{"id":1302,"date":"2019-12-31T15:16:28","date_gmt":"2019-12-31T22:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/?p=1302"},"modified":"2019-12-31T15:16:28","modified_gmt":"2019-12-31T22:16:28","slug":"dtbl-best-of-the-decade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/?p=1302","title":{"rendered":"DTBL Best of the Decade"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a id=\"8mY7mrbfQ4lb_k2cS3JKHg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1171427329\" target=\"_blank\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>\/\/ <![CDATA[\nwindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'8mY7mrbfQ4lb_k2cS3JKHg',sig:'D1mBhyLoH2tqrf07Qw2erBWwi95865bDUG7YUkkZ1u8=',w:'594px',h:'422px',items:'1171427329',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><script src=\"\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\nThe 2010s marked a decisive change from the first decade of this millennium in the DTBL.\u00a0 The previous decade saw two teams dominate the landscape with the Kings opening it up with four straight titles from 2000-2003 and the Darkhorses doing the same from 2007-2010.\u00a0 This decade, half of the franchises won at least one championship and only the 2019 Kings were able to successfully defend a title.\u00a0 The 2010s started with arguably the craziest season in league history as the Darkhorses and Naturals became the first co-champions.\u00a0 Two years later, the Naturals were involved in another epic finish as they just barely edged out three other teams to win another title.\u00a0 The second half of the decade belonged to the Kings, as they have now won three of the past four championships.<\/p>\n<p>As we enter a new decade, it is time to take a look back at the past 10 years in the DTBL.\u00a0 Here are some of the best teams and players of the 2010s.<\/p>\n<h2>Franchise of the Decade:\u00a0 Kevin&#8217;s Kings<\/h2>\n<p>It was a bit of a roller coaster ride for the Kings in the 2010s.\u00a0 In 2013, they were able to put an end to their ten year title drought, barely edging out the Mavericks for the fifth championship in franchise history.\u00a0 The remainder of the decade was pretty crazy for them.\u00a0 Three times, they finished in the bottom half of the standings, including a dreadful last place finish in 2015 and a ninth place finish in 2017.\u00a0 But they somehow managed to turn each of those poor years into a championship run the following year.\u00a0 All told, they won four championships in the decade, the most of any franchise.\u00a0 They weren&#8217;t the most consistent franchise, but titles are what matter most and nobody had more of them than the Kings.\u00a0 The clear second choice for this honor would be the Naturals who won three titles, all coming in the same years the Giants won the World Series (2010, 2012, 2014).<\/p>\n<h2>Team of the Decade:\u00a0 2015 Jay&#8217;s Jackalope<\/h2>\n<p>The Jackalope made their championships count.\u00a0 Both of their title winning seasons were among the most impressive this league has ever seen.\u00a0 It is difficult to compare teams from different seasons since so much of fantasy success is relative to the competition.\u00a0 So simply going with the team with the most standings points doesn&#8217;t necessarily make them better than title winning teams from other years.\u00a0 What sets apart the 2015 Jackalope, and their 2011 squad too for that matter, was the manner in which they dominated the rest of the league.\u00a0 They won the league by a record breaking 19 points over the Mavericks.\u00a0 The Jackalope offense was led by MVP winner Josh Donaldson and runner-up Paul Goldschmidt.