop to name it LaBatt Park. So far, so good. However, Loria wasn't interested. This is where it starts getting complicated. Commissioner Bud
Selig comes up with a deal. The National League buys the Expos from Loria for 158 million, which Loria uses to buy the Florida Marlins from John Henry who then turns around and uses
that money to buy the Boston Red Sox. Major league baseball then eliminates the Montreal Expos and another team, the Minnesota Twins, contracting down to 28 teams from 30.
Where to start? Montreal had proven to be a viable major league city, they just needed a new ballpark. What had the Twins done to anybody? They were just being eliminated because
you couldn't have an uneven number of teams, there would always be one team with no one to play on any given night. Selig, who was flat out bad for baseball, once again showed his
callous disregard for fans or for baseball. Short term windfall profits for owners was his game. The Minneosta Stadium authority sued major league baseball for breach of contract
which saved baseball in Minnesota. Selig then went frantically looking for another team to eliminate. (As an aside, as poetic justice, I would have recommended Milwaukee. Not that
I have anything against Milwaukee or it's fans, they're great fans, but because Selig had spent his career twisting baseball into a pretzel to accommodate having his beloved Milwaukee
in the National League, their rightful place, in his mind). Anyway, Selig couldn't find anybody. So the Marlin and Red Sox deals went through and the National League was left holding
the bag, owning the Expos for three lame duck seasons, '02-'05. The reason it took so long, three years, is because the fourteen owners of the Expos who had sold their shares
to Loria accused him of acting in bad faith and brought a lawsuit against him. They said that he got their shares under the pretense that he was keeping the team in Montreal and that
he reneged on that agreement. In 2005, that law suit was judged in Loria's favor and the Expos were free to leave Montreal. In the meantime, somewhere between 2002 and 2006,
Ted Lerner arrived on the scene and wanted to buy the club from the National League for 450 million and move it to Washington. Done. The National League made a 292 million profit on
the deal as they had paid Loria 158 million for the club in 2002. Win - win. Except for the fans of Montreal, of course.
□  The Yankees were the team to beat in the American League until the 2004 playoffs when Boston came back from a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS to beat them. After that, until 2008, when the Yankees
couldn't make the playoffs, New York was a great trial horse for other teams. The Yankees were competitive and got into the post season, but they were no longer invincible and other teams
were beating them. Best of both worlds for baseball, the TV ratings boost from having the Yankees in the post season, but the feet of clay so that other teams had a legitimate chance of
defeating them. The Red Sox were the Yankee nemesis during the decade. Winning their first World Series since 1918 in 2004. Boston won another one in 2007.
The A's with moneyball and three great starting pitchers, the Angels with an excellent lineup, the Twins with a solid ballclub fielded a lot of contending clubs throughout the decade.
Seattle was good early including a spectacular 2001 season when they won 116 games. Cleveland's dynasty of the previous decade continued thru the first couple of years of the decade
before everybody started leaving. Meanwhile Chicago in 2005, Detroit in 2006 and Tampa in 2008 all made it to the World Series.
The Yankees would buy their way to a World Series victory in 2009.
□  The Cardinals dominated the decade in the National League thru mid decade making it to the NLCS four times.
The Phillies dominated the end of the decade making it to the World Series in '08 and '09, winning it in '08.
Other good teams were the Braves, who extended their Division title winning streak to 15 thru mid decade, altho' not so good in post season. The Astros were very competitive as were the
Dodgers and the Giants, fueled by Barry Bonds. The New York Mets made it to the World Series in 2000.
□  Outside of baseball, by the end of the decade everybody and his brother had a cell phone and was surfing the web. Amazing to think how we survived without these things prior to the turn
of the century. Also, TV watching declined, but whoever was watching was not doing it on network TV. Baseball had fallen to third in popularity behind football and basketball. Altho'
the price of baseball franchises continued to skyrocket, the sport continued to get more and more challenges to its popularity. Families going to games was now getting out of reach
of most folks. More and more primo seats were being bought up by corporations as perks for clients, leaving average guys in the dust. Baseball still had big stars in the Oughts, but this
was about to change. The biggest sports stars would soon be everywhere but baseball. The days of going to a ballgame and immersing yourself in it with your buddies were going away.
