Founded on my research for the “Minors vs Majors” chapter in my book, “Hardball Retroactive” paired with complementary articles “Minors vs. Majors: The Top Minor League Batters in the Expansion Era” and “Minors vs. Majors: The Top Minor League Pitchers in the Expansion Era“, the ensuing series will reveal the Minor League All-Star rosters for every MLB franchise based primarily on single-season statistics in Runs Created / 140 Games (batters) and Fielding Independent Pitching (pitchers).

Selection Criteria

• individual seasons in the Expansion Era (1961 – 2017)
• levels A through AAA
• ages 24 or younger (A and A+)
• age 25 seasons (AA and AAA)
• age 26 seasons (AAA)

Terminology

 

RC – Runs Created – using the basic formula devised by Bill James:

((H + BB) * TB) / (AB + BB)

Note: I utilized the basic formula as opposed to the Technical Version due to incomplete GIDP and IBB data.

RC/140 – Runs Created per 140 Games as Minor League ballplayers

RC / (G / 140)

FIP – Fielding Independent Pitching – “Fielding Independent Pitching converts a pitcher’s three true outcomes into an earned run average-like number. The formula is (13*HR+3*(HBP+BB)-2*K)/IP, plus a constant (usually around 3.2) to put it on the same scale as earned run average.

FIP is a component ERA inspired by the work of Voros McCracken on defense-independent pitching statistics, but has become more widely used because of the ease of computation – it requires only four easily-found box score stats, uses only basic arithmetic operations and has four easily-memorized constants. It was conceived of by both Tom Tango and Clay Dreslough, the latter of who called it Defense-Independent Component ERA.” (definition courtesy of Baseball Prospectus Glossary).

((13*HR+3*(HBP+BB)-2*K)/IP)+3.2)

 

Assessment

 

The Los Angeles / California / Anaheim Angels

 

Howie Kendrick maintains third place in Minor League career batting average during the Expansion Era with a .358 mark (minimum 500 AB).  Ken Landreaux leads the Angels prospects with 132.9 RC/140 during his Minor League career. Tim “Kingfish” Salmon, 1993 AL Rookie of the Year, emerges atop of the single-season RC/140 charts ahead of two-time first round selection Danny Goodwin (149.8). Goodwin failed to attain full-time status through seven MLB seasons despite a slash line of .313 / .409 / .517 in the minors. Slugging infielders Brandon Wood (#1, 2003) and Dallas McPherson struggled mightily in their big-league trials. Wood supplied a .186 BA and whiffed 218 times in 700 AB as a Major Leaguer while McPherson struck out at a similar rate (2.9 AB/SO). Splitting the 1985 campaign between California and Pittsburgh, Mike C. Brown delivered a .304 BA with 27 doubles before returning to a reserve role in the subsequent season. As injuries decimated the Halos roster in ’83, Daryl Sconiers (.274/8/46) established personal-bests across the board. Selected from the Angels roster by the Athletics in the December 1987 Rule 5 Draft, Doug Jennings spent five years as a reserve outfielder and first baseman.

The Angels’ bench features four-time All-Star Troy Glaus (#1, 1997), the AL home run champion in 2000 with 47 dingers. Two former Halos blossomed in Minnesota as right fielder Tom Brunansky (#1, 1978) averaged 27 four-baggers in a six-year span (1982-87) while Brian Harper compiled a .306 BA as the Twins’ primary backstop (1988-93).  Mickey Rivers aka “Mick the Quick” swiped a League-leading 70 bases with California in ’75 but achieved greater fame as the center fielder and leadoff hitter for the “Bronx Zoo” Yankees in the latter-half of the Seventies.

Tom Bradley amassed a 43-41 record with a 3.24 ERA in a 3-year stretch for the White Sox and Giants subsequent to a six-player deal in November 1970. Nick Adenhart passed tragically in a car accident in April 2009 after composing a 37-28 mark as an Angels’ prospect. Steve Andrade leads the Angels’ minor league pitching charts in WHIP (1.045) and FIP (2.20) while placing second in SO9 (12.9). Francisco J. Rodriguez seized the Major League record with 62 saves in 2008. “K-Rod” notched at least 40 saves on six occasions and merited a half-dozen All-Star appearances in 16 MLB seasons.

