ANTHONY CASTROVINCE
MLB'S ALL-UNDERRATED TEAM FOR 2015
C: Yan Gomes, Indians
1B: Paul Goldschmidt, D-backs lol
2B: Neil Walker, Pirates
SS: Brandon Crawford, Giants
3B: Trevor Plouffe, Twins
LF: Michael Saunders, Blue Jays
Saunders spent the bulk of his playing time in 2014 (when he actually played) in right, but the Blue Jays, who just recently acquired him from the Mariners, will replace Melky Cabrera with him in left.
And that trade is the primary inspiration for Saunders' inclusion on this list. Clearly, this is a guy who has struggled to stay on the field, and the Mariners' pointed remarks about his conditioning and the public spat that resulted in those remarks were what preceded the trade to Toronto for J.A. Happ.
But here's the thing: Even while limited to just a half-season of play in '14, Saunders compiled a higher WAR mark (2.4, per Baseball Reference) than Happ (1.4) did in 26 starts. Also, Happ (32) is older than Saunders (28), makes more money than Saunders and is under contractual control for just one more year compared to Saunders' two. So there is an easy statistical argument to be made that the Mariners underrated Saunders' value in this trade.
Or hey, maybe Saunders continues to struggle to stay on the field or the Blue Jays get the bad end of his streaky side. But he's in his prime years, he's a good defender, and his three-year WAR mark (5.3) is better than that of guys like Jay Bruce (5.1), Marlon Byrd (5.0), Carlos Beltran (4.6), Nick Swisher (4.6), Curtis Granderson (4.6), Matt Kemp (4.5) and Michael Cuddyer (4.5).
So as far as I'm concerned, this is a good, affordable player that the Blue Jays gave up very little to get.
CF: Dexter Fowler, Astros
RF: Seth Smith, Mariners
SP: Jose Quintana, White Sox
Closer: Steve Cishek, Marlins