If you were awarded a MLB franchise & had the 1st 3 picks in the draft (every player in history is available) who do you take?

Fun question. I'm going just with position players, not for any good reason.

Ted Williams

Willie Mays

And I think Jimmie Foxx

Tough to leave out Mantle and Aaron

Maddox, Ryan, Bonds

Ruth

Mantle

Maddux

shout out to Josh Gibson

Babe Ruth, 2 in 1 (183 wins above replacement, 1st all-time)

Willie Mays (156.1 wins above replacement, 5th all-time (much better defense and arm than Bonds, and not a doper)

Walter Johnson (164.9 wins above replacement, #2 all-time, 2.17 ERA, 417 wins, two seasons over 300 strikeouts (Cy Young is #3, but not as hard a thrower))

If going by historical greatness and getting to largely replicate their careers?

Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron

If going by actual baseball talent?

Ohtani, Trout, Verlander (Kershaw is up there too)

Oh dear God no.

To be honest, this.

Building a real and unbeatable team and avoiding the old timers from before the sport was integrated.

picks 1-3: Bonds, Henderson, Randy Johnson

picks 4-6: Mays, Pedro, Rivera

picks 7-9: Maddux, Bench, Jeter

picks 10-12: Schmidt, Jackie Robinson, Pujols

Pete Rose made a comment that made great sense to me...typically two of the weakest offensively in the lineup are 2nd base and catcher, so if you have great offensive players there, you have a chance to have a great team. He made that point talking about Joe Morgan and Johnny Bench, and I actually considered both of them to fill those roles, but I went with Rod Carew at 2nd base just due to his hits and average advantage.

I am also not considering any cheaters or players from before Jackie Robinson. I really WANT to pick a starting pitcher here, but every 5th day just doesn't do it for me. I considered Mariano Rivera as a closer, but for me Hank Aaron edged him out. If we got to pick 4 players, Rivera would be 4th.

So, I would pick these three and in this order:

Johnny Bench at catcher (even though Piazza had better offensive stats)

Rod Carew at 2nd base

Hank Aaron in right field

Most people care about the steroids. That's why he's not in the Hall of Fame and will never be. NOT the GOAT.

Other than my three, this is the best so far. :)

I didn't pick Mike Trout only because his career is not yet over, AND he now has back issues that might derail the rest of his career...I really hope not.

1. Old Hoss Radbourne

2. Randy Poffo

3. Bob Feller

Derek Jeter

Kirk Gibson

Wild Thing

Your team stinks

Your underestimating Robinson. He wasn’t allowed to play mlb ball until he was 28 and he only had a 10 yr career. Morgan is great and the conventional choice, but Robinson was the greater player and the smarter pick. Carew…no chance.

I also think not enough people are recognizing the greatness of Rickey Henderson. Who would you rather have as your lead off hitter?

Why do you rank Aaron over Mays?

Finally, I know your issues with Bonds, but still, he’s the greatest offensive player I’ve ever seen by far and I don’t think we can sort the cheaters from the non cheaters, so he’s on my team.

That’s why the steroid use by Bonds (and Clemens too) is so frustrating. He was already great. He was a 40-40 guy while he was still definitely clean. His swing was so perfect and compact. Heck, I tried to copy his swing. He just is a jealous person who was sick of the attention that lesser players in McGwire and Sosa were getting.

From 2000 until he retired I think I saw well over 50% of Barry’s abs. No, there has never been and will never be a hitter like Bonds. His swing, his strike zone command, the absolute fear he caused the pitchers is unmatched. It was nearly impossible to throw him a strike that he did not hammer. I think in 2001 if he offered at a pitch he was more likely to hit a home run than to swing and miss.

1) No, not underestimating Robinson. I considered him. I pick Carew. Carew hit .328 for his career and was consistently great for the entirety of his career. SUPER GREAT and deserving of this pick.

2) Ricky Henderson was not a 2nd baseman or catcher, so he can't fill those roles which are required in my picks, and he can't beat Hank Aaron in the outfield. Picking a leadoff hitter is not in my top criteria.

3) Hank Aaron was better than Willie Mays, that's why I picked him. Higher batting average, more HRs, more hits, more RBIs, great for longer in his career than Mays. Aaron even won 2 batting titles to Mays' 1. Mays was better in the field and running the bases, but that's it. Aaron is the greatest player in the history of Major League Baseball.

4) I absolutely can and will sort out the cheaters. Bonds was the greatest player you ever saw on steroids. He was a .281 hitter in Pittsburg averaging 25 HRs per season. He would have ended up with 450-500 HRs IF he stayed healthy without the steroids, and he almost for sure would have made the Hall of Fame (though Dale Murphy won 2 MVPs and isn't in, and Fred McGriff hit 493 HRs and isn't in), but no guarantee.

And this is such a tough question to answer. You’re taking players at 20? What’s your end goal? Best chance at as many championships as possible over 20 years? Maximizing your peak and absolutely guaranteeing a few championships?

For example, Koufax would be an interesting selection. He didn’t start to figure it out until he was 25 and he retired at 30, but in his 4 peak seasons he was the greatest pitcher who ever lived. Hank Aaron would be kind of the opposite. He never hit 50 home runs in a season, but he hit 40+ eight times as much as 16 years apart. He never had a single 10+ WAR season, but his career WAR of 143.0 is #5 all time.

Do you value positional scarcity? There are very few truly great hitting catchers and shortstops.

For me, give me pitching.

Satchel Paige is my #1 pick. Even not making his MLB debut until he was 42, he helped the Indians win the World Series and had a 3.29 ERA in an era of good offense, all in his 40s! He is the oldest player ever to appear in a MLB game, throwing 3 scoreless innings at 58 years old. On top of that, his bsrnstorming and exhibitions are legendary and almost mythical. Dizzy Dean, one of the best pitchers ever himself, said Satchell had the greatest pitching stuff he ever saw.

Christy Mathewson is my #2 pick. The Right Hander from Olympus. 373 wins and a 2.13 career ERA. 31-9 with a 1.28 ERA in 1905, and three 3 complete game shutouts in the World Series. “Original Five” member of the hall of fame. His “fade away” screwball might have been the single most devastating pitch of all time.

#3 pick is Babe Ruth. Hey, we need some hitting, right? Ruth would also slot in nicely as the 3rd man in the rotation as a LHP.

From a shear entertainment perspective, I would love to see an outfield of Ruth in RF, Ty Cobb in CF, and Ted Williams in LF, the 3 greatest hitters of all time all playing their natural positions. Likely would have fought each other on the field or in the dugout nearly every game too given each of their personalities.