Your 2012 Portland Webfoots

By Bill

(Note: this post continues yesterday's series, looking at what would happen if the MLB expanded this offseason to 32 teams.  Our introductory post is here, so that you can get a better sense of the overall project, and our Round 1 picks are here. TCM's post on his Brooklyn roster is here.)


So here we are, the morning after the big expansion draft, and your Portland Webfoots (named after my favorite iteration of the same basic name given to several different turn-of-the-last-century minor league teams in the area) have more or less taken shape, with thirty-five players on the roster. But of course that's not nearly enough, when you've got the big-league team plus like seven minor league rosters to fill.

In real life, the teams both would have had a full slate of draft picks, at the end of each round, in 2010, 2011, and 2012, which would certainly help fill out the low minors. And when I look back at the teams a year from now, I think I'll have to do this, to a certain extent, maybe just the first ten rounds or so -- just assign what would have been the last two picks in each round (so picks 1.31 and 1.32, 3.1 and 3.2, 4.1 and 4.2 and so on) to the teams to see what we'd have.

That's a bit much for right now, though. Today, I'm just concerned with the big club, and what it will look like in 2012-2014. The expansion teams are free to sign free agents beginning in the 2011-12 offseason, just like anybody else, and to make trades. So what do we need? Let's start by taking a look at the way the current group breaks down, as I see it:

Your 2012 Brooklyn Hipsters

By The Common Man

(Note: this post continues yesterday's series, looking at what would happen if the MLB expanded this offseason to 32 teams.  Our introductory post is here, so that you can get a better sense of the overall project, and our Round 1 picks are here. Bill's post on the Portland roster is here.)

First of all, The Common Man agrees with Keith Law's assessment that Bill did a better job in stocking his team with young players with upside. Keith seems to think that TCM's options for trading players like Upton, Correia, Nunez, Lilly, and Karstens are limited. And he may be right. But in a world where Matt Capps can net Wilson Ramos and Tim Collins can be acquired for Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth, TCM will live in hope.


In all, he's pretty pleased with his roster (which you can see in full here). Here's what the starting lineup (as it's currently constructed) probably would look like, though that would be subject to change based on who TCM can reasonably deal:

The Great 2011 Expansion Draft

By The Common Man and Bill

For the last couple weeks, the good people of the Internets have been bandying about some radical realignment scenarios, in the wake of the news that MLB was considering tinkering with its current alignment. In particular, the league seems keen on moving the Astros into the AL West and creating two 15 team leagues. While that's interesting, and incredibly flawed, we at The Platoon Advantage wonder if it's finally time to expand the league again.

New markets have become viable and old markets can be co-opted in the interest of competitive balance. The player pool continues to grow, as teams scour South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia for young talent. It would balance both leagues, and no one would have to switch from the NL to the AL. It would accentuate some preexisting rivalries, while creating new, geographically centered ones. And finally, it would be a way to inject some offense back into a league that has seen scoring drop precipitously. And, as Keith Law pointed out in a recent podcast, it would be an excellent way for baseball to raise some quick cash (to help bail out the Dodgers, for instance).

So that’s what we’re doing, with the help of 30 of our baseball-blogging friends and even the great Keith Law himself. As a thought exercise, to demonstrate the difficulties involved in building a team from the ground up, The Common Man and Bill are each taking control of a franchise, one in the New York City area (to mitigate some of the financial advantage enjoyed by the NYC teams) and Portland, Oregon, that will join the Major Leagues in 2012. TCM will control the New York franchise, and Bill controlling Portland. The leagues will maintain their integrity, with no clubs switching sides, and each league will be split into four four-team divisions. Here’s what the realignment that we propose looks like:

2011 Expansion Draft: Round 2 and 3 Picks

We continue alternating picks in Rounds 2 and 3, but each MLB team gets to pull back three additional players at the start of each round.  The full protected lists are up here.  Bill's Portland Webfoots get the first pick in each round, alternating with The Common Man's Brooklyn Hipsters..  If you need to be reminded of who we picked previously, please click here.  And if you need a reminder about who is eligible, click here. Or jump straight to where ESPN's Keith Law evaluates our picks (and the protected lists), over here.

Keith Law Breaks Down the Expansion Draft

The kind and generous Keith Law is the ESPN draft and prospect wizard, whose wonderful work on The WWL can be found here.  Keith is also an integral part of ESPN's Baseball Today podcast, usually with Eric Karabell.  And, of course, he is a chat superstar and king of all snark.  If your KLaw needs are not met by the incredible volume of baseball writing he does, you can also enjoy his personal blog, The Dish, where he writes about food, board games, books, film, and probably other things that we're missing.  Finally, you can enjoy his snark in bite-sized chunks on Twitter.

Keith enthusiastically agreed to donate some time to help us figure out exactly how we did in this expansion draft, picking a "winner" and explaining where and how we could have done better.  As a bonus, he also offered some comments regarding the "protected lists" submitted by our friends and colleagues at the SweetSpot Network.  Take it away, Klaw: