Keeper league rankings are here (the 2014 Rankings can be found here), and I am going to absolutely shock the world with my number one. This is all about zagging when others zig. You gotta get out in front of the pack with advanced statistics and clever strategory. Sometimes you have to be bold and go against the grain to get that competitive edg…what’s that? Everybody else has Mike Trout number one too? It’s common sense? Well…crap. These are my personal rankings and take into account the 2015-2019 seasons. Don’t start flipping through your calendar – that’s 5 years. It means the senior citizen players are really going have to provide some nice statistics in the first year or two to rank highly. It also means players who are in or, better yet, just entering their prime get a bump. It’s not a hybrid list, so no prospects or Cuban rookies…sorry. It’s also not set for any specific pricing or league settings so assume a standard 5×5 roto format with no penalties to keep a player. Basically it’s a ranking of what I think these players will be worth over the next 5 years as a whole. It’s that simple. Here are my top 100 keepers for 2015 and beyond…
But first, a few thoughts…
- Had this been a hybrid list that included prospects, these guys would have been sprinkled in the Top 100: Jorge Soler, Kris Bryant, Byron Buxton, Yasmany Tomas, Carlos Correa, Addison Russell, Miguel Sano, Joey Gallo, Rusney Castillo, and Corey Seager.
- I don’t place much value on catchers or closers in keeper leagues. That’s evident in only ranking a handful of them, but I thought it was worth noting.
- Re: 2B – I’m high on guys like Baez, Wong, and Odor while low on players like Pedroia and Kinsler. It was a tough position to rank in general. The latter two are solid for the next year or so, but I want to get in on the younger guys that could have an impact at that position before there’s a changing of the guard. I am a believer in Baez as a great fantasy option despite the strikeouts. Basically he’s boom or bust, and I’m going with boom.
- There are a lot of great arms like Richards, Arrieta, etc. that didn’t even make the cut thanks to my preference to keep hitters over pitchers. That said, there are a bunch still littered throughout the list. You can see “tiers” of arms and within those I am basically saying it’s a coin flip. Personally if I had ten keepers to play with, I’d probably only protect one or two pitchers no matter who they were.
- It’s worth mentioning again…this is just one list. With all the different league settings out there, you need to adapt them to your team’s needs and window of contention. Ages listed are as of Opening Day 2015.
Rank | Player | Pos. | Team | Age |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mike Trout | OF | LAA | 23 |
2 | Giancarlo Stanton | OF | MIA | 25 |
3 | Bryce Harper | OF | WAS | 22 |
4 | Paul Goldschmidt | 1B | ARI | 27 |
5 | Anthony Rendon | 3B | WAS | 24 |
6 | Andrew McCutchen | OF | PIT | 28 |
7 | Miguel Cabrera | 1B | DET | 31 |
8 | Clayton Kershaw | SP | LAD | 27 |
9 | Troy Tulowitzki | SS | COL | 30 |
10 | Anthony Rizzo | 1B | CHC | 25 |
11 | Jose Abreu | 1B | CWS | 28 |
12 | Yasiel Puig | OF | LAD | 24 |
13 | Carlos Gomez | OF | MIL | 29 |
14 | Adam Jones | OF | BAL | 29 |
15 | Justin Upton | OF | SD | 27 |
16 | Josh Donaldson | 3B | TOR | 29 |
17 | Chris Sale | SP | CWS | 26 |
18 | Madison Bumgarner | SP | SF | 25 |
19 | Felix Hernandez | SP | SEA | 28 |
20 | Stephen Strasburg | SP | WAS | 26 |
21 | Nolan Arenado | 3B | COL | 23 |
22 | Manny Machado | 3B | BAL | 22 |
23 | Ian Desmond | SS | WAS | 29 |
24 | Jose Altuve | 2B | HOU | 24 |
25 | Starling Marte | OF | PIT | 26 |
26 | Michael Brantley | OF | CLE | 27 |
27 | Hanley Ramirez | SS | BOS | 31 |
28 | Jose Fernandez | SP | MIA | 22 |
29 | Kyle Seager | 3B | SEA | 27 |
30 | Matt Harvey | SP | NYM | 26 |
31 | Masahiro Tanaka | SP | NYY | 26 |
32 | Edwin Encarnacion | 1B | TOR | 32 |
33 | Todd Frazier | 3B | CIN | 29 |
34 | Evan Longoria | 3B | TB | 29 |
35 | Yu Darvish | SP | TEX | 28 |
36 | Corey Kluber | SP | CLE | 28 |
37 | Jordan Zimmermann | SP | WAS | 28 |
38 | Carlos Gonzalez | OF | COL | 29 |
39 | Xander Bogaerts | SS | BOS | 22 |
40 | Javier Baez | 2B | CHC | 22 |
41 | Jason Heyward | OF | STL | 25 |
42 | George Springer | OF | HOU | 25 |
43 | Gregory Polanco | OF | PIT | 23 |
44 | Christian Yelich | OF | MIA | 23 |
45 | Corey Dickerson | OF | COL | 25 |
46 | Buster Posey | C/1B | SF | 28 |
47 | Jason Kipnis | 2B | CLE | 28 |
48 | Brian Dozier | 2B | MIN | 27 |
49 | Johnny Cueto | SP | CIN | 29 |
50 | David Price | SP | DET | 29 |
51 | Starlin Castro | SS | CHC | 25 |
52 | Jose Bautista | OF | TOR | 34 |
53 | Robinson Cano | 2B | SEA | 32 |
54 | Max Scherzer | SP | WAS | 30 |
55 | Jon Lester | SP | CHC | 31 |
56 | Zack Greinke | SP | LAD | 31 |
57 | Cole Hamels | SP | PHI | 31 |
58 | Jeff Samardzija | SP | CWS | 30 |
59 | Billy Hamilton | OF | CIN | 24 |
60 | Nick Castellanos | 3B | DET | 23 |
61 | Gerrit Cole | SP | PIT | 24 |
62 | Julio Teheran | SP | ATL | 24 |
63 | Sonny Gray | SP | OAK | 25 |
64 | Alex Cobb | SP | TB | 27 |
65 | Wil Myers | OF | SD | 24 |
66 | Kole Calhoun | OF | LAA | 27 |
67 | Mookie Betts | OF | BOS | 22 |
68 | Kolten Wong | 2B | STL | 24 |
69 | Freddie Freeman | 1B | ATL | 25 |
70 | Eric Hosmer | 1B | KC | 25 |
71 | Jonathan Lucroy | C | MIL | 28 |
72 | Yordano Ventura | SP | KC | 23 |
73 | Kevin Gausman | SP | BAL | 23 |
74 | Carlos Carrasco | SP | CLE | 28 |
75 | Yoenis Cespedes | OF | DET | 29 |
76 | Jay Bruce | OF | CIN | 28 |
77 | JD Martinez | OF | DET | 27 |
78 | Jean Segura | SS | MIL | 25 |
79 | Elvis Andrus | SS | TEX | 26 |
80 | Marcell Ozuna | OF | MIA | 24 |
81 | Avisail Garcia | OF | CWS | 23 |
82 | Oswaldo Arcia | OF | MIN | 23 |
83 | Alex Wood | SP | ATL | 24 |
84 | Zack Wheeler | SP | NYM | 25 |
85 | Marcus Stroman | SP | TOR | 23 |
86 | Dee Gordon | 2B | LAD | 26 |
87 | Chris Davis | 1B | BAL | 29 |
88 | Carlos Santana | 1B | CLE | 28 |
89 | Prince Fielder | 1B | TEX | 30 |
90 | Devin Mesoraco | C | CIN | 26 |
91 | Ryan Braun | OF | MIL | 31 |
92 | Matt Kemp | OF | LAD | 30 |
93 | Hunter Pence | OF | SF | 31 |
94 | A.J. Pollock | OF | ARI | 27 |
95 | Chris Carter | 1B/DH | HOU | 28 |
96 | Rougned Odor | 2B | TEX | 22 |
97 | Jurickson Profar | 2B | TEX | 22 |
98 | Jose Reyes | SS | TOR | 31 |
99 | Adrian Beltre | 3B | TEX | 36 |
100 | Joey Votto | 1B | CIN | 31 |
Just missed: Jacoby Ellsbury, Mark Trumbo, Leonys Martin, Jedd Gyorko, Garrett Richards, Jake Arrieta, Ian Kinsler, Adrian Gonzalez, Tyson Ross, David Wright, Alex Gordon, Dustin Pedroia.
