Welcome to the annual series: ‘A Minor (League) Review of 2015.” This series is a great way to receive a quick recap of the ’15 minor league season for your favorite club(s), while also receiving a brief look toward the 2016 season and beyond. It can also be a handy feature for fantasy baseball players in keeper and Dynasty leagues.

A Minor Review of 2015: Cubs

The Graduate: Kris Bryant, 3B: When you look at Bryant’s rookie season and see 199 strikeouts in 151 games, you might think it was a disaster. Nothing could be further from the truth, though. The rookie third baseman finished 10th in WAR in all of baseball. Looking at just his offensive contributions, he was in a three-way tie with Arizona’s A.J. Pollock and Colorado’s Nolan Arenado for the 17th-best wOBA. Bryant has some work to do making more consistent contact but he also didn’t tap into his full power potential (A scary thought!). And if the young, promising Cubs hitters around Bryant continue to develop, he’ll be even more valuable to fantasy managers in the years to come.

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Welcome to the annual series: ‘A Minor (League) Review of 2015.” This series is a great way to receive a quick recap of the ’15 minor league season for your favorite club(s), while also receiving a brief look toward the 2016 season and beyond. It can also be a handy feature for fantasy baseball players in keeper and Dynasty leagues.

A Minor Review of 2015: Oakland A’s

The Graduate: Billy Burns, OF: The Nationals scored big in the 32nd round of the 2011 draft with Burns. He understands what he needs to do to be successful: get on base and run. His approach at the plate collapsed a bit in the majors (26-81 BB-K rate) compared to his time in the minors (211-245 BB-K) but he was still successful thanks to his ability to hit for average. He stole 26 bases (in 34 tries) at the big league level but has topped 50 bases twice in his career so there is more value there if Oakland gives him the green light.

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Welcome to the annual series: ‘A Minor (League) Review of 2015.” This series is a great way to receive a quick recap of the ’15 minor league season for your favorite club(s), while also receiving a brief look toward the 2016 season and beyond. It can also be a handy feature for fantasy baseball players in keeper and Dynasty leagues.

A Minor Review of 2015: Diamondbacks

The Graduate: Jake Lamb, 3B: Taken in the sixth round of the 2012 draft, I spoke to a front office member of the Diamondbacks that winter and he identified Lamb as someone they thought would turn into a steal. Fast forward a few years and that prediction was right on the money. Injuries have held back Lamb a bit but he’ll likely open 2016 as the club’s starting third baseman. He has some home run pop but isn’t a prototypical slugger. Still, he has an excellent all-around game and should hit for a solid average.

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Welcome to the annual series: ‘A Minor (League) Review of 2015.” This series is a great way to receive a quick recap of the ’15 minor league season for your favorite club(s), while also receiving a brief look toward the 2016 season and beyond. It can also be a handy feature for fantasy baseball players in keeper and Dynasty leagues.

A Minor Review of 2015: Colorado Rockies

The Graduate: Ben Paulsen, 1B: An overaged rookie, Paulsen appeared in 91 games for the Rockies and added another 20 games in the outfield. He took advantage of the friendly confines of his home park, which helped him overcome an ugly BB-K rate of 23-92 in 116 games. Paulsen was almost hopeless against left-handed pitching so you can forget about him playing everyday — he had a 35 wRC+ against them. Newly-signed Mark Reynolds should help ensure the soon-to-be-sophomore first baseman avoids southpaws almost entirely in 2016 — assuming Paulsen makes the roster.

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Welcome to the annual series: ‘A Minor (League) Review of 2015.” This series is a great way to receive a quick recap of the ’15 minor league season for your favorite club(s), while also receiving a brief look toward the 2016 season and beyond. It can also be a handy feature for fantasy baseball players in keeper and Dynasty leagues.

