With Major Alliance Baseball’s aboriginal decade of the 21st aeon complete, the time has appear to acme one aggregation as the “Team of the Decade.” There are abounding candidates to acquire from, to be sure. While alone two teams acquire won assorted titles branch into this offseason (Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees), several others started the postseason in position to accompany that list: St. Louis, L.A. (of Anaheim), and of advance the Phillies, who started the ‘09 playoffs with hopes of repeating as champ in back-to-back seasons.
With bookend titles in the decade, the resume cannot be abandoned for the Yankees. They advance the apple in approved analysis wins this decade (over 950), advance in playoff appearances (9), and acquire becoming assorted rings. One would ahead their cachet as “Team of the Decade” is a slam-dunk, and while I would adulation to belie this (I’ve never approved to adumbrate my abhorrence for Pinstripers), I cannot, so were this to be an commodity on anecdotic the best admirable all-decade team, my assignment actuality would be done.
Alas, our admired armpit editor would never acquire a two branch article, so let’s about-face apparatus a bit and go in a absolutely altered direction. Who is the “Anti-Team of the Decade?” Ah, this is a catechism that bears abundant added analysis and the all-important abstract angle of a biased sports blogger like myself; abundant added my style!
The Rules
This is the accessible part. The aggregation in catechism charge be bad — not aloof boilerplate wins/losses bad, but abhorrent on a added abstract level. A aggregation aces of such acumen as “Anti-Team” should not alone acquire the binding poor management/underachieving amateur combination, but charge additionally display an astonishing adeptness to alienate its own fan base. Obviously, such a aggregation cannot acquire won a Apple Series appellation this decade and it is acerb recommended that a applicant aggregation not acquire hoisted any banderole whatsoever, admitting this isn’t a close claim as continued as such pennants are few and far amid and were accompanied with chiefly aerial expectations. Oh, and to those of you that appetite to bandy out semantics and assert that the decade runs from 2001-2010, sit bottomward and shut up. Please.
The Candidates
There are 22 able teams if you annihilate the appellation winners of this decade (Phillies, BoSox, Cards, ChiSox, Marlins, Angels, Diamondbacks, Yankees). Further, Atlanta (6 analysis titles), Oakland (4), Minnesota (4), and the Cubs (3) are discounted, as is Houston, who accumulated their three postseason trips with a Apple Series loss. This leaves us with 17 astute acceptable teams that are in the active — or “also-running,” if you will: Dodgers, Giants, Mariners, Indians, Mets, Blue Jays, Rangers, Rockies, Padres, Reds, Brewers, Tigers, Nationals/Expos, Orioles, Rays, Pirates, Royals.
The Contest
The Dodgers acquire won 865 amateur this decade, acceptable for seventh on the decade list. They’ve additionally brought home two analysis titles and a agrarian agenda berth. Best importantly, they haven’t abandoned their fan-base or created any disproportionate accent amid the accepted baseball-watching population, so they are our aboriginal aggregation to be cut from contention. San Francisco additionally gets lopped off this account of contenders with their three postseason appearances and five-year amplitude to alpha the decade area they averaged aloof beneath 95 wins per season.
The Rockies are the abutting aggregation to be discounted, which may abruptness a few as there are acutely college contour teams still on the account that may acquire had added success this decade. However, Colorado is a aggregation that has consistently outperformed their payroll, bringing abrupt joy to their loyal admirers sporadically, which is absolutely adverse to the array of aftereffect we appetite our “Anti-Team” to acquire on its fan base. Likewise, the Seattle Mariners are booted due to their ability to achieve at or aloof aloft apprehension levels (even if those expectations are that of a non-contending also-ran) factored in with the amazing actuality that they own the almanac for distinct analysis wins (116), which they accomplished aboriginal this decade. Four down, 13 larboard standing.
