Active players who have played for just one franchise
Posted by Andy on June 13, 2011
Check out the top 25 active players for most PAs with just one team in the majors:
| Rk | Player | PA | From | To | Age | G | Pos | Tm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Derek Jeter | 10829 | 1995 | 2011 | 21-37 | 2354 | *6/D | NYY |
| 2 | Chipper Jones | 9902 | 1993 | 2011 | 21-39 | 2319 | *57/6D9 | ATL |
| 3 | Todd Helton | 8442 | 1997 | 2011 | 23-37 | 1985 | *3/79D | COL |
| 4 | Ichiro Suzuki | 7624 | 2001 | 2011 | 27-37 | 1651 | *98/D | SEA |
| 5 | Jimmy Rollins | 7177 | 2000 | 2011 | 21-32 | 1554 | *6/4 | PHI |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 7067 | 2001 | 2011 | 21-31 | 1623 | *375/9D64 | STL |
| 7 | Michael Young | 6985 | 2000 | 2011 | 23-34 | 1572 | *645/D3 | TEX |
| 8 | Jorge Posada | 6945 | 1995 | 2011 | 23-39 | 1762 | *2D/3 | NYY |
| 9 | Jason Varitek | 5692 | 1997 | 2011 | 25-39 | 1508 | *2/D | BOS |
| 10 | Brian Roberts | 5532 | 2001 | 2011 | 23-33 | 1233 | *4/6D | BAL |
| 11 | Brandon Inge | 5054 | 2001 | 2011 | 24-34 | 1349 | *52/879D | DET |
| 12 | Jose Reyes | 4539 | 2003 | 2011 | 20-28 | 984 | *6/4 | NYM |
| 13 | David Wright | 4507 | 2004 | 2011 | 21-28 | 1043 | *5/D | NYM |
| 14 | Chase Utley | 4396 | 2003 | 2011 | 24-32 | 1022 | *4/3D | PHI |
| 15 | Mark Ellis | 4287 | 2002 | 2011 | 25-34 | 1053 | *4/6D53 | OAK |
| 16 | Michael Cuddyer | 4214 | 2001 | 2011 | 22-32 | 1058 | *935/4D78 | MIN |
| 17 | Justin Morneau | 4180 | 2003 | 2011 | 22-30 | 1003 | *3/D | MIN |
| 18 | Ryan Howard | 4042 | 2004 | 2011 | 24-31 | 938 | *3/D | PHI |
| 19 | Robinson Cano | 3986 | 2005 | 2011 | 22-28 | 954 | *4/D | NYY |
| 20 | Grady Sizemore | 3887 | 2004 | 2011 | 21-28 | 851 | *8/D | CLE |
| 21 | Prince Fielder | 3792 | 2005 | 2011 | 21-27 | 900 | *3/D | MIL |
| 22 | Nick Markakis | 3639 | 2006 | 2011 | 22-27 | 846 | *9/78D3 | BAL |
| 23 | Joe Mauer | 3616 | 2004 | 2011 | 21-28 | 845 | *2D | MIN |
| 24 | Kevin Youkilis | 3547 | 2004 | 2011 | 25-32 | 850 | *35/7D49 | BOS |
| 25 | Aaron Hill | 3415 | 2005 | 2011 | 23-29 | 818 | *4/6D5 | TOR |
Two things stand out to me right away:
- It's amazing how little service time many of these guys have and still make the top 25. More on this below.
- For all the criticism that the rich franchises take for buying free agents, it's worth noting how well they come out here. Of these 25 guys, there are 10 from the Mets, Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies.
There are also a bunch of guys on here who are likely to change teams this off-season. Guys signed through only 2011 include Varitek, Sizemore, Fielder, Cuddyer, Reyes, Cano, Posada, Ellis, Rollins, Pujols, and Hill.
I made a second list of older players to appear for just one franchise. I started by looking for players who had the most PAs for one team between 1970 and 1990. Then I went through and manually removed guys who appeared for other teams outside of that range. (For example, Dwight Evans would be #2 on this list except that he appeared for the Orioles in 1991.)
