It’s that time of year. As January rolls towards it’s conclusion and the spring training itch becomes an irritant, I rifle through baseball stats and begin my research for the fantasy baseball draft. That process always unearths some surprises.
I play in a 15 team keepers league. Overall production, not positional balance has always been the philosophy that guides my draft selection process. Overall I rank position players in one giant pool based on an arbitrary star system. That system is built around solid, above average performance in all five offensive categories.
To earn five stars, a position player must hit .275 or higher, score 75 runs or more, slam at least 20 home runs, amass 75 or more RBI and steal a minimum of 20 bases. Attaining each of those marks earns a star. Position players who earn stars in each category are 5-Star players, guys to be coveted on draft night, you get the idea.
Amazingly, based on 2014 statistics only one major league position player reached my minimums and rated as a 5-star player. Can you can guess who he is? It was Cleveland outfielder Michael Brantley. Brantley batted .327 with 94 runs scored, exactly reached the minimum HR total of 20, knocked home 97 runs and stole 23 bases. That’s quite a season.
Another young outfielder who had quite a season is the Colorado Rockies’ Charlie Blackmon. Sources tell Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports that the Rockies have discussed Blackmon in trade talks with multiple teams.
“The Rockies have spoken with the New York Mets about Dillon Gee this offseason, but Blackmon almost certainly would be too high of a price to pay for Gee alone. The Mets also appear set with their starting outfield of Curtis Granderson, Juan Lagares and Michael Cuddyer.”
Blackmon was a National League All-Star in 2014, batting .288 with 27 doubles, 19 home runs, 82 runs, 72 RBIs and 28 stolen bases, while batting leadoff for the Rockies.
This might be the place where Sandy Alderson lets caution blow away in the wind and makes a move. At 28, Blackmon is just beginning to move into his high production years and would come with a low price tag and be under the Mets control through the 2018 season.
Yes, there are some concerns. Blackmon was an under the radar minor leaguer who was never projected to become a major league star. 2014 was a breakout year for him and Coors Field is a lot more friendlier hitting venue than Citi Field. And his splits fell off some in the second half of the season; .305/.349/.479 compared to .288/.335/.440.
But, even Blackmon’s second half slash line would have shined for the Mets and would have ranked second in batting average to Daniel Murphy by only a point and third in slugging percentage by a whisker behind Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Lucas Duda.
With all our young pitching prospects it seems a lower level arm like Cory Mazzoni or Michael Fulmer could be added to a trade with Gee. That would give Colorado two potential starting pitching options in the trade. Possibly, to compensate for Colorado’s outfield loss ,Nieuwenhuis might be dangled to help get the deal done.
Blackmon is a versatile outfielder who played in all three outfield slots last year for Colorado. The kid is also durable and played in 153 games for the Rockies. Further more, Blackmon batted at the top of the lineup in Colorado. That’s an area that has been sorely lacking for the Mets since Jose Reyes. Blackmon’s 19 HR’s were second in the league from the lead-off spot trailing only Carlos Gomez of the Brewers.
Yes, on paper the Mets outfield is set, but Michael Cuddyer’s track record includes long stints on the disabled list, and John Mayberry is not adequate in filling in as a long-term replacement given his woeful numbers against RHP.
Blackmon’s breakout season and his promising numbers should make Colorado’s left-handed lead-off hitter an appealing option for the Mets. Most appealing, though, would be his $504,000 price tag in 2015.
