I am sure most of you have some guys who you are either building the team around now, or will be in the future. So who is it? What guys on your team are absolutely untradeable and your entire teams future depends on them? For the Pirates it's a couple of guys. Andrew McCutcheon is a no brainer. He's still young and locked up under team control for a long time. I consider him a 5 tool player. Also really hoping my 1st round pick from last year, 1B Victor Bautista pans out and he will be a monster in the middle of the lineup for years. The big 2 of Taillon and Cole are going to be excellent when ready. Id like to consider Sherzer and Morrow building blocks as well. So far this season they have been as advertised. So really, it's a heavy dose of good starting pitching with a couple of solid hitters in the middle of the lineup.
Jackson, Rizzo and Hopefully in a year or 2 Baez. They are the future of the Cubs hence why the answer to all the trades for Baez are no.
For the Royals, with pitching, I have a 3 headed monster going: Duffy, Montgomery, Odorizzi.... on offense, it's Hosmer and Moustakas.... but Hosmer won't sign long term with me, grrrrrr, who knows, may lose him after this year... hoping not though
I guess Adam Jones, but really I tried to get a lineup that's solid from 1-9 even if it doesnt have any super stars anywhere. Castello has been disappointing in the minors so far. He's never developed the power that made him so highly sought after, and he's fallen victim to the Baltimore prospect curse and has gotten hurt. Hopefully my first round pick this year can stay healthy.
My pitching staff for sure. Teheran, Hanson, Beachey, and Delgado will hopefully be a part of my rotation for years to come. Freddie Freeman, Jason Heyward, and Danny Wood will be the field players I'll be building around. Freeman is having a nice year again, and Heyward and Wood should be solid in the outfield for at least the next 3-4 years.
Good thread idea Yadier Molina - he's 30, so I hope to have him around while the mentioned here develop. Best defensive catcher and + offense skill Kolten Wong - a big threat for NL ROY & an All-Star Kyle Newman - when ready Mark Canha - just acquired. Potential = good / Rookie League at 24 = not good
Carlos Gonzales for my Rockies and Pedro Alverez (thanks PAgamer07) my 2 big power hitters in the middle
Pedro is 18 games (injury) .300 7 HR and 22 RBI Tulo has on,y played 8 games was out with a concussion Gonzales is pretty much even with pedro Now if I had at least 1 more quality stater I'd be in great shape, but it is still early, we will see how this rotation works it self out I guess.
Grienke and the young pitchers coming through the org (Flores,Cosart,Gonzalez). My offense will make or break with the prospects.
Evan Longoria. We have him under contract at a bargain discount thanks to the Rays locking him up before he was eligible for Arbitration. Smart Move! Then I have my big 3 in David Price,Jeremy Hellickson, and Matt Moore Desmond Jennings is another piece I am buliding around in my outfield. Guy is an absolute beast. Ben Zobrist is a fan favorite and while he is not the centerpiece he is a guyI would have a hard time with moving.
The Cleveland Indians are built directly up the middle. Carlos Santana, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jason Kipnis, and Michael Brantley have all had been the anchors of the squad. This list would have included Shin Soo Choo had he not be so soft headed SMH. Ubalado Jimenez, Vinny Pestano, and Chris Perez are who the rotation and bullpen is built around. After struggling the RL season he was brought into Cleveland, Ubaldo is pitching like a sure fire franchise ace now. Pestano and Perez may be the best 8-9 inning combo in the bigs.
our offense is set up nicely with outfielders Logan Morrison, Colby Rasmus, and Justin Upton all locked up for the next few seasons. we also were able to lock up Ian Kennedy for a bargain price over the next 6 seasons to go with rising star Daniel Hudson and top prospect Tyler Skaggs. Logan Morrison - 25 years old (26 G, .327 AVG, 7 HR, 23 RBI, 15 BB, 14 K) signed through 2017 Colby Rasmus - 26 years old (18 G, .292 AVG, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 10 BB, 16 K) signed through 2015 Justin Upton - 25 years old (26 G, .277, 4 HR, 12 RBI, 15 BB, 25 K) signed through 2015 Daniel Hudson - 26 years old (5 G, 2-0, 1.51 ERA, 14 BB, 23 K, 1.26 WHIP) 3 option years left
The Prince/Braun combo... Maturing young arms of Jungmann, Bradley, Nicolino, and Stilson Future center of the field lead by Buxton in CF, Sanchez and Gennett up the middle, and Lucroy behind he plate Power from Velazquez and Scott Krieger. Both have killed the ball in AAA so far, and Velazquez has already got the call to the show. This is making it more possible to let Hart walk after this year for a compensatory draft pick or move him via trade.
Building around Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Reyes. Hopefully LF Christian Yelich and 2B Devlyn Birch come up to the big leagues soon and produce. For pitching I'm building around Josh Johnson. The Bullpen is good and should be for a couple more years. Trevor Bauer, Austin Brice, and Taylor Jackson are almost MLB ready and I'll be enjoying the $480,000 contracts as long as possible. Looks like I wont be able to bring in any known free agents or sign player leaving my team thanks to the Marlins giving Mark Buehrle $18 mil next season and $19 mil the season after.
Probably Cano and Granderson, although I hope I can resign them with all the overpaid guys on my team taking up space. Gardner is the spark that makes it all go. None of these guys have been performing particularily well. Brandon Laird intrigues me with the start he has had this year, I just elevated him to my full time DH to see what he can do. Not many great prospects coming up in the minors right now. On the pitching side, I want for Pineda to be my future ace but he sure isn't pitching like it. Joba also has the ratings but not the performance. Otherwise, lots of prospects to keep an eye on: Buenelos, Betances, Montgomery, Pinder, to name a few.
I am building around Verlander, Lee (albiet he is older) Boomers, and Drake Hollow for guys on my team atm. That will get accentuated by the guys in this draft. I need to nail this or I will suck for a very long time. hehe
I'm building around most of my young talent like Morris, Ackley, Montero, Seager, Smoak, Saunders, Hultzen, Walker, and of course the King.