In a way, this could have been the fault of the new retro ballparks. They were pushing an entirely different experience when you went to the park. Gourmet food, lots of activities, distractions
for your girlfriend and your kids.
Meanwhile, the political and economic world was a complete disaster during the decade. Neo Liberal globalization had stupidly moved almost all US manufacturing abroad in an effort to make
a quick buck with cheap labor, unlimited ability to pollute and lower corporate taxes. The US economy was being gutted by US corporate greed. The 2008 bank crisis was a disaster for the
American public. In a scam, banks sold untenable mortgages to hundreds of thousands of home buyers and then packaged those mortgages as AAA securities. When these bogus securities
went belly up in 2008, rather than selecting the easier route of making the mortgages good thru reverse taxation, the US Government opted to bail out the criminals. And, on top of that, when
the homeowners lost their homes, the banks got to double dip by reselling the foreclosed properties. Whoever said that there is no justice in the world was correct.  Worse yet, the US
Government's mishandling of this crisis set an ugly precedent for the next crises to come. We also might as well mention that the US Government also set the middle east on fire during
this decade, starting two permanent, needless, horrific  wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and continuing to support heinous regimes in Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Top Players In Decade Pages (Win Shares / Points and WAR (in parentheses) for Decade ):
All Positions -  Top 50	Top 20 Starting Pitchers	Top Catchers	Top Outfielders
1 - Albert Pujols Cards (73.82) - 141	13 - Derek Lowe Boston (29.13) - 106	9 - Jorge Posada Yankees (37.54) - 109	3 - Carlos Beltran Houston (51.37) - 135
2 - Alex Rodriguez Yankees (77.65) - 140	18 - Tim Hudson A's (40.28) - 101	25 - Ivan Rodriguez Texas (30.8) - 96	5 - Mike Cameron Seattle (35.37) - 120
3 - Carlos Beltran Houston (51.37) - 135	22- Roy Oswalt Houston (43.16) - 97	45 - Jason Varitek Boston (20.77) - 79	6 - Ichiro Suzuki Seattle (51.06) - 114
4 - Todd Helton Colorado (53.11) - 126	23 - CC Sabathia Cleveland (38.68) - 97	Joe Mauer Twins (27.3) -   60	7 - Vladimir Guerrero Montreal (43.92) - 111
5 - Mike Cameron Seattle (35.37) - 120	24 - Roy Halladay Toronto (45.45) - 96		8 - Johnny Damon KC (39.51) - 110
6 - Ichiro Suzuki Seattle (51.06) - 114	28 - Jamie Moyer Seattle (22) - 93	Top First Basemen	12- Bobby Abreu Phillies (44.83) - 106
7 - Vladimir Guerrero Montreal (43.92) - 111	29 - Andy Pettitte Yankees (32.02) - 93	1 - Albert Pujols Cards (73.82) - 141	14 - Lance Berkman Houston  (46.31) - 104
8 - Johnny Damon KC (39.51) - 110	30 - Barry Zito A's (35.4) - 93	4 - Todd Helton Colorado (53.11) - 126	15- Barry Bonds Giants (59.11) - 104
9 - Jorge Posada Yankees (37.54) - 109	31 - Randy Johnson Arizona (51.25) - 91	43 - Jason Giambi A's (38.84) - 80	16 - Torii Hunter Angels (35.42) - 103
10 - Mariano Rivera Yankees (33.04) - 107	32 - Mark Buehrle Chicago (41.42) - 90	44 - Derek Lee Cubs (31.98) - 80	17 - Jim Edmonds Cards (38.04) - 102
11 - Derek Jeter Yankees (44.1) - 106	34 - Greg Maddux Braves (29.7) - 88	46 - Carlos Delgado Toronto (33.05) - 78	21 - Andruw Jones Braves (41.85) - 98
