San Francisco Giants All-Time Team

Our final MLB roster might be the most stacked squad of all - at least among National League franchises. Here's the San Francisco Giants all-time team.

 

The Giants played more years at Candlestick Park (and the Polo Grounds), but all of their modern-day title teams played at Pac Bell/SBC/AT&T/Oracle Park.

John McGraw managed the Giants for 31 seasons, leading the team to ten National League titles and three World Series victories in  New York. He might have had a fourth World Series win if the team hadn't scoffed at playing the "inferior" American League champions in 1904.

Here's his all-time lineup.

This lineup is loaded with home run power, surrounded by high-average hitters including lead-off man George Davis, who batted .332 and stole 357 bases over ten Giants seasons. Again, shout-out to Gregory at Nine Pickets for the Davis custom.

While other NL West franchises like Arizona and Colorado have few backup first basemen to choose from, the Giants are overflowing with options.

	Giants stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Roger Connor	53.0	0.319	0.402	0.488	0.890	161
	*Orlando Cepeda	30.3	0.308	0.352	0.535	0.887	140
	Will Clark	35.8	0.299	0.373	0.499	0.872	145
	Brandon Belt	27.6	0.261	0.356	0.458	0.814	123

Will Clark was a Barnstormer in the original series; he'll try to hold on to his roster spot in an expanded competition. McGraw will find a place for Orlando Cepeda somewhere.

The other infield positions are more quantity over quality. San Fran has a lot of league-average options.

	Giants stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Larry Doyle	42.7	0.292	0.359	0.411	0.770	127
	Robby Thompson	33.8	0.257	0.329	0.403	0.733	105
	Brandon Crawford	29.9	0.251	0.320	0.399	0.719	98
	Travis Jackson	44.2	0.291	0.337	0.433	0.770	102
	Art Fletcher	42.3	0.275	0.318	0.356	0.674	100
	Art Devlin	34.0	0.268	0.365	0.337	0.702	111
	George Kelly	22.8	0.301	0.348	0.465	0.813	117

George "High Pockets" Kelly would give Larry Doyle a run for his money but his primary position is - you guessed it - first base. Doyle stays.


While Barry Bonds is locked into the starting left field spot, his dad Bobby has a bit of a battle for a bench role.

	Giants stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Bobby Bonds	38.1	0.273	0.356	0.478	0.834	131
	Mike Tiernan	42.3	0.311	0.392	0.463	0.855	138
	George Burns	36.4	0.290	0.368	0.391	0.759	124

McGraw would add underrated 19th-century star Tiernan as a fifth outfielder, but not at the expense of Cepeda.


If the Giants hitters aren't impressive enough, the starting pitching may just put them over the top.

The only non-Hall of Famer here is the still-active Madison Bumgarner, recently DFA'd by Arizona. It would be easy to assemble an all-Hall Giants rotation with any of these starters should McGraw choose to do what the Diamondbacks did and cut MadBum.

	Giants stats	WAR	ERA	ERA+	K/BB	WHIP	starts
	*Madison Bumgarner	32.9	3.13	120	4.19	1.111	286
	Amos Rusie	66.4	2.89	137	1.16	1.327	403
	Mickey Welch	53.1	2.69	119	1.46	1.225	412
	Tim Keefe	37.2	2.54	129	2.25	1.101	269
	Joe McGinnity	33.6	2.38	119	1.70	1.116	237

Bumgarner's big-game bona fides gave him the edge originally, and it's enough to stay in this rotation.


The Giants' relief group is also unchanged.

Greg Minton is third among Giants pitchers in appearances, but he walked more batters than he whiffed.

Looking ahead... this is going to be a tough roster to break through for any young Giant. Starting pitcher Logan Webb and closer Camilo Doval have been impressive at the big-league level, and lefty starter Kyle Harrison is knocking on the door. A middle infield role might be easier to earn than a middle relief role; Marco Luciano is a top tier shortstop prospect but he's at least a couple years away.

 

TL; DR: No changes from the original roster.




This completes the updated All-Time Teams roster for all 30 MLB franchises. But we're expanding this league to 32 teams this weekend with the Negro League All-Stars and the "best of the rest" Barnstormers. 

Thanks for reading!



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San Diego Padres All-Time Team

Our next-to-last stop is a one-team California city that lost both their NFL team and their NBA franchise. Wait, I thought we already went to Oakland?

 
The San Diego Padres nearly left for Washington in 1974. Ten years later, they won their first of two NL pennants.

