With the season now upon us, Elite Sports NY takes a look at our favorites to take home end of the season Fantasy Baseball awards.
By Dustin Shull
Whether you have a roster that is unstoppable, one that is barred with injuries, or the “can we PLEASE re-draft” team, you play because it adds another element to the already interesting baseball season.
Money, pride, trophies, bragging rights, and any bets that may have been made will be on the line yet again this season. Obviously, fantasy is a game of chance and we can never guarantee before it is all said and done who the best or worst is.
Elite Sports NY has a list of end of the year awards predictions to help you out, see if you agree.
Offensive Player of the Year:
Mike Trout
Now I know what you are probably saying, “Of course you go with Trout, that’s the easiest one to call.” Yes, that is how I felt when I decided to go with Trout, but how do you not?
The man is a five-tool athlete in a sport where these guys are so rare. In his first four full seasons Trout has compiled an unthinkable resume; four All-Star Games, one MVP while respectively finishing second the other three, Rookie of the Year, and Silver Sluggers each of those four.
With those four seasons plus limited action in 2011, Trout has put up numbers that some would say are unreal and should not happen in that short amount of service. He has hit 139 homers, 397 runs batted in, 175 extra-base hits, 113 base robberies, and all of that to the tune of a .302 batting average.
I know this is an offensive category, but I will also throw in the fact that the guy can flat-out play defense. With his incredible speed and range added to his freakish athletic ability, he has made some of the most amazing plays and taken away plenty of hits and home runs. Most notably robbing Jesus Montero of a dinger by jumping, hanging on the wall, and snagging the ball from its destination beyond the field of play.
Definitely be excited if you were able to draft Trout or had him as a keeper because he is going to be a force yet again this season.
Runner-ups:
Carlos Correa, Bryce Harper, Josh Donaldson
Top Pitcher:
Jake Arrieta
This is possibly one of the best Chicago Cubs teams to take the field in the history of the club. With insane amounts of offensive depth and a scary pitching rotation, these guys will undoubtedly be in discussion as World Series favorites.
Jake Arrieta, who came over to the Cubs in 2013 via trade from the Baltimore Orioles, had an absurd Cy Young award-winning year last season. The Orioles are clearly kicking themselves now-a-days.
Mowing batters down with 236 strikeouts and ending the year with a 1.77 earned run average Arrieta managed to build a record of 22-6.
The long ball was also something that he did not allow to happen while he was on the mound as only ten of them were hit off of him. Being patient also did not work because missing the strike zone or hitting bats was something Arrieta was not fond of since he only walked 48 in 229 innings pitched (1.9 per 9 innings).
Arrieta already hardly gives up runs, but even if he does the offense behind him should be able to make sure he rarely has a loss added to his record. Barring injury, Arrieta is my choice for NL Cy Young winner for a second straight year and the 2016 top pitcher for fantasy owners.
Runner-ups:
Clayton Kershaw, David Price, Noah Syndergaard
Rookie of the Year Batter:
Byron Buxton
The Minnesota Twins gave us a little preview of Byron Buxton, MLB.com’s No. 1 rated prospect last year, in the 2015 season. He did not do a whole lot to impress in his first stint in the bigs, but we must look back at Mike Trout’s call-up season in 2011 where he had a slash line of .220/.281/.390.
Buxton is also a very young player at 22 years old and was signed to a contract straight out of Appling County High School in 2012. He definitely has some growing to do and will probably not reach the status of a Mike Trout, but he is in the conversation of five-tool players.
Although, Buxton’s initial showing in the MLB did not go as planned, he is still a top prospect with a whole hell of a lot of upside. The fact that the Twins will be willing to be patient with him at the plate because he has more defensive upside, should keep him in the majors long enough to get the hang of things.
He is a player that could, and should, bring you 20 home runs and 60-70 RBIs. To add to that, he is a very fast athlete and could also swipe 30 or so bases for you, which we all know is appreciated because base stealers are hard to come by these days.
Runner-Ups:
Joey Gallo, Aaron Judge, Corey Seager
Rookie of the Year Pitcher:
Steven Matz
During Steven Matz’s career in the minors he worked up an ERA of 2.25 in 380.2 innings of work. He also blew away a ridiculous 393 batters with his great stuff.
Matz made his debut with the New York Mets in the 2015 season and continued his dominance at the highest level with a 2.27 ERA and struck out 34 in 35.7 innings pitched.
With an already loaded rotation, Matz only makes this team a lot scarier. He stands out as a strong lefty for the Mets to compliment the righties Harvey, deGrom, and Syndergaard.
There could be a slight innings limit on Matz because he has not had the work load of a full time starting MLB pitcher, but if he holds his own and can continue to limit walks, home runs, and bring his strikeout rate with him he should have a longer leash.
As I said with Arriata, when it comes to having an explosive offense to help get run support Matz is sitting pretty. The Mets with an already potent and young offense, which returns the main piece Yoenis Cespedes, should do more than enough to help Matz tally up wins.
If all goes well I see Matz able to reach 10-15 wins and should continue to miss bats on a regular basis due to the fact that he has nasty stuff and handles it all very well. He should be a big part of a rotation that could carry the Mets back to their second straight World Series.
Runner-Ups:
Julio Urias, Blake Snell
Bounce-Back Player:
Hanley Ramirez
Hanley started of the 2015 campaign like many Red Sox fans had hoped, but it quickly fizzled out and his defensive play in left field was all but laughable.
This year Hanley will be taking over first base and will be under less scrutiny in a far easier position to play. Even if first base does not pan out for Ramirez, he all but has locked up the designated hitter spot once David Ortiz retires at the end of the season.
Struggling to stay consistent, avoid injuries, and living up to the four-year $88 million deal that he signed with the Red Sox in the off-season, Hanley was a huge let down to the organization and Red Sox Nation. Known for his bat he only hit 19 dingers and drove in 53 runs. Those are not numbers that Sox fans will accept,on a contract that large, for long.
Switching over to first base should help a lot with the injury bug that seems to bite Hanley every single year, which means more plate appearances, which means more production! The man possesses the power and ability to smoke a baseball that most would kill to have.
If Ramirez stays healthy and finally gets comfortable in Fenway, it is highly likely that he can put up 30 home runs and bring in 100+ runs. The average will obviously be something hard to predict, but no one should have issue with plugging Hanley into their fantasy lineups.
Runner-Ups:
Adam Wainwright, Freddie Freeman, Ian Desmond
Biggest Dud:
Nelson Cruz
I’m sure that picking a 40 home run guy for two straight seasons as the biggest dud will not sit well with most baseball fans, but oh well, I’m going there.
Cruz took a one-year deal in the 2014 season with the Baltimore Orioles because no one wanted anything to do with the steroid case. He took that opportunity and did not squander it smacking 40 home runs, with 34 XBH, and 108 RBIs. He took that offensive success and turned it into a four-year $57 million payday with the Seattle Mariners.
In his first season with his new team he bested 2014 and hit 44 homers, but saw a dip in RBIs with 93. Even though the RBIs took a slight hit, he made up for it by having a .302 batting average; raising it .031 points from the prior season.
All of that seems to point at yet another season that should mirror the two before, but Cruz will be entering his age 36 season and regression is becoming unavoidable. Safeco being a pitcher’s park will be a huge part of his decline, but as cbssports.com wrote; his hard contact rate is not very high and is destined to fade even further.
Maybe Cruz makes me eat my words and proves me wrong, but as of now he is my choice for fantasy player to let down league managers this season.