little suprised to see profar up there still. he was an elite prospect, but panned so far in the bigs. The also always appeared closer to a .280/10hr/20sb type of player, and even at 2nd that is not much above replacement level.
Yup, for a 5-year value I’m still on board with him
@james:
To be fair, he doesn’t have much of a sample size in the bigs and was only 20 for that time period, I believe. His injury last year might derail his development, but hard to give up on a one time pretty unanimous top prospect in baseball so soon.
He’s probably going to spend another year in the minors, most likely a trade candidate with Odor looking pretty good blocking the only available IF spot in the near future.
I was surprised to see him make the list, but more surprised by Chris Carter just because his damage to average and low run totals can hurt his benefits in the HR category. Also, he usually struggles a bit out of the gate, making him a tough guy to hold onto early in the season at the risk of missing the FA guys that come out of nowhere. (JD Martinez, Dozier, etc)
I don’t see Carter as that far off of Crush Davis, but I get where you’re coming from
Man, you feel very strongly about my team then…
Starting with 2 Stanton,5 Rendon,9 Tulo,11 Abreu,17 Sale,37 Zimmermann,57 Hamels on my team (with Wainwright for one more season) and 97 Profar in my minor league que.
Interested to where you would slot Kris Bryant. Not sure if I want to pay the high draft pick on an unproven commodity since I’m obviously going for the win this year, but his minor league numbers profile to be a top 20 keeper, IMO. I would slot him above Donaldson in the 3B spot (although, I would probably slot Arenado and Machado above Donaldson also since they provide better rounded numbers)
Out of the minor leaguers you listed, Gallo, Tomas, and Bryant will be the only ones available. I rank them Bryant, Tomas, and then Gallo in terms of overall hitting ability. Since my league has a ridiculous 10 hitting categories, well rounded hitters have more value than the power only guys like Chris Carter and Gallo.
Thoughts?
that’s a great team…
I’d agree with your ranking of Bryant, Tomas, Gallo in your situation…although I have Gallo ahead of Tomas in my straight prospect rankings.
Bryant’s a top 50 keeper in my mind, top 20 might be a little generous but that’s just me
@Mike: Yeah, I was looking top 20 just based on the rankings of the 3Bs on the list, but you’re right, I’d probably rank him lower also.
Tanaka is a risk as high as 26, with the arm woes from last season. Not sure how many innings he threw in Japan, wondering if the increase in innings state side might hurt him for a year or two more until his body gets acquainted? Again, I’m just assuming his innings in Japan weren’t in the 200s, but I could very well be wrong.
Tanaka was tough to rank, but I still like him, Harvey, and JFer long term
Hi, thanks for the list, good stuff. Question for you, in keeper auction leagues, I have noticed that the auction prices seem to go significantly higher than 1st drafts (presumably b/c players keep the cheaper “value” picks from previous years like Abreu at $10 -15, Rendon at $5, etc instead of current value of $30+, so they have more $ to spend per player than 1st drafts). Do you guys publish auction redraft values (with adjustable # of keepers) to account for this? Thx, Bolt
Mike,
Would you rather have cutch, e5, Tulo, Stanton or Goldy, Stanton, Donaldson, Tulo going forward? All keepers.
wow, both are really solid…so really it’s Cutch/E5 vs Goldy/Donaldson
I’d lean Goldy side but it’s really a coin flip between awesome players
Pretty much brother. We have a funky rule where only 3 players can be kept more than a maximum of 3 years. Right now my max guys are Tulo, Stanton and Cutch. If I trade Cutch I would be trading for the year younger Goldy who I think has immense power upside which could win me the HR category with Stanton, The thing about trading away E5 is that he becomes a max player next year and Donaldson has two more years of eligibility before I would have to made a decision on him. [email protected]Mike:
cool, so yeah that swings it even more towards the Goldy side in my mind
But what would be your thoughts about this season? I feel getting rid of Cutch and E5 would provide a possible deficit at power. What are you projecting Goldy and Donaldson HR wise this [email protected]Mike:
I think they all have 2015 value too. Both Goldy and Donaldson could hit 30 homers
No Mookie Betts?
67
I’ll be keeping Stanton but have to choose only 2 of the following w/ (auction costs to keep)
Dickerson ($11)
Betts ($6)
Bryant ($7)
Fraizer ($11)
Alex Wood ($7)
Arrieta ($7)
Frazier and Dickerson for me. Betts over Dickerson if you want to save the five bucks.
I have these guys pencilied in as my keepers:
Cabrera (Rd 1)
McCutchen (2)
Gomez (7)
Bruce (8)
Freeman (13)
Springer (14)
Wainwright (19)
Alex Gordon (20)
Rendon (25)
Rusney Castillo (26)
I also own these guys: Avisail Garcia (whom you have on this list while Gordon just missed), Sano, Gallo, and Addison Russell (all of whom you said would be somewhere in this top 100 if they met the criteria). These guys could be kept instead of anyone on the above list.
In a ten team league with 4 OFs, and 2 UTIL slots (so I can start 6 outfielders), would you keep the guys I’m planning to keep? I know Wainwright didn’t make the list, but people keep pitching in this league and I think i’d be in trouble if I don’t hang on to him (especially at that value, a remnant of the fact that this league formed when he was out from TJ). Maybe I’m just paranoid, though.
thanks!
I can’t argue with Waino in the 19th round…my list doesn’t account for prices to keep.
I don’t see anything wrong with the guys you are currently keeping for what they’re costing you. You don’t really need to mess with prospects if there’s no farm and only ten protects.
@Ralph: Assuming that you have at least 10 teams, you’re getting Waino in the 180-190 pick range. I’m sure that’s a good enough value for a wild card guy like that. If you’re willing to wait a season or two, I like Sano/Gallo/Russell/Garcia (in that order depending on how long you’re willing to wait for them to come up)
In my team mentioned above, I’m only keeping Waino because I traded away my other options last year (Dee Gordon, Votto, Calhoun). I would prefer to keep about 90% of the guys on this list instead of him as 6 keepers (Rendon and Abreu are minor league callups) to mitigate risk, but I dealt myself this hand. At the time I made the trades, Waino didn’t show signs of struggle yet..
