Rating the Rookie Cups - 2006

Welcome to Feature Friday.  Today, I am going to begin a series in which I rate the Topps All Star Rookie Teams, just in case the title didn't give it away.  For those of you that do not know, I collect cards of the Rookie All Star Teams.  Check out my remaining needs here.  Currently, I have 20 complete teams so I feel I have enough to begin.  I will be rating the teams in the order I completed them, so expect to see a lot of the current teams first.  The first on the block is the 2005 team (shown on 2006 Topps cards).

The first number will be a rating for how deserving I think the player was as a rookie and the second number is a career measurement.  Ratings will be on a 1-10 scale.

Brian McCann - Atlanta - C -     (Rookie)  3    (Career)  7
Dan Johnson - Oakland - 1B -    (Rookie)  6    (Career)  3
Tadahito Iguchi - Chicago - 2B - (Rookie)  5    (Career)  2

Garrett Atkins - Colorado - 3B -  (Rookie)   7    (Career)  4
Russ Adams - Toronto - SS -       (Rookie)   4    (Career)  1

Jeff Francouer - Atlanta - OF -       (Rookie)   4    (Career)  6
Jonny Gomes - Tampa Bay - OF -  (Rookie)   5    (Career)  4
Willy Taveras - Houston - OF -       (Rookie)   7    (Career)  4

Huston Street - Oakland - RHP -    (Rookie)   8    (Career)  6
Gustavo Chacin - Toronto - LHP -  (Rookie)   5    (Career)  3

Strongest Team Members (in 2005) - Huston Street, Garrett Atkins, Willy Taveras

Strongest Team Members (career) - Brian McCann, Huston Street, Jeff Francouer

Weakest Team Members (in 2005) - Brian McCann, Jeff Francouer, Russ Adams

Weakest Team Members (career) - Russ Adams, Tadahito Iguchi, Gustavo Chacin

Rockies on the Team (present and future) - 3 - Garrett Atkins, Willy Taveras, Huston Street

Overall Team Rating (1-10 compared to other RAST teams)    2

There are just way too many busts and/or role players on this team for it to be any higher.  There are a few guys on this team that have carved out a nice career, especially McCann, but not enough to warrant a higher score.  Plus, it bugs me that they left the cup off of the Willy Taveras card even though they used it on his Opening Day card.

WOULDA, COULDA, SHOULDA

Here I am going to make some selections that probably should have picked by Topps in the first place.  Obviously with hindsight it's easy to choose players that have had better careers, but I am going to be basing my choices on rookie years only.

Catcher - Brian McCann

There weren't many rookies to choose from, so McCann gets in by default.

First Base - Ryan Howard

One of the more notable omissions from this team was the 2005 NL Rookie of the Year, Ryan Howard.  He had a much better year than Johnson.

Second Base - Robinson Cano

This one was a toss up.  Obviously Cano's career worked out better, but 2005 was very similar.  I think Cano did just a little bit more than Iguchi though.

Third Base - Garrett Atkins

There's wasn't much competition other than Mark Teahan, so Topps got this one right.

Shortstop - Russ Adams

Part of me wanted to pick Clint Barmes, but he got hurt and Adams had a slightly better year.

Outfield - Willy Taveras, Jonny Gomes, Nick Swisher

Swisher had a better full year than Francouer.  An argument could probably be made to include Jeremy Reed of the Mariners over Jonny Gomes as well.

RHP - Huston Street

There were some other worthy candidates such as the Angels' Ervin Santana and Chris Young from Texas, but Street dominated here.

LHP - Scott Kazmir

A bit of a three way toss up between Chacin, Kazmir, and Jeff Francis with Chacin leading in ERA, Kazmir in K's, and Francis in wins.  Kazmir's lead was much greater than the other two so he gets my vote.