2024 Top Keepers – Relievers

For a majority of major league baseball teams, the season is over and players are taking some time off before gearing up for the 2024 season.

But in fantasy baseball, there is no offseason – especially in dynasty/keeper leagues. Owners are busy trying to figure out who they should keep or ditch as they try to put together the best roster possible before 2024 comes roaring into view.

With that in mind, welcome to the first installment of the 2024 Top Keepers. This week the spotlight falls on the relievers.

When it comes to relief pitchers, I take a different view of them compared to other positions. That is due to the fact that most relievers are very inconsistent and have a shorter shelf life compared to other positions. Relievers could have had a great 2022 season, giving you lots of hope that you have a key member of your bullpen this year, only to fall apart this season. I’m looking at you Rafael Montero and dozens and dozens of other relievers.

Knowing relievers are up and down, I don’t care as much about age of a reliever like I do other players, especially position players. If a reliever is 33 but has been consistent year after year, I’m going to take him just as quickly as I would a 25-year-old flamethrower who hasn’t figured it out on the mound yet.

Now, let’s get to the 2024 Top Keepers – Relievers.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

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Top Dynasty Keepers – Westburg And Montero

September 30, 2023 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Keepers, Keeper Leagues | 18 Comments

by: Jakkers

Welcome to the last weekend of regular season baseball.

Many fantasy leagues have already ended their seasons, and if you won a title, congratulations! Some leagues are still going, so if you are playing in the title game, good luck.

Because a lot of leagues have closed up shop for the season, adding players off the waiver wire may not be possible. But since you are in a dynasty league, trades are always ready to be made. Thus, I have selected two targets that I think would be good players to try to add to your roster.

The first is Jordan Westburg of Baltimore. A reader asked me what I thought about him last week, so I figured I would go more in depth about the Orioles’ rookie this week. The other player is Elehuris Montero of Colorado.

A Little Background

Westburg was a star infielder at Mississippi State, helping the squad make the College World Series in both 2018 and 2019. Baltimore loved his combination of power and speed and selected him with the 30th overall pick in 2020. Westburg’s compact swing and bat speed produces power from gap to gap, a nice feature considering the deep left field of Camden Yards.

Meanwhile, Montero was signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Cardinals in 2014 and spent two years in the Dominican Summer League before coming to the States in 2017. He then established himself as a top prospect after a fantastic 2018 season before eventually being traded to the Rockies ahead of the 2021 season as part of the Nolen Arenado trade.

Both players are now trying to establish themselves as major leaguers, but I believe both should be on your radar as players to target.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Top Dynasty Keepers – Bryan Woo

September 23, 2023 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Keepers, Keeper Leagues | 3 Comments

by: Jakkers

Sometimes you just have to give credit where credit is due. The Seattle Mariners scouting department should stand up and take a bow for seeing something in Bryan Woo that many other teams did not.

Woo has been a huge boost to a Seattle pitching staff that has suffered through a series of injuries this season. But very few people outside of Seattle fans probably knew who Woo was before the start of the year.

Woo was drafted in the sixth round of the 2021 draft out of Cal Poly. Being drafted in the sixth round isn’t bad, but the Mariners took him despite undergoing Tommy John surgery that year and with Woo posting a career 6.36 ERA and 1.731 WHIP in 69.1 innings at Cal Poly, appearing in 31 games and making six starts.

While he had a horrid ERA and WHIP, Woo had a great K/9 rate of 11.6. However, he also had a BB/9 rate of 4.0 and allowed 89 hits in those 69.1 innings of work.

But those numbers and the fact Woo was coming off TJ surgery did not scare away Seattle.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Top Dynasty Keepers – Nolan Jones And A Hot Bird

September 16, 2023 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Keepers, Keeper Leagues | 8 Comments

by: Jakkers

We are in the stretch run of the 2023 season, and time is running out to find a few more top dynasty keepers.

This week I want to focus on Colorado Rockies outfielder/first baseman Nolan Jones and briefly discuss Toronto second baseman Davis Schneider.

Jones, drafted by Cleveland in the 2nd round of the 2016 draft, is a former Top 100 prospect, ranked as high as 45th by Baseball America, 36th by MLB Pipeline and 52nd by Baseball Prospectus in 2021 before dropping out of the rankings ahead of the 2022 season.

