SP Cole, Liriano, Happ, Burnett, Volquez, and Benson's wife
CL Melancon
MGR Hurdle (only because the alternatives are McClendon and Shelton)
Agree with all except LaRoche and add Jack Wilson at SS. and Martin at catcher. I couldn't stand LaRoche, that guy hit into more DPs that killed more rallies than any one player I ever watched. I would put Alverez at that position.
I meant to include Wilson at SS. Enrique of course. jk-Jack Wilson.
I gave the nod to LaRoche at 1B purely by default. His first half slumps were intolerable. But then he would heat up and end up with decent stats. Alvarez only played one season at 1B and was atrocious in the field. LaRoche was fine defensively and hit better in his 2 full seasons at 1B than Alvarez did in his 1 season there.
Catcher - Russell Martin, he played less than Cervelli and Kendall, but his impact was huge. And his two seasons are probably best ever for Pirate catchers.
First Base - Craig Wilson, pathetically, Wilson is the best the Pirates have had at 1B while at PNC. Jones is probably next, but its not really that close. Not sure how you could go with a lesser hitter like LaRoche here, or Bell, who was terrible at in the field and on the base baths.
Second Base - Neil Walker. Sanchez was the better defensive player, but Walker hit so much better than Sanchez, this is not close. I think people are forgetting that Sanchez really only had one good offensive year. He was really bad 2008. Walker was consistently good, and really good in 2014.
Shortstop - Jack Wilson Not even remotely close here. Jordy Mercer hit better, but was no where close defensively. If Kang didn't get hurt and arrested, maybe there is a discussion here.
Third Base - This one depends on the parameters. Best player that could play 3B? Sanchez or Harrison. Best player that only played 3B? Alvarez.
Left Field - Starling Marte, Bay hit better, but was awful in the field. If you ignore half of their game, I guess Bay makes sense. Marte also made more of an impact on the basepaths. Possible this changes to Bryan Reynolds.
Center Field - Andrew McCutchen or McCutcheon to the haters. MVP, GG, AS, SS. Won pretty much everything during his time as a Pirate. Fan Favorite, and obviously driving force to ending the streak and putting the team back in the playoffs. Generational player. If this was all time Pirates, he is in the discussion.
Right field - Brian Giles, stretching it here, but he did play RF for the Pirates. Probably should have him in LF over Marte, but both should be on this roster. Giles arguably has the best offensive career all time in Pirate history, so cannot really ignore him. Just like 1B, the Pirates have a pathetic run here, noticeably at the two top spot for offense. 2003 Sanders, 2009 Jones and 2018 Polanco are the top single season performances.
Starting Rotation - Cole and Burnett are easy answers here. If we are filling out a rotation? Not a ton of easy choices. Ian Snell was every bit as good as Liriano. Taillon can be the 5th guy.
Closer - Melancon. Other good options like Hanrahan, Grilli, Capps, Mike Gonzalez, Watson, Rich Rod and Bednar can round out the pen.
GM - Huntington, only one to go to the playoffs
Manager - Hurdle, same as Huntington and he has a winning record.
a Jones/Wilson platoon would have been great. The Pirates tried to platoon so many times, but only one side would work out. Even Jones had a down year when Gaby Sanchez did ok.
Rotation: Cole, Burnett, Liriano, Volquez, Perez...maybe Kip Wells...we've had just a dearth of pitching talent. Unreal that I seriously considered Kip Wells as one of our five best starters over the last 20 years.
Closer: Melancon (honestly, should probably be Felipe Vazquez on pure talent...what a horrible waste)
