Franchise Fifth: Near-misses, snubs from MLB's Franchise Four

Ryan Fagan

Franchise Fifth: Near-misses, snubs from MLB's Franchise Four image

For the most part, fans did a pretty good job voting for each team’s Franchise Four, an attempt to honor each team’s best four players of all time. 

A pretty good job, but there remains plenty of room for discussion. We thought we’d take a look at what we’ll call the Franchise Fifth, the guy who either should have made the top four (Hi, Dave Stieb) or slots in at a legitimate fifth place (Hi, Derek Jeter). 

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Angels

Franchise Four: Vladimir Guerrero, Nolan Ryan, Tim Salmon, Mike Trout

Franchise fifth: Chuck Finley

Why he’s here: He might not be as well known as those other four guys, but he’s the franchise’s all-time leader in WAR, at 52.2. And what about Jim Fregosi? He’s the career offensive leader in WAR, at 45.9 (Salmon is second, at 40.5). 

Astros

Franchise Four: Jeff Bagwell, Lance Berkman, Craig Biggio, Nolan Ryan

Franchise fifth: Roy Oswalt

Why he’s here: Oswalt finished in the top five of the NL Cy Young voting in five of his first six seasons. That’s a good start. And, he’s the franchise career leader in WAR for pitchers.

Athletics

Franchise Four: Dennis Eckersley, Jimmie Foxx, Rickey Henderson, Reggie Jackson

Franchise fifth: Eddie Plank

Why he’s here: Sure, he played for the A’s a couple of cities ago (for the Philadelphia A’s, from 1901-14), but the man won 284 games with a 2.36 ERA in the regular season and helped the team to two World Series titles (with a career 1.32 ERA in the postseason). 

Blue Jays

Franchise Four: Roberto Alomar, Joe Carter, Carlos Delgado, Roy Halladay

Franchise fifth: Dave Stieb

Why he’s here: HOW WAS DAVE STIEB NOT ON THIS LIST? Sorry for yelling. But apparently no actual Blue Jays fans voted for this. Stieb’s career WAR with Toronto was a hefty 57.4. Nobody else reached 50. Maybe the worst omission for any franchise. 

Braves

Franchise Four: Hank Aaron, Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, Warren Spahn

Franchise fifth: Eddie Mathews

Why he’s here: Because the Hall of Famer hit 493 of his career 512 home runs for the franchise, that’s why. 

Brewers

Franchise Four: Cecil Cooper, Rollie Fingers, Paul Molitor, Robin Yount

Franchise fifth: Teddy Higuera

Why he’s here: In his six injury-free seasons with the Brewers, Higuera posted a 3.34 ERA for the Brew Crew. That might not seem like much, but no pitcher in franchise history has a better WAR in a Milwaukee uniform. 

Cardinals

Franchise Four: Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Rogers Hornsby, Stan Musial

Franchise fifth: Ozzie Smith

Why he’s here: Statistically, Albert Pujols probably deserves this nod. But we’re going with Ozzie Smith here. Mostly because of his backflips. And the defense. And the nickname. 

Cubs

Franchise Four: Ernie Banks, Ryne Sandberg, Ron Santo, Billy Williams

Franchise fifth: Ferguson Jenkins

Why he’s here: Statistically, Cap Anson deserves this spot, but he finished his career in 1897, at 45 years old. Jenkins gets the nod as the best starting pitcher in franchise history.

Diamondbacks

Franchise Four: Paul Goldschmidt, Luis Gonzalez, Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling

Franchise fifth: Brandon Webb

Why he’s here: Sure, his career was short because of injury (he played his last MLB game at 29 years old), but it’s not like the Diamondbacks have been around forever. Webb owns a Cy Young award, and he finished second two other times. Impressive.

Dodgers

Franchise Four: Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider

Franchise fifth: Roy Campanella

Why he’s here: Campy didn’t get his opportunity in the majors until he was 26 years old, in 1948 (following Jackie Robinson’s debut the year before), but he won three MVP awards before his career ended when he was paralyzed in a car wreck in January 1958. He’s one of the best catchers of all time. 

Giants

Franchise Four: Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Buster Posey

Franchise fifth: Christy Mathewson 

Why he’s here: Look, Buster Posey is a great player, but he doesn’t deserve this spot. Not yet. Christy Mathewson won 374 games with a 2.12 ERA in his 17 years with the New York Giants. Mel Ott had 511 home runs in his 22 years with the franchise. Carl Hubbel and Juan Marichal are way ahead of him on this list, too. 

Indians

Franchise Four: Bob Feller, Tris Speaker, Jim Thome, Omar Vizquel

Franchise fifth: Nap Lajoie

Why he’s here: He wasn’t the nicest human being, but Lajoie hit .339 in his career with the Indians, and he’s the franchise’s all-time leader in WAR. 

Mariners

Franchise Four: Ken Griffey Jr., Felix Hernandez, Edgar Martinez, Ichiro Suzuki

Franchise fifth: Randy Johnson

Why he’s here: The Big Unit became a legend in Seattle, winning his first Cy Young and finishing in the top three on three other occasions. He narrowly edges Alex Rodriguez, with honorable mention nods to Jay Buhner and Jamie Moyer.  

Marlins

Franchise Four: Jeff Conine, Mike Lowell, Gary Sheffield, Giancarlo Stanton

Franchise fifth: Dontrelle Willis

Why he’s here: You couldn’t help but love watching Willis pitch for the Marlins during his prime. He finished second in the NL Cy Young voting once, was an All-Star twice and made three scoreless relief appearances in Florida’s 2003 World Series win against the Yankees. 

