Albert Almora

Almora's role in the Cubs' outfield diminished greatly when the team acquired Nicholas Castellanos at the trade deadline in the midst of a season that saw Almora turn in career-worst production in a number of areas. Almora's playing time could increase this season with Castellanos a free agent, but he would need to turn things around offensively in order to cement his spot in the starting lineup. The 25-year-old hit just .236/.271/.381 with a meager 4.4 BB% last season. Although he maintained a strikeout rate right around 17%, the quality of his connections was severely lacking, with his exit velocity and hard-hit rate both ranking in the bottom 8% of the league. Almora primarily hit at the bottom of the order and finished with only 32 RBI in 130 games. Almora has extremely limited fantasy appeal due to the absence of power or speed, as well as his uncertain role in the Cubs' outfield.

Almora bolstered his playing time through top-shelf defense, ranking among Statcast's top 10 outfielders with 11 outs above average in 2018. However, Almora failed to fully capitalize, slumping in the second half to a .232/.267/.280 line. Look away: Almora had a 1% barrel rate last season, ranking 371st out of 390 players with 100 batted-ball events, and his groundball rate ticked up again to 50.7%. Now close to 25 years old, the former prospect can still add power if he builds muscle or overhauls his approach, and he'll remain a candidate to lead off, at least against left-handers, but stolen bases are nowhere to be found. Almora offers a better floor than many names in deeper leagues given his defense and decent contact skills (17.3 K% last season), but many in his range offer greater upside.

Almora is a former top prospect who hit at an above-average level in his age-23 season (103 wRC+), but he benefitted from limited exposure to right-handed pitching. He did most of his damage against lefties, slashing .342/.411/.486 against southpaws compared to .271/.291/.420 against righties. Almora is a plus defender in center field and Jon Jay is a free agent this winter, but a competing team like the Cubs may be inclined to keep Almora on the short side of a platoon rather than deploy him in the everyday lineup and let him learn on the job. While he makes consistent contact, Almora doesn't walk much, the power is middling (.147 ISO) and he doesn't run. There will be some appeal if Almora works his way into a more regular role, but the interest will probably be greater than is warranted given the inherent optimism of such a large fanbase. If he sticks in a platoon role, Almora remains merely a deep-mixed and NL-only option.

Almora spent a significant portion of his 2016 campaign at Triple-A Iowa, where he put together one of his best performances in the upper levels of the Cubs' minor league system. He was young for the level as a 22 years old, and he continued to show a developing hit tool despite the lack of a discerning eye at the plate (2.7 percent walk rate at Iowa, 4.3 percent with the Cubs). If the Cubs turned him loose with an everyday role, his defense alone would make him a valuable contributor. With further projection remaining in his bat, Almora still has the raw tools to emerge as a double-digit threat in home runs and stolen bases, and one with a good batting average thanks to his low strikeout rate (17.1 percent K% against MLB pitching). In order to deliver on that potential, he will need to carve out a significant share of the playing time in center field for the Cubs.

He's still just 21. You can tell yourself that if it helps. However, Almora doesn't seem to be growing like all of the other future stars in the Cubs system. While Kris Bryant, Addison Russell and Kyle Schwarber got called up and contributed to the exciting season in Chicago, Almora turned in a middling performance with Double-A Tennessee. With just six home runs and eight stolen bases in 405 at-bats with the Smokies, he doesn't look like someone who will be the cornerstone of fantasy teams in the next decade, but he did significantly improve his K:BB (from 23:2 in 2014 to 47:32 last year) in Tennessee. While it is still too soon to write off Almora as a potential everyday player, he is no longer a top-100 prospect for dynasty leagues.

After a strong (but injury-filled) run with Low-A Kane County in 2013, Almora struggled a bit when he was promoted to higher levels last year. Neither the power nor the speed was much to write home about, and Almora struggled with Double-A Tennessee in particular, finishing with a 2:23 K:BB ratio and a .605 OPS in 144 at-bats. Still, he'll turn 21 in April, and he might become the top prospect in the Cubs' system once Kris Bryant is called up to Chicago. Almora is a year or two away, but he's big part of the organization's future, albeit one that still has a long way to go in order to complete his development and reach the projection that made him the sixth overall pick of the 2012 draft.

In the fantastic offensive quartet in the Cubs' system, Almora is the youngest, as he's still only entering his age-20 season. A couple of injuries limited him to only 61 games with Low-A Kane County last year, making it difficult to draw any conclusions about his progress, but he played well in the AFL, and if the doubles and triples start turning into home runs, look out. The 2012 first-rounder needs another couple of years of seasoning, but when he hits the majors, he'll be there for good.

The sixth overall pick by the Cubs in the 2012 first-year player draft, Almora is known for his plus power and plus defense. He did nothing to dispel that notion in 140 rookie and short-season at-bats, slugging .480 and .446, respectively. Almora, who will turn 19 in April, is a player to watch the next couple seasons. As one of the Cubs' top prospects, Almora is expected to make his full-season professional debut at Low-A Kane County in 2013.