@CMUTIMMAH: Yeah, given the roster I have, I’m obviously set up to compete this year. We do have 3 “NA” slots where we can stash MiLB guys, but I’m sure I can draft one of these prospects in the last round or two then add others once the draft is over — you know, move my drafted guy to an NA slot, add an NA guy, move him over, draft another one, then add my MR/speculative saves guy.
based on the projections, it looks like I’m keeping the right guys for this year. A case could be made for Avisail vs. Gordon (and I might make that switch, actually). Steamer gives Avisail the slight (SLIGHT) edge in HRs, RBI, and SB, but Gordon a decent edge in R, OBP, and SLG, which our league uses instead of AVG.
I think Avisail over Gordon is fine
I have decided to keep Arrieta as my final keeper along with the following keepers and contracted players: Tulo, Stanton, Harper, Strasburg, Posey, Hosmer, and Rendon. ( I cannot replace the people on this list with others.)
I chose Arrieta over Frazier because I only have 2 picks in the first 7 rounds and I can keep him at $5. Any attempt to persuade me otherwise? Frazier would be $10.
Thanks for the thoughts.
I’d typically take bats over arms with everything else equal. I think Frazier is a solid keep at ten bucks. His steals may regress, but I’m not convinced his power will, and that’s solid at 3B.
I’m in a 10-team, Roto 5×5 league that allows each team to keep 8 players on 3-year deals (or players coming off of their rookie or 2nd seasons on 5-year deals). Standard lineup (C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, 3 OF, 5 SP, 3 RP), but we do have both DH and U slots.
Thus far I have settled on the following 6 keepers:
Hitters:
Trout (Year 1)
M. Cabrera (Year 3)
Altuve (Year 1)
Rendon (Year 1, on a 5-year deal)
Cespedes (Year 1)
Pitchers:
Scherzer (Year 3)
So I have 2 slots left, and need to choose from:
Cobb (Year 1)
Teheran (Year 2, on a 5-year deal)
S. Castro (Year 1)
Mesoraco (Year 1)
Chris Davis (Year 1)
Bruce (Year 1)
A. Wood (Year 1)
Right now I am leaning towards Cobb/Castro, thinking that I can grab EITHER Teheran or A. Wood in the draft as my SP3 (I am a Braves fan, and like both pitchers…but would never want both, given the state of the club).
All thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
@Ryan: Oh, and I also have Arenando and Machado. You may very well prefer one of those over Castro or Cespedes…but I am likely set at 3B for years with Rendon, and the OF pickings in the draft will be slim.
Castro, Bruce
Great post man! I’ve been looking forward to these rankings. Just got an offer today in a 12 TM h2h pts. Keeper (keep 12). My Kimbrel/6th Rd Pick for his Robertson/1st Rd Pick. Do I take it?
Thanks!
@Raftman: And just because I can…. Here is my dynasty team. I really want to win this year (thinking I might call it after this year). Do you think I have a chance? Any moves I should make? I have the 2nd Pick in the Prospect draft and will probably take Tomas/Castillo.
12 Team H2H Dynasty
c- Ramos
1b- Cabrera
2B- Kendrick
3B – Machado
SS – Bogaerts
OF – Harper, Heyward, Polanco
UT – Arenado
B – Prado, Craig, Belt, Segura
Minors – McGuire
SP – Gausman, Cobb, DeGrom, Miller, J. Zimmerman, Cole, C. Martinez
RP – Allen, Doolittle
Minors – Glasnow, Kingham, Wisler, Zimmer
team looks good! I’d probably hold Kimbrel
I have to choose two of Billy Hamilton, Mookie Betts, and Jorge Soler. Based on the ranks, Hamilton and Betts are the no-brainers but I can’t help but be intrigued by Soler and his potential. Would I be crazy to keep Soler and Betts and let Hamilton go?
@Matt:
It depends on the league settings but I prefer Soler and Hamilton to Betts.
agree with Robby. Had he been eligible, Soler would have slotted ahead of Hamilton
Killing me with Bumgarner up there. I have to pick 2 of he, Rockies CarGo and Frazier and they all worry me (and don’t want to keep SP).
Damn Beltre is old.
You’d have to force me at gun point to keep e.Andrus where he is instead of closing my eyes and pointing at whatever SS is left to choose from 100+ picks later in a snake draft!!!
I hear ya on Andrus. He and Segura were tricky to rank. If you’re only keeping one arm, nothing wrong with making it Bum, but with everything else equal I prefer to keep bats. Depends a little on how many guys you can protect, too.
Nice list, Mike. I will be referring to this for my draft.
Prospect question. Based on your New Blood Prospect list, these are the top players still available in my draft (I have the 8th pick): Moncada, Tomas, Schwarber, Zimmer, Conforto, Gordon, Rondon, Finnegan, Olivera.
Where would you slot guys like Crawford, Norris, Winker, Pompey, Souza, Peraza (also available but not on your list)? Would it be too much to ask you to rank the top 8 for 2015 production, I know that’s a lot of guys? It doesn’t have to be scientific, just your gut reaction.
thanks! for 2015 my gut ranks them Pompey/Souza, Peraza, Norris.
overall: Moncada, Crawford, Tomas, Pompey, Castillo, Winker, Peraza, Souza
I actually have a post in the hopper that will be the top 30 prospects for 2015 only. Should be up on Sunday.
@Mike: Perfect timing! Our prospect draft starts on Monday.
glad I could help
Thoughts on sending Altuve/Freeman for Kershaw?
Put my keepers at
Greinke
Kershaw
Victor Martinez
Desmond
Arenado
or am I better off dropping Martinez and keeping Freeman/Altuve and skipping out on Kershaw?
sounds fair. I’m not big on keeping two arms with only five kept though.
Nice work! Your rankings seem to validate my 2 year rebuild for the long term…12 tm 5×5 roto..rostering Trout, Rendon, Kershaw, Abreu, Arenado, Machado, Altuve, HanRam, Kluber, Bogaerts, Baez, Greinke, Cobb, JMart and Santana in your top 100, and I can keep them for at least the next 5 years. My question regards Santana. With his lost catcher eligibility I’ve been contemplating making a play for a top option to pair with Salvador. What would a reasonable package for Posey look like to you with Santana as a primary piece? His owner might be looking to build for the future and I’ve got guys like Singleton, Sano, Dahl, Mazara, Nick Williams, Mondesi, Bird, and Lamb on the farm among others. Players in our league are $1 years 1-3 and half of their auction value in years 4-6, making young guys pretty valuable. Thanks for the advice!
thanks! I like Santana, but I could see moving him with either Bird or Lamb to land Posey
So I can keep 6 guys at a declining scale. Each yeah you have to sacrifice your draft pick the round before he was kept in previously. So someone you draft in the 20th round can be kept the next year in the 19th, then the 18th round the year after and so on. Please evaluate who you would keep:
Jose Abreu Can be kept in round 14
George Springer Can be kept in round 25
Christian Yelich Can be kept in round 22
I think those 3 are obvious…as for the other 3 I cant decide who:
Kris Bryant Round 12
Jose Bautista Round 2
Jorge Soler Round 9
Julio Teheran Round 9
David Price Round 5
Cory Kluber Round 4
Javier Baez Round 20
Who would you keep? Thanks!
