The 2019 Houston Astros are the greatest collection of talent ever on a baseball field. I think there is at least four, with a possible seven, Hall of Fame players on the roster. Every player on the roster would have a good chance to start for every other team in the league. There is a lot of competition for greatest team of all time.
The Yankees
The New York Yankees have a few teams in the fight for the greatest of all time. In 1927, 1939 and 1998 they had some of the greatest teams and players to ever play the game. Obviously the 1927 team is highlighted by Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth two of the greatest hitters of all time. Gehrig and Ruth posted 225 and 220 OPS+, respectively. Gehrig hit 47 bombs and drove in 173 runs. Combining that with a .373 batting average and a .474 on-base percentage make his 1927 season one of the best ever. Then all Babe Ruth did was hit 60 bombs. Ruth had the fourth-highest WAR in baseball history, only behind Carl Yastrzemski’s 1963 season and two of his own seasons from earlier in his career. Bob Meusel and Earle Combs rounded out the outfield with two great seasons.
In 1927 the Yankees pitching staff was overshadowed by the offense but they had three starters with an ERA+ above 130. Waite Hoyt was the ace, he had an ERA+ of 148 and threw 256 innings. Overall this Yankees team had two of the greatest players of all time but they weren’t as deep as other teams on this list. Their team war being 49.3 is the highest I saw and a great argument for them being the greatest of all time but with a lot of that production coming from two players I have to put them behind the Astros.
The Other Yankees
The 1927 Yankees are the best Yankees team in franchise history. The 1939 and 1998 teams are the two other teams in the running. But they come up just short 1939 is very similar to the 1927 team. They had a loaded outfield led by one of the greatest players of all-time in Joe DiMaggio. They had a good pitching staff, one that was probably better than the 1927 team. The combination of Gehrig and Ruth just puts them at a different level.
I think the 1998 team is a little bit behind both of them. Bernie Williams was a really good player but him being the best hitter on this team tells you everything you need to know. He is nowhere near the level of Ruth, Gehrig or DiMaggio. The 1998 staff was led by Andy Pettitte, him combined with David Wells and David Cone gave them a very strong top three guys in the rotation. People forget Orlando Hernandez was lights out in 1998 posting a 142 ERA+ and striking out 131 batters in 141 innings. Then they had Mariano Rivera coming out of the bullpen with a 233 ERA+. This version of the Yankees had lights out rotation. Overall neither one of these teams is better than the 1929 version which means they also aren’t better than the 2019 Houston Astros.
1970 Baltimore Orioles
The 1970 O’s are one of my favorite teams in the history of baseball. They absolutely dominated teams with pitching and defense. Jim Palmer is one of the greatest pitchers of all time and he was an absolute horse in 1970. He threw 305 innings and 17 complete games, somehow that wasn’t the most complete games on the Orioles staff. Mike Cuellar threw 21 complete games on his way to a 24-8 record. Dave McNally went 24-8 with 296 innings pitched and 16 complete games. The Orioles top three starters combined for 892.2 innings in 1970. This was one of the best seasons of all time for a starting rotation.
First Baseman Boog Powell was the driving force for the offense. He had a .297/.412/.549 slash line he also hit 35 bombs and drove in 114 runs. Brooks Robinson played third base for 158 games and had 18 home runs and 84 rbi’s while playing elite defense. 1970 was Frank Robinson’s 15th season in the big leagues. He hit .306 with 25 home runs and was still one of the best defensive players in the league.
This Orioles team was one of the best in the history of the game. The only problem I have with them is that they just don’t have the pop to put them ahead of the teams on this list. If you put all these teams in a playoff bracket there might be a good value in betting them to win it all because Jim Palmer could get hot and shut down any line up every third day. But I just don’t think the overall talent is there.
1976 Cincinnati Reds
The big red machine is the deepest team out of the contenders for the best team of all time. The question is are they deep enough to be better than Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. First, if you have the big three of Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Pete Rose. I truly believe Joe Morgan is the greatest second baseman of all time and Johnny Bench is the greatest catcher of all time.
Joe Morgan won his second of back to back MVP’s in 1976 he had 27 home runs and stole 60 bases while leading the league in OPS. Johnny Bench was in the middle of a 13-year all-star game streak. Defensively he absolutely shut down the run game in an era where people ran a lot more, and he is one the best hitting catchers of all time. Pete Rose has the most hits in the history of baseball and was the leader of the Reds teams in the ’70s. 1976 was the worst offense year in Pete Rose’s career and he still had a .348 OBP.
Can Depth Make You The Best Team Ever
The thing that separated the 1976 Reds in how deep they were. George Foster was one of the best hitters in the game and posted a 150 OPS+, went to the All-Star game and finished second in the MVP vote. Ken Griffey Sr. hit over .330 and also got MVP votes in 1976. Everybody in the starting line up for the Reds was an above-average hitter in 1976, everyone had an OPS+ over 100 for the season.
