2015 Fantasy Baseball: Building a $32 Million Dream Lineup

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

With spring ball now officially under way, fantasy baseball managers across North America are doing their research to gear up for drafts. While I will be doing the same at some point, I’m an enthusiastic hobbyist doing a little additional research as well. I am compiling a real world fantasy dream team roster for no more than the cheapest base payroll that can be found in the league for 2015.

While the Miami Marlins are projected to have MLB’s lowest overall payroll at $60.375 million in 2015, they will not have the lowest payroll for a starting lineup ($40.1 M) of position players. Combined for all infielders and outfielders, the Houston Astros will hold that honor. They are set to spend a combined $32.025 M on their position players, barely a million dollars less than the Oakland Athletics ($32.75 M).

For the sake of a controlled variable logic, a 25-man roster will be used as the model. The club will be composed of a starter at each position (including a DH) with four utility players, for a total of 13 position players.

Stay tuned down the road for the bullpen and rotation version of the same variety that will be a salary savvy pitching staff to contrast with this starting lineup and bench players. It will be composed of five starters and seven bullpen arms.

All player salaries and positional figures are courtesy of www.spotrac.com.

Yan Gomes – Catcher, $1,083,000

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Brazilian import is under club control through the 2019 season. The Toronto Blue Jays have catcher Russell Martin under contract for the same exact period. Yan Gomes will cost the Cleveland Indians barely $1 million in 2015, while Martin will cost the Jays $7 million and a grand total of $75 million for the next four years after that. Gomes is 27, Martin is 32. How is any of this relevant, you ask?

FanSided

Following 2012, the Jays shipped Gomes and infielder Mike Aviles to the Tribe for pitcher Esmil Rogers. Rogers now plays for the New York Yankees in what was a limited capacity for half of 2014. In the one and half seasons he played as a Blue Jay, Rogers went 5-9 with a 5.06 ERA in 60 appearances.

Moral of the story — the Blue Jays made a terrible deal, while the Indians made an incredibly smart one. Gomes was so good in flashes of 2013 he bumped Carlos Santana to first base for the 2014 season. Gomes did not disappoint, winning his first Silver Slugger award and supplying a line of .278-61-21-74-0 to the Tribe’s offense. Add to that a dWAR of 1.2 and and Rtot number of 9 over the last two seasons (Martin’s is 11) and what you have is one very formidable starting catcher for near pennies on the dollar in the baseball world.

Anthony Rizzo  – First Base, $5,285,714

Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

The San Diego Padres had lost patience with Anthony Rizzo when they traded him to the Chicago Cubs in January of 2012 for Andrew Cashner. While Cashner has been a nice addition himself, Cubs executive Theo Epstein saw Rizzo for what he can be — a prototypical blue chip hitting first baseman capable of perennial seasons appearing on MVP ballots.

Epstein looks like he’s on the right path with his intuition thus far. Rizzo was the most dangerous hitter in the Cubs’ lineup last season. He made his first ASG, finished 10th in NL MVP balloting and slashed .286/.386/.527 with 32 dingers. His RBI numbers took a hit mostly due to an inexperienced lineup and management experimenting with a lot of young talent late last season.

With the likes of Jorge Soler, Javier Baez, Kris Bryant and Addison Russell all set to contribute on some point on offense with the Cubs in 2015, the lineup will still be young. But also, extremely talented. Those peripheral talents will only help the core of Rizzo and Starlin Castro excel more this season.

When one considers the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees are set to pay Ryan Howard and Mark Teixeira combined over $48 million in 2015 salaries, the Cubs look like huge winners with their talented left-handed hitting first baseman who comprises only 4.61 percent of their overall payroll.

Jose Altuve – Second Base, $2,687,500

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Not only a premier second baseman, but the ultimate leadoff hitter in MLB today, Jose Altuve is an easy decision for this spot. He fulfills two immediate necessities for any ball club on defense and offense at above average levels. His diminutive frame of 5-foot-6 is the biggest misrepresentation of talent on the field today.

Altuve has a career OBP of .340, posting a personal best of .377 last season. He led the league in stolen bases last season with 56. Also, “Gigante” led the league in hits (225) and won the AL batting title by safely hitting .341 over his 660 at-bats.

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Only 24 in May, the Venezuelan talent has a very bright future ahead of him. Even in spite of his small stature, Altuve hits for better power than other more established veterans in the league. His seven home runs, three triples and 47 doubles in 2014 were good for 131 total bases. His 94 total bases off doubles alone tied Dustin Pedroia‘s entire production for total bases measured by his doubles (33), triples (0) and home runs (7) in 2014. Pedroia is set to make $12.625 million in 2015.

The Indians’ Jason Kipnis was considered here, but Altuve’s track record and ability to do so many things great had to trump any of Kipnis’ best assets.

Josh Donaldson – Third Base, $4,300,000

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Josh Donaldson‘s inherent value to the Oakland Athletics over the last two seasons was undeniable, with a combined WAR of 15.4 Given his usefulness, it was a surprise to not only see him leave Oakland, but also lose his arbitration hearing with the Toronto Blue Jays on February 3.

Manny Machado will be another popular name people may have liked to see here. Or possibly the Nationals’ young and skilled third baseman. As for Machado, the talented 22-year old will make less than $1,000,000 in base salary for 2015, but with two surgically repaired knees already under his belt, he’s a sizeable health risk.

The $4.3 million Donaldson will make in 2015 is a $3.8 million raise from his 2014 figure. The 29-year old has less than 1500 at-bats registered at the big league level, grouping him into the category of being a “late bloomer,” though he did play college ball beforehand with Auburn University.

Over his minor league career, Donaldson averaged a home run every 24.6 at-bats, so there is plenty of reason to think his production will not fall off as he moves to Rogers Centre for his home games where he will hit amongst the likes of Jose Reyes, Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista.

Jean Segura – Shortstop, ~$500,000

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Jean Segura‘s loss is the Milwaukee Brewers and this articles gain. After his breakout 2013 season — his first full one in MLB — the club offered their starting shortstop a long-term deal that would have been worth six-years and $38 million. Segura was coming off of making $492,000 in 2013, but still declined the offer. He settled for a $534,000 salary in 2014 and experienced a number of setbacks.

Compared to hitting .294/.329/.423 in 2013, last year he slashed only .246/.289/.614, stole 24 fewer bases and recorded 82 less total bases despite playing in the same number of games (146). To be fair, Segura suffered a personal tragedy in July of 2014 when his nine-month-old son passed away, resulting in him being placed on the bereavement list.

All things considered, this will now be his final season of pre-arbitration status. Due to the weight he played with hanging over him last season and his sharp 2013 campaign, Segura should be a strong bounce back candidate who now has to either play for another potential long-term contract offer after the 2015 season, or a substantial pay raise in arbitration.

Starling Marte – Left Field, $1,333,333

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Many had Starling Marte pegged for an All-Star worthy year in 2014. A slow first half derailed any chance of that, as the Pirates outfielder managed only a .256 average with five home runs.

However, he rebounded huge in the second half hitting .348, which made his overall batting average at seasons end actually 11 points higher than his .280 average in 2013. Only three players in the second half with a minimum of 200 plate appearances hit for a higher average than did Marte.

Marte is getting there and his age 26 season should provide plenty of value in a number of statistical categories. In fact, since the start of the 2013 season with a minimum of 1000 PAs as a qualifier, Marte is one of only three outfielders to have hit better than .280 while recording 25 home runs and over 70 stolen bases. The other two are Carlos Gomez and Jacoby Ellsbury, who are set to make a combined $21.14 million in 2015 earnings. Although Marte’s production appears in a class with top tier outfielders, the price tag attached to him certainly does not.

Mike Trout – Center Field, $6,083,333

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The best all around position player in the game who plays center field for almost $6 million is kind of hard to believe. Therefore, Mike Trout is just too tempting to pass up here. Especially when one considers his 2016 pay check is scheduled to increase by $10 million and his 2017 by $14 million before he’s finally set to make a glamorous $34.083 million before his 26th birthday.

There’s no need to go over the typical stats here. It’s beating a  dead horse. Since the 1950 MLB season, only four players have been good enough young enough to record 2000-plus plate appearances before their aged 23 seasons. The Millville Meteor is one of them, along with Alex Rodriguez, Hall of Famer Al Kaline and the memorable Vada Pinson.

To give you further an idea of the class this puts Trout in, the only standard categories he ranks first in is strikeouts and stolen bases. His 545 hits places him last, batting average last, runs batted in second last, runs scored second and home runs second in such prestigious company. Nevertheless, Trout is only 23 and is easily on a Hall of Fame career trajectory. His salary is more than acceptable to stomach.

Christian Yelich – Right Field, ~$500,000

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

One of the more talented young pure contact hitters in the game today, Christian Yelich will hopefully only benefit even more from Ichiro Suzuki‘s influence on the Miami Marlins.

