Developed Teams 2015: Kansas City Royals

Ladies and Gentlemen, without further ado, I give you the developed version of your 2015 World Champion Kansas City Royals! Would this team have been better off holding onto all of their developed prospects, or was the front office able to make the team better through trades and free agent signings? You decide!

Although I usually start with the batting order in these profiles, there's one player whose historic 2015 season jumps to the top of the list, and that's the NL leader in ERA, WHIP, and winning percentage, Zack Greinke. A first round pick back in 2002, the Orlando FL native won a Cy Young award seven years later for his original team, before being part of two high profile trades, first going to the Brewers, then to the Angels. In fact, the first Greinke trade points out an inherent flaw in the either/or statement from my intro paragraph, because it was that deal that netted Kansas City Jake Odorizzi, the number 2 pitcher on this staff (also World Series heroes Alcides Escobar and Lorenzo Cain). Sometimes shrewd roster moves lead to acquiring prospects at an early enough stage in their careers that the acquiring team can also be the developing team. Either way, Greinke and Odorizzi join two homegrown/current Royals, Yordano Ventura and Danny Duffy, to form a very formidable "playoff rotation" - even though Duffy was used out of the pen in the actual 2015 postseason.

The last spot in their "regular season rotation" comes down to a battle between three rookie left handers, all of whom have since left the franchise that drafted them. Mike Montgomery went to the Rays (along with the well-traveled Odorizzi and Wil Myers) in the megadeal for James Shields and Wade Davis, but didn't make his debut until heading to the Mariners in another trade prior to 2015. Meanwhile both Brandon Finnegan and John Lamb were dealt to Cincinnati this season in the Johnny Cueto deal, the results of which contributed in large part to the Royals' 2015 championship. In the bullpen, if Greg Holland can recover from his Tommy John surgery, he could return to elite status sometime in 2017. In the meantime, this club will have to rely on the hotheaded Kelvin Herrera, former Rays closer J.P. Howell, and former prospect Luke Hochevar for save opportunities. And let's also not forget injured reliever Aaron Crow and prospect Sean Manaea when evaluating this staff.

The starting lineup features a "core four" of sorts in super-clutch Eric Hosmer, dugout-yelling Mike Moustakas, World Series MVP Salvador Perez, and free agent to be Alex Gordon, all of whom were well-heralded prospects, and all of whom delivered on their promise. The highest upside position player to have left the team is the above mentioned Wil Myers, whose transition to center field will help create room in the outfield for another former Rookie of the Year Carlos Beltran. And if neither of their defensive skillsets impress you, don't forget about Jarrod Dyson on the bench. Speaking of the bench, one person who's not on it is Christian Colon - I opted for the more experienced Andres Blanco, who played in a career-high 106 games this year - but if Colon's World Series heroics lead to more regular playing time, I could see him eventually eclipsing super utility player Mike Aviles as the starting shortstop. Billy Butler and Johnny Giavotella both went to the AL West prior to 2015 and had disappointing and breakout seasons, respectively, despite the fact that their fantasy production wasn't all that different. It's funny how expectations, contract size, and positional scarcity work, isn't it?

So there are the developed team profiles for all 2015 postseason participants. I'll be continuing this series with no discernible order throughout the offseason, hopefully culminating in a simulated season using MLB 15: The Show. So until then, enjoy the hot stove season and keep obsessively checking MLB Trade Rumors for the latest news. I know I will!

Developed Teams 2015: New York Mets

While the New York Mets did not win the World Series for the first time in 29 years, they were one of the two teams who played in the last game of the season, and that's much better than most pundits predicted for this team, so 2015 can definitely be counted as several steps in the right direction for this franchise. Let's see how the Mets would look if they had somehow kept all the players that were developed in their minor league system:

If they chose to do so, this team could field the same infield that they used for the World Series, with old iron gloves Lucas Duda and Daniel Murphy on the right side, and shortstop of the future Wilmer Flores and "Captain America" David Wright continuing around the horn. But that's not accounting for the return of former face of the franchise Jose Reyes, who immediately slots in at the top of the order and the middle of the infield. Not only that, but he pushes Flores over to second base, allowing either Duda or Murphy to DH (while the other one plays first base), significantly improving the team's overall defense. Speaking of defense, it is also a strength of this outfield, two thirds of which has the defensive chops to play center field - while Carlos Gomez also has the offensive chops to anchor a batting order. I'm assuming Michael Conforto's performance in game 4 of the World Series alone earns him a spot in this lineup, but if you prefer experience and glovework, there's also defensive wiz Juan Lagares on the bench.

But the strength of this team, as with the real life National League Champion version, is its dominating young pitching. The entire playoff rotation of Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, and Steven Matz is present here, except I have Matz in long relief due to his small career sample size of only six starts. Syndergaard is a tough case because he was initially drafted by the Blue Jays and spent three years in their system before being traded to New York in the deal for R.A. Dickey, but he never advanced above Class A ball in Toronto and pitched more games in the Mets system. These four phenoms are joined by two 2015 Houston Astros teammates who helped their team make the playoffs, righty Collin McHugh and lefty Scott Kazmir, the former of which made his debut with the Mets while the latter was traded while still a prospect. In fact, this team could field a six-man rotation while still having plenty of long relief depth with both Jonathon Niese and Mike Pelfrey available out of the pen.

For the save opportunities, the developed Mets can trot out their real life closer in Jeurys Familia, who stepped up in a big way when projected closer Jenrry Mejia was hit with a pair of season-ending suspensions, and who should be able to bounce back after a couple of tough breaks in the playoffs. Joe Smith has been a good setup man for the Angels and Yusmeiro Petit has flourished as both a swingman and a dedicated reliever (despite never pitching for the big league version of the Mets). Overall this team features a solid if unspectacular and injury prone lineup supporting a historically dominant pitching staff. Tune in next time for the World Champion Kansas City Royals and then we can speculate on whether a developed World Series rematch might have gone differently than the actual version.