\u00a0 Meanwhile, Jake Arrieta led the pitching staff and won both the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards, giving the Jackalope a clean sweep of the three major awards.\u00a0 The year started with the Jackalope making some major March trades, dealing away franchise icons Albert Pujols, Felix Hernandez and Zack Greinke.\u00a0 But in return, they acquired Josh Donaldson, Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon, all of whom continue to reap benefits for them today.\u00a0 It was one of the most impressive roster shake-ups we&#8217;ve ever seen.\u00a0 Honorable mention in this category could go to a bunch of different teams.\u00a0 Certainly the 2011 Jackalope who also won the league by double digits, the 2014 Naturals who set the record for most total points (89), the 2019 Kings who successfully defended their title with a much stronger season in the follow-up, and the 2017 Mavericks who finally cashed in a championship to go along with their historically dominant pitching staff for much of the decade.<\/p>\n<h2>Player of the Decade:\u00a0 Mike Trout, Mavericks (2012-2019)<\/h2>\n<p>This was about as easy of a decision as you will find.\u00a0 Mike Trout has been in the DTBL for eight seasons now.\u00a0 In all eight seasons he has made the All-Star team and received MVP votes.\u00a0 Shockingly, he only has one MVP award to his name so far.\u00a0 But he has finished in the top five of that vote six times, including each of his first five seasons.\u00a0 He also won the Rookie of the Year award in 2012.\u00a0 In the 2010s, he led all DTBL players in PAR (71.0) by more than 20 points.\u00a0 His decade ranks in the five offensive categories:\u00a0 .308 average (5th), 280 home runs (3rd), 736 runs batted in (14th), 882 runs scored (1st), 195 stolen bases (7th).\u00a0 Keep in mind that many players had a two year head start over him in the counting categories.\u00a0 In 2015, his\u00a0<em>worst\u00a0<\/em>season according to PAR, he hit .299 with 41 home runs.\u00a0 A second round pick by the Mavericks in 2012, Trout holds the franchise career record in homers, runs and stolen bases and is second in RBI.\u00a0 Nobody else really garnered any consideration for this honor, but let&#8217;s just say Paul Goldschmidt was the runner-up.<\/p>\n<h2>Pitcher of the Decade:\u00a0 Clayton Kershaw, Mavericks (2010-2019)<\/h2>\n<p>This was a pretty easy choice too, and yes, it is another Maverick.\u00a0 In the 2010s, Clayton Kershaw won a pair of Cy Young awards, finished in the top four for that award seven straight years and made seven DTBL All-Star teams.\u00a0 His numbers during the four year stretch of 2013-2016 were downright silly, posting ERAs below 2.00 in three of those years.\u00a0 He won the Cy Young in 2013 and 2014 with ERAs of 1.83 and 1.77.\u00a0 He posted a double digit PAR for seven straight seasons (2011-2017).\u00a0 For the decade, his 2.30 ERA and 0.961 WHIP were easily the best among qualified starting pitchers.\u00a0 His 154 wins ranked third as did his 2,131 strikeouts.\u00a0 Somehow, the Mavericks nabbed him in the sixth round of the 2009 draft.\u00a0 He is the franchise leader among starting pitchers in every relevant category.\u00a0 Two other pitchers had similarly great decades:\u00a0 the Kings veteran duo of Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.\u00a0 But unlike those two, Kershaw was an elite performer for the entire decade.\u00a0 Scherzer didn&#8217;t really reach that level until 2013 and Verlander had some down years in the middle of the decade.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Now let&#8217;s move onto the All-Decade players.