2015 Fantasy Baseball: Building a $32 Million Dream Lineup

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.