A Minor Review of 2015: Houston Astros

The Graduate: Carlos Correa, SS: The Astros recently traded another first overall pick (Mark Appel to the Phillies for young closer Ken Giles) but you won’t see them flipping Correa any time soon. The 21-year-old shortstop was an offensive force for the surprisingly-successful Astros in 2015. He was worth more than three wins for the club and slugged 22 home runs and adding 14 steals. He also showed an advanced approach at the plate and promise in the field.

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Yesterday included one of my favorite activities of the offseason – the Rule 5 draft. If you’re not familiar with it, the Rule 5 draft is when teams have a chance to select players from rival franchises. Here are the main rules:

• Any player on the 40-man roster is protected
• Players signed at age 19 or older are protected for four seasons
• Players signed at age 18 or older are protected for five seasons

If none of those conditions apply to a player, then he may be selected in the draft. Draft picks cost $50K and the drafting team must keep a player on the major league roster for the entire season in order to retain him. Injured players must spend at least 90 active days on the roster.

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Welcome to the annual series: ‘A Minor (League) Review of 2015.” This series is a great way to receive a quick recap of the ’15 minor league season for your favorite club(s), while also receiving a brief look toward the 2016 season and beyond. It can also be a handy feature for fantasy baseball players in keeper and Dynasty leagues.

A Minor Review of 2015: San Francisco GiantsThe Graduate: Matt Duffy, IF: Duffy’s amazing rookie season came out of nowhere. Considered a solid. professional hitter, he nonetheless lacked the standout tools that makes scouts drool and analysts run to their databases. He was a former 18th round draft pick who signed for just $50,000 in an age of multi-million-dollar deals being lavished upon 16 and 17 year olds. Give major kudos to Duffy for tirelessly working on his overall game and becoming a threat on both sides of the ball. Add in the fact that he’s produced almost 5 WAR for league minimum and you have a really winner here for the Giants and fans alike.

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Welcome to the annual series: ‘A Minor (League) Review of 2015.” This series is a great way to receive a quick recap of the ’15 minor league season for your favorite club(s), while also receiving a brief look toward the 2016 season and beyond. It can also be a handy feature for fantasy baseball players in keeper and Dynasty leagues.

A Minor Review of 2015: Los Angeles Angels

The Graduate: Carlos Perez, C: A former Blue Jays and Astros prospect, Perez landed in LA for his rookie season and performed well — although hardly spectacular. He’s become a more aggressive hitter than he was early in his career and he doesn’t posses anything more than gap power. His strongest value comes from his defence and ability to control the running game (He threw out more than 30% of base runners in ’15), which doesn’t help at all in fantasy baseball. He’ll split playing time during the 2016 season with import Geovany Soto.

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Welcome to the annual series: ‘A Minor (League) Review of 2015.” This series is a great way to receive a quick recap of the ’15 minor league season for your favorite club(s), while also receiving a brief look toward the 2016 season and beyond. It can also be a handy feature for fantasy baseball players in keeper and Dynasty leagues.

A Minor Review of 2015: Los Angeles Dodgers

The Graduate: Joc Pederson, OF: The 23-year-old outfielder broke into the veteran outfield in 2015 and had an outstanding first half of the year. He came back down to earth in the second half but still had a respectable overall season. The youngster hit 26 home runs and played good outfield defence. His batting average was just .210 and he struck out almost 30 percent of the time so there are improvements to make — including improvement against same-handed pitching (and in his home stadium). Pederson stolen just four bases in 2015 but has 20-30 potential so there is more fantasy value in there.

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Thirty-year old Chris Coghlan just had his best season of his career. He’s only surpassed 500 plate appearances twice in his seven-year career, and as a guy without a standout tool and some established platoon issues, he obviously owns a substantial ‘bust rate.’ As in, he could be unusable next year, even though he was worth $6 in mixed leagues this past season.

And so, even though we liked some boring veterans at third base, it’s time to take inspiration in another direction — where’s the line, when you should bypass the veteran for the unproven prospect? Is it right around a guy like Chris Coghlan?

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