Courtesy of Fangraphs

Yelich puts the ball all over the field at a high line drive rate. A former first round draft pick, he reached the majors in his age 21 season and hit a respectable .288 in 240 at-bats. In his sophomore season he really stepped it up, slashing .284/.362/.402 with 21 stolen bases. A future batting title may just be in the cards for Yelich, but a few 20-20 seasons seem really attainable too as his power stroke continues to develop.

A left fielder by trade, Yelich’s 2014 Gold Glove at the position more than supports the notion he could hold down the No. 9 spot in just about any defense — including the one for this dream team. He also has logged 115.1 innings in center since 2013, so his versatility paired with his high contact from the left side of the plate provides ample traits that make him worthy of being a nice two-hitter in the batting order.

Chris Carter – Designated Hitter, $4,175,000

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Given that technically any player capable of swinging a bat and hitting at an above average level compared to others in MLB can fill the designated hitter role on a team, I’ll use someone here who is altogether capable of DHing, being a utility first baseman and has logged at least 500 at-bats in the DH position since 2010. Alas, Chris Carter of the Houston Astros becomes the most logical option.

Adam Lind is too expensive at over $7 million in 2015 and too unreliable as of recent as well. Delmon Young is only set to make $2.25 million in 2015 but is an outfielder naturally and has never logged a single inning of his pro career at first base.

Carter is not all that bad to begin with, though. After all, he finished second in the league in home runs last season with 37 and even though he’s only a career .222 hitter, the 28-year old managed to bat .252 in last year’s second half and upped his OBP from .281 to .338 after the Midsummer Classic as well.

Carter is by no means a David Ortiz or Victor Martinez, though few hitters are. He has a nice enough blend of power and versatility to play outfield or first off the bench when not acting as the dream team’s designated hitter that you should be able to take the good with the bad.

Christian Vazquez – Utility, ~$500,000

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Every MLB roster needs at least two catchers on it. Christian Vazquez will enter his sophomore season with a highly touted defensive skill set to his secondary traits as a hitter. He has a number of rookie level salary years left ahead of him before becoming arbitration eligible in 2018. Unless he performs out of this world and earns himself a long-term contract with the Red Sox, he should be a quality defensive catcher for years to come at a reasonable rate.

He did hit .240 as a rookie, so that number should grow over time as he makes adjustments and becomes more familiar with the AL East and its pitchers and ball parks. The 24-year old Puerto Rican has a lifetime .989 FPCT in the minors.

Everth Cabrera – Utility, $2,400,000

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The former Padre is now with the Baltimore Orioles looking to get his career back on track. A shortstop by trade, Everth Cabrera would be fully capable of playing there or at 3B or 2B should the need arise. His speed (99 SBs from 2012-14) would also be viewed as a valuable option to pinch run off the bench in a tight situation.

Cabrera was an All-Star in 2013 who experienced a breakout year before being linked to the Biogenesis scandal and PEDs in that same season. As a result, he ended up serving a 50-game suspension and was not able to get his game back to the same level in 2014. The Orioles are hoping he can provide suitable insurance for Machado and youngster Jonathan Schoop at second base in 2015.

Charlie Blackmon – Utility, ~$500,000

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After a breakout season, Charlie Blackmon is still sporting the mountain man look that probably goes so well with the environment and lifestyle around Denver where the Colorado Rockies call home. Let’s see how long he lasts in Arizona’s dry desert heat with the beard and if it’s still around on Opening Day, however.

While his splits at home last year (.331/.391/.524) were far better than his road ones (.241/.269/.348), half a million dollars for player capable of manning all three outfield posts coming off his first All-Star season seems like a safe bet for depth on this dream team. Worth noting as well, that despite Coors Field’s ability to make every hitter better, Blackmon was still a .289 hitter on the road in 2013. He is arbitration eligible in 2016.

Batting Order

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This 13-man layout of position players costs a grand total of $32,072,547, putting its payroll only $47,547 over the Houston Astros’ 2015 number. With all the defensive positions filled out, here is the proposed batting order for the squad.

Lineup Card:

1. R Jose Altuve – 2B – HOU
2. L Christian Yelich – RF – MIA
3. R Mike Trout – CF – LAA
4. L Anthony Rizzo – 1B – CHC
5. R Josh Donaldson – 3B – TOR
6. R Starling Marte – LF – PIT
7. R Chris Carter – DH – HOU
8. R Yan Gomes – C – CLE
9. R Jean Segura – SS – MIL

Bench:

• R Christian Vazquez – C – BOS
• S Everth Cabrera – INF – BAL
• R Lorenzo Cain – OF – KCR
• L Charlie Blackmon – OF – COL

Next: Twins' Torii Hunter Ambitious in Future GM Quest