I like Baez, Soler and Bautista
@Mike: You dont think thats too OF heavy with Springer, Yelich, Soler and Bautista and Abreu at 1B and CI?
nah, I mean if you could go Bryant instead of Soler. It’s not a huge difference IMO
mike curious to read your thoughts on this. 16 tm keeper we keep 8 of which 2 must be pitchers.
so far decided on the following:
Trout, Goldy, Brantley, Machado, Sonny Gray, Gerrit Cole
need two more out of the following:
Segura, Avisail garcia, Maikel Franco, Yordano Ventura, Syndergaard, Addison Russell
syndergaard and Russell can be redrafted as most teams don’t keep prospects.
I lean towards Segura and Ventura, but could easily swap Ventura and Garcia. Franco could be special, but I also have machado so can throw him back with confidence that I could most likely get him back.So i guess it is really just down to which two out of Segura, garcia, and Ventura?
another reason as to why i lean Ventura over Garcia is that we start 5 SPs 3 RPs and 2 Ps.
i also pick third overallso I can easily grab another hitter and Pitch with my first two picks
Ventura and Segura sounds fine
How close are Machado and Desmond? I can only keep 5 in my roto league so if I follow your order to a tee, Desmond gets left out for the starred guys, right?
A. Jones-OF*
A. Rizzo-1B*
I. Desmond-SS
B. Harper-OF*
C. Gonzalez-OF
T. Frazier-1B/3B
M. Machado-3B*
H. Kendrick-2B
C. Crisp-OF
K. Davis-OF
R. Davis-OF
J. Peralta-SS
J. Baez-2B/SS
J. Pederson-OF
D. Navarro-C
D. Norris-C
R. Weeks-2B
R. Odor-2B
A. Avila-C
JP Arencibia-C/1B
M. Scherzer-SP
A. Bumgarner-SP*
A. Cobb-SP
A. Samardzija-SP
J. Arrieta-SP
Z. Britton-RP
M. Fiers-SP
K. Gausman-SP
T. Cingrani-SP
And here’s my h2h league where we keep 10:
J. Altuve-2B*
J. Bautista-OF*
J. Bruce-OF
C. Davis-1B
F. Freeman-1B*
B. Harper-OF*
T. Hunter-OF
M. Machado-3B*
D. Mesoraco-C
Y. Puig-OF*
K. Seager-3B*
J. Segura-SS
O. Taveras-OF
T. Cingrani-SP
J. Arrieta-SP
A. Cobb-SP*
A. Samardzija-SP*
M. Fiers-SP
K. Gausman-SP
B. Colon-SP
D. Fister-SP
F. Liriano-SP
M. Pineda-SP
D. Salazar-SP
J. Teheran-SP*
Y. Ventura-SP
M. Wacha-SP
H. Alvarez-SP
Thanks again Mike!
Anytime…they are pretty darn close. If you’re trying to win now, Desmond’s got the edge.
How would you rank the top 10 prospects you have above?
within this list, I would rank them as I have them above, but on my overall list it changes a bit
@Mike: Soler over Bryant?
yup, by a hair since Soler is already up. I could see Soler outperforming Bryant this year anyway
Mike thanks for this list, of those listed which one(s) rise the fastest this season?
no problem…probably somebody like Profar
I’m in a deep re-draft league that forces you to draft a minor leaguer. If last year the prize was Springer or Javier Baez, who are you looking at this year to have an impact?
Bryant or Buxton
I’m torn on who to keep in my 12 team H2H points league. I can keep 8 major leaguers, but the final few spots are close calls.
There are no salaries in play here, we can keep guys for as long as we want.
I have some definite keepers: Trout, McCutchen, Miguel Cabrera, Fernandez, Darvish and Price.
That leaves only 2 spots for Reyes, J.Upton, CarGo, Wheeler, deGrom, Carrasco and Hughes.
There’s a prospect element to the league, which is how I’ve been able to get a lot of those big names. The league has been around since 01.
My thinking on the guys left for the final 2 spots ….. but which 2 would you keep and why?
Reyes (544 points last year) – Still consistently one of the better SS options, but would be my oldest keeper (32 next year). Injuries an issue in the past.
Gonzalez (205) – If I could count on even 140 games a year from him, he would be a lock to keep. But injuries are a major concern here, enough of one to make me question keeping him.
Upton (524) – Entering a walk year and his age-27 season, which could portend good things. But he’s now playing in Petco, also more inconsistent than you’d like in a H2H league.
Wheeler (460) – Seems on his way to becoming the upper-tier starter he was long touted to be, though walks and struggles vs lefties remain hurdles.
deGrom (430) – Late bloomer won NL ROY with terrific numbers that seem mostly legit.
Hughes (539) – Getting out of NY did wonders. Can he do this again?
Carrasco (381) – Former top prospect was one of the absolute best starters in the game from mid-August on. Small sample size concerns here.
Upton and Cargo
Hey Mike, I’m in a standard roto +ops&qs/12 team/6 keepers based on previous year’s draft position. Here are my potential keepers that are on your top 100 list including the round I would give up for the upcoming draft.
6. McCutchen (1)
11. Abreu (7)
32. Encarnacion (2)
39. Bogaerts (22)
43. Polanco (20)
61. Cole (9)
64. Cobb (6)
96. Odor (22)
And here are other guys on last year’s team not on your top 100 plus the round they’d occupy for the upcoming draft.
Gordon (5)
Carpenter (18)
Raj Davis (19)
DeGrom (22)
Hughes (22)
I anticipate that this league will keep on keeping on for several years. My inclination was to go:
McCutchen (1)
E5 (2)
Abreu (7)
beyond those three, I’m not sure….Cole at 9 seems good, and I am a Pirates fan….DeGrom or Hughes at 22 seems like really good value.
I think with the players I have I can play for today while still building for tomorrow. I can keep six…would really like to know in what direction you would go. Thanks!
Cole, Polanco, Bogey plus the 3 you mentioned
Great list Mike,
You seem pretty high on Gausman (ranked ahead of Carrasco, Wood, Wheeler, Stroman), can you elaborate why you like him? He’s gotten some mixed reviews from the fantasy pieces I’ve read and I’m really having trouble trying to peg his ceiling/floor. Thanks!
thanks! I think he is a slider away from being a #1/#2 starter for several years
for that same 30 man league, which side of this you like better
f-her 20.5 million per till end of 2016
kang .4 mil per year till end of 2018
t.sparks (CIN) .4 mil per till end of 2018
2016 1st rounder (this team is probably just around middle of pack
for
d.holland 6.431 mil per year till end of 2016
morton 9.5 per year till end of 2016
freeman 6.414 per year till end of 2016
l.diaz (MIN) .4 mil per till end of 2018
Felix side
I can keep 8 players with no costs/draft pick compensation, I won my league last year, trying to win again this year but considering trying to group young talent together to dominate. Keeping so far : Cutch, Goldy, J up, Bautista, Rizzo, Hanley and two of either Price/MadBum/Cole/Soler/Frazier/cobb
Common sense is telling me Price and Madbum but I really want to try to keep Cole. Considering trading Price or Madbum for the First pick in this years draft (97th overall). I currently dont have picks in Round 1 or 3 this year. Any thoughts on who to keep and/or who to trade? Thanks
I’d actually keep Bum and one of Soler/Frazier
Hey Mike, thanks for the list. Does this mean you would keep jose fernandez over freeman, c davis, etc., this season?
