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| Matt Holliday (Stl - OF) |
Offense: The offense of RC is considered quite top-heavy with the dynamic OF Andrew McCutchen at the top and 35 year-old OF Matt Holliday ranked as this team's 2nd best bat. RC got an outstanding full-year from fellow OF Marcell Ozuna while the team rosters catchers in spades with Yan Gomes and C/1B/3B Carlos Santana and Evan Gattis. SS Erik Aybar provides a consistent presence but lacks the upside to be star while 3B Pablo Sandoval, 2B/3B/OF Martin Prado and OF Wil Myers will all have new teams to start the season. OF Shin-Soo Choo had a down year last season and will look to rectify that in 2015 while it will be interesting to see how Gregory Polanco does in first full-season of play. Fresno State power bat OF Aaron Judge has a ton of potential while fellow Mountain West Conference player DJ Peterson is one of the more polished 3B in the minors and both should move fairly quickly. Rule-5 draftee Rougned Odor is a nice keeper at 2B especially with Prado predicted to lose 2B eligibility after this season. Aybar is good enough to keep SS warm while RC works to find a fantasy star at shortstop and as long as Holliday remains productive, he will remain valuable but he is likely on the tail end of his career. With that said, this offense is close and might be more productive than many think in the future.
Pitching: Long been an the Achilles Heel of this team, the pitching staff of RC is quickly earning a name for itself. AL Cy Young winner Corey Kluber will remain a mainstay of this team as he joins ace Yu Darvish as the top arms of this team. New Padres starter James Shields should get a boost playing in Petco while it will be interesting to see if Taiwanese hurler Wei-Yin Chen and Collin McHugh (age 27), and his strikeout per/game ratio of 9.1, can repeat their successes from last season. Young arms Jimmy Nelson and Andrew Heaney look poised to be rotation members this season as the team looks towards Patrick Corbin and Matt Harvey to come back from injury and contribute at some point this season. Prospect and Stanford Cardinal Mark Appel is moving quickly and may be a worthy call-up this season at some point. Closer David Robertson should remain an asset in the 9th inning on a new team though the jury is still out if Sergio Romo will close once again this season. Age isn't an issue with this staff but there is a lot volatility here as RC will hope that Chen and McHugh repeat their success while it waits on Corbin and Harvey to get well in addition to Nelson and Heaney auditioning for full-time rotation duty. So, adding some starting and relief depth might help hedge some bets along the way.
Draft: With Rodon, Kolek, and Tomas off the board, Nick Gordon (Min - SS) likely falls into RC's lap to fill the lack of future star power at shortstop. If Gordon isn't the pick, then Korean import SS Jung-ho Kang might be the selection here as he's already MLB ready. Fast-moving lefty Kyle Freeland (Col - SP) and Alex Jackson (Sea - OF) are also potential picks.
Prediction:
RD 1: Nick Gordon (Min - SS) - Likely best prospect available, valuable position, and pedigree
RD 2: Santiago Casilla (SF - RP) - Ended last year as closer, will he be SF closer?
RD 3: Steven Matz (NYM - SP) - Catapulted up prospect lists and rightly so
RD 4: Michael Foltynewicz (Atl - SP,RP) - Traded to Braves, throws 100 mph as a starter
RD 5: Rougned Odor (Tex - 2B) - R5 Keeper plays a valuable position with some punch
RD 6: Aaron Judge (NYY - OF) - Keeper
Prospect Draft:
RD 1: Trea Turner (SD - SS) - Trade to Washington makes bat more valuable in future
RD 2: Victor Reyes (Atl - OF) - Projectable frame and bat could leap up prospect rankings
RD 3: Ryan McMahon (Col - 3B) - Keeper
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