Starting Lineup	Age	Year	Teams	Levels	POS	RC140	BA	HR	RBI	OBP	SLG
Howie Kendrick	21	2005	RCU,ARK	A+,AA	2B	145.3	0.367	19	89	0.406	0.614
Ken Landreaux*	22	1977	SLC,ELP	AAA,AA	CF	149.2	0.357	27	116	0.429	0.637
Tim Salmon	23	1992	EDM	AAA	RF	152.1	0.347	29	105	0.469	0.672
Brandon Wood	20	2005	RCU,SLK	A+,AAA	SS	144.9	0.321	43	116	0.381	0.667
Dallas McPherson*	23	2004	ARK,SLK	AA,AAA	3B	139	0.317	40	126	0.387	0.670
Mike C. Brown	23	1983	EDM	AAA	DH	140.7	0.355	22	106	0.427	0.620
Doug Jennings*	22	1987	MDL	AA	LF	140.9	0.338	30	104	0.459	0.608
Danny Goodwin*	24	1978	ELP	AA	C	149.8	0.360	25	89	0.469	0.637
Daryl Sconiers*	21	1980	ELP	AA	1B	138.9	0.370	15	87	0.461	0.585
Bench	Age	Year	Teams	Levels	POS	RC140	BA	HR	RBI	OBP	SLG
Brian Harper	21	1981	SLC	AAA	C	139.2	0.350	28	122	0.389	0.617
Mark Brouhard	23	1979	ELP	AA	OF	136.8	0.350	28	107	0.418	0.596
Tom Brunansky	20	1981	SLC	AAA	OF	135.3	0.332	22	81	0.430	0.633
Paul Dade	23	1975	ELP,SLC	AA,AAA	2B	133.2	0.351	19	98	0.447	0.609
Mike Bishop	21	1980	ELP,SLC	AA,AAA	OF	133.1	0.326	34	111	0.406	0.607
Jose M. Fernandez	26	2001	SLK	AAA	3B	132.8	0.338	30	114	0.421	0.624
Troy Glaus	21	1998	VAN,MDL	AAA,AA	3B	132.8	0.307	35	93	0.402	0.641
Casey Kotchman*	21	2004	SLK,ARK	AAA,AA	1B	130.7	0.371	8	56	0.429	0.553
Steve Stroughter*	25	1977	ELP	AA	OF	128.8	0.336	25	116	0.390	0.593
Zach Borenstein*	22	2013	SBR	A+	LF	128.5	0.337	28	95	0.403	0.631
Chris Clark#	25	1984	EDM	AAA	OF	127.1	0.335	19	104	0.436	0.563
Aaron Guiel*	24	1997	MDL	AA	OF	126.8	0.329	22	85	0.431	0.609
Mickey Rivers*	21	1970	ELP	AA	OF	126.5	0.343	14	56	NA	0.537
Demond Smith#	22	1995	CDR,LEL	A,A+	OF	125.3	0.344	14	67	0.407	0.544
Matthew Brown	25	2008	SLK	AAA	3B	124	0.320	21	67	0.373	0.580

 

 

Starters	Age	Year	Teams	Levels	FIP	WLSV	ERA	WHIP	BB9	SO9
Mike Erb	23	1989	QDS	A	2.43	11-4	2.69	1.061	2.6	9.9
Tom Bradley	23	1970	HAW,ELP	AAA,AA	2.43	14-1	2.42	1.145	2.5	8.1
Nick Adenhart	19	2006	CDR,RCU	A,A+	2.52	15-4	2.56	1.12	2.4	8.3
Hilly Hathaway*	22	1992	MDL,PSP	AA,A+	2.61	9-3	2.87	1.075	1	6.5
Jose Rodriguez	20	2016	BUR	A	2.62	7-5	3.16	1.273	2.2	7.9
Relievers	Age	Year	Teams	Levels	FIP	WLSV	ERA	WHIP	BB9	SO9
Steve Andrade	24	2002	CDR	A	1.00	11	1.16	0.85	2.7	15.5
Darryl Scott	22	1991	QDS	A	1.35	19	1.56	0.812	3.1	14.7
Michael Kohn	23	2009	CDR,RCU	A,A+	1.53	9	1.66	0.905	3.6	14.2
Eduardo Paredes	20	2015	BUR,SBR	A,A+	1.77	20	2.45	0.98	1.6	11.8
Andrew Taylor*	22	2009	CDR,RCU	A,A+	1.88	8	2.05	1.123	4.3	14.4
Bench	Age	Year	Teams	Levels	FIP	WLSV	ERA	WHIP	BB9	SO9
Pat Cristelli	21	1974	QDS	A	2.62	14-10	1.99	1.068	2.3	7.1
Vern Geishert	20	1966	QDS,ELP,SLE	A,AA,AAA	2.63	18-6	2.04	0.938	1.7	9.2
Francis Panick	22	1974	QDS,ELP	A,AA	2.7	16-6	2.74	1.13	3.4	9.8
Jeremy Berg	23	2010	ARK,CDR,RCU	AA,A,A+	1.90	5	1.38	0.905	1.5	10.1
Francisco J. Rodriguez	20	2002	SLK,ARK	AAA,AA	1.90	15	2.27	1.083	3	13
Jose Musset	23	1992	QDS	A	2.01	6	2.4	0.927	3.2	13.1

