FCM All-Time Team: Starting Lineup

As I said on the message board, I will be looking at our best of the best in FCM as we've now concluded 25 seasons. Players are judged on what they have done to date. Certainly there are some players who'll eventually knock some of the current players off the list, but only what a player has done to this point in their career will count.

I plan on updating this every two or three seasons. I may do a league vote or I may just update as I see fit. Speaking of league vote, everyone in the league will have a chance to vote for two players on this year's team. I am deciding on the starting nine position players (including DH), four bench players, six starting pitchers, and four relief pitchers.

Once I have announced all of the players I have decided on, I will post a poll in the League News on the message board for everyone to vote on. It will likely be done in two rounds of voting. One with the inital list and then a second, narrowed down list based on the initial voting. It does not matter if the league votes for two positions players, two pitchers, or one of each.

After the final voting has concluded I will update the lists to reflect the elected players. Then I will follow up with a "Heat Seekers" and "Looking On The Outside In" lists. "Heat Seekers" is for active players who didn't have enough credentials to make the list this time around and could convincingly one day have a storied enough career to make the top 25. "Looking On The Outside In" will list out all players I seriously considered and have either retired or are running on fumes that will never have the credentials to make the list.

Let's get rolling...

LINEUP

 

Catcher
Gabriel Gamora (COL) – 15 Seasons
1,858 Hits 921 R 367 2B 277 HR 1,162 RBI 7 SB .277/.338/.462

5 All-Star Games, 4 Gold Gloves

Gamora narrowly edges out Jarmel. Their offensive production is very similar, but it’s Gamora’s superior defense that gets him the nod. While Gamora played in nearly 400 more games at catcher, he committed fewer errors and allowed less passed balls. His 31% caught stealing isn’t too shabby either.

First Base
Steve Miller (CIN) – 16 Seasons
2,506 Hits 1,388 R 414 2B 514 HR 1,630 RBI 30 SB .310/.386/.560

11 All-Star Games, 3 MVP Awards, 5 Gold Gloves

Easy choice here, Miller may go down as the best position player in FCM. He could hit for average, power, and get on-base. From 2018-22 he was simply dominating. If Mogul took crossing leagues into consideration, he might have another MVP Award (Lars Anderson – 2019). Oh yeah, those five gold gloves are pretty impressive as well.

Second Base
Matt McArthur (CLE) – 16 Seasons
2,776 Hits 1,290 R 523 2B 92 HR 1,092 RBI 246 SB .324/.376/.439

6 All-Star Games, 2 Gold Gloves

McArthur is the current hits leader of our generated players. Though his DRAA suggests he was an average fielder, I don’t buy it. He had great vitals and won a couple of Gold Gloves. He was simply the perfect middle infielder – good on-base ability, speed, and defense.

Third Base
Ed Edwards (TBR) – 16 Seasons
2,077 Hits 1,199 R 351 2B 323 HR 1,204 RBI 62 SB .286/.391/.480

4 All-Star Games, 1 MVP Award

The hot corner was a tough choice. Edwards’ power numbers aren’t as impressive, but when you consider he played six seasons in Tampa they aren’t bad at all. As shown in his years with the White Sox if he played in hitter friendly parks more in his prime he could be pushing 400 homers.

Short Stop
Jay Sullivan (BAL) – 13 Seasons (Active)
2,508 Hits 1,134 R 462 2B 189 HR 1,168 RBI 59 SB .310/.351/.452

10 All-Star Games, 3 Gold Gloves

He’s probably the only active player on this list that has the ability to considerably pile on the numbers going forward. He’ll be just 32 next season while having a legitimate shot at reaching 3,000 hits – something no other Mogul born player has done. His Gold Gloves at two different positions is very impressive. How impressive will his final stat lines be? Only time will tell.

Left Field
James Aitkenhead (CHC) – 16 Seasons
2,337 Hits 1,346 R 510 2B 452 HR 1,588 RBI 37 SB .292/.371/.539

7 All-Star Games, 2 MVP Awards, 2 Gold Gloves

For ten seasons (2016-2025) he only notched a season OPS under .900 once. That’s Aitkenhead’s story – consistency. He could be counted on for 40 doubles and 35ish homers during that stretch. Even though his Gold Gloves are probably a product of Mogul overvaluing errors for the award, he still has them to go on an amazing resume.

Center Field
Rafael Romero (CHC) – 15 Seasons
2,226 Hits 1,439 R 403 2B 100 HR 751 RBI 811 SB .302/.385/.417

2 All-Star Games, 1 Gold Glove

Romero doesn’t have the awards many others have, but he’s the stolen bases leader of qualifying players. Though 800 stolen bases with a career .385 OBP is impressive, he may be best remembered for the controversy that surrounded his contract not once, but twice.

Right Field
Frank Prywes (HOU) – 16 Seasons
2,288 Hits 1,189 R 526 2B 346 HR 1,411 RBI 12 SB .305/.381/.523

7 All-Star Games, 2 MVP Awards

In the early 2020’s hitters were feared in the NL Central. Prywes might not be as feared as others, but his career hitting line is impressive. Like Aitkenhead, he too was very consistent (100+ RBI from 2021-27). One has to wonder what could’ve been had a broken wrist in April of ’31 not have basically brought his career to an end.

Designated Hitter
Tim Vandyke (DET/LAA) – 14 Seasons (Active)
2,131 Hits 1,271 R 455 2B 440 HR 1,551 RBI 4 SB .287/.373/.537

7 All-Star Games, 4 MVP Awards

There’s a very real possibility that Vandyke could surpass Steve Miller as “FCM’s Best Hitter”. He’s not too far behind in Runs and RBI. The amount needed to surpass Miller in Runs and Hits are obtainable. Another thing I like about Vandy is that he hasn’t needed friendly confines to help out his numbers.

How would you organize this lineup from one to nine?

Up Next: 
FCM All-Time Team: Bench
FCM All-Time Team: Rotation
FCM All-Time Team:Bullpen
FCM All-Time Team: League Vote
FCM All-Time Team: Final Wrap-up