Also, since you do prospects, you like Brandon Drury or Rio Ruiz more?
Thanks man
No problem. Sort of, but I would look at it more as I think he’ll have more value over the next five years as opposed to a decision for this year only (if that makes sense) When healthy, I think he’s a top ten arm.
I’d take Ruiz.
Tough roto keeper 12 teamer. I keep 16 and lose 8. Please help me select 8 to drop. Gut wrenching decision! ! Willing to gamble on a few like Baez. Thanks so much!
A Alcantara J Baez R Castillo K Davis C Dickerson J Gyorko S Marte A McCutchen W Myers J Pederson W Rosario J Segura J Singleton Justin Upton Christian Yelich Trevor Bauer A Cashner Ken Giles Kenley Jansen Chris Sale J Samardzija M Stroman J Teheran Michael Wacha
Cutch, Marte, Sale, Baez, Dickerson, Yelich, Upton, Segura
@Mike: @Mike: sorry I meant I have to “drop” 8. Keep 16.
no worries…
Singleton, Rosario, Giles, Alcantara, Pederson, Wacha, Bauer, K Davis
Normailly, I’d want Pederson and Alky but you’ve got a bunch of OF already
I love this. I have a little problem in my league though. I am trying to t rade Rosenthal because I’m not going to keep him, but doing so would require me to actually keep him since we can’t trade non keepers. My question to you is is it worth it to risk not keeping Gausman in order to trade Rosie and some draft picks for Dee Gordon? OBP and QS (and OPS and H but not really relevant) league w/ 15 teams. Keeper obv
thanks! Sounds tricky…I’d keep Gausman, Rosenthal, and your picks
ESPN Standard 5×5 Head to Head, 1 util spot
Pick 3 from: Trout, Goldschmidt, Rizzo, Aerando, Bogaerts, Wong
Trout and Goldy are givens, debating on who my 3rd should be
Rizzo
Big Mike gets it done! Great stuff.
Whats your opinion on protests/vetoes in keeper leagues? Baez got dealt away for peanuts in my keeper league, for Max who isnt really worth keeping at his price and J-Zim whos only a marginal keeper too.
I didnt even know Baez was available and then this crap happens, other owners are peeved too. You of the mindset that owners can do what they want or should dodgy trades be put to vote for possible veto?
thanks!
I don’t like vetoes. In this case, Baez could be a bust, so really it’s not vetoable no matter what the return was. If the guy traded Baez for Scherzer and Jordan Zimmermann, that’s not peanuts and he actually did really well on the return.
If I have an owner in my league that’s MIA or making bad moves on purpose, I just replace the owner. If I am in a league where a bunch of the owners are screwballs or the league is poorly run, it’s on me to walk away from it.
@Mike: It was actually D Gordon and Scherzer but its a contracts auction league bud so the only value they provide is if they can be kept below market price. Gordon could be kept for min $7 next year and Max a whopping $27, I guess Gordon does have some value (though im not a fan in OBP leagues) but I think Max is worthless here.
Plus prospects can be v valuable in our league so thats why some people have some gripes, really its just Dee for Baez. Plus kinda peeves me when people trade players for peanuts and dont let others know they are available first. I could easily have trumped that offer.
Still probably sounds like sour grapes so ill leave it now haha.
gotcha…contracts can put a different spin on things.
No worries…I like to “check in” with owners every once in a while to see if there’s anybody they are looking to move. Sometimes you can beat the pack to a player that way if folks aren’t using trade blocks or something like that. You never know where a simple email might lead.
16 team h2h dynasty, keep 25. So far, Fielder, Gordon, Seager, Bruce, Mesoraco, JD Martinez, Moss, Polanco, Baez, Arcia and pitchers would be Kershaw, Strasburg, Kluber, Chapman, Arrieta, Robertson, Bailey, Richards, Fister, Britton. That’s 20, so I need five of Austin Jackson, Rajai Davis, Brock Holt (eligible at every position), Jake Lamb, DJ Peterson, Almora, Porcello, Mejia, Giles, Kyle Hendricks, Quackenbush, AJ Cole, Daniel Norris, Rafael Montero, Eddie Butler. What do you think? Any of my 20 need to be replaced with any of the others?
looks solid…I’d go Giles, Norris, Peterson, Porcello, Jackson with the last five. Mejia over Giles if you don’t want to wait for Paps to get moved.
@Mike: Thanks. Only problem I have now is not having a CF eligible player if I don’t keep Rajai, but I’m sure I can find one in the 5 round draft before the season starts.
No problem…Rajai has value in a league that size too, I’m just always worried he’ll fall into a platoon. Keeping him over Giles/Mejia might makes sense for you since you already have closers protected.
Why do you include Soler as a hybrid? You think he might start the year in AAA?
He’s just technically still a prospect with less than 130 MLB ABs. He’ll be the right fielder on Opening Day.
@Mike: Cool, so it’s sorta no-brainer to keep him over Pence, in a keep 6 with no restrictions 12m league?
Yeah, in a keep forever I’d take Soler over Pence for sure
If Buxton were on this list, I’m curious as to where he’d go on it…
When I first started drafting it, I had the top handful of prospects mixed in there. I had him in the 40s, pretty much right next to Bryant.
Hey Mike,
First time writing to ya as I generally ask Grey my keeper questions but hey ya’ll have some different opinions after checking your top 100 out.
So here is my deal.
Standard league + OPS but no extra Pitching categories
No $ values on guys as we are just allowed to keep a player for 3 total years then back in the pool they go.
So I will put my options and after I will put how many years I have left….can ya give me a quick ranking?
You have Hurry – K’d Carter ahead of poopoo duda….so I am curious to see what ya think.
This Little PUIG – last year
Billy Hamilton – 2 years left
GrandPapi Ortiz – Last year thankfully
Kyle “Night Moves” Se(a)ger – 2 years left
Kole CalHOOOOOOun – 2 left and scared of a low ceiling yet love the high floor….being a midget that works out for me
Chris “Hurry K’d) Carter – 2 left and SO scared of a sub mendoza year but..the power…meow.
Alexei Ramirez – One left and already bored of him.
Fkn Panda. Fat slower more boring 3B version of Alexei. BORED but 2 years left
Lucas Poo Poo Duda – 2 years left @Grey had him in my top 6(not Carter) at the end of last year when asked
Jean Segura – would be last year but thinking I can redraft if I reach a bit on him….reach around?
Then possible Pitchers….
Aroldis hot hot heat Chapman – 2 left and I always seem to redraft him and never keep
Hisashi My Dashi Iwakuma – 2 left but he ALWAYS did his worst when I needed him most….like my parents clearly.
Then these guys who all would have 2 years left and are total wild cards
Fear the Mike Fiers and Michael Pineda….was about to say sonny Gray but forgot I traded him.
