If you were to build an MLB franchise,who would be your first player?

[AZ Fins Fan 55]

Ted Lilly?

Oh how I loathe Ted Lilly!!!!!!!!

[Sunstroke]

Taking it a step further... Here is my "All Under-25 Foundation Team"

C:  Buster Posey
1B: Eric Hosmer
2B: Jemile Weeks
3B: Brett Lawrie
SS: Starlin Castro
OF: Justin Upton
OF: Mike Stanton
OF: Desmond Jennings

SP: Stephen Strasburg
SP: Clayton Kershaw
SP: David Price
SP: Michael Pineda
SP: Madison Bumgarner
RP: Craig Kimbrel
RP: Johnny Venters
RP: Aroldis Chapman

[bsfins]

Hmmm that looks close to MLB2k11 Cubs roster I'm playing..(a few more cubbies)..

C:Soto -Wieters
1B: Hosmer - A.Rizzo
2B:Barney -Ackley (odd to me Both my favorite players,on my favorite teams are wear the Number 15) Barney and Bess 
3B:Ramirez - Francisco
SS: Castro
OF: Stanton -Colvin
OF: A.Jones
OF:L:Morrisson

P: Garza
P: Bumgarner
P: Dempster
P: Britton
P: Zambrano

Relievers:Marshall--Sale-Chapman-Cashman-Feliz-Pineda-Lyles

I couldn't get the CPU to trade me Kershaw,Upton,Price,or Strasburg (with out totally cheating)

I like Venters,and Kimbrel but not in the game...

[MaineDolFan]

I might start with Jacoby Ellsbury, actually.  For a couple reasons:

1:  Defense:  There isn't much hit to him that he doesn't reach.  The ones he doesn't get to, he'll hold a double to a single 95% of the time.

2:  Offense:  A true lead off hitter that hits for average and power.  Once on base a single is almost always a double.  He works a pitcher to death at the plate and then that work extends to when he's on base.

He's a game changer.

I don't know if I would hinge my "first player chosen" on a position that gets hurt as easily as a pitcher.  Pitching wins games, right along with defense.  I think Ellsbury is a smart pick than a pitcher, to start off with.  I can also name off 100 pitchers that came up through a system with little to no fan fare and became aces...along with 100 more that were aces and, without warning, flamed out to nothing.

If I were building a team I think I would start with Ellsbury first, and then A-Gone, second.  Once I had that foundation, I would nab two pitchers to start my rotation, hit SS and 3rd and then come back to my pitching staff.

...but that's just me.

[tepop84]

I would go with a young power hitter.  Power hitters are much better at drawing fans than pitchers.

[AZ Fins Fan 55]

^^^In most cases maybe but I can tell you that Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling alone brought in a ton of fans to the Dbacks!!!!!!!!

[MaineDolFan]

I would go with a young power hitter.  Power hitters are much better at drawing fans than pitchers.

A power hitter doesn't draw fans like WINNING does.

[tepop84]

^^^In most cases maybe but I can tell you that Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling alone brought in a ton of fans to the Dbacks!!!!!!!!

Yea, but it was mostly cause they were winning.  Stick prime Randy Johnson on a terrible team vs. prime Barry Bonds on a terrible team, and I bet the barry bonds team would greatly outsell the randy johnson one.

[tepop84]

A power hitter doesn't draw fans like WINNING does.

Right, but I don't think the best pitcher would be so much better (if he is better at all) than the best hitter to overcome the amount of fans that would come to see the team if they were losing.

[Sunstroke]

I might start with Jacoby Ellsbury, actually.  For a couple reasons

I had to exclude him from my list, despite my major Jacoby-love, because of his age (28).

Still...I sure wish that Jacoby had been part of the package Boston gave us for Adrian, rather than players who may or may not at some point in the future, become something or other at the major league level.