Column: Yankees MLB’s best franchise this decade

Published 12:51 am Sunday, June 7, 2009

In the spirit of this decade coming to a close, a recent Sports Illustrated article ranked the NFL franchises based on their overall performances this decade. This sparked a lot of internal debate within me, and also sparked the idea to rank the Major League Baseball franchises of the decade.

While Sports Illustrated’s NFL formula went into pretty good depth, my MLB rankings are heavily — very heavily — weighted on World Series championships, World Series appearances, playoff appearances and division titles. Because titles are what define success in pro sports.

So without further ado, I give you my rankings of Major League Baseball’s 30 franchises, from best to worst:

1. New York Yankees — 1-for-3 in World Series; 8 playoff appearances; 7 division titles — Yes, the most hated team in baseball is actually the best choice for team of the decade. Just because they peaked early in the 2000s doesn’t mean the Yankees should be punished. The Red Sox did win two World Series (to the Yankees’ one), but New York won six more AL East titles than Boston, which they share the division with, and have appeared in the playoffs three more times than their archrivals.

2. Boston Red Sox — 2-for-2 in World Series; 5 playoff appearances; 1 division title — Boston is the only team of the 2000s that has won multiple World Series, which is thrilling, considering the hard times the franchise went through from 1919-2003. Winning the World Series this year would put them far and away ahead of the Yankees as team of the decade.

3. St. Louis Cardinals — 1-for-2 in World Series; 6 playoff appearances; 5 division titles — Along with Boston and New York, St. Louis is the only team to play in multiple World Series this decade. Of the six different Cardinal teams to make the playoffs, arguably the worst one — the 2006 squad — was the one that won the World Series. But hey, a win is a win.

4. Los Angeles Angels — 1-for-1 in World Series; 5 playoffs; 4 division titles — Had it not been for the Red Sox, the Angels might have made it to more than one World Series. The Red Sox knocked L.A. out of the playoffs three times. However, it was the 2002 Angels that ended the Yankees’ streak of four straight AL championships. The Angels went on to beat San Francisco in seven games in the World Series that year for their franchise’s first championship.

T5. Arizona Diamondbacks — 1-for-1 in World Series; 3 playoff appearances; 3 division titles — The 2001 D-backs ended the Yankees’ hopes for four consecutive World Series titles, thanks in large part to maybe the best 1-2 pitching combination of the decade — Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson in their primes.

T5. Chicago White Sox — 1-for-1 in World Series; 3 playoff appearances; 3 division titles — The 2005 White Sox only lost one postseason game on their way to winning the franchise’s first World Series since 1917. The White Sox spread out their playoff appearances this decade. They made it to October in 2000, 2005 and 2008.

7. Philadelphia Phillies — 1-for-1 in World Series; 2 playoff appearances; 2 division titles — Here’s where Braves fans start getting upset. The Phillies often spent time in the cellar, while the Braves won division title after division title. But the bottom line is that the Phillies won a world championship, and that’s the whole point of playing the game.

8. Atlanta Braves — 0 World Series appearances; 6 playoff appearances; 6 division titles — If I ranked the most disappointing teams of the decade, there’s no doubt the Braves would be No. 1. They made it to the playoffs six years in a row, and the closest they came to making the World Series was losing to Arizona 4-1 in the 2001 NLCS. The other five times the Braves made the playoffs, they were eliminated in the first round. Four of those times, they had the home field advantage. Still, six playoff appearances is better than being a one-hit wonder, which brings us to No. 9….

9. Florida Marlins — 1-for-1 in World Series; 1 playoff appearance; 0 division titles — Give credit to the Marlins for making the most of their opportunity. They had a one-year window to win the World Series, and they did it in 2003. They won what turned out to be the last World Series ever played at the old Yankee Stadium.