Here are the top 25 guys in terms of PAs for a team between 1970 and 1990 who only ever played for that franchise:
| Rk | Player | PA | From | To | Age | G | Pos | Tm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robin Yount | 10535 | 1974 | 1990 | 18-34 | 2449 | *68D/73 | MIL |
| 3 | Mike Schmidt | 10062 | 1972 | 1989 | 22-39 | 2404 | *53/64 | PHI |
| 4 | George Brett | 9803 | 1973 | 1990 | 20-37 | 2279 | *53D/796 | KCR |
| 5 | Dave Concepcion | 9640 | 1970 | 1988 | 22-40 | 2488 | *645/381 | CIN |
| 6 | Jim Rice | 9058 | 1974 | 1989 | 21-36 | 2089 | *7D/98 | BOS |
| 7 | Frank White | 8467 | 1973 | 1990 | 22-39 | 2324 | *46/5D9 | KCR |
| 8 | Carl Yastrzemski | 8013 | 1970 | 1983 | 30-43 | 1925 | 37D/589 | BOS |
| 9 | Bill Russell | 7782 | 1970 | 1986 | 21-37 | 2083 | *69/4875 | LAD |
| 10 | Lou Whitaker | 7718 | 1977 | 1990 | 20-33 | 1827 | *4/D | DET |
| 11 | Alan Trammell | 7614 | 1977 | 1990 | 19-32 | 1835 | *6/D | DET |
| 12 | Johnny Bench | 7377 | 1970 | 1983 | 22-35 | 1830 | *253/798 | CIN |
| 15 | Cal Ripken | 6375 | 1981 | 1990 | 20-29 | 1476 | *6/5D | BAL |
| 18 | Jim Gantner | 5942 | 1976 | 1990 | 23-37 | 1560 | *45/6D31 | MIL |
| 21 | Roy White | 5891 | 1970 | 1979 | 26-35 | 1393 | *7D/839 | NYY |
| 22 | Thurman Munson | 5806 | 1970 | 1979 | 23-32 | 1397 | *2/D9375 | NYY |
| 23 | Willie Stargell | 5465 | 1970 | 1982 | 30-42 | 1434 | 37/9 | PIT |
| 26 | Kent Hrbek | 5345 | 1981 | 1990 | 21-30 | 1299 | *3/D5 | MIN |
| 27 | Tony Gwynn | 5156 | 1982 | 1990 | 22-30 | 1201 | *98/7 | SDP |
| 29 | Don Mattingly | 4850 | 1982 | 1990 | 21-29 | 1117 | *3/97D584 | NYY |
| 30 | Kirby Puckett | 4708 | 1984 | 1990 | 24-30 | 1070 | *8/D79645 | MIN |
| 31 | Ron Oester | 4665 | 1978 | 1990 | 22-34 | 1276 | *4/65 | CIN |
| 35 | Mike Scioscia | 4263 | 1980 | 1990 | 21-31 | 1205 | *2 | LAD |
| 36 | Rich Dauer | 4218 | 1976 | 1985 | 23-32 | 1140 | *45/D3 | BAL |
| 38 | Brooks Robinson | 4012 | 1970 | 1977 | 33-40 | 1014 | *5 | BAL |
| 42 | Rico Petrocelli | 3581 | 1970 | 1976 | 27-33 | 891 | *56/D43 | BOS |
This isn't exactly an equivalent search--ideally I would like to look at players active in, say, 1981, who ultimately had the most PAs for just one team. But the list still demonstrates my point to some degree given that the average number of PAs on this list is higher than on the active one, and a whole bunch of these players actually had MORE PA's than shown above, since guys were active before 1970 (Robinson, Petrocelli, Yastrzemski, etc) or after 1990 (Yount, Gwynn, Ripken, etc).
It's not surprising, but the bottom line (which we already knew) is that guys used to change teams a lot less often.
June 13th, 2011 at 7:24 am
Raphy emailed me the following comment:
1) Close to what you suggested, I made a chart like your active single franchise PA leader board, but for 1981. (I set final year >=1981, franchise=1, and years 1901-1981).
http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/Si8C5
The results are surprisingly close to the 2011 chart, but I suspect that may partly be caused by the higher PA/G totals today.
2) I ran the top 25 through the PI again to see how many ultimately ended up playing for only 1 franchise and the answer was 9.
http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/fDncA
June 13th, 2011 at 7:41 am
What about Brian McCann?
June 13th, 2011 at 7:51 am
@2
McCann has 3176 PAs for ATL, which would put him just short of the Top 25 on Andy's list.
June 13th, 2011 at 7:53 am
Ah...top 25. Shows how stupid it is to try and read a stats site at 4:40 in the morning. Ha!
June 13th, 2011 at 8:09 am
If you include their pre-1970 games -- also for the Orioles and Red Sox -- Brooks Robinson and Rico Petrocelli would be much higher in this list; in fact, Robinson would be right there on top, with Rico at around #14. Imposing, ain't it?
