Top 20 Greatest World Series Champs of the last 40 Years

Out of Murray, Ramirez, Thome and Vizquel, who would you not consider Hall of Famers? I assume Thome and Vizquel? They both just need one more decent season and they are shoe-ins. Ramirez is in, even if he doesn't play another game. Murray is already in. Murray was the only one "past his prime", and here were his '95 numbers: .323, .375, .516 BA/OB/SLG; 21 HR; 82 RBI in 436 AB. Pretty good for being past his prime.

The '94 season affected the Expos the most. '95 started out with the continued strike from '94, so MLB only missed 18 games in '95.

I would say the '90's Braves were underachievers in the post-season, but that does not take away from their many regular season successes. And they did come away with one championship. I wouldn't necessarily call them a "rent-a-team", either. Most of their stars came from their farm system.

 

I agree that Belle is not a Famer, due to his shortened career. He was certainly heading in that direction, though.

Manny not a Hall of Famer? Are you kidding? He's arguably the greatest hitter of this generation. Granted, we need to contextualize his stats in this hitter's era, but still accounting for that, he is one of the best in his era. He just needs a couple more good seasons and he will be a 95% first balloter. 500 home runs (after this year). .314 BA? .411 OBP?! .600 SLG?! 1,500 RBI?! He is a Hall of Famer.

Vizquel, I can see the argument against him. However, if he has 1 or 2 more decent seasons, it will be hard to argue against him. He is the best defensive SS of his generation, and he has pretty good hitting stats. SS is the second most important defensive position next to catcher. He is the Ozzie Smith of this generation, and Ozzie was a first balloter. I think Vizquel gets in after a few years on the ballot.

I would say the Braves' mix of farm talent and free agent talent was no more or no less than any other good team. It's a fact of life - if a team wants to compete, they need to sign some free agents. I wouldn't put the Braves in the same category as the Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs or Red Sox who try to buy their way to a championship every year. Interestingly, the Yankees had more success when they relied more on farm talent starting in the mid 90's with guys like Jeter, Bernie, Posada and Rivera. It wasn't until they went on a spending binge (starting with the Giambi signing) that they stopped winning championships.