All Pirates team 1965-2016, position players

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While the Pirates had a twenty year stretch of sub .500 ball, they've had some great teams and players in the last 50 years or so. The Pirates were so stacked at some positions some great players didn't make this team. I also had to play with some positions to get what I thought were the greatest Pirates on the team. With the preamble done, here we go.

Catcher: Jason Kendall Jason was a different sort of catcher. He was a high on base guy who could steal bases. In his 9 seasons with the Pirates, his OBP was .387. He had three seasons where he had an OBP of over.400. He maxed out with an OBP of .428 in 1999. One reason why Kendall's OBP is so high was is talent at getting hit by pitches. In 1998 he was hit 31 times. His stolen base totals from 1998-2000 were 26-22-22. His defensive metrics were also good. Jason beat out long time Pirates favorite, Manny Sanguillen. Manny was a decent offensive player, but excelled on defense. His defensive WAR alone was 11.1 for his 12 years with the Bucs. His overall WAR was 26.8. Mike “Spanky” Lavelliere gets mention for his defensive skills.

First base: Willie Stargell Pops has to be on this team somewhere. He played left field and first base but is placed at first base here because the Pirates haven't been as deep at first as they have been in left field. Ultimately, the odd man out on this team is Al Oliver. Al played multiple positions and was a hitting machine. He just got crowded out. As for Pops, he hit 425 home runs in his 21 years with Pittsburgh. His OPS was .889. He twice led the NL in homers and once led the league in RBIs. Willie's on field production was great, but he also gets extra credit for being the leader of the, “We are Family” Pirates.

Second base: Bill Mazeroski Bill's in the Hall of Fame, but I don't feel real strong about this choice. Bill played with the Pirates from 1956-72. He's one of the few guys I've seen who had a higher WAR total on defense than offense. The competition at second isn't nearly as fierce at second as it is in other positions, so Maz gets the nod. Of guys of note of note are Neil Walker, whose bat was strong but glove was weak, and Johnny Ray. Johnny was kind of a tweener. He had a pretty good bat, twice leading the league in doubles, while playing okay defense. I guess, when in doubt, go with the hall of famer. Having the most famous home run in team history doesn't hurt either.

Shortstop: Jay Bell Shortstop also hasn't been a position of real strength over the years for the Bucs. That's not to knock Jay Bell. Jay was solid as the Pirates shortstop from 1989-96. In 1993 Jay put together a 6.2 WAR. His WAR for his 9 years in Pittsburgh was 23.6. Jay was a decent bat and pretty good glove. His biggest competition was Bill Mazeroski's double play partner, Gene Alley. Gene just didn't hit enough to beat out Jay.

Third base: Bobby Bonilla Bobby beat out Bill Madlock and Richie Hebner to nail down this position. In 7 years with the Pirates, Madlock won two batting titles and put together a 6.2 WAR season in 1982. Richie Hebner spent 11 years with the Pirates and had some nice offensive seasons. He hit 25 home runs in 1973. He finished his 11 years with the Pirates with an OPS of .792. Bonilla had some big years with the bat. From 1988-90 his home run totals were 24-24-32. He also had three seasons of 100 or more RBIs. Bobby's WAR for his six seasons in Pittsburgh was 20.6. His WAR would have been higher if not for his glove. Bobby made a big enough impression with his years in Pittsburgh was enough to induce the Mets to vastly overpay him.

Left field: Brian Giles Brian had some seriously good years with the Pirates. He had three season with an OPS of over 1.000. From 1999-2003 his home run totals ran from 35-39. His OPS for his five seasons with the Pirates was 1.018. Another guy who had some good years with the Pirates was Jason Bay. Jason spent six years with the Pirates and had a WAR of 15.0 to go with an OPS of .890. Not bad, but not as good as Brian Giles.

Center field: Andrew McCutchen Andrew is a five tool player who has been manning center field for the Pirates since 2009. Four times Andrew has had an OBP of .400. Seven times Andrew has hit 20 or more home runs. Andrew won a Gold Glove in 2012 though defensive metrics aren't that kind to him. Andrew is in his 9^th year with the Pirates and his WAR sits at 39.9. Al Oliver played some center field for the Bucs but doesn't beat out McCutchen. Matty Alou gets a mention by virtue of hitting .327 during his five years with the Pirates. That propelled his WAR to 16.7. Good, but not good enough.

Right field: Roberto Clemente I watched Roberto for a number of years and knew he was good, I just think I didn't realize how good. Roberto started his career with the Pirates in 1955 but from 1965 on he was still outstanding. I won't recite a whole bunch of stats, but I will relate a few to give an idea of just how good Roberto was. He won 12 Gold Gloves. He won four batting titles, including one in 1965 and another in 1967. His WAR for his 18 seasons was 94.5. He had one of the greatest right field arms in the history of the game. He also showcased all his skills when he was the MVP of the 1971 World Series. Dave Parker gets honorable mention. Dave spent 11 years with the Pirates and put together a WAR of 34.7. He even won two batting titles and also had a great arm. Dave was very good. He just wasn't Clemente.

There's my Pirates team. How does it compare to yours?