Players to Root for in the Playoffs

For fans of 10 (and soon to be eight) teams, finding a club for which to root in the playoffs presents little difficulty: just keep doing what you’ve been doing for the last six months. For the rest of us, though, manufacturing some interest in a team or two can be a useful device for cultivating drama in the postseason.

There are a few ways to go about this, of course. For some, the solution is just as simple as rooting against a rival. For others, supporting a team with lengthy curse or championship drought — like the Red Sox or Cubs in recent years or Cleveland, still, this season — might make sense. Backing an underdog is always popular, obviously, as is pulling for all the small-market teams to beat the larger-market ones. There’s no wrong way to do this. What I’d like to discuss here is another alternative, though — namely, rooting for a specific player.

Perhaps you’ve been already been doing this in some capacity. There’s a player who maybe used to play for your favorite team or one whom you always wished would wear your team’s uniform. For me, the easy answer in year’s past has been Adrian Beltre. He’s a future Hall of Famer and a joy to watch. Add in that he was oh-so-close to a title in 2011, and it’s easy to actively support a scenario in which Beltre finally gets a ring. The Rangers failed to qualify for the playoffs this year, though, so rooting for Beltre isn’t an option.

While the Rangers third baseman will be absent from the postseason, there are a handful of other future Hall of Famers who have yet to win a World Series title and will be playing games that count this October.

To begin this exercise, let’s first take a look at the best players with a shot at that elusive ring. The tables below includes the top-25 position players by career WAR who will be participating in the postseason.

Carlos Beltran is likely to make the Hall of Fame someday, and he’s not without his share of good postseason memories. Back in 2004, he was a force on a Houston Astros club that nearly made it to the World Series but were cut down by the St. Louis Cardinals. In 2006, he made the final out of the Mets’ postseason, again stopped just short of the World Series, again against the Cardinals. In 2013, after joining the team that had thwarted him twice, he made it to the World Series. The Red Sox took home the crown in that World Series, however. The last two seasons have featured short playoff appearances for Beltran. And while his most recent season has also been his worst, he has another shot at a title with the Astros.

Joe Mauer has played in nine playoff games: his team has gone 0-9 in those games. Mauer isn’t the perennial MVP candidate he was a decade ago, but after a few down years, he is having a mini-resurgence with an above-average hitting line. Curtis Granderson, for his part, has come close to winning a title, reaching the World Series with the Tigers early in his career, joining the Yankees the year after they won, and playing on a Mets team that fell to Kansas City two years ago. The 36-year-old has had a very good career and is having another solid season. Hanley Ramirez hasn’t been good this year, but a 40-WAR career is nothing to sneeze at for the 34-year-old.

Of course, WAR isn’t the only criteria by which to judge a player’s appeal. Let’s if there might be some longtime favorites who’ve hung around despite recording fewer wins in their career. Here’s the list of active players without a title, sorted by plate appearances.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Adrian Gonzalez will get a chance to play in this postseason, though he could have a Frank Thomas 2005-type situation with the Dodgers. Ryan Zimmermann has been with some good and bad teams as a career Nationals player and has rebounded this season. Brian McCann has been on some good teams, but will have his best shot at a title in some time. Mark Reynolds has been around for quite a while, and he keeps swinging for the fences, finding an ideal home in Colorado.

Switching our focus, here are the best pitchers without a title on playoff teams.

This list is a bit heavier on star power than the one featuring position players. You start with the best pitcher in baseball, add in Cy Young- and MVP-winner Justin Verlander, other Cy Young-winner Zack Greinke, and two-time (maybe soon three-time) Cy Young-winner Max Scherzer, and you have a very impressive list. Oh and David Price, Rick Porcello, Corey Kluber, and Bartolo Colon have won pitching’s top award as well. These players are in varying stages of their career with varying postseason reputations. From a general fan’s perspective, I hope for greatness out of all them this postseason.

WAR is going to provide a big advantage to starters. To get some relievers their due, let’s sort by games played.

Bartolo Colon is 44 years old. He’s pitched in a lot of games. Rodney’s been slinging arrows for a decade and a half and the 40-year-old leads all active pitchers in games played. Not all players on the list here will be active for the postseason, but the playoffs will at least give them a shot at getting a World Series ring. Another chart showing innings doesn’t seem necessary, but I should note that both Jorge de la Rosa and Charlie Morton have exceeded 1,000 MLB innings and haven’t yet won.

There probably isn’t a wrong way to pull for a postseason team, but it’s going to be very hard to root against Carlos Beltran, along with Justin Verlander and the not-quite-as-easy-to-cheer-for-even-though-he-enforces-the-right-way-to-play-the-game Brian McCann. Cleveland is perhaps a more compelling figure team-wise given their small-market status and proximity to a championship last season. Redemption for Clayton Kershaw or a heroic performance from Max Scherzer would be fantastic, too. Postseason baseball is here, and whether your team made it, there’s always something for which to cheer. Especially Carlos Beltran.