OF Carlos Gonzalez was a player many targeted in the middle rounds of drafts this year (ADP 131.1) and those that were lucky enough to grab him were rewarded with an MVP-caliber season. Take a moment to look at his NL rankings for all of the major statistics: 1st in BA; 4th in HR; 2nd in RBI; 3rd in R; 10th in SB; 2nd in SLG; 3rd in OPS. Awesome! In a standard 5x5 league, CarGo could easily be viewed as the first overall pick in 2011 drafts.
Baseball fans watched in awe as SS Troy Tulowitzki turned in a September to remember, hammering 15 home runs and driving in 40 runs while batting .322 with a 1.176 OPS. This season, he established career highs in batting average (.315) , slugging percentage (.568) and on-base percentage (.381) , while posting a .949 OPS that was eighth-best in the major leagues. The Colorado Rockies have rewarded him with a megadeal that locks him up through the 2020 season and is a no-brainer in all fantasy baseball formats. Tulo could possibly be the first shortstop off the board in many open drafts.
The Rockies have always been known as a franchise that produces offense but are slowly gaining respectability in the pitching department and it all starts with SP Ubaldo Jimenez. This season, he threw the first no-hitter in Rockies' history, won 19 games, struck out 214, posted a sub 3.00 ERA and finished third in the NL Cy Young voting. Jimenez deserves to be the ace of any fantasy baseball pitching staff and kept in all league formats.
If your league's keeper selections go much deeper than just 60 or so players (league-wide), you may want to take a gamble on OF Dexter Fowler and/or SP Jhoulys Chacin. Each have value in deep leagues with non-standard scoring categories. Fowler's asset is his speed (averages 14 triples and 23 stolen bases per 162 games) and at just 24 years old could be primed for a breakout season hitting atop the Rockies lineup for a full season. Meanwhile, Chacin made 21 starts (11 Quality Starts), won nine games, posted a 3.28 ERA with a 1.27 WHIP while striking out 138 in 137.1 innings pitched.
There's my thoughts on the Colorado Rockies' keeper options. Do you see anyone else on the Rockies roster worthy of a selection in your keeper league format? Disagree with my assessment? Feel free to use the comments section for any/all feedback and be sure to follow me Twitter.
Check out my other "Finding Keepers" articles here.
