The offense I like.
Starters
C Yan Gomes C | CLE
C Mike Zunino C | SEA
1B Edwin Encarnacion 1B | TOR
2B Kolten Wong 2B | STL
3B Manny Machado 3B | BAL
SS Xander Bogaerts 3B,SS | BOS
MI Devon Travis 2B | TOR
CI Brandon Moss 1B,OF | CLE
OF Mookie Betts OF | BOS
OF Carlos Gonzalez OF | COL
OF Yasiel Puig OF | LAD 585
OF Travis Snider OF | BAL 525
OF Mike Trout OF | LAA 600
U Corey Dickerson OF | COL
Reserves
3B Kris Bryant 3B | CHC
SS Jose Ramirez SS | CLE
OF Ryan Braun OF | MIL
U Brandon Belt 1B | SF
But what happens to that offense if Mookie Betts get 2B eligibility,and Manny Machado gets SS eligibility as rumored?
Starters
C Yan Gomes C | CLE
C Mike Zunino C | SEA
1B Edwin Encarnacion 1B | TOR
2B Kolten Wong 2B | STL
SS Manny Machado 3B | BAL
3B Kris Bryant 3B | CHC
MI Mookie Betts OF | BOS
CI Brandon Moss 1B,OF | CLE
OF Carlos Gonzalez OF | COL
OF Yasiel Puig OF | LAD 585
OF Travis Snider OF | BAL 525
OF Mike Trout OF | LAA 600
OF Ryan Braun OF | MIL
U Corey Dickerson OF | COL
Kris Bryant should be up soon enough. Manny and Mookie would make middle infield a strength. OF thins out some – I probably should have traded a closer for Matt Holliday. Cargo can’t stay healthy all year. Of course, that does let me switch Dickerson or Moss into OF if needed. And it removes my two weakest hitters. A set of starters like the one above could win R, HR, RBI, AVG, and has replacements for 1B, 2B, SS, 3B and 2 built-in OFers. And the ability to drop jose ramirez for any other needed player.
MI Devon Travis 2B | TOR
SS Jose Ramirez SS | CLE
U Brandon Belt 1B | SF
SS Xander Bogaerts 3B,SS | BOS
The pitchers aren’t so impressive. Though there’s potential for a good score in saves and WHIP. ERA and WHIP may be held back by shoemaker, odorizzi, quintana – to so degree. And W’s may be a low score.
Pitchers
P Brad Boxberger P | TB
P Aroldis Chapman P | CIN
P Steve Cishek P | MIA
P Craig Kimbrel P | SD
P Jason Hammel P | CHC
P Brandon McCarthy P | LAD
P Collin McHugh P | HOU
P Jake Odorizzi P | TB
P Jose Quintana P | CHW
Reserves
P Carlos Rodon P | CHW
P Matt Shoemaker P | LAA
The theory was that starting pitching should be more common / easier to acquire by trade than hitting.
Without trades, I’ll estimate generously…
1st Runs
1st HR
1st RBI
1st AVG
9th SB
9th W
3rd Saves
8th ERA
4th WHIP
9th K’s
That’s somewhere over 80 points and there is some growth possibilities, too. McCarthy’s numbers could match his peripherals. The rest are young enough to improve, and its possible for any of them to have a sub-3 era.