Next off our account are the Kansas City Royals. File this one beneath “What the hell do you expect?” Yes, they barter abroad their adolescent stars aloof afore they become adolescent superstars. True, their fan abject is continued adversity and does acquire “glory years” adjoin which to admeasurement today’s bleeding years. But the buying is actual acquainted of arena the money agenda with that fan abject and the “baseball experience” at Kauffman Stadium is one that has few peers. The buying doesn’t blackmail for their apologetic artefact and doesn’t insult its admirers by authoritative them feel like they are absolutely aggravating to attempt in the name of affairs a few added tickets. For this, I cannot abuse a accumulation of sadomasochistic (minus the animal overtones) fans.
The Texas Rangers are the abutting accumulation that is atomic like the others. Admitting the decade hasn’t been decidedly abounding for the Rangers or their fans, the aggregation hasn’t absent beneath than 71 amateur aback the about-face of the aeon and Texas about trots out an absorbing calendar that array lots of runs and gives up aloof as many. If anything, their alone absolute declining is anecdotic a reliable afterpiece and throwing a few added bucks at a amateur actuality or a amateur there. The Cleveland Indians additionally get a pass, as they consistently advance out a middle-priced accumulation of bourgeois able players with a brilliant alloyed in every now and then. Granted, there acquire been some front-office botch-jobs angry in with this franchise, but these failings anemic in allegory to those of some of the others on the list.
Toronto and Milwaukee are both activity to be larboard off the abbreviate list, as well. Toronto has been almost constant if not maddeningly boilerplate over the antithesis of the decade and they do comedy in the above analysis as two of the all-decade greats, so they get the account of the doubt. The Brew Crew is an advancing agglomeration that has done added with less, decidedly in the closing stages of the decade, and they too are faced with a consistently stout set of analysis rivals. The Rays adored themselves with their aftermost two seasons, admitting their early-decade amateurishness about kept them as accepted contenders alike with their contempo resurgence.
The final two to not achieve the cut are the San Diego Padres and Cincinnati Reds. In the case of the Reds, this aggregation is bad and has been grossly mismanaged, but they do put a appropriate aggregation on the acreage that has been accepted to comedy able-bodied aboriginal and acquire accurate to be boxy outs for contenders backward in the season. The Padres acquire had their moments this decade, but the auto acquire collapsed off and there doesn’t assume to be a abatement in sight. However, due to their run of success that concluded aback with a crushing “play-in game” accident to Colorado in 2007, San Diego doesn’t absolutely authorize as one of the affliction bristles teams of the decade.
And then, there were five. The actual bristles teams are anniversary appropriately flawed, but for actual altered reasons. There are your arrant disasters, your maddeningly inconsistent cadre groupings as able-bodied as your absolute head-scratchers. Anniversary should be accustomed some acceptance for their incomparable futility, but there charge be alone one larboard standing, so beneath is a abundant breakdown for anniversary of the finalists, in no accurate order:
Pittsburgh Pirates — Oh boy. I beggarly OOOOOHHHH BBBOOOOYYY!!! Alone the above Royals acquire absent added this decade, and the Pirates dry spell runs afterpiece to two decades nowadays. No acceptable players — I beggarly aught — alike the hardly accomplished get alien out by the anniversary trading deadline. They spiral up their abstract signings, they blackmail for tickets, they acquire stale, arid uniforms … there isn’t abundant abroad to say above yes, this is a accepted adversary for “Anti-Team of the Decade.”
Detroit Tigers — Their one playoff actualization this decade (2006) was a wildcard anchorage that they “earned” by accident their aftermost bristles amateur to get anesthetized in the standings by a baking Twins aggregation on the season’s aftermost day. Sound familiar? Detroit is a authorization that has the best of intentions, but they access anniversary analysis with expectations that go unfulfilled; aback they are accepted to be awful, they compete, and aback they are accepted to compete, they underachieve. Worse, in those seasons area they are missing one key allotment to coalesce their affairs (like in 2009), they abort to analyze that missing allotment and don’t assignment to abode it through midseason trade. If you are a Tiger fan, I feel for you, and I am a Cub fan, so ahead about that irony for a minute!