This Reds team had everything you want out of a lineup. They had power and speed, they could run and played pretty elite defense. Everyone in the line up could do some damage and they were as deep as baseball teams get. But a pitching staff that is below average when compared to the other elite teams in the history of the game holds them back a little bit.
2005 White Sox
Now we move on to the greatest year of my life and the most underrated team in the history of the game. The Sox won 99 regular-season games and never trailed in the division. Their 11-1 record in the postseason can only be matched by the 1999 Yankees. The pitching staff doesn’t have guys who are going to be remembered by people outside of Chicago but their 2005 staff was one of the best in the history of baseball.
The other teams on this list are loaded with multiple time all-star and Hall of Famers. The 2005 Sox only have two players that will even be considered for the Hall, Paul Konerko, and Mark Buehrle. They are two of the best players and franchise history and helped carry the Sox to the first title since 1917. Paulie had 40 home runs and 100 RBI in 2005. He finished 6th in the MVP vote and was an all-star. Buehrle was 5th in the Cy Young vote after going 16-8 with a 3.12 ERA.
Paulie and Buehrle were the leaders of this team but a lot of other players stepped up. Jermaine Dye was the second-best hitter on the team and had an absolute cannon in right field. Tadahito Iguchi and Joe Crede were two clutch bats and great defensive players.
Pitching and Playoff Success
The Sox had four starters go over 200 innings and they all had under 4 ERA’s, Jon Garland went 18-10 with a 3.50 ERA and finished 6th in the Cy Young vote. Sweaty Freddy Garcia threw 228 innings and won 14 games. Jose Contreras had one of the greatest second halves in the history of baseball and actually got some MVP votes because of it.
This White Sox team absolutely steamrolled through the postseason. Sweeping the ALDS and World Series and only lost one game in the ALCS. Somehow in the series, they lost a game they threw four straight complete games. This team is a step below the rest on the list talent-wise but if they pitched how they did in the 2005 playoffs they could beat any team in the history of the game.
2019 Houston Astros
Now we finally move on to the greatest team to ever step on a baseball field. Alex Bregman might be officially the second-best player in baseball. With injuries to Carlos Correa, he was forced to split time between short and third. With the added defensive responsibilities he still hit 41 bombs and has an 8.5 WAR. People seem to forget how good George Springer is he had 6.5 WAR this year and missed forty games because of injury. When Springer is healthy he is a top 10 player in baseball.
Michael Brantley signed for the Astros this offseason and became on the better players on the team slashing .311/.372/.503. The additions of him and Yordan Alvarez made one of the best teams in baseball even deeper this year. All Alvarez did was blast 27 home runs in half of a season. There isn’t an easy out in this Astros line up they truly go nine deep and make life tough on every starting pitcher.
Three Hall of Fame Pitchers
Is the pitching rotation better than the lineup? Its honestly hard to say but when you have three future Hall of Fame pitchers in your rotation it doesn’t get much better. Zack Greinke is the number three in the rotation and one of the best pitchers of his generation. He dominated opposing hitter this year to the tune of a 3.02 ERA. Justin Verlander is a no-doubt Hall of Famer and he seems to be getting better with age. He struck out 35 percent of hitters he faced this year, has a 2.58 ERA and a 6.4 WAR on the hill.
Then the Astros get to trot out Gerrit Cole every fifth day. He is the most dominant pitcher in baseball, he struck out 40 percent of hitters this year and had a 2.57 ERA. All the metrics point to his numbers being legit this year with no reason for him to not dominate the postseason and bring the World Series trophy back to the Astros.
Houston Astros The Greatest Team Ever
No team in the history of Baseball can match the talent level of the Houston Astros. I personally think all three of the pitchers for the Astros aces end up in the Hall of Fame. Alex Bregman is clearly on pace to be one of the best third basemen of all time. Yordan Alvarez just put together one of the best seasons I have ever seen out a rookie. He just crushes baseballs. If Carlos Correa can stay healthy he has all the talent in the world at shortstop and honestly even a half-season out of Correa is better than a full season of most players. George Springer and Jose Altuve are two of the best players at their positions in baseball. The Houston Astros even have an elite bullpen to fall back on.
No team has the depth that the Houston Astros have. George Springer and Alex Bregman are two of the best players in the game. The pitching staff is one of the best in the history of the game. The line up doesn’t have a Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig in it and it may not be as deep as the 1976 Reds. But there is no combination of elite talent and depth that can compete with this team. Then when you add in the pitching there is just no way they aren’t the best team. The numbers don’t lie. https://www.fangraphs.com/teams/astros
Every team has a flaw on this list the 1927 and 1939 Yankees teams are two reliant on two superstars. The Orioles don’t have the sluggers and the Reds don’t have the pitching. The 2005 White Sox just don’t have the superstars. The Houston Astros have it all. Sorry Yankees fans you no longer have the best team of all time.
