MLB.com projects Arizona Diamondbacks’ 2015 fantasy outlook
Mar 4, 2015, 5:55 PM | Updated: Mar 5, 2015, 12:51 am
Even if your favorite MLB team doesn’t stand a chance, this year can still be one to remember. You can draft great prospects, make incredible trades, and even bring home a championship. Thank goodness for fantasy baseball.
MLB.com projected and valued 836 players for the upcoming season. They placed a dollar-value on each player based off of a $260 budget. The highest value any player received was $48 and the lowest possible value one can get is $1.
Paul Goldschmidt leads the Arizona Diamondbacks and all first basemen at $40. He’s projected to hit .296 and 31 home runs, score 100 runs, steal 12 bases and have 106 RBI. Goldschmidt is ranked No. 4 in the whole league.
After Goldschmidt, the D-backs don’t have anyone close to the same value. A.J. Pollock is second on the team at $5, projecting him to have career-best numbers with 13 home runs, 51 RBI, 75 runs and 20 stolen bases. That’s still only good enough for 39th out of all outfielders and 140th in the whole league.
There are four D-backs at $2 apiece, including new third baseman Yasmany Tomas. His average is projected to be a rather mediocre .263, but could bring some power, projected at 20 home runs and 78 RBI. Others valued at $2 are 1B Mark Trumbo, SS Chris Owings and 2B Aaron Hill. Trumbo is projected to hit .247, 27 home runs and have 79 RBI. Owings is expected to hit .282 and steal 14 bags. Hill is supposed to see much improved numbers from last year, hitting .267 with 16 home runs.
From there it’s a $1 value for 25 D-backs that complete the list. Besides Tomas, others to get valued without any prior big league experience were C Peter O’Brien, SP Archie Bradley and SP Yoan Lopez. Bradley is projected to make the most impact with a 4-5 record and a 4.34 ERA.
The most valuable fantasy player was also last year’s most valuable player in the American League in Mike Trout at $48. Between him and Goldschmidt are outfielders Giancarlo Stanton and Andrew McCutchen, each at $41. Clayton Kershaw, the NL MVP, is the most valuable pitcher and is No. 5 on the big board.