June 13th, 2011 at 8:28 am
Chipper Jones = HoF. I've been banging the Paul Konerko drum for several weeks now and then yesterday Ozzie comes out and starts talking about Paully for the HoF. Great minds think alike (me and Ozzie), and then Ozzie starts talking about the HoF being too picky, hehe!
June 13th, 2011 at 8:48 am
How about Pitchers - Most Innings for only one team? I wonder if Mariano Rivera would make the list despite being a reliever.
June 13th, 2011 at 8:52 am
@7: Brad Radke??
June 13th, 2011 at 8:56 am
Wow Prince Fielder is on this list, even though he's only 27 years old. Prince is a great hitter, even though he is rotund. For a lefty hitter his swing is not that pretty, it's violent and he often loses his balance after a hit. I like that he takes his walks when given them. Prince has an unusual beard also, and I imagine it itches when it gets humid.
June 13th, 2011 at 9:01 am
I love baseball, it, along with basketball, is my fave, so please forgive me, for commenting in this manner, but, this post, seems to run parallel (a good thing, to me) with Dirk Nowitzki, sticking with Dallas, for so, so, many years, and, in the end, being so humble, when he/they won, tonight..........
What parallels to baseball? Well, for example, if Barry Bonds, had been humble enough, to not 'roid up, and, had been committed enough, to stay with Pittsburgh......how would the face of baseball, be different today??
Pittsburgh is the 'classic' example of the small market team....a joke...........but Bonds didn't stay. Dirk stayed with his franchise, and made it happen.
June 13th, 2011 at 9:59 am
Jeter & Jones are #'s 90 & 100 on the all time list of games played. Jones will likely be between 75 & 80 by season's end if he stays healthy, Jeter should be between 60 & 65. Two more seasons for Jeter with between 125 & 140 games per season should have him up between 25 & 30 all time and right on the edge of the top 10 for games played for a single team. As for the rest of the list Pujols looks to be the only one who's age, health & skill level would give him a shot at ending up in the same territory as Jeter except for maybe Cano. I think health issues make Wright & Reyes unlikely.
June 13th, 2011 at 10:29 am
Am I missing something? It looks like there isn't a way to select only 1 franchise for pitchers, so we can't easily do this query. Is there a reason for this? or is it there and I'm just blind?
June 13th, 2011 at 10:35 am
The Twins have as many players on the modern list as the NL Central and West divisions have combined.
June 13th, 2011 at 10:35 am
Carl, you're right--the same option is not available, except in the "sort by" drop-down box. I am not sure why this is, but I know Sean is already aware.
You can still make the same sort of list, though. Here are all the guys with 2000+ IP for 1 franchise since 1901:
Generated 6/13/2011.
June 13th, 2011 at 10:39 am
Of course the big money teams have more guys on the list - when they develop good players, they can afford to keep them. The Yankees/Red Sox never have a top player going to free agency being proposed as trade bait for other teams. Fielder will be this year if Milwaukee falls out of it, Reyes has been mentioned this year (although that seems crazy) in that light.
It's amazing to me that guys like Ellis, Cuddyer, and Inge have a decade on one team. They are useful players, sometimes all-star level, mostly "solid". These guys are all likely to be hangers-on with other teams before retirement. The top guys on the list seem unlikely to move anytime soon though.
June 13th, 2011 at 10:47 am
Aweb, excellent counterpoint regarding the rich teams keeping their own free agents.
June 13th, 2011 at 11:05 am
i think part of the phenomenon is that star players hang on longer after they decline nowadays because of the huge $, and after they get ditched by the team they were the face of the franchise for, they sign with a new team instead of retire.
June 13th, 2011 at 11:06 am
Aweb made the point I was going to. It is easy for rich teams to keep their own players because they often just keep extending them.
Of the guys on the current list, how many have been entirely with that organization? For instance, Jeter has been a Yankee through and through, but Varitek came over from the Seattle organization while in the minors.
June 13th, 2011 at 11:14 am
Andy -- Do the two lists really make for an "apples-to-apples" comparison? The first list is a snapshot of active players in 2011; the second looks at a 20-year span.
What would the top-25 look like for the period 1991-2011, by the same process you used in the 2nd list?
June 13th, 2011 at 11:15 am
JA, it's definitely not apples-to-apples. Raphy had a better approach in comment #1 above.
June 13th, 2011 at 11:54 am
Taking the opposite approach to Raphy @1, I generated a list for 1991-2011 (akin to 2nd table above). This list displaces the bottom 10 players from the original "active" list, and when compared to the 1970-90 list, seems to refute the notion that there are fewer long careers with one team than 20+ years ago.