Ok….
So I can keep 6 of these guys. Only two guys I will like having are Puig and Billy…who would my other 4 be if Puig and Billy are my starting blocks?
Thanks in advance dude…..I will def copy and paste this to Grey too because I am a troll.
ha! no worries
Puig, Billy, Seager, Calhoun definitely…might as well keep Ortiz for one more go too.
If you think you can redraft Chapman again, I’d go with Carter in the last slot.
@Mike:
Thanks dude.
So I guess Calhoun has more ceiling than I give him credit for. I know Grey digs him too.
Ya Papi seems ok for ONE more go.
As for Carter VS. Duda
I am so torn as Duda has shown he can hit for an AVG like .250. that won’t demolish me and can get me 27-32 HR but Carter can hit .190 and hit 40+ with better counting stats on the Astros?
OPS becomes a wash so it is the good ole shitty avg/+power(Duda) VS. Rob Deer (Carter)
I feel a few coinflips before I click “select this player”
What are your loose projections on Duda and Carter?
-Wandering jew
I think you hit it on the nose. I see Duda as more a .250-.260 25+ homer guy, whereas Carter more a .230-.240 30+ homer guy.
It’s more pick your poison and I wouldn’t sweat the choice between them too hard. Carter making my list says more about my thirst for power and indifference to lousy batting averages. It’s why I like Baez so much too.
@Mike:
Ya and whenever I can make a Rob Deer in the ehadlights reference it DOES make me light up a little on the inside. Like a lite-brite.
i am with you a little more on Baez MAiNly due to position eligibility/HR potential TOGETHER? That’s like…a piece of Chicago pizza in a philly cheese steak smothered in a Montreal poutine.
Being it is an OPS league and Carter STILL could not crack .800 with the 37 HR total….i might spin the crap wheel with Duda….PRAY he gets clean up all season and CudLickinyer/David “so wrong it isn’t even” Wright do enough to help him to 90+rbi. Duda’s ISO looks pretty decent after studying it…Duda CAN hit 275….oh god. Natalie Imbruglia TORN.
Why can’t I just have Baez
I love hashing things out by writing to myself on message boards clearly.
haha, nice…I hear ya, you had me at cheesesteak
@OtisNixonLovedRaines’Rocks: jesus, his OBP must be one of worst in baseball (esp for supposed these 3 true outcome guys, he’s the 2 outcome guy, so downside even worse than Big Donkey).
@Joey Jo Jo Jr Shabadoo:
Right Joey??
Weirdest thing to see his ops that low….He really is Rob deer.
@mike trust…I had you at poutine without even realizing it.
If you have instagram….go search #poutineweek
You are welcome and I am sorry to your arteries
dang…poutine looks good!
@Mike:
fries, gravy and cheese curds….how can those 3 little men in a tub be bad?
We actually got out FIRST srestaurant with REAL Philly Cheese Steaks…not bastardized crap….like American Chinese (sczechuan)
WHEN (not if) the Expos come back @mike you and grey get you arses up here and try some eh….don’t be hoserheads like.
@grey
nice…I’ve been rockin the Expos cap lately
@OtisNixonLovedRaines’Rocks:
Nice Mike…
*and a slow dropping tear falls from my eye.
It’s Vlad the Impaler’s 40th today.
Expos in ’16….Thanks Tampa.
Hey Mike, I am in a head to head points league, now I won’t be in contention for a title for at least two seasons, 50 team keeper if the owner choices to, with a cap of 450, you don’t have to make hard choices then.
I have a offer of Moncada(would be my pick with the 1st overall) and Odorizzi for Joey Bats and a sith round pick. Should I hold on to my young guys, and keep building or do the deal and Hopefully trade Joey for a better return.
I think you can get more for Joey Bats if you hold.
Love the keeper stuff.
I have too much pitching, and will look to move some for a bat pre-draft in my keeper league. 12 teams, 14 keep-for-as-long-as-you-want. I have Harvey, Arrieta, Jofer, Stroman, Kluber, Iwak,
What kind of return would you expect for Jose Fernandez? Or would you try to deal someone else and stash Fernandez in a DL spot.
Thanks
thanks!
I’d actually wait to deal JFer, since his value is still at a low point with the injury. So I’d recommend stashing him in a DL spot instead.
@Mike: what do you think of Fernandez for Machado?
I like that a lot.
$350 budget, 10 team, 5×5 H2H. Giancarlo for $59 or Desmond for $15? Keep as long as you want, price increases $5 each year.
@Krishna: OR Javy Baez for $6.
I’d probably go Desmond there. I think you might be able to get Stanton for a similar price in the auction, whereas I am guessing Desmond would go for much higher than 15 bucks.
12 team – H2H points league.
Keep 5
I know I’m keeping these guys:
Goldy in the 1st round
F-Her in the 2nd
Rizzo in the 8th
Harper in the 9th
Who should be my last keeper?
Brantley 18th
Springer 23rd
Soler 26th
Polanco 26th
Jo-Fer 21st
Harvey 23rd
Soler is calling to me, but I think Brantley in the 18th is your man.
when you say “i’m only keeping 1-2 pitchers per 10 keepers” you are saying, if my team is balanced in value in pitchers/hitters, i’d be keeping 2 at most out of 10 keepers, right? So if you inherit a team that has very good pitchers but only like 2 top 100 hitters you’re not sticking to that, i assume.
Basically, yes. I value hitters over pitchers, so if I have one or two of these arms, I may look to trade other good arms I have in order to upgrade my offense.
wow, that seems high (for me) in tulo, esp at 30. Unless we’re playing in a per game stats league instead of totals in homers/hits/rbi/runs/steals, and even then, the age 30 thing doesn’t speak well for a 5 year period. Even if i owned him in some sort of keeper/dynasty (i probably do in one somewhere, but only one) i’d be trying to trade him pretty much anytime he’s playing like the top 5 overall player he often does, trying to get 2 or more good players or a great one AND another good or possbly good couple.
That’s fair. I’m willing to take on some risk in exchange for ceiling. At least that’s how I personally play, and hopefully that comes through in my rankings.
Trout
Goldschmidt
Arenado
Longoria
Wainwright
Lester
Teheran
Shields
I can keep 6, i know I’m keeping Trout and Goldschmidt so that narrows it down to 4. I’m down with all the Arenado love so that’s 3 of 6 spots filled. Here’s my question, if I keep Arenado do I keep Longoria for my UTIL spot or try and trade him or risk losing him? Not a fan of keeping util players but we all know Longoria can mash if healthy but I’d rather keep a pitcher and fill another need instead. Let me know what you think about that.
I really don’t understand all the Wainwright hate, all the guy does is throw CG SO’s, eat innings and walk no one. I get his arm speed was down towards the end of the season but he was dealing with pitcher’s elbow. I rank my keeper pitchers in this order
Wainwright
Lester
Teheran
Shields
I don’t lose an early draft pick for keeping Wainwright, everyone keeps 6 players and we start to draft from there.
Considering all that info. Which 6 would you keep from the name above?
Thanks!
@Rich: I forgot Hanley and heavily leaning towards keeping him. keep that in mind too.
Trout, Goldy, Arenado, Hanley, Waino, Lester
I think the injury concerns and age raise flags for Waino long term, but there’s nothing wrong with holding him for 2015.