The Guardians (Indians at the time) thought so highly of Jones that he was the team’s representative in the 2019 Futures Game.

Jones, who is now 25, made his Major League debut for Cleveland in 2022 and appeared in 28 games and getting 86 at-bats. But by the end of the season, the Guardians had decided it was time to move on from Jones and traded him to Colorado in November for minor league infielder Juan Brito.

Right now the trade is a win for the Rockies. But let’s dig in and see why I consider Jones a top dynasty keeper.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Top Dynasty Keepers – Cole Ragans

September 9, 2023 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Keepers, Keeper Leagues | 9 Comments

by: Jakkers

If you have been reading this article every week this season, then you know that I am all about finding those diamonds in the rough, especially at this point of the season.

So don’t be disappointed that I am not featuring players such as Jordan Lawlar or Jasson Dominguez. There is a reason for not featuring them – everyone should know they are top dynasty keepers. They have been top prospects for years and if you play dynasty baseball, then they are not sneaking up on you.

Thus, my search for the players who are not only offering value this season but will offer value the next several seasons. The player who falls into that category this week is Cole Ragans, a left-handed pitcher with the Royals.

Tough Road to The Show

For many, Ragans has come out of nowhere this season. But he is not a player who was drafted in the mid-rounds or lower and worked his up. In fact, Ragans is a former first-round selection of the Texas Rangers, who selected him with the 30th overall pick in the 2016 draft out of North Florida Christian High School.

Along the way to the majors, Ragans has had to overcome back-to-back Tommy John surgeries (the first operation failed) in 2018 and 2019 and then had his 2020 disappear thanks to Covid. Overall, Ragans appeared in only 17 games between 2016 and 2020.

But Ragans persevered. By 2022 he as pitching for the Rangers at the end of the season and this year he has burst onto the scene with the Royals after they acquired him at the end of June in the Aroldis Chapman trade.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Top Dynasty Keepers – J.P. France

September 2, 2023 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Keepers, Keeper Leagues | 6 Comments

by: Jakkers

When it comes to talking about the top dynasty keepers this season, I’ve usually focused on young rookie players. This week I will still be focusing on a rookie. However, I don’t think he can be described as young since he is 28 years old.

J.P. France of the Houston Astros was not a highly sought after baseball prospect coming out of high school, leading him to attend Tulane University in his hometown of New Orleans. He earned a degree there with an emphasis in homeland security, giving him an interesting backup plan in case his baseball career didn’t work out.

After graduating from Tulane, France then transferred to Mississippi as a graduate student and played one season with the Rebels.

Climbing the Ladder

The Astros selected France in the 14th round of the 2018 draft, and after signing with the team, he began his pro career at Low Class A Tri City where he appeared in six games out of the pen before a promotion to Class A Quad Cities. There he finished the season with four appearances in relief.

Overall, France had a successful professional debut season, going 2-0 with a 0.50 ERA and 0.889 WHIP with a 14.0 K/9 rate.

France spent the entire 2019 season at High-A Fayetteville where he was used mostly as a starter, making 20 starts in 25 total appearances. After seeing his 2020 season cancelled due to Covid, he pitched in Double-A and Triple-A in 2021 before spending the entire 2022 season at Triple-A Sugar Land.

With the Space Cowboys he went 3-4 with a 3.90 ERA and 1.255 WHIP in 34 games, 15 of which were starts. He racked up 136 strikeouts and limited opponents to a .233 batting average. However, while he has posted some nice numbers during his minor league career, France is probably more known for his moustache than his pitching ability.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Top Dynasty Keepers – Yainer Diaz (Again) And Ezeqiel Tovar

August 26, 2023 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Keepers, Keeper Leagues | 2 Comments

by: Jakkers

Welcome back to yet another edition of Top Dynasty Keepers. One the field there has been some great baseball played and teams that are proving they are for real this year, meaning there will be a host of good pennant races shaping up for September.

There have also been some players who are proving they should be top dynasty keepers.

This week I want to visit with a player I highlighted earlier this season and one who is new to the Top Dynasty Keepers spotlight. The first player I’ll talk about is Houston catcher Yainer Diaz, while Ezequiel Tovar of the Rockies is the second player.

