Tom's post today about adding any single player from the past to the current roster got me thinking about an all-time 25 man roster. I used peak season as my criteria, and constructed the staff as follows: 13 pitchers (5 starters, a swingman, and 7 relievers) and 12 position players (2 catchers, 8 other starters, a 4th outfielder and a utility infielder) which is the way the roster is currently constructed. With a pitching staff as strong as I am able to pick, I'd be inclined to carry fewer pitchers and have a longer bench. On the other hand, with a line-up this strong, how much would you use the bench?
The team, after the jump!
Staring Pitchers:
| Name | Position | Throws | Year | ERA+ | rWAR |
| Pat Hentgen | SP | R | 1996 | 156 | 8.4 |
| Dave Stieb | SP | R | 1984 | 146 | 7.7 |
| Jimmy Key | SP | L | 1987 | 164 | 6.6 |
| Roy Halladay | SP | R | 2003 | 145 | 7.5 |
| Roger Clemens | SP | R | 1997 | 222 | 10.3 |
It pains me to include Clemens, but he had the two best seasons ever posted by a Jay.
I have one Swing-man:
| Todd Stottlemyre | RP/SP | R | 1991 | 112 | 3.8 |
My bullpen is quite loaded:
| Name | Position | Throws | Year | ERA+ | rWAR |
| Tom Henke | CL | R | 1987 | 182 | 3.4 |
| Duane Ward | SU | R | 1992 | 211 | 3.2 |
| Mark Eichhorn | RP | R | 1986 | 249 | 6.4 |
| Scott Downs | RP | L | 2008 | 238 | 3.0 |
| Jerry Garvin | RP | L | 1980 | 190 | 2.6 |
| Tony Castillo | RP | L | 1994 | 192 | 2.4 |
| Paul Quantrill | RP | R | 1997 | 234 | 3.0 |
Eichhorn's 1986 surprised me. 6.4 rWAR, 157 IP, NO STARTS!
My position players:
| Name | Position | Bats | Year | OPS+ | rWAR |
| Ernie Whitt | C | L | 1983 | 115 | 3.0 |
| Pat Borders | C2 | R | 1990 | 120 | 2.7 |
| John Olerud | 1B | L | 1993 | 186 | 8.2 |
| Roberto Alomar | 2B | S | 1992 | 130 | 6.4 |
| Tony Fernandez | SS | S | 1987 | 112 | 5.0 |
| Kelly Gruber | 3B | R | 1988 | 113 | 4.8 |
| Manny Lee | UTIF | S | 1992 | 83 | 2.8 |
| Jose Bautista | RF | R | 2011 | 181 | 8.5 |
| Lloyd Moseby | CF | L | 1984 | 127 | 6.2 |
| Shawn Green | LF | L | 1999 | 143 | 5.9 |
| Jesse Barfield | 4OF | R | 1986 | 145 | 7.3 |
| Paul Molitor | DH | R | 1993 | 143 | 5.7 |
If you think I cheated by moving Green from RF to LF, George Bell's 1987 would be my replacement.
I also debated using Damaso Garcia as the utility infielder - he had more speed in case you need a stolen base late in the game - or John McDonald's 2007 (where he put up 1.8 rWAR which was 100% defense) for a pure defensive replacement able to play 2B, SS and 3B.
There was plenty of choice at first. Olerud's '93 was outstanding, plus his career dWAR was 9.7.
The corner outfielder aren't defensive butchers, but neither are known for their defense. Barfield was the best defensive corner outfielder that was a regular starter. Can you imagine Barfield as the 4th outfielder? from '85 to '88 his dWAR was never below 2.0!
For DH, I restricted my choices to players that primarily DH'd, otherwise, Delgado (2000, 7.6 oWAR) or McGriff (1989, 6.6 WAR) would have been in the running.
We haven't had great season by a catcher. I hope if I revisit this list in 4 or 5 years that Lawrie will have supplanted Gruber off the list and either JPA or Travis d'Arnaud are among the catchers.
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