Mets

Franchise Four: Keith Hernandez, Mike Piazza, Tom Seaver, David Wright

Franchise fifth: Dwight Gooden

Why he’s here: Gooden was just dominant. He belongs here. 

Nationals/Expos

Franchise Four: Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, Vladimir Guerrero, Tim Raines

Franchise fifth: Ryan Zimmerman

Why he’s here: Because the D.C. version of this franchise should have representation, and Zimmerman has long been the face of this version of the franchise. That honor will belong to Bryce Harper soon, but not yet. 

Orioles

Franchise Four: Jim Palmer, Cal Ripken Jr., Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson

Franchise fifth: Eddie Murray

Why he’s here: Murray is one of the greatest switch-hitters in MLB history, and he popped 343 of his career 504 homers with the Orioles.

Padres

Franchise Four: Tony Gwynn, Trevor Hoffman, Randy Jones, Dave Winfield

Franchise fifth: Jake Peavy

Why he’s here: Peavy won a Cy Young award with the Padres, had a couple of All-Star appearances and posted the best ERA in the NL twice.   

Phillies

Franchise Four: Richie Ashburn, Steve Carlton, Robin Roberts, Mike Schmidt

Franchise fifth: Chase Utley

Why he’s here: He’ll probably wind up in the Hall of Fame one day, which makes him worthy of a spot with these all-time Philly greats. 

Pirates

Franchise Four: Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski, Willie Stargell, Honus Wagner

Franchise fifth: Andrew McCutchen

Why he’s here: The Pirates have a long tradition with many, many great players. McCutchen could be as good as any of them, save maybe Clemente. He’s that good. At the moment, he has five consecutive All-Star selections, and he’s finished third, first and third in the past three NL MVP races. You wouldn’t be wrong for picking Barry Bonds, either. 

Rangers

Franchise Four: Adrian Beltre, Ivan Rodriguez, Nolan Ryan, Michael Young

Franchise fifth: Juan Gonzalez 

Why he’s here: He won two MVP awards with the Rangers. Two. Two.

Rays

Franchise Four: Evan Longoria, David Price, James Shields, Ben Zobrist

Franchise fifth: Carl Crawford

Why he’s here: Maybe Rays fans are still annoyed that Crawford signed with the hated Red Sox or something, because he should have made the top four. Crawford was Tampa Bay’s first real home-grown star; in his eight full seasons, he averaged 13 homers, 70 RBIs, 50 stolen bases and a .299 average. 

Roger Clemens (SN archives)

Red Sox

Franchise Four: Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz, Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski

Franchise fifth: Roger Clemens

Why he’s here: Seriously, Boston fans? Ortiz over Clemens? Over Wade Boggs? Heck, over Dwight Evans? Sheesh. 

Reds

Franchise Four: Johnny Bench, Barry Larkin, Joe Morgan, Pete Rose

Franchise fifth: Frank Robinson

Why he’s here: If Eric Davis could have stayed healthy, he would have had an amazing career. But he didn’t, and Robinson established himself as a future Hall of Famer in his 10 years with the Reds, before he was traded to the Orioles.

Rockies

Franchise Four: Andres Galarraga, Todd Helton, Troy Tulowitzki, Larry Walker

Franchise fifth: Vinny Castilla

Why he’s here: Sure, he played in the salad days of Rockies baseball — the pre-humidor era — but he still put up great numbers. Castilla topped 40 home runs three years in a rown and finished with 239 homers in a Rockies uniform. 

Royals

Franchise Four: George Brett, Dan Quisenberry, Bret Saberhagen, Frank White

Franchise fifth: Amos Otis

Why he’s here: In his first decade with the franchise, before injuries took their toll, Otis averaged 16 homers, 75 RBIs and 29 stolen bases a year, to go with a .284 average and .798 OPS. That’s pretty impressive. 

Tigers

Franchise Four: Miguel Cabrera, Ty Cobb, Hank Greenberg, Al Kaline

Franchise fifth: Charlie Gehringer

Why he’s here: The Hall of Famer gets the nod — he hit .320 in his 19 years with the franchise — but it feels wrong that Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammel get left off this list, too, like they got left out of the Hall of Fame. 

Twins

Franchise Four: Rod Carew, Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, Kirby Puckett

Franchise fifth: Walter Johnson

Why he’s here: The Big Train pitched for the franchise long before the idea of playing major-league baseball in Minnesota became a reality. Johnson, though, was one of the greatest pitchers in history; during his 21 years with the Washington Senators, Johnson won 417 games and had a career 2.17 ERA. 

White Sox

Franchise Four: Harold Baines, Paul Konerko, Minnie Minoso, Frank Thomas

Franchise fifth: Luke Appling

Why he’s here: He should be at the top of the White Sox’s list. Appling, who had the great nickname “Old Aches and Pains”, batted .310 in his 20 years with the team. 

Yankees

Franchise Four: Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth

Franchise fifth: Derek Jeter

Why he’s here: Jeter didn’t deserve a spot above the Ruth/Mantle/Gehrig/DiMaggio group, but he deserves this spot ahead of Yankee greats like Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford. Barely, of course, but he does. 

Ryan Fagan

Ryan Fagan Photo

Ryan Fagan, the national MLB writer for The Sporting News, has been a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2016. He also dabbles in college hoops and other sports. And, yeah, he has way too many junk wax baseball cards.