Washington Nationals (aka Montreal Expos) — Admitting they acquire been blithely affecting for absolutely some time, this authorization about gets a chargeless canyon from me as they acquire been abused by the system. Aback in Montreal, added should acquire been done to accomplishment the franchise, but instead, the alliance issued its afterlife book on the Expos, afraid them out to dry (and lose all its fan base) and affected them to move to the Nation’s Capitol, which has as abundant absorption in baseball as I do politics. It will booty several added years for the authorization to absolutely recover, admitting they did alpha to appearance signs in 2009, appreciably acceptable their aftermost seven amateur adjoin playoff-caliber opposition. But they did still win alone 59 games, so that chargeless canyon wouldn’t be warranted.
Baltimore Orioles — If there were a photo of baseball mismanagement, it would absolutely accommodate the Oriole logo. Poor banking decisions (Sammy Sosa? Really?) abound in B-More and the aggregation hasn’t been alike almost aggressive in years. No 80-win seasons to adhere their hat on, a aggrandized payroll, a account of abrasion issues, no adherence in the advanced appointment — the approaching is austere and the accomplished is article of nightmares for anyone that fancies themselves an Oriole die-hard. I’ll put it this way, aback you are anxious that affective the Nationals to your adjacency may cut into your basal line, you acquire done a piss-poor job business yourself and establishing a attendance amid your fans.
New York Mets — What the?! Seriously, the Mets on this list? Afraid so. Yes, I apperceive they played in the decade-opening Apple Series adjoin the Yankees, and they’ve alike alloyed in a analysis appellation this decade, but let’s amend the facts. Actuality No. 1: the Mets acquire had one of the top bristles accomplished payrolls in baseball through anniversary year this decade. Actuality No. 2: during the decade, the Mets accomplished aftermost alert and added than 20-games out of aboriginal on the season’s aftermost day four times. Actuality No. 3: not including the two playoff seasons (‘00 and ‘06), in the three seasons that New York entered the final anniversary of the analysis in aboriginal or aural arresting ambit of aboriginal (three or beneath amateur back) this decade, the Mets won four and absent six in their aftermost 10 amateur in anniversary of those seasons. Actuality No. 4: the Mets blew analysis leads of greater than three amateur during the season’s aftermost two weeks alert in the decade. The alone added aggregation this decade to achieve the above accomplishment while missing playoffs absolutely was Detroit this season.
The Verdict
After accurate application of the facts, for me it comes bottomward to two actual altered franchises aback free the ultimate also-ran in this contest. As I mentioned, the Nationals are bad, but added of an adverse bad than an insultingly abortive bad. The Orioles are a cautionary account of how not to absorb your money, but in the admirable arrangement of things, they acquire been victimized by a account of steroid-pumping vets (Miguel Tejada, Rafael Palmeiro, Sosa, et al) that fell over the acropolis as they acclimatized in for Baltimore, which makes them added of a amiss place-wrong time aggregation than an arrant failure.
And the Tigers, while absolutely a head-scratching brain-teaser of a situation, acquire never absolutely headed into a analysis capturing the hearts and minds of the masses who ahead a abysmal championship run, so their failings are not absolutely abrupt aboriginal in the decade (though the added contempo collapses due accord them far added acceptance as our “Anti-Team” than they should have).
Who’s left? One is a aggregation that never can assume to get it appropriate and doesn’t assume to appetite to either accept defeat (“Oh, we’ll be bigger this season, aloof watch!”) or accomplish to accepted advance (“Yes, we traded our best adolescent aptitude abroad … afresh … for nothing!”). The added is a aggregation that annually goes for the appetite with big, bold, cher moves, but doesn’t accept the accent of moderation, role players, or strong, abiding management. Which is worse? You acquaint me. But for my money, and for endemic I would suspect, those New York Mets acquire brought frustration, unmet (or is it un-”Met”) expectations, overpaid underachievement, and absolutely bad acumen to its fan abject in never-before-seen doses. For this reason, there is no added analytic verdict.
Congratulations to the New York Mets, this decades “Anti-Team.” How about that? The best and the affliction off this decade summed up by one simple agreeable refrain; Frank Sinatra, eat your affection out!