12- Bobby Abreu Phillies (44.83) - 106	35 - Johann Santana Twins (46.15) - 86	Jim Thome Cleveland (37.68) - 72	33 - Manny Ramirez Boston (43.64)- 90
13 - Derek Lowe Boston (29.13) - 106	37 - Javier Vazquez Montreal (42.38) - 85	Mark Texeira Texas (36.57) - 68	39 - Juan Pierre Colorado (15.81) - 82
14 - Lance Berkman Houston  (46.31) - 104	38 - Tom Glavine Braves (27.72) - 84		48 - Brian Giles Pirates (36.82) - 77
15- Barry Bonds Giants (59.11) - 104	41 - Livan Hernandez Giants (19.37) - 80	Top Second Basemen	50 - Carl Crawford Tampa Bay (28.61) - 76
16 - Torii Hunter Angels (35.42) - 103	42 - Mike Mussina Yankees (40.82) - 80	36 - Alfonso Soriano Yankees (24.1) - 86	JD Drew Boston (39.15) - 75
17 - Jim Edmonds Cards (38.04) - 102	50 - Kevin Millwood Braves (21.55) - 76	Jeff Kent Giants (32.96) - 75	Magglio Ordonez Chicago (31.26) - 74
18 - Tim Hudson A's (40.28) - 101	Chris Carpenter Cards (24.56) -   75	Brian Roberts Baltimore (27.98) - 61	Gary Sheffield Dodgers (33.5) -    74
19 - Miguel Tejada A's (42.75) - 99	John Smoltz Braves (23.19) - 75	Chase Utley Phillies (42.23) - 52	Kenny Lofton Cleveland (20.84) -   72
20 - Trevor Hoffman San Diego (11.91)  - 98	Curt Schilling Arizona (46.21) - 74
21 - Andruw Jones Braves (41.85) - 98	Pedro Martinez Boston (45.65) - 72	Top Shortstops
22- Roy Oswalt Houston (43.16) - 97	Brandon Webb Arizona (32.97) -    72	11 - Derek Jeter Yankees (44.1) - 106
23 - CC Sabathia Cleveland (38.68) - 97	Josh Beckett Boston (28.29) - 70	19 - Miguel Tejada A's (42.75) - 99
24 - Roy Halladay Toronto (45.45) - 96	Jake Peavy San Diego (24.8) -    67	26 - Rafael Furcal Braves (33.45) - 96
25 - Ivan Rodriguez Texas (30.8) - 96	Matt Morris Cards (10.97) -   63	27 - Jimmy Rollins Phillies (34.98) - 95
26 - Rafael Furcal Braves (33.45) - 96	Roger Clemens Yankees (35.07) - 62
27 - Jimmy Rollins Phillies (34.98) - 95	Cliff Lee Cleveland (17.32) -   61	Top Third Basemen
28 - Jamie Moyer Seattle (22) - 93		2 - Alex Rodriguez Yankees (77.65) - 140
29 - Andy Pettitte Yankees (32.02) - 93	Top Relief Pitchers	40 - Scott Rolen Cards (48.36) - 82
30 - Barry Zito A's (35.4) - 93	10 - Mariano Rivera Yankees (33.04) - 107	47 - Chipper Jones Braves (50.57)  - 78
31 - Randy Johnson Arizona (51.25) - 91	20 - Trevor Hoffman San Diego (11.91)  - 98	Adrian Beltre Seattle (40.53) - 61
32 - Mark Buehrle Chicago (41.42) - 90	49 - Jason Isringhausen Cards (10.05) - 76	Placido Polanco Phillies (37.22) - 55
33 - Manny Ramirez Boston (43.64)- 90	Joe Nathan Twins (20.1) - 75
34 - Greg Maddux Braves (29.7) - 88	Billy Wagner Houston (17.63) - 73
35 - Johann Santana Twins (46.15) - 86	Francisco Rodriguez Anaheim (16.14) - 64
36 - Alfonso Soriano Yankees (24.1) - 86	Armando Benitez Mets (9.92) -    62
37 - Javier Vazquez Montreal (42.38) - 85
38 - Tom Glavine Braves (27.72) - 84
39 - Juan Pierre Colorado (15.81) - 82
40 - Scott Rolen Cards (48.36) - 82
41 - Livan Hernandez Giants (19.37) - 80
42 - Mike Mussina Yankees (40.82) - 80
43 - Jason Giambi A's (38.84) - 80
44 - Derek Lee Cubs (31.98) - 80
45 - Jason Varitek Boston (20.77) - 79
46 - Carlos Delgado Toronto (33.05) - 78
47 - Chipper Jones Braves (50.57)  - 78
48 - Brian Giles Pirates (36.82) - 77
49 - Jason Isringhausen Cards (10.05) - 76
50 - Kevin Millwood Braves (21.55) - 76
50 - Carl Crawford Tampa Bay (28.61) - 76