Colorado Rockies fantasy draft: Five different all-franchise teams

Luke Mullins’ team

Catcher – Jonathan Lucroy

First base – Jason Giambi

Second base – Jamey Carroll

Shortstop – Walt Weiss

Third base – Melvin Mora

Left field – Greg Vaughn

Center field – Charlie Blackmon

Right field – Brad Hawpe

Bench – Craig Counsell, Gregg Zaun, Juan Uribe, Marco Scutaro, Eric Byrnes

Starting Pitcher – Bret Saberhagen

Starting Pitcher – Roy Oswalt

Starting Pitcher – Jamie Moyer

Starting Pitcher – Kevin Millwood

Starting Pitcher – Ubaldo Jimenez

Reliever – Wade Davis

Reliever – Byung-hyun Kim

Reliever – Jeremy Affeldt

Reliever – Javier Lopez

Reliever – Matt Herges

Reliever – Octavio Dotel

Reliever – Jose Contreras

Reliever – Ramon Ramirez

Blackmon, Caroll, Hawpe, and Weiss are well-known names for most Rockies fans. The other four players, though familiar, played their best baseball before coming to Colorado. Giambi was an MVP in 2000, runner-up in 2001, and finished fifth in 2002. Vaughn had several good years for a handful of teams including consecutive fourth-place MVP finishes in 1998 and 1999. Mora had several strong seasons in a Baltimore uniform before spending a season in Colorado. For much of the 2010s, Lucroy was among the best backstops in baseball.

While the Colorado Rockies are known for their offense, their best seasons have been the result of unexpected dominance from the mound. The 2007 World Series team in particular featured a handful of reliable relievers including Jeremy Affeldt, Ramon Ramirez, and Matt Herges. I also included other successful relievers with long careers who made stops in Colorado such as Byung-Hyun Kim, Javier Lopez, Octavio Dotel, and Jose Contreras (Contreras spent most of his career as a starter but worked primarily out of the ‘pen as a Rockie so I included him as a reliever). Wade Davis has also had a successful career as a reliever despite some recent hiccups.

My rotation features a list of successful pitchers with long careers who briefly stopped in Denver. Led by Brett Saberhagen, the list also includes Roy Oswalt, Jamie Moyer, and Kevin Millwood. Ubaldo Jimenez rounds out the starting five.