Mike,
I’m in a keeper league. I have 6 definite keepers, And I need to chose 3 more out of the following:
Mark Teixeira
Darin Ruf
Omar Infante
Curtis Granderson
Michael Cuddyer
Francico Liriano
Ervin Santana
Andrew Cashner
Kyle Lohse
Tyler Glasnow
Sean Doolittle
Aaron Sanchez.
I’m leaning toward Granderson, Cashner & Doolittle
What are your thoughts
Thanks,
Al
agree with your three
Chrsi Owings
is also in the list
Hey Mike,
Thanks for the great posts
I’d like your input, I’m taking over a team in a keeper league. 10 teams H2H dynasty
My 15 keepers are:
Cano
Brantley
C Gonzalez
Donaldson
Rios
Gardner
Lucroy
Asdrubal
Gattis
King Felix
Chapman
D Robertson
Latos
Hughes
Shields
I have been fielding offers for Brantley. What package of (3) players would you want in return?
Dozier, Bundy, Bogaerts, Lindor, Alcantara, Corey Seager, Carlos Martinez, Aaron Sanchez, D’Arnaud Syndergaard, Joc Pederson, Joey Gallo
thanks…nice team!
I’d take Bogey, Joc, and Seager
@Mike:
Thanks man, how high are you on seager and Joc?
no problem….pretty high. They are both in my top 10 overall
@Mike: awesome, I think this is worth doing then
@Mike: do you like Corey or Kyle seager more?
For now it’s Kyle
I was offered Domingo Santana, Jesse Hahn and Wily peralta in dynasty for my Ryu. I dont think I should do this trade, do you? Not competing this year
Thanks
Looks fair. Ryu is the best player there, so I’d agree with you.
i’m in middle of 30 man free agent bidding period in a 6X6 with holds. want to try to find cheap guys, ranked by saves opps/holds/ratios/wins. Does this rank look about right? So early in year only thing i had to go off was mlbdepthcharts.com and Baseball Forecaster skills (BPV) scores.
is this about the rank for these guys for saves opps/holds/ratios/wins:
farquar/salas/dunn/al al/hunter/thornton/abad/atchison/belisle/warren/petricka/leone/duke/matusz/tonkin/furbush/rzepczynski/diekman/de fratus/bastardo/stauffer. i’ll clearly ask Smokey as well. Leone looks to have no deep bullpen job yet but extraordinary skill set.
looks good to me…a couple other dark horses are Brad Brach in Baltimore and CC Lee in Cleveland
@Mike: brach listed as mid RP guy.Would you slide him into back end of those listed guys?
Yup, he’s long shot but injuries and stuff happen
Have some really tough keeper choices. My team is pretty stacked in my dynasty league. We keep 15 players every year. All players are attached to round values. It’s a H2H, 5×5 league. Help me pick my 15 please! Here are my choices
Abreu(1)
Tulo(1)
Stanton(1)
Carlos Santana(6)
Trout(7)
Harper(9)
Edwin E(15)
Anthony Rizzo(18)
Wil Myers(23)
Corey Dickerson(30)
Cole Kalhoun(30)
Danny Santana(30)
Strasburgh(3)
Tanaka(1)
Scherzer(10)
Alex Cobb(24)
Jose Fernandez(21)
Carrasco(30)
Arrieta(30)
Garrett Richards(30)
I’ve made numerous trades which is why I have multiple first rounders. It isn’t an issue to keep multiple players in the same round as they just drop down into the next available round that I’m not keeping a player. Help! Who’s my 15?!?! Thanks!
I’d keep your 12 hitters and Strasburg. Value-wise, I like Scherzer and either Carrasco or Arrieta to round out your 15.
Hey Mike,
In a tough spot. Have an abundance of pitching but wasn’t able to trade any away for bats before the season started in a 12 team H2H 5X5 keeper league(we keep 10). My pick (131)is coming up quickly and was looking for some input.
Here is my pitching heavy squad so far
C-C.SANTANA(1B/3B)
1B-
2B-
3B-T.FRAZIER(1B)
SS-H.RAMIREZ
OF-M.KEMP
OF-
OF-
UTIL
UTIL
SP-M.BUMGARNER
SP-C.KLUBER
SP-C.HAMELS
RP-A.CHAPMAN
RP-
P-G.COLE
P-J.FERNANDEZ(DL)
Here are the best available bats
D.ORTIZ
B.DOZIER
Y.TOMAS
D.WRIGHT
P.SANDOVAL
J.BAEZ
AL.RAMIREZ
N.CRUZ
K.CALHOUN
A.GORDON
D.PEDROIA
The only pitcher i would even consider grabbing here would be K.JANSEN but doubt I would do it with all of my holes on offence.
I might be able to get M.Machado from his owner for C.HAMELS. Would you make that trade?
Thanks for your help
no problem…I’d swap Cole for Machado, yes
As far as your pick…I’d take Dozier or Baez
@Mike:
Hey mike. Dozier was grabbed right before me so I grabbed Baez.
My next pick is up.
Who do you like best for my team out of
K.CALHOUN
JD.MARTINEZ
A.GORDON
R.ZIMMERMAN(can plug him in at 1b/3b/of)
Y.TOMAS
P.SANDOVAL
AL.RAMIREZ
S.CASTRO
Thanks again!
Castro, Calhoun
@Mike:
Thanks. Much appreciated
anytime
@Mike:
Turns out Castro was already taken. Who else do you like apart from Calhoun?
JDMart
@Mike:
Hey Mike, Im up again.
So far I have taken Baez, Calhoun and Tomas.
Looking for some advice on who to pick next.
My team
C-C.SANTANA(1B/3B)
1B-
2B-J.BAEZ(SS)
3B-T.FRAZIER(1B)
SS-H.RAMIREZ
OF-M.KEMP
OF-K.CALHOUN
OF-Y.TOMAS(3B)
UTIL
UTIL
SP-M.BUMGARNER
SP-C.KLUBER
SP-C.HAMELS
RP-A.CHAPMAN
RP-
P-G.COLE
P-J.FERNANDEZ(DL)
Best available
JD MARTINEZ
P.SANDOVAL
E.HOSMER
M.TRUMBO
A.LAROCHE
L.DUDA
B.MOSS
ME.CABRERA
B.GARDNER
L.MARTIN
B.REVERE
C.LEE
M.LATOS
P.HUGHES
H.RONDON
J.BENOIT
S.CASILLA
N.FELIZ
A.REED
Sorry for the long list.
Appreciate your help
no problem…JDMart
Hey Mike,
I am in a 16 team head to head dynasty keeper league. We can keep 6 keepers. I have traded 4 out of my 1st 6 picks when I went for it last year. Looking for you opinion on what 6 I should keep? Should I even keep a SP. Draft should be deep. Thanks for your help.
Goldy
Cargo
Bruce
Polanco
Myers
J.D. Mart
Ventura
G. Richards
Robertson
no problem…
I’d go with Goldy, Cargo, Bruce, Myers, Polanco, JDMart
@Mike:
mike,
I forgot to mention that we have 3 OF spots and 1 utl. I also to mention that I have Dozier. Would you keep him over JD Mart?
makes sense to go Dozier over JDMart
I’m a little late to the party, but hopefully you can help me out!
