Colorado Rockies fantasy draft: Five different all-franchise teams

So what happens when five members of the Rox Pile team are allowed to draft their own fantasy squad filled with past and present members of the Colorado Rockies? Well, for one thing, you get some very interesting mixtures of players.

For this Colorado Rockies all-time draft, we allowed each person to draft their starting lineup of eight position players and 13 pitchers before moving on to the next person. It was the easiest way to do it with social distancing and schedules that didn’t mesh for a virtual draft.

After everyone had picked their first 21 players, the draft went around again so each team could pick five additional position players to bolster their bench.

Additionally, each person could only pick two players who had the top bWAR at his position. That meant there were 10 “top players” up for grabs (eight position players, one starter, and one reliever).

In the random order drawing, I was given the first pick. Here’s my team.

Euan Leith’s team

Catcher – Jeff Reed

First Base – Andres Galarraga

Second Base – Eric Young Sr.

Third Base – Nolan Arenado

Shortstop – Clint Barmes

Right Field – Larry Walker

Center Fielder – Dexter Fowler

Left Field – Corey Dickerson

Bench – Terry Shumpert, David Dahl, Nick Hundley, Willy Taveras, Garrett Atkins

Starting Pitcher – Jon Gray

Starting Pitcher – Kyle Freeland

Starting Pitcher – Jeff Francis

Starting Pitcher – Pedro Astacio

Starting Pitcher – Bruce Ruffin

Reliever – Manny Corpas

Reliever – Matt Belisle

Reliever – Curt Leskanic

Reliever – Brian Fuentes

Reliever – Taylor Buchholz

Reliever – LaTroy Hawkins

Reliever – Rex Brothers

Reliever – Huston Street

You can nickname my team the ‘Blank Ink Squad’ because that is all you see when you start with Nolan Arenado and Larry Walker in your lineup. You could spend a whole afternoon marveling at their Baseball-Reference pages and YouTube highlights. That’s precisely what I did when we were picking these teams.

After already establishing a dominant offense with Walker and Arenado, I needed to shore up the defense a bit. Getting Clint Barmes up the middle will help, but in today’s environment, his bat just wouldn’t play. A rare defensive specialist in an offensive-minded game. Eric Young and Dexter Fowler will get me plenty of steals. And if they weren’t fast enough, then I can just pinch-run Willy Taveras. I am in love with my offense.

What I gain in batting, I sacrifice in pitching. I felt like that honored the teams that have played at Coors Field. I don’t think I’ll ever give up on Jon Gray while he still wears purple, and Kyle Freeland’s 2018 is the single-best season for a Rockies’ pitcher when it comes to Wins Above Replacement. Plus, when you look at my bullpen, the starters would only need to get through the opposing lineups twice before I lock it down with a combination of peak Matt Belisle, Rex Brothers, and Huston Street.