10. San Francisco Giants — 0-for-1 in World Series; 3 playoff appearances; 2 division titles — Other than the Braves, the Giants are the highest-ranked team on the list not to win a World Series this decade. They’re in this spot because they almost won the Series, though. In 2002, they were five outs away from beating the Angels in game 6, but then it all came crashing down. They haven’t done much since, but they were oh so close.

11. Oakland Athletics — 0 World Series appearances; 5 playoff appearances, 4 division titles — The Atlanta Braves of the AL, except the A’s had to deal with the Yankees and Red Sox, so they get a pass. The A’s were consistently in the playoffs in the early part of the decade, despite a low payroll, but they were never able to knock down the door.

12. Minnesota Twins — 0 World Series appearances; 4 playoff appearances, 4 division titles — Like the A’s, the Twins were able to be competitive most of the decade despite a low payroll. They were knocked out of the playoffs twice by the mighty Yankees and once by the eventual champion Angels. They most recently were eliminated by the A’s in 2006.

13. Houston Astros — 0-for-1 in World Series; 3 playoff appearances; 1 division title — If you blinked, then you missed the Astros in the 2005 World Series. They were swept by the White Sox. A year earlier, the Astros just missed making the World Series. They lost to the Cardinals in the NLCS in seven games in 2004.

14. New York Mets — 0-for-1 in World Series; 2 playoff appearances; 1 division title — The Mets lost the Subway Series 4-1 to the Yankees in 2001, but most Mets fans will admit the one that really got away was in 2006. The Mets lost game 7 of the NLCS that year at home to the Cardinals, who finished the regular season 82-80, while the Mets were the best team in the NL all regular season.

15. Chicago Cubs — 0 World Series appearances; 3 playoff appearances; 3 division titles — The Cubs are the saddest story in baseball, going on 101 years without a World Series championship. They had a 3-1 series lead in the 2003 NLCS against the Marlins, but lost that series. They were also swept right out of the NLDS in 2007 and 2008 by Arizona and Los Angeles, respectively.

16. Los Angeles Dodgers — 0 World Series appearances; 3 playoffs; 2 division titles — Even with Manny Ramirez’s suspension, the Dodgers appear to be one of the early favorites to contend for the last World Series of the decade. However, until last year, the Dodgers hadn’t been to the NLCS since 1988.

T17. Detroit Tigers — 0-for-1 in World Series; 1 playoff appearance; 0 division titles — In 2006, the Tigers blew a huge division lead and had to settle for the Wild Card on the last day of the regular season. However, they rebounded nicely to make the World Series, where they lost to that head-scratching 82-80 Cardinals team. Otherwise, the decade was forgettable for the Tigers. In 2003, they went 43-119, the worst record by any team in the decade.

T17. Colorado Rockies — 0-for-1 in World Series; 1 playoff appearance; 0 division titles — One of the most remarkable runs in baseball history helped keep the Rockies from tumbling down this list. In 2007, they won 13 of their final 14 regular season games to set up a one-game playoff against the Padres to make the playoffs. The Rockies won that game, then won seven more in a row to make it to the World Series. They had over a week of rest before playing the Red Sox, but that apparently killed their momentum, because they were swept in four games. Other than that memorable run, the Rockies stunk this decade.

19. San Diego Padres — 0 World Series appearances; 2 playoff appearances; 2 division titles — The Padres won back-to-back NL West titles in 2005 and 2006 for their only playoff appearances of the decade. Those two years, the teams in the NL West were historically bad. The Padres won just 82 games in 2005 and 88 games in 2006. Not surprisingly, they were knocked out in the NLDS both times, going a combined 1-6.

20. Cleveland Indians — 0 World Series appearances; 2 playoff appearances; 2 division titles — Not much has gone right in the city of Cleveland as far as sports go. Three names come to mind — Earnest Byner, Craig Ehlo and Jose Mesa. Like the 2009 Cavaliers, the 2007 Indians had a chance to make Cleveland fans happy, but they failed. That squad had a 3-1 series lead in the ALCS against the Red Sox, but couldn’t close out Boston, which won its second World Series title in four years.

