The Colorado Rockies made a major splash in the free agent pool on Friday, agreeing to a three-year, $52 million contract with veteran closer Wade Davis.
Historically, the Rockies have struggled to lure top starting pitchers to their club due to the fact that they play their home games at Coors Field, where the high altitude in Denver leads to a significant increase in offense, and therefore a decline in overall numbers from pitchers.
The Rockies appear intent on fighting back against that axiom by bolstering their bullpen this winter. They have already signed Bryan Shaw and re-signed Jake McGee to $27 million contracts respectively, and they still have former closer Adam Ottavino and southpaw Mike Dunn in the mix. That quartet will now bridge the gap between their young starters and Davis who will assume the mantle in the ninth inning.
The 32-year-old hurler has been unbelievable over the last four seasons, compiling a minuscule 1.45 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 11.7 K/9.
His fantasy value will take a slight hit due to the ballpark shift and the fact that he's leaving the Cubs (one of the favorites to represent the National League in the World Series) to head to the Rockies, but he's still locked in as a top 10 option at his position.
His current average draft position in NFBC drafts is 100.07, ranking him as the 9th closer off the board, just behind Ken Giles, Edwin Diaz, Raisel Iglesias and Felipe Rivero.