Diaz is a player I featured back in June. But I want to circle back to him because he is apparently not receiving the love I think he should. Despite being one of the best hitting backstops in the majors, he is available in 44% of Yahoo leagues, 79% of ESPN leagues and 40% of Fantrax leagues.

That doesn’t make any sense, because he has basically been an everyday player since June. While only appearing in 10 games in April and 12 in May, he played in 21 games in both June and July and now 19 games in August.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

2023 Top Dynasty Keepers – Chase Silseth

August 19, 2023 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Keepers, Keeper Leagues | 2 Comments

by: Jakkers

When you play in a dynasty league, you should always be looking for some late season adds who will either help you during your playoff run or add depth to your team if you are already building next season.

But who is out there at this point of the season who fits that description? Well, there are plenty of those types of players sitting on the waiver wire, and I’m here to once again shine the light on a player who has thus far been overlooked.

Chase Silseth is a right-handed pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels who did poorly in a brief stint with the club last season and started the year slowly when he joined the Angels this season. But since that slow start, he has been one of the best starting pitchers in the American League since July 1.

A MEANDERING PATH

Silseth did not enter pro ball as a top-ranked prospect. He probably hardly registered as a prospect! Silseth played his high school ball in Farmington, New Mexico, and wasn’t drafted. So he packed his bags and went to pitch for the University of Tennessee.

As a freshman he did a decent job on the mound, going 1-1 with a 4.35 ERA and 1.016 WHIP, appearing in 18 games and making two starts. But Silseth then transferred to the College of Southern Nevada in 2020 – only to have the season whipped out thanks to Covid, and then transferred to Arizona for the 2021 season. With the Wildcats he was 8-1 on the mound, but he had a 5.55 ERA and 1.449 WHIP but did have a 9.7 K/9 rate.

Despite his overall numbers, the Angels were intrigued by Silseth and selected him in the 11th round of the 2021 draft and even paid him an above-slot bonus of $485,00. The decision to draft Silseth appears to have been a good one for the Angels. Only one year later the hurler was seeing action in the majors.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Top Fantasy Keepers – Zack Gelof

August 12, 2023 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Keepers, Keeper Leagues | 1 Comment

by: Jakkers

If you watch the Oakland Athletics on TV or in person, you probably are thinking to yourself that the team is already playing in Las Vegas. The attendance at A’s games is about right for a Triple-A game (actually, it is probably smaller and in a worse stadium) and the club has seemingly called up its entire Triple-A team, which plays its home games in Las Vegas.

I previously highlighted two Oakland players in Tyler Soderstrom and Mason Miller. I held off on talking about Zack Gelof in order to see him get a few more at-bats. With Gelof now approaching 100 plate appearances, it is time to talk about the rookie second baseman.

His Background

Gelof played high school ball in the baseball hotbed of Rehoboth Beach. If you don’t know where that is, I didn’t either. It is in Delaware, and it is on the beach. Proving that scouts can find you no matter where you play baseball, Cleveland drafted Gelof out of high school in the 39th round of the 2018 draft.

Not surprisingly, Gelof chose not to sign with the now Guardians and instead chose to play at Viginia. As a freshman, he showed what he could do by slashing .313/.377/.397 with two homers, 32 RBI and 16 steals in 56 games. The 2020 season saw Gelof get off to a great start, slashing .349/.469/.746 (yes, a .746 slugging percentage) with five home runs, 18 RBI and four steals through 18 games. But then COVID came along and shut the college season down, ending what was looking to be a breakout season for Gelof.

In 2021, Gelof couldn’t quite match what he was doing during his sophomore year, but he still had a solid season, slashing .312/.393/.485 with nine dingers, 41 RBI and 12 steals in 63 games. Thought to be a possible first round selection, Gelof fell into the second round, which is when Oakland selected him and wasted no time in getting him used to professional baseball.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Top Dynasty Keepers – Go Guardians!

August 5, 2023 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Keepers, Keeper Leagues | 1 Comment

by: Jakkers

Everyone knows about the Road to the Show baseball players travel. But what you have to remember is there is not just one road to take to get to The Show.

This week the Top Dynasty Keeper spotlight falls on Tanner Bibee and Gavin Williams – two players who took those different roads to both wind up in Cleveland.

