Imagine this. The NFL is looking to expand, but only one team is going to make the cut. Here is the catch though, they want some star power on this team already. So I took the liberty of making up a team made of all MLB players. Don’t worry, your favorite MLB players won’t be missing any time with their MLB clubs, because none of this is actually real. Not all of the stars have made this team, but if you think anyone could be better at any position, feel free to let us know! Now lets start this totally legit analysis that definitely has a ton of research behind it.

Offense:

QB: Jacob deGrom

This guy throws gas. And if he can throw a baseball like that, he can certainly sling a football where he wants to. He’s 6’4 so he can see over this offensive line with no trouble. Plus it’s always good to build around guy in his prime. He might not be the bulkiest guy in the world, but you just can’t ignore that arm talent. 

RB: Javy Baez

Baez has the potential to be a very shifty guy in the backfield with deGrom.. He’s got some good speed and would be able to duck and dive around potential tacklers. He wouldn’t be a super powerful back, but this team is going for speed in this backfield. 

RB/WR: Tim Locastro

Think of Locastro as a Christian McCaffrey type player. He is one of the quickest guys in the league, capable of spreading out the field and serving as a fantastic receiving option out of the backfield. Locastro is a secret weapon if there ever was one on this team. Shoutout to @FoolishBaseball for turing the world on to Lacastro and his speed.

WR: Jeff Sadmarjiza and Fernando Tatis Jr.

Jeff Sadmarjiza was an incredible wide receiver in college at Notre Dame. In his final two years at Notre Dame, he recorded 2285 scrimmage yards as a star player for a big program. He would bring the only real football knowledge to a team that could certainly use it. Tatis would be a great option at receiver as he is the most electric player in the game right now. I like to think of him as the Deandre Hopkins of baseball and a guy you want catching passes for your team. He would just be a ton of fun to watch running around the field. 

TE: Aaron Judge

Judge was an accomplished wide receiver in high school, but with his size now, he would be an easy pick for the starting tight end spot. Aaron Judge would be a mismatch nightmare for opposing defenses. He’s got good speed especially for his size and could give out a vicious block when asked to on those short yardage run situations. 

Offensive Line:

LT: Vladimir Guerrero Jr

LG: Jose Abreu 

C: Daniel Vogelbach

RT: Pablo Sandoval 

RG: Ji-Man Choi

Now this offensive line here is an absolute unit. Pablo Sandoval might not be what he used to be, but you can’t have an MLB/NFL offensive line without the panda right? Vladdy would be a great option at left tackle to protect deGrom’s blind side. He can move around well enough with decent size. Is he going to be destroyed by actual NFL defensive lineman? Absolutely, but so is the rest of this line. Abreu and Choi would be great options at left and right guard due to their size alone. They are also sneakily athletic and would be able to get in the way of potential pass rushers. Finally we have Vogelbach at center. At 6 feet tall and 270 pounds, good luck moving him out of your way under any circumstance. 

Defense

Interior Defensive Linemen: Willians Astudillo, Mitch Moreland

Defensive Ends: Luke Voit, Yandy Diaz

These guys are going to be disruptive in the interior of the line. Asudillio is actually very quick for his size and Moreland is there to cause trouble. Luke Voit and Yandy Diaz are also just some pretty large dudes. Luke Voit is atop the home run leaderboards this year: clearly he has some great strength. Yandy Diaz’s arms are also huge too. He is a very strong man doing some really strong man things. Here is a picture of him and his massive biceps to ensure you have the right visuals:

Free Safety: Kyle Lewis

Strong Safety: Luis Robert

Lewis and Robert have so much range. Plain and simple. These guys have the speed to track down a baseball and that would transition beautifully to a football field as well. Kyle Lewis had an incredible grand slam robbery I’m sure Seattle fans have not let you forget, so he clearly has the ability to go up and snag an interception during any given game. Robert is in the 96th percentile for sprint speed and if that isn’t some NFL closing speed then I don’t know what is. He is also in the 70th percentile in outfielder jump, so he should be just fine tracking with opposing receivers. 

CB: Mookie Betts

CB: Andrelton Simmons

A fantastic defender for his entire career, Simmons makes sense to be a shutdown corner, as he has 4 career gold gloves and a platinum glove to his name. He would be a quality compliment to Mookie Betts as a number one corner. Mookie would be a fantastic corner with an outfielder jump in the 81st percentile, and his sprint speed is also in the 87th percentile. Reading a route would be a piece of cake for him.

ROLB: Paul Goldschmidt

LOLB: Gincarlo Stanton

MLB: Mike Trout

We all knew Mike Trout was going to be on this team, it would be just a matter of where. Trout would be the leader of the defense. Trout is one of the most athletic humans on the planet. He could clearly be a leader as the best player in the majors. I don’t know about you, but having Mike Trout coming at you full speed with the intent to take you down would be terrifying. Stanton would make a great outside linebacker as he has good size and strength. He could be a good pass rusher when needed too. Rounding out our defense would be Goldschmidt at the other outside linebacker position. He also has good size and I believe he could pick up with the intelligence of the game rather quickly. He would also be a great sideline-to-sideline player to compliment Trout in the middle. 

Special Teams

Kicker: Jeff Mathis

P: JB Wendelken

Jeff Mathis has been around the league forever. He is the type of guy that you can just rely on. You know he is going to come up in those clutch moments when you need him most. This sounds like the perfect guy to be kicking with the game on the line. Wendelken at punter really has no rhyme or reason to it. One of our other writers goes on about the guy so I’ll give him the nod on this hypothetical team that will never be real.

KR: Byron Buxton

PR: Adalberto Mondesi

These two guys are just pure speed. As a return guy, you don’t need size to be effective. All you really need is the ability to turn on the afterburners and make a couple of guys miss. Mondesi lead the league in steals this year, and Buxton is in the 99th percentile in sprint speed. That makes a whole lot of sense to plug them into these spots for me.

With Super Bowl LV looming, I just miss baseball. Soon enough it will be time to see all these guys play on a diamond instead of this imaginary football field. Also, just in case anyone made it this far, I have the Chiefs beating the Bucs by a score of 41-31.

Featured Image: @Mets on Twitter