Building a team through hitting or pitching, which way is best?

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Pitching or Hitting, which is the best way to build a baseball team?

As I wait for the Blackhawks, Cubs and White Sox to play tonight, I pulled up this piece I wrote about the best way to build a baseball team. Is it better to load up on young pitching, or young position players? The references made will probably be familiar to “mature” Cubs and Sox fans. Also, the most recent examples used now have a bit of context to them.

A study case

In the 2015 NL Championship Series between the Cubs and the Mets, two different ideas of team building were on display. The Mets were built around young pitching, and the Cubs were built around young position players. Which is the best way to go? Consider some teams that had great young starters and how they turned out.

The exception

The Gold Standard of teams built around starting pitchers was the Atlanta Braves of the 1990s. Those teams were built around Greg Maddux (who arrived in 1993), Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. Looking back, that seems like an anomaly as opposed to a reliable blueprint for a long term winner. 

And why it's unlikely to work again

To have three pitchers have the kind of longevity those guys did is pretty much unheard of now. Also, to be able to sign be able to sign three guys like that would be nearly impossible under MLB’s current luxury tax arrangement. That’s on top of the money it would take to sign them in the first place. Consider a couple of situations we’ve seen play out in Chicago.

The 1983 White Sox had it going on

The 1983 White Sox division champions had a great young pitching staff. LaMarr Hoyt, Richard Dotson, Floyd Bannister and Britt Burns were all 28 years old or under. It seemed like the Sox should dominate for years. That wasn’t to be the case. 

And then this stuff happened

LaMarr Hoyt went from winning 24 games in 1983 to losing 18 games in 1984. He was traded to the San Diego Padres following the 1984 season for Ozzie Guillen. Ultimately Hoyt’s career was shortened, in part, by off the field problems.

Richard Dotson went 22-7 in 1983, but never approached that plateau again, in part because of injuries. After 1983, when Dotson was 24 years old, he lasted another 9 years in the big leagues, going 60-85.

Floyd Bannister was 28 years old in 1983 and went 16-10 that season. After that Bannister was solid, though not spectacular. He was basically a .500 pitcher with the peripheral stats of a .500 pitcher.

Britt Burns want 10-11 during the 1983 season, but had an ERA of 3.58. Britt was 24 years old in 1983. Burns went career went downhill after the 1983 season, primarily because of a congenital hip problem.

While the 1983 White Sox looked to be poised as playoff contenders for years to come, that did not prove to be the case.

And then the 1984 Cubs came along

The 84 Cubs had great positional players, but also had a big three in their starting rotation of Rick Sutcliffe, Steve Trout and Dennis Eckersley. Sutcliffe was 28, Eckersley 29 and Trout 26. 

Sutcliffe was plagued by injuries after the 84 season. Rick had some decent seasons after 84, but was never as dominant. Steve Trout won 13 games in 1984 and never won in double digits again. 

Dennis Eckersley won 14 games in 1984, 4 for the Red Sox and 10 for the Cubs. The Eck had a couple of decent seasons as a starter before making his way to the bullpen in 1988, where he became one of the best closers of all time.

Once again, the 1984 Cubs looked like they were going to have a long run of success, in part because of their starters. As it turned out, not so much.

2015 Mets and Cubs revisited

The 2016 of the Mets idealt with some of their young pitchers having injury issues. Matt Harvey ihad shoulder surgery. Noah Synderguard idealt with arm fatigue and Steve Matz was hampered by elbow spurs. Ironically, 42 year old Bartolo Colon just kept rolling on.

Building a team based on young starting pitching and expecting it to last is a high risk proposition. I like the Theo Epstein approach of going after young position players and trading for, or signing free agent pitchers.  There's a 2016 World Series champion that is a testament to that blueprint.

More next time.