Frequently Asked Questions

All the rosters, tables, and charts are populated from a master spreadsheet via SQL queries. When you load a page for the first time, it might take 10-15 seconds for the rosters to load because data is pulling from the spreadsheet.

Yearly statistics are updated on the weekends, and roster transactions are often updated during the week. Previous year's statistics and awards are updated at the end of the season (All-Star Game selections are updated at the All-Star break).

Most of the content on this site is pulled from spreadsheets, which are not designed responsively (the resolution is fixed, not dependent on the resolution of your computer screen). The data will look best on a desktop/laptop computer, and users accessing this site on a phone or tablet will likely have to horizontally scroll or zoom out in order to see rosters.

The first step is to try and create a restored team with 13 hitters and 13 pitchers who are currently on an active roster.

When not enough players are available (or healthy), players from the minors are "forced up" based on position played, previous playing time, and seniority.

When too many players are available, players are "forced down" to the minors based on whether they have options available, their salary, previous playing time, and performance. Players with zero options will only be forced to the minors if they are signed to a Minor League contract.

When a team has an abundance of hitters and not enough pitchers (or vice versa), the restored team may have 14, 15, or even 16 of one category. Teams will only have less than 26 players if they don't have 26 total healthy players, or if they don't have at least 10 healthy hitters or pitchers (no team will have more than 16 hitters or pitchers, even if there are healthy players available).

MLB teams have 26 players on their active roster, and the remainder of players are on the injured list or in the minor leagues. Because many players are not with their original franchise, some players may be forced on or off the active roster in order to have 26 active players on a restored roster.

A forced down player (highlighted in red) is on an active roster in real life, but forced off the restored roster because there isn't enough room. A forced up player (highlighted in blue) is in the minor leagues in real life, but forced on to the restored roster.

In general, a team with lots of red highlights on the restored roster would indicate abundance of MLB quality players, whereas blue highlights indicate the opposite.

Each page has a full legend at the bottom explaining all statistics.

In general, this site is crafting rosters with three factors in mind:

1. Playing Time: Better players should receive more time on the field, and this is best captured by plate appearances (PA) for position players and innings pitched for pitchers. Healthy starters should receive over 500 PA over a full season, starting pitchers should throw over 160 IP and relievers should throw over 50 IP to be considered starter quality. Players well below these thresholds are clearly battling injury or being thrown into a starting role because the restored roster lacks depth.

2. Performance: While there are plenty of statistics to measure a player's performance, wRC+ and ERA- define an average player as 100. This gives an easy baseline to see who is above and below average at the plate and preventing runs, respectively. It provides one number to evaluate a player's offensive or pitching contribution. Hitters with a higher wRC+ should bat higher in the lineup, while pitchers with a lower ERA- should pitch more innings.

3. Value: While the above performance stats only capture one aspect of a player's contribution, wins above replacement combines all aspects into one value that shows how important a player was to his team's success. A starter should be worth 2 fWAR over a full season, with a bench player/reliever closer to 1 fWAR. Players below zero fWAR should arguably not be on an MLB roster, as they are "less valuable" than a random minor league player. This site does not record pitching value for position players, or hitting value for pitchers.

Each page has a full legend at the bottom explaining all colors.

A player whose name is highlighted in green means he is playing for his original team. A position highlighted in orange means that is not the player's natural position. A position highlighted in blue means the player is "forced up," while a position highlighted in red means the player is "forced down."

A player's hand highlighted in purple means he will platoon with a player on the bench depending on whether a right-handed or a left-handed pitcher is starting. The listed batting orders assume a right-handed starter, so the platoon would start against southpaws.

For players who pitch one day and play the field on other days (e.g. Shohei Ohtani), they will appear on both the hitter and pitcher sections of the roster. Their fWAR measures performance across both arenas (so it shouldn't be counted twice), whereas pitchers' fWAR doesn't take into account their hitting performance and a position player's fWAR on the mound is not included either.

If a two-way player bats with a different hand than he pitches (e.g. Ohtani), his throwing hand is documented in the table. This means his batting hand will be incorrect as a position player.

That depends on how you evaluate the effectiveness of a farm system.

If the goal is to churn out as much Major League talent as possible, the best teams would be the ones with the most players, and therefore the most "forced down."

If the goal is to field the best current team, look for rosters where players have high numbers of fWAR and above average players according to wRC+ and ERA-. Based on current performance, these teams would project to win the most games on paper.

If the goal is to produce long-term Major Leaguers, look for teams with a higher annual average value (AAV) and number of players earning $1 million or more per season. Players make more money as they progress in their careers, although some players sign minor league contracts later in their careers at much lower salaries.

If the goal is to produce quality of talent, teams with a higher total fWAR heading into the current season would be a good bet, as would teams with lots of awards.

Numbers will change for two reasons:

1. Players will accumulate statistics throughout the season, and their quality of play will dictate whether they are above or below league average.

2. Players can be released or signed in the middle of a season, so your favorite team may lose awards or fWAR if a once talented player is dropped from a 40-man roster. This might also boost current year statistics, as players who are released often carry poor stats for the current season.

Players put on the injured list are not eligible to be included on a restored active roster. This will often result in players playing out of position, as an injured player only affects the franchise who originally signed him and not the franchise he currently plays for. This means restored teams may end up with no second baseman, or eight outfielders.