 

Honorable Mention

Mike Trout (#1, 2009), 2012 AL Rookie of the Year and two-time AL MVP, tallied 48.3 WAR through the 2017 campaign while slashing .306 / .410 / .566. Kole Calhoun aka “Red Baron” launched 26 long balls and captured a Gold Glove award in 2015.  Todd Greene batted .252 in 11 big-league campaigns after slugging .567 as a minor leaguer. Mark Sweeney carved out a 14-year Major League career as a spare corner outfielder, first baseman and pinch-hitter. Bobby Clark played for California and Milwaukee as a reserve outfielder in parts of seven seasons (1979-1985). Bryan Harvey placed runner-up in the 1988 AL Rookie of the Year balloting and topped the Junior Circuit with 46 saves during the 1991 season.

Batter	Age	Year	Teams	Levels	POS	RC140	BA	HR	RBI	OBP	SLG
Bobby Clark	23	1978	ELP	AA	OF	123.9	0.316	31	111	0.393	0.605
Mark Sweeney*	23	1993	PSP,MDL	A+,AA	OF	122.8	0.356	12	79	0.447	0.533
Keith Luuloa	23	1998	MDL,VAN	AA,AAA	2B	122.4	0.334	17	105	0.418	0.560
Thomas Smith#	25	1977	ELP	AA	OF	121.8	0.366	9	45	0.407	0.558
Todd Greene	23	1994	LEL	A+	C	121.6	0.302	35	124	0.378	0.584
Kole Calhoun*	23	2011	SBR	A+	RF	120.4	0.324	22	99	0.410	0.547
Mike Trout	19	2011	ARK	AA	CF	118.8	0.326	11	38	0.414	0.544
Ruben Amaro#	24	1989	QDS,MDL	A,AA	OF	118.2	0.368	6	36	0.466	0.523
Bobby Rose	22	1989	MDL	AA	3B	117.9	0.359	11	73	0.439	0.541
Jim McCollom	25	1988	MDL	AA	1B	117.8	0.343	20	75	0.404	0.560

 

Pitcher	Age	Yr	Teams	Levels	FIP	WLSV	ERA	WHIP	BB9	SO9
Ed Sukla	20	1963	QDS,SJO	A	2.66	6-6	3.38	1.214	1.8	7.8
Michael Carubia	20	1964	QDS	A	2.71	15-7	1.69	1.122	2.9	7.8
Steve Fish	23	1998	CDR	A	2.74	10-4	2.48	1.093	2	8.6
Von Stertzbach	23	2004	RCU,CDR	A+,A	2.06	26	2.65	1.193	2.1	10.6
Anthony Chavez	22	1993	CDR,MDL	A,AA	2.08	17	1.85	1.221	3.7	12.7
Bryan Harvey	24	1987	MDL	AA	2.09	20	2.04	1.283	4.8	13.2

 

References and Resources

 

Baseball-Reference

Bill James Baseball Abstract

Seamheads – Baseball Gauge

 

About the Author

I am a New Jersey native with a passion for baseball, statistics, computers and video games who enjoys spending quality time with his family.

“Hardball Retroactive”, published in June 2018, is available in paperback and digital (Kindle) format at Amazon.com along with digital eBook format at GooglePlay.com. 

“Hardball Retrospective” is available in digital format on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, GooglePlay, iTunes and KoboBooks. The paperback edition is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and CreateSpace. Supplemental Statistics, Charts and Graphs along with a discussion forum are offered at TuataraSoftware.com.

Don Daglow (Intellivision World Series Major League Baseball, Earl Weaver Baseball, Tony LaRussa Baseball) contributed the foreword for Hardball Retrospective. The foreword and preview of my book are accessible here.

“Hardball Retrospective – Addendum 2014 to 2016” supplements my research for Hardball Retrospective, providing retroactive standings based on Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and Win Shares (WS) for each “original” team over the past three seasons (2014-2016). Team totals from 2010 – 2013 are included for reference purposes. “Addendum” is available in paperback and digital formats through Amazon, Barnes and Noble and CreateSpace.