Hitting The Cutoff Man

Yesterday I looked at the level of roster stability each team has maintained over the past five years.

In examining those 2005 rosters, however, it struck me how quickly the baseball world moves. Of course, the Astros won the NL pennant in '05 and this season started 0-8 before winning their first game yesterday. But more than that, guys move around so much that in five years, a lot of things can evaporate from memory.

Here are some roster highlights from 2005 you might have forgotten, in the interest of putting my hours of Baseball-Reference.com wandering to good use.

- Shawn Chacon and Aaron Small combined to start 21 games for the Yankees.

- Before the Red Sox pulled off the Josh Beckett trade with the Marlins in the offseason, Hanley Ramirez logged two plate appearances for Boston, striking out twice. Meanwhile, Adrian Gonzalez got 162 plate appearances for the Rangers in his last season before being dealt to the Padres.

- After coming over from the Mariners, Bret Boone played 14 awful games for the Twins before he was released, ending his big league career.

- The Nationals gave significant playing time to well-past-their-primers Vinny Castilla and Carlos Baerga.

- Ricky Ledee, Mike Edwards, Hee-Seop Choi and Jason Phillips all received at least 250 plate appearances from the Dodgers.

- Kaz Ishii and Jae Weong Seo combined for 30 starts for the Mets, while Victor Diaz topped 300 plate appearances.

- The Cardinals gave 114 plate appearances to someone named Scott Seabol.

- The following players were employed as regular closers: Dustin Hermanson (White Sox), Derrick Turnbow (Brewers), Jose Mesa (Pirates), Tyler Walker (Giants) and Braden Looper (Mets).

- Pre-Cardinals breakthrough, Ryan Ludwick logged 48 plate appearances for Cleveland.

- Hideo Nomo started 19 games for the then-Devil Rays.

- The Orioles' regulars in the outfield included Sammy Sosa, Larry Bigbie and Luis Matos.

- Guys named Tike Redman (Pirates) and Nook Logan (Tigers) were regular OFs, while the fabulously named Esteban Yan pitched in 49 games for the Angels.

- Raul Mondesi batted 155 times for the Braves before Atlanta released him at the end of May, ending his career.

- And of course we have to conclude with the Royals, who in 2005, started Terrence Long and Emil Brown in the outfield, used Joe McEwing and Chip Ambres in significant roles off the bench, started Jose Lima 32 times and gave 15 starts to future Rays relief ace J.P. Howell.

Follow Hitting The Cutoff Man on Twitter at HitTheCutoff