\u00a0 I&#8217;ve selected 46 players and split them into first and second teams.\u00a0 Unlike the honors I&#8217;ve bestowed above, these selections were mostly objective.\u00a0 I went with the players who accumulated the highest PAR in the decade, with exceptions at two positions:\u00a0 catcher and relief pitcher.\u00a0 Because even some above average performers at those positions have trouble accumulating positive PAR, I didn&#8217;t want to ding players for longevity in which some negative PAR years may have dragged their total down.\u00a0 Also, I didn&#8217;t want to reward a few closers who have had just a couple great years, enough to put them near the top of the PAR leaderboard.\u00a0 So I looked at the full set of numbers to make my decisions at those two positions.\u00a0 For players who changed positions throughout the course of the decade, they were classified at whichever position they appeared in the most seasons.\u00a0 Without further ado, here are 46 of the best players from the 2010s.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>First Team All-Decade<\/h2>\n<p>C &#8211; Victor Martinez (Naturals &#8217;10-&#8217;15, Mavericks &#8217;16, Kings &#8217;17):\u00a0 .301 AVG, 115 HR, 504 RBI, 389 R, 5 SB, 10.8 PAR<\/p>\n<p>C &#8211; Buster Posey (Demigods &#8217;11-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .302 AVG, 118 HR, 590 RBI, 521 R, 23 SB, 4.8 PAR<\/p>\n<p>1B &#8211; Paul Goldschmidt (Jackalope &#8217;12-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .294 AVG, 235 HR, 781 RBI, 778 R, 123 SB, 51.0 PAR<\/p>\n<p>2B &#8211; Jose Altuve (Demigods &#8217;12-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .316 AVG, 125 HR, 514 RBI, 693 R, 240 SB, 43.0 PAR<\/p>\n<p>3B &#8211; Nolan Arenado (Naturals &#8217;14-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .298 AVG, 215 HR, 677 RBI, 574 R, 13 SB, 42.2 PAR<\/p>\n<p>SS &#8211; Francisco Lindor (Demigods &#8217;16-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .284 AVG, 115 HR, 327 RBI, 423 R, 81 SB, 28.3 PAR<\/p>\n<p>1B\/3B &#8211; Miguel Cabrera (Naturals &#8217;10-&#8217;18, Mavericks &#8217;19):\u00a0 .317 AVG, 265 HR, 928 RBI, 783 R, 14 SB, 43.2 PAR<\/p>\n<p>2B\/SS &#8211; Robinson Cano (Kings &#8217;10-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .302 AVG, 227 HR, 851 RBI, 791 R, 34 SB, 38.4 PAR<\/p>\n<p>OF &#8211; Mike Trout (Mavericks &#8217;12-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .308 AVG, 280 HR, 736 RBI, 882 R, 195 SB, 71.0 PAR<\/p>\n<p>OF &#8211; Nelson Cruz (Mavericks &#8217;10-&#8217;11, Gators &#8217;12-&#8217;17, Komodos &#8217;18-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .283 AVG, 338 HR, 941 RBI, 761 R, 49 SB, 47.6 PAR<\/p>\n<p>OF &#8211; Mookie Betts (Kings &#8217;15-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .302 AVG, 134 HR, 447 RBI, 575 R, 116 SB, 41.3 PAR<\/p>\n<p>OF &#8211; Andrew McCutchen (Naturals &#8217;10-&#8217;17, Choppers &#8217;18-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .286 AVG, 219 HR, 763 RBI, 864 R, 165 SB, 40.7 PAR<\/p>\n<p>OF &#8211; Ryan Braun (Jackalope &#8217;10-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .295 AVG, 236 HR, 796 RBI, 753 R, 164 SB, 40.3 PAR<\/p>\n<p>DH &#8211; Edwin Encarnacion (Jackalope &#8217;10, Naturals &#8217;11, Mavericks &#8217;12-&#8217;14, Darkhorses &#8217;15-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .265 AVG, 307 HR, 883 RBI, 752 R, 39 SB, 42.3 PAR<\/p>\n<p>SP &#8211; Clayton Kershaw (Mavericks &#8217;10-&#8217;19):\u00a0 2.30 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 154 W, 0 SV, 2,131 K, 112.6 PAR<\/p>\n<p>SP &#8211; Max Scherzer (Jackalope &#8217;10, Kings &#8217;10-&#8217;19):\u00a0 3.07 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 155 W, 0 SV, 2,348 K, 98.3 PAR<\/p>\n<p>SP &#8211; Justin Verlander (Kings &#8217;10-&#8217;19):\u00a0 3.10 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 159 W, 0 SV, 2,210 K, 95.5 PAR<\/p>\n<p>SP &#8211; Zack Greinke (Jackalope &#8217;10, Naturals &#8217;11-&#8217;14, Moonshiners &#8217;15-&#8217;19):\u00a0 3.21 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 152 W, 0 SV, 1,852 K, 75.1 PAR<\/p>\n<p>SP &#8211; Chris Sale (Naturals &#8217;11, Choppers &#8217;12-&#8217;19):\u00a0 3.05 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 102 W, 6 SV, 1,907 K, 68.9 PAR<\/p>\n<p>RP &#8211; Craig Kimbrel (Choppers &#8217;11-&#8217;19):\u00a0 2.14 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 27 W, 344 SV, 855 K, 34.6 PAR<\/p>\n<p>RP &#8211; Kenley Jansen (Mavericks &#8217;11-&#8217;19):\u00a0 2.35 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 29 W, 295 SV, 827 K, 32.1 PAR<\/p>\n<p>RP &#8211; Aroldis Chapman (Mavericks &#8217;11, &#8217;15-&#8217;17, Jackalope &#8217;12-&#8217;14, Komodos &#8217;18-&#8217;19):\u00a0 2.28 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 27 W, 271 SV, 796 K, 27.2 PAR<\/p>\n<p>RP &#8211; Jonathan Papelbon (Kings &#8217;10-&#8217;15, Jackalope &#8217;15-&#8217;16):\u00a0 2.86 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 27 W, 217 SV, 462 K, 8.8 PAR<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Second Team All-Decade<\/h2>\n<p>C &#8211; Yadier Molina (Choppers &#8217;10-&#8217;16, Cougars &#8217;17-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .289 AVG, 120 HR, 645 RBI, 500 R, 53 SB, -0.1 PAR<\/p>\n<p>C &#8211; J.T. Realmuto (Darkhorses &#8217;16-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .282 AVG, 73 HR, 266 RBI, 290 R, 32 SB, 5.6 PAR<\/p>\n<p>1B &#8211; Joey Votto (Naturals &#8217;10-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .306 AVG, 229 HR, 745 RBI, 825 R, 66 SB, 38.2 PAR<\/p>\n<p>2B &#8211; Ian Kinsler (Moonshiners &#8217;10-&#8217;16, Jackalope &#8217;17-&#8217;18):\u00a0 .268 AVG, 163 HR, 609 RBI, 835 R, 148 SB, 28.5 PAR<\/p>\n<p>3B &#8211; Adrian Beltre (Choppers &#8217;10-&#8217;18):\u00a0 .307 AVG, 226 HR, 781 RBI, 691 R, 10 SB, 34.9 PAR<\/p>\n<p>SS &#8211; Trea Turner (Naturals &#8217;16-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .292 AVG, 60 HR, 199 RBI, 306 R, 145 SB, 28.1 PAR<\/p>\n<p>1B\/3B &#8211; Freddie Freeman (Demigods &#8217;12-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .296 AVG, 199 HR, 698 RBI, 699 R, 39 SB, 36.2 PAR<\/p>\n<p>2B\/SS &#8211; Brian Dozier (Moonshiners &#8217;14-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .245 AVG, 157 HR, 437 RBI, 521 R, 77 SB, 22.2 PAR<\/p>\n<p>OF &#8211; Charlie Blackmon (Cougars &#8217;15-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .309 AVG, 142 HR, 389 RBI, 561 R, 87 SB, 37.3 PAR<\/p>\n<p>OF &#8211; Bryce Harper (Darkhorses &#8217;13-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .278 AVG, 197 HR, 576 RBI, 607 R, 70 SB, 35.1 PAR<\/p>\n<p>OF &#8211; Christian Yelich (Darkhorses &#8217;14-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .304 AVG, 134 HR, 481 RBI, 550 R, 111 SB, 34.8 PAR<\/p>\n<p>OF &#8211; Giancarlo Stanton (Jackalope &#8217;11-&#8217;19):\u00a0 .268 AVG, 278 HR, 701 RBI, 627 R, 36 SB, 34.4 PAR<\/p>\n<p>OF &#8211; Carlos Gonzalez (Kings &#8217;10-&#8217;17):\u00a0 .293 AVG, 197 HR, 648 RBI, 638 R, 97 SB, 33.7 PAR<\/p>\n<p>DH &#8211; Albert Pujols (Jackalope &#8217;10-&#8217;14, Mavericks &#8217;15, &#8217;18, Choppers &#8217;16-&#8217;17, Darkhorses &#8217;18):\u00a0 .272 AVG, 250 HR, 813 RBI, 630 R, 49 SB, 34.6 PAR<\/p>\n<p>SP &#8211; David Price (Naturals &#8217;10-&#8217;18, Komodos &#8217;19):\u00a0 3.29 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 134 W, 0 SV, 1,804 K, 62.4 PAR<\/p>\n<p>SP &#8211; Madison Bumgarner (Cougars &#8217;11-&#8217;19):\u00a0 3.16 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 111 W, 0 SV, 1,664 K, 59.9 PAR<\/p>\n<p>SP &#8211; Felix Hernandez (Jackalope &#8217;10-&#8217;14, &#8217;18, Moonshiners &#8217;15-&#8217;17):\u00a0 3.20 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 104 W, 0 SV, 1,595 K, 52.1 PAR<\/p>\n<p>SP &#8211; Jon Lester (Naturals &#8217;10-&#8217;12, Choppers &#8217;13-&#8217;19):\u00a0 3.56 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 144 W, 0 SV, 1,773 K, 51.0 PAR<\/p>\n<p>SP &#8211; Corey Kluber (Demigods &#8217;14-&#8217;19):\u00a0 2.94 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 83 W, 0 SV, 1,238 K, 50.9 PAR<\/p>\n<p>RP &#8211; Francisco Rodriguez (Moonshiners &#8217;10-&#8217;11, Mavericks &#8217;12, Naturals &#8217;14, Kings &#8217;15-&#8217;17):\u00a0 3.22 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 23 W, 181 SV, 407 K, 7.0 PAR<\/p>\n<p>RP &#8211; Greg Holland (Gators &#8217;12-&#8217;13, Naturals &#8217;13-&#8217;17, Komodos &#8217;18, Mavericks &#8217;19):\u00a0 3.06 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 14 W, 198 SV, 428 K, 4.5 PAR<\/p>\n<p>RP &#8211; David Robertson (Cougars &#8217;12-&#8217;19):\u00a0 2.93 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 31 W, 127 SV, 515 K, 8.1 PAR<\/p>\n<p>RP &#8211; Roberto Osuna (Moonshiners &#8217;16-&#8217;19):\u00a0 2.80 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 13 W, 134 SV, 270 K, 13.8 PAR<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I thought about writing a short blurb for each player above, but decided that would take far too much time.\u00a0 Here are a couple links to leaderboards for the decade, for your perusal:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/leaders.php?bp=0&amp;fr=0&amp;allpos=all&amp;yr=2019&amp;min=0&amp;yrtype=1&amp;yrbeg=2010&amp;yrend=2019\" target=\"_blank\">Batters<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/leaders.php?bp=1&amp;fr=0&amp;allpos=all&amp;yr=2019&amp;min=0&amp;yrtype=1&amp;yrbeg=2010&amp;yrend=2019\" target=\"_blank\">Pitchers<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Feel free to chime in below if you feel some player(s) were snubbed.\u00a0 What an amazing decade it was in the DTBL.\u00a0 Here&#8217;s to the 2020s being just as great.\u00a0 Happy New Year!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images The 2010s marked a decisive change from the first decade of this millennium in the DTBL.\u00a0 The previous decade saw two teams dominate the landscape with the Kings opening it up with four straight titles from 2000-2003 and the Darkhorses doing the same from 2007-2010.\u00a0 This decade, half of the franchises [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,11,12,5,6,9,31,3,10,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-choppers","category-cougars","category-darkhorses","category-demigods","category-gators","category-jackalope","category-kings","category-komodos","category-mavericks","category-moonshiners","category-naturals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1302"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1305,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1302\/revisions\/1305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamteambaseball.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}