Bruce Bochy managed the Friars' second NL title-winning club, in 1998. The current Rangers skipper won three World Series rings with the cross-state rival Giants - but he's a distant second in San Fran annals. 

Here's his all-time lineup.

Just two Hall of Famers here - and Winfield played more games with the Yankees. Gonzalez and Giles are quality starters. The middle infield needs work.

	Padres stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	games
	*Bip Roberts	12.5	0.298	0.361	0.387	0.747	106	667
	*Khalil Greene	9.3	0.248	0.304	0.427	0.731	96	659
	Tim Flannery	9.1	0.255	0.335	0.317	0.652	85	972
	Garry Templeton	10.0	0.252	0.293	0.339	0.632	77	1286

Garry Templeton would be the people's choice but Khalil Greene had much more power. Not to focus on any one stat, but an all-time starter with a 77 OPS+ would be embarrassing. Oh... hi Freddie, didn't see you there. 


There is a shortstop in San Diego who has already produced more offense than any middle infielder in team history. But he's not quite ready yet...

Aside from Nate Colbert, the Padres' best bench options are third basemen. Manny Machado is still an (All-Time) Oriole for now, but he's one of four 'hot corner' stars among the leaders in position player WAR for this franchise.

	Padres stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Phil Nevin	17.8	0.288	0.359	0.503	0.862	129
	*Chase Headley	18.2	0.263	0.344	0.405	0.749	111
	Manny Machado	17.8	0.276	0.347	0.494	0.841	131
	Ken Caminiti	17.5	0.295	0.384	0.540	0.924	147

Chase Headley might have had the least memorable career of these four, but his 18.2 WAR is sixth in San Diego history. (You know who has the fourth-highest total? Gene Tenace.)

It was very tough to find backup outfielders for this roster in the original series. Juan Soto won't be here for a while - and if he does sign long-term he's almost certainly starter material - but there is a new contender.

	Padres stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Gene Richards	19.0	0.291	0.357	0.387	0.744	113
	*Will Venable	13.3	0.252	0.316	0.410	0.727	105
	Wil Myers	12.3	0.254	0.330	0.451	0.781	115

The battle of wills goes to Myers. His versatility helps a bit, though Bochy has plenty of other options at Myers' secondary position, first base.


The Padres' rotation needs work. Only their ace and 2007 Cy Young winner Jake Peavy is locked in. 

Not much to work with here, and no new hurlers have qualified. So let's revisit some past Padre pitchers.

	Padres stats	WAR	ERA	ERA+	K/BB	WHIP	starts
	*Andy Benes	20.8	3.57	109	2.58	1.239	186
	*Andy Ashby	22.8	3.59	112	2.56	1.246	185
	*Randy Jones	20.7	3.30	104	1.64	1.208	253
	*Eric Show	15.9	3.59	101	1.60	1.283	230
	Bruce Hurst	15.0	3.27	113	2.55	1.181	131
	Joey Hamilton	15.8	3.83	104	1.86	1.343	142
	Ed Whitson	16.3	3.69	99	2.19	1.229	208

Bochy makes a marginal upgrade, swapping Show for Hurst.


The Padres bullpen has some underrated arms building a bridge to Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to look at other options.

	Padres stats	SV	ERA	ERA+	K/BB	WHIP	games
	*Craig Lefferts	64	3.24	114	2.20	1.249	375
	*Luke Gregerson	16	2.88	126	3.29	1.092	363
	*Scott Linebrink	4	2.73	145	2.78	1.147	306
	*Mark Davis	78	2.75	135	2.18	1.260	230
	Craig Stammen	5	3.36	120	4.29	1.144	333
	Greg Harris	15	2.95	128	2.25	1.182	194
	Kirby Yates	56	2.55	161	5.40	1.002	192

Yates technically qualifies, with three full seasons plus six appearances in the Covid-shortened mini-season. Bochy taps Craig Stammen to replace Craig Lefferts, based primarily on the former Craig's impeccable control.


Looking ahead... Khalil Greene's days as San Diego's all-time starting shortstop are numbered.

 

El Nino is looming.


Jake Cronenworth could be in the mix very soon as well. Machado could certainly switch teams as mentioned, and so could Juan Soto. The Padres currently have three pitchers on other teams' all-time rosters - Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, and Josh Hader. Eventually they're gonna have to grow their own.



TL; DR: Three changes from the original roster. Venable, Show, and Lefferts out. Myers, Hurst, and Stammen in.

 

Come back tomorrow for the final MLB franchise in this series (but not the final roster) the San Francisco Giants.

Thanks for reading!