21. Seattle Mariners — 0 World Series appearances; 2 playoff appearances; 1 division title — The Mariners got off to a great start this decade. They were the AL Wild Card team in 2000 and won a MLB record-tying 116 games in 2001. However, that team couldn’t even win two games in the ALCS that year, and the Mariners have been irrelevant ever since, despite having one of the best players in the decade, Ichiro Suzuki.

22. Tampa Bay Rays — 0-for-1 in World Series; 1 playoff appearance, 1 division title — If not for last year, the Rays would have been a no-brainer for dead last on this list. But they had one of the greatest turnarounds in the history of organized sports from 2007 to 2008 and made it to the World Series. Still, a decade of futility isn’t forgotten. They are lucky to be this high.

23. Toronto Blue Jays — 0 playoff appearances — The Blue Jays are the highest-ranked team of the decade that didn’t make the postseason for two reasons: No. 1 — They are in the same division as the top two teams on this list, and No. 2 — They still tried to field a competitive team over the years with guys like Vernon Wells, Roy Halladay, A.J. Burnett, B.J. Ryan and Alex Rios. So far in the 2000s, the Blue Jays have finished above .500 five times, which is more than you can say for quite a few teams.

24. Milwaukee Brewers — 0 World Series appearances; 1 playoff appearance; 0 division titles — The Brewers are the lowest-ranked franchise on the list that made the playoffs. That’s because they only made it once and didn’t do so hot. They were eliminated by the Phillies in the NLDS last year, 3-1. They finished above .500 twice this decade, 2007 and 2008. They lost 106 games in 2002 and lost at least 90 games three other times.

25. Texas Rangers — 0 playoff appearances — Like the Blue Jays, a slight nod goes to the Rangers because they put forth a little effort, or at least a little money. Although they proved that spending $252 million on one player and $18 on an entire pitching staff doesn’t work, at least they tried. Funny, their first season after getting rid of A-Rod (2004), they finished 89-73. That was still only good enough for third place in the AL West.

26. Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos — 0 playoff appearances — Yes, the Nationals are terrible, and will be the worst team this year. But the Expos had some talent in the early part of this decade. They finished second in the NL East in 2002 with an 83-78 record and finished with the same record in 2003. They finished .500 in 2005, their first year in Washington, D.C. Keep in mind that the poor franchise was forced to split home games between Canada and Puerto Rico for a while.

27. Cincinnati Reds — 0 playoff appearances — The last time the Reds made the playoffs was 1995. There was no year this decade where they almost made it back. Their best finish of the decade was 80-82 in 2006. They followed that with a 90-loss season. Aaron Harang, Johnny Cueto, Edinson Volquez, Bronson Arroyo, Jay Bruce and Joey Votto give Reds fans hope for the future, though.

28. Baltimore Orioles — 0 playoff appearances — This once-great franchise was completely irrelevant the whole decade, which is unacceptable. Even though they were in the same division as Boston and New York, the organization should have put forth a better effort. Until last year, the only other time Tampa Bay didn’t finish dead last in the division, the Orioles did. Even Leo Mazzone quit this team.

29. Kansas City Royals — 0 playoff appearances — The Royals had four seasons this decade in which they lost 100 games. Only one time did they finish above .500. That was in 2003, when they finished 83-79.

30. Pittsburgh Pirates — 0 playoff appearances — When’s the last time you heard, “The Pirates have hope?” That’s right, you haven’t. While the Pirates only had one 100-loss season this decade, compared to the Royals’ four, the Pirates haven’t had any winning seasons this millennium. Their best finishes in the NL Central this decade are a pair of fourth-place finishes in 2002 and 2003. Their best season of the 2000s was in 2003. They finished 12 games under .500 (75-87). This has simply been a bad franchise.