The Overlooked Draft Choice Road

Bibee is having an outstanding rookie season for the Guardians, and it is somewhat surprising when you realize where he was drafted. Unlike many top pitching prospects, Bibee was not a first- or second-round selection. Instead, he was drafted in the fifth round of the 2021 draft out of Cal State Fullerton. And Bibee headed to Fullerton because he wasn’t even drafted out of high school.

While at Fullerton, Bibee had a decent, but not spectacular, career as he actually had a losing record and a career 3.82 ERA. That is good in the majors, but not very eye popping if you are a college pitcher hoping to have a major league career. Even more pedestrian was his career 7.8 K/9 rate. Pitchers with those numbers are the ones who are drafted in the fifth round or lower. But pitchers with those numbers also don’t enter the season ranked as a top 100 prospect by Baseball America, MLB Pipeline and Baseball Prospectus only two years after being drafted.

The Look at Me Draft Choice Road

This is the road we are used to seeing top pitching prospects take. Williams was actually drafted out of high school in the 30th round by Tampa Bay in 2017, but he decided not to sign and instead attend East Carolina.

Once in Greeneville, N.C., Williams was used more as a reliever his first three seasons until making 12 starts out of 15 appearances in 2021. That season he dominated opponents to the tune of a 10-1 record with a 1.88 ERA and 0.959 WHIP. In 81.1 innings, he struck out 130 batters for a 14.4 K/9 rate.

The Guardians loved what they saw from Williams and selected him in the first round with the 23rd overall pick – four rounds ahead of Bibee. The selection was a wise one as Williams entered the season ranked as the No. 20 prospect in Baseball America, 42nd by MLB Pipeline and 26th by Baseball Prospectus.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Top Dynasty Keepers – Soderstrom And Miller

July 29, 2023 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Keepers, Keeper Leagues | 8 Comments

by: Jakkers

Another work week is in the books, so let’s start the weekend off with another dive into Top Dynasty Keepers.

As I mentioned last week, this time of year is when you start to dig a little deeper to find some gems who will help you perhaps this year but with more of the future in mind as well. That leads me to the two players on the Oakland Athletics who I want to feature this week – catcher Tyler Soderstrom and right-hand pitcher Mason Miller.

Soderstrom, the top prospect for the A’s, was recently called up from the minors by Oakland, making his debut on July 14th. It should not be surprising for me to mention Soderstrom as a Top Dynasty Keeper. He is a former first round draft pick, selected 26th overall in 2020 out of high school.

Since signing with the A’s, he has climbed the prospect rankings and was ranked 35th by Baseball America, 39th by MLB Pipeline and 78th by Baseball Prospectus. Despite his prospect credentials, he is currently rostered in only 11% of Yahoo leagues, 1.8% of ESPN leagues and 45% of Fantrax leagues.

Meanwhile, Miller, considered the No. 2 prospect, has actually been with Oakland most of the year – just on the disabled list. Making his debut April 19th, Miller made four starts before landing on the Injured List with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

This is the first time for me to recommend a player who is currently injured, but when looking for that next diamond in the rough, you need to look everywhere. Because of his current status, Miller is pretty available to immediately add to your roster as he is rostered in 12% of Yahoo leagues, 3% in ESPN and 46% in Fantrax leagues.

Enough with the banter, let’s take a look at Soderstrom and Miller.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Top Dynasty Keepers – Manning And Skubal

July 22, 2023 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Keepers, Keeper Leagues | 8 Comments

by: Jakkers

After a needed two-week break from life, I’m back and ready to go with another edition of Top Dynasty Keepers.

Let’s be honest, at this point of the season the actual TOP dynasty keepers are long gone. They were gobbled up in fantasy drafts or auctions at the start of this season or last year or the year before that depending on your dynasty league. If a top prospect was still out there this season, they have likely now been snagged off the waiver wire.

But that doesn’t mean there still aren’t good players to go after – you just have to be a little more discerning and probably have to dig a little deeper into the mud to pull out a few gems here and there. But that is the fun part of dynasty leagues, finding those players who may or not help you this year but become key players over the next two or three years.

Two players who I think can both help you this year and beyond are a pair of Tiger hurlers who have had their careers slightly derailed due to injuries. Those two pitchers are 25-year-old Matt Manning and 26-year-old Tarik Skubal.

Please, blog, may I have some more?