30 January 2018

Manny Machado is the Best Under 25 Oriole Ever (with Cal Ripken Jr.)

Brady Anderson met with reporters during FanFest and gave answers that sounded like they would be appropriate at Manny Machado's wake.  For instance he declared:
[Machado] was our guy. You couldn’t have gotten a better six years out of anybody. He was an Oriole great. I mean, the youngest Oriole great in the history of the franchise. So we’ve gotten quite a bit out of him in the years he’s been here.
For those a bit taken back by Anderson's statement and his apparent conviction that former teammate Cal Ripken Jr. is not the best young Orioles in franchise history, lets take a look at the top thirty Orioles by bWAR, ages 24 and below:

Rk Player WAR/pos From To
1 Manny Machado 27.9 2012 2017
Cal Ripken 1981 1985
3 Eddie Murray 16.8 1977 1980
4 Milt Pappas 15.5 1957 1963
5 Bobby Grich 15.3 1970 1973
6 Nick Markakis 14 2006 2008
7 Boog Powell 12.9 1961 1966
Jim Palmer 1965 1970
8 Mike Mussina 12 1991 1993
Storm Davis 1982 1986
10 Paul Blair 11.3 1964 1968
11 Curt Blefary 10.2 1965 1968
12 Brooks Robinson 9.1 1955 1961
13 Adam Jones 7.2 2008 2010
14 Gregg Olson 7 1988 1991
15 Steve Barber 6.7 1960 1962
16 Chuck Estrada 6.3 1960 1962
17 Sidney Ponson 6.1 1998 2001
18 Don Baylor 5.7 1970 1973
19 Ben McDonald 5.3 1989 1992
20 Jim Hardin 5.2 1967 1968
21 Jerry Walker 5.1 1957 1960
Ron Hansen 1958 1962
23 Jonathan Schoop 5 2013 2016
24 Rich Coggins 4.6 1972 1974
25 Dylan Bundy 4.5 2012 2017
Bob Milacki 1988 1989
27 Dave McNally 4.3 1962 1967
Luis Matos 2000 2003
29 Matt Wieters 4 2009 2010
Ross Grimsley 1974 1974

Yes, Manny Machado comes out as the best under 25 player in Orioles history, tied with Cal Ripken, Jr.  It is also interesting to note that the club currently employs four of the 30 players on this list.  In general, the Orioles have tended to keep their young players, but the record is obviously more mixed once free agency set in.

What about overall during the franchise lifetime of the Orioles (since 1954).

Rk Player WAR/pos From To
1 Mike Trout 48.5 2011 2016
2 Alex Rodriguez 38 1994 2000
3 Bert Blyleven 37.4 1970 1975
4 Ken Griffey 37 1989 1994
5 Al Kaline 33.9 1954 1959
6 Frank Tanana 31.3 1973 1978
7 Andruw Jones 31 1996 2001
8 Vada Pinson 30.9 1958 1963
9 Johnny Bench 30.7 1967 1972
Dwight Gooden 1984 1989
11 Hank Aaron 29.9 1954 1958
12 Frank Robinson 29.7 1956 1960
13 Albert Pujols 29.2 2001 2004
Cesar Cedeno 29.2 1970 1975
15 Don Drysdale 28.9 1956 1961
16 Rickey Henderson 28.1 1979 1983
17 Dennis Eckersley 28 1975 1979
18 Manny Machado 27.9 2012 2017
Cal Ripken 27.9 1981 1985

That is impressive: 18th overall.  When you look at the more recent players, you do see a mix of players who stayed or left.  Mike Trout and all of his awesomeness has stayed with the Angels.  Andruw Jones stayed as well as Albert Pujols and Cal Ripken Jr.  Really the only recent guys who left were Alex Rodriguez and Rickey Henderson.

6 comments:

dearbats said...

I mean, Cal's got 4 seasons in there. Manny's got 5 (some incomplete). A-Rod's got 6. It's not TECHNICALLY wrong, but it's pretty misleading.

Jon Shepherd said...

It is not misleading at all. It is about accomplishments prior to turning age 25. If it is misleading, then it is about not comprehending the title.

Pip said...

Manny is great and no mistake, but MAN, this Mike Trout fellow!!!!

dearbats said...

If the title was 'Manny Machado has the most WAR of any Oriole under 25', it wouldn't be misleading.

Cal helped us win a WS before he was 25.

Jon Shepherd said...

Ha. OK.

Anonymous said...

Cal's WS team had a helluva lot better pitching.