Most PAs in 1991-2011 for players who spent their entire career with 1 team:
(PAs for the period are in parentheses)
1 - Craig Biggio (11,242)
2 - Derek Jeter (10,829)
3 - Chipper Jones (9,902)
4 - Jeff Bagwell (9,431)
5 - Bernie Williams (9,053)
6 - Todd Helton (8,442)
7 - Edgar Martinez (7,822)
8 - Ichiro Suzuki (7,624)
9 - Jimmy Rollins (7,177)
10 - Albert Pujols (7,067)
11 - Tim Salmon (7,039)
12 - Michael Young (6,985)
13 - Jorge Posada (6,945)
14 - Barry Larkin (6,710)
15 - Cal Ripken (6,508)
16 - Jason Varitek (5,692)
17 - Bobby Higginson (5,660)
18 - Brian Roberts (5,532)
19 - Tony Gwynn (5,076)
20 - Brandon Inge (5,054)
21 - Jose Reyes (4,539)
22 - David Wright (4,507)
23 - Rusty Greer (4,420)
24 - Chase Utley (4,396)
25 - Mark Ellis (4,287)
The average for this 1991-2011 list is 6,878 (and the 2011 season isn't even half over yet); the average for 1970-90 is 6,654. The median, the maxmum and the minimum for the recent list are all higher than the earlier one.
This may not be the best way to compare player/team stability across eras; it may still be true that today's players spend less time, on average, with any given team (I don't know). But it seems to remain true today, just as Bill James wrote in the '80s, that free agency has not profoundly impacted the number of long-career players who stay with one team.
One reason that James noted for this "surprising" finding is that, while free agency gives players the power to leave, long-term contracts and no-trade clauses gives them the power to stay with one team, and they exercise the latter choice perhaps more often than we cynical fans would assume.
June 13th, 2011 at 1:19 pm
To examine how free agency has affected the tendency of players to stay on one team over long careers we should look not only at this list, but at one that looks at long careers for players who played on multiple teams. I think the relative lengths of these lists for players with PA > X would give us a sense of whether the frequency of player movements is increasing, decreasing or about the same.
June 13th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
I mentioned this earlier on another post; but it still amazes me and I think makes a great baseball story. Whitaker and Trammel debuted in the same game (9/7/77). Jack Morris and Lance Parrish both debuted that season too, and all four lasted ten years together.
Does anybody know their relationship? It would be a great story if they were close on and off the field, although from some anecdotal stories, I think their personalities would not mesh.
I think Bill James claimed Whitaker would duck and roll when an airplane would fly over a stadium. I can't see Trammel doing that.
June 13th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
Apropos of this discussion, before the season started, there was a link on the main page of free agent status, who was available, who was signed, where they signed, etc.
One day, I just totalled up the number (it was over 600), which is over 80% of the 750 (30 x 25) major league roster spots. If that kind of volatility is happening on a yearly basis, long-tenured players on one team will become even more unusual than they already are.
June 13th, 2011 at 5:58 pm
BSK - Micheal Young, Jason Varitek, Grady Sizemore and Mark Ellis would all not qualify in that case as they all played in the minors for other organizations.
June 13th, 2011 at 6:56 pm
Guy standing out on this list: Brian Roberts.
Currently in his 11th season with the Baltimore Orioles, making it 10 seasons in a row that Roberts has played for a team with a losing record.
Roberts, fellow Oriole Nick Markakis, and #25 Aaron Hill (TOR) are the only three who haven't played in the postseason.
For an MLB regular, I can't think of a much worse career path.
June 13th, 2011 at 7:48 pm
Mac - I can think of one "worse career path" ... Ernie Banks.
June 13th, 2011 at 8:57 pm
@27
Just a bit tougher to make the playoffs in those days than the joke of a playoff system we have now (or the worse one we'll soon have).
June 13th, 2011 at 10:12 pm
Rich teams can afford to keep their free agents, poor ones not so much.
June 14th, 2011 at 12:15 am
Thanks, Anthony!
June 14th, 2011 at 8:04 am
[...] of Jeter, he’s the current leader in Plate Appearances for Active Players While Playing With Only One Team according to the Baseball-Reference Blog. He’s about 900 PAs ahead of Chipper Jones. Todd [...]
June 14th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
#7
2358 IP Mark Buehrle
1771 Carlos Zambrano
1319.2 Brandon Webb
1261 Felix Hernandez
1226.2 Aaron Cook
1181.1 Matt Cain
1174.1 Mariano Rivera
So Rivera is seventh.