10 team 8 man keeper. Regular stats, with the additions of BBs and HLDs
Here are my top keeper candidates:
Trout, Ellsbury, Dickerson, Reyes, Frazier, Heyward, Davis, Kipnis, Votto, Hamels, Teheran, Wood, Gray, Rosenthal
I was thinking of keeping Trout, Ellsbury, Dickerson, Reyes, Frazier, Heyward, Hamels, and Teheran.
I’ll have the third overall pick. We used to be a 12 team league, but two teams bailed and their rosters are going into the FA pool for the draft, so players like Harper, Cano, Miggy, Kershaw, and Tulo will be available.
Should I keep those eight, or sub someone like Teheran for Davis or Wood? Any other suggestions?
Trout, Ells, Dickerson, Reyes, Frazier, Heyward, Kipnis, Hamels for me
5×5 roto using OBA, HR, R, SB, RBI and WHIP, QS, Sholds, K and K/BB. $5 inflation each year. Standard positions plus 3 Utils and 2 DL’s. Won last year.
Need 7 keepers from these…
Altuve $24; Dan.Santana $5; AdJones$33; Calhoun $7; AvGarcia $5; Rendon $28; Bharper $39; Bhamilton $18; Psandoval $10; Wong $5; Baez $5; Fielder $5; Goldy $33; Achapman $9; AlWood $9; JsFernandez $5; Fiers $5; Minor $5; Grichards $7; Harvey $6.
Altuve, Jones, Calhoun, Rendon, Hamilton, Wong, Goldy should give you a nice mix of stars and cheaper options
@Mike: Thanks for this and all your work.
no problem at all…thanks for reading!
I’m in a 16 team keeper league where I can keep only 9 players.
Brian McCann, (Keeper)
Paul Goldsmith (Keeper)
Mark Teixeira
Chris Bethancourt
Andy Wilkins
Omar Infante
Jose Peraza
Chris Owings
Ryan Zimmerman (Keeper)
Trevor Plouffe
Darin Ruf
Andre McCutchen (Keeper)
Curtis Granderson
Kole Calhoun (Keeper)
Gerardo Parra
Michael Cuddyer
Kyle Parker
Scott VanSlyke
Francis Liriano
Tyler Glasnow
Ervin Santana
Kyle Lohse
Alex Wood (Keeper)
Anthony Renaudo
Andrew Cashner
Aaron Sanchez
Sean Doolittle
Jeurys Familia
I have listed the players on my team, of which I need to pick 9. 6 have been identified as keeper. I need to pick 3 more. One I’m considering is Chris Owings since he will qualify at both 2B and SS in the league. Who would you suggest as my last 3 keepers
Thanks
Al
Cashner, Owings, Liriano
@Mike: I was thinking of Cashner, Doolittle and Granderson.
I was thinking of Granderson because with 16 teams having 9 keepers the better Outfielders will be taken, I was thinking of Doolittle since I’ll need 2 closers and that comes down to the last keeper for me. I presently have Degrom (NYM) and Paxton (Sea) on my farm team. To take Liriano might be to many Pitchers. I was thinking of Cashner until I realized Owings will qualify at both 2B and SS in my league.
In summary I was leaning to Granderson, Doolittle and then Owings if he qualifies at both 2B and SS. What are your thoughts with my reasoning?
sounds fine
Mike
With Doolittle having router cuff issues would it make more sense in keeping Aaron Sanchez rather than Doolittle?
Thanks,
Al
I’d take the healthy arm, yes…especially when we are talking closers
I’m in a 16 team keeper league and I want to get some advise from you for keepers.
Now my keepers of batters are XB, Carlos Gonzalez, Trout, Pujols and Addison Russell
My keepers of picthers are Hyun-jin Ryu, Francisco Liriano and Shelby Miller.
My questions as below:
1. Addison Russell for Jedd Gyorko, A.J. Pollock or Daniel Murphy is a good idea?
2. Trade Pujols for Votto and Latos to keep is a good idea?
Please kindly give me some advices.
Thank you
1. prefer Russell
2. yup, I like that
Hey Mike love your work! I am in a head to head 16 team dynasty league where you keep 6 players. I am trying to decide between Wainwright and Marcus Stroman. Thanks man!
thanks! Stroman IMO
Why do I see Ross higher on 2015 rankings and not make cut here?
He’s listed in the “just missed” group. I went over pitching in the post.
To be fair, I like Ross and he was probably cheap in 2014, making him a nice keeper for 2015. Just depends on your league really.
Hi There – This is my first time posting and I have to select 10 ‘forever’ keepers at no cost and here’s the list I’m currently going with in order ranked 1 through 10.
Your insight on the 10 keepers you’d select would be very much appreciated to get another perspective before our keeper lock date this afternoon at 5:00 ET….thanks!
1. Rendon
2. Xander Bogaerts
3. Carlos Correa
4. Cole Hamels
5. Wil Myers
6. Mark Trumbo
7. Marcus Stroman
8. Yordano Ventura
9. Leonys Martin
10. Lucas Giolito
Just missing the cut
11. Joey Gallo
12. Shin-Soo Choo
13. Chris Archer
14. Brandon Moss
15. Jedd Gyorko
16. Sean Doolittle
17. Cliff Lee
18. Lance Lynn
I think you made good choices
Choice between 2 roster
1. Bryce Harper
Dee Gordon, Max Scherzer, Jason Heyward, Michael Brantley
2. Jose Altuve, Josh Donaldson, Ian Desmond, Joey Votto
last player could be stroman, degrom, messoraco, or rusney castillo.
Appreciate the feedback,
Khakis
tough choice…my gut says #2
@Mike: Who would you keep as the fifth for roster twp of listed options? Thanls
Rusney
my league is a H2H with 100 max moves, not counting trades.
I’m trying to set my keepers. We allow draft pick trading and i traded away rds 6-10 for a chance to go for it last year. We allow offseason trading so I am trying to improve either my Draft picks or improve qualtiy of keepers.
we keep 5, and I have the players to keep all hitters but i also have Sale and Scherzer.
1. In this situation would it be wise to hold onto one SP? both? or still go 5 hitters? For reference 5 hitters would be Stanton, Upton, Puig, Arenado and Freeman.
2. possible trade in this league I get Rendon and Stras, I give Puig and Sale.
3. Can also move either pitcher for Brantley, Donaldson, Desmond
4. I can get Adam Jones by moving Freeman and Sale. would get a draft pick bump up (TBD) too. Could get Carlos Gomez in a similar scenario.
Thoughts?
Thanks Mike!!
I’d move an arm for Donaldson and then keep Donaldson over Freeman.
12 team head to head 5×5.
14 keepers 6 prospects
prospects are A Heaney, Profar, JP Crawford, Daniel Norris, Joc Pederson and Jesse Winker
For sure keepers so far are
Lucroy, Seager, Castro, J Upton, A Gordon, Pujlos as position players
Pitchers are Kluber, D Price, S Gray, Stroman, Carrrasco and Kuechel
so i need 2 guys between Josh Harrison, Carlos Santana, D Robertson, James Paxton
also am i crazy to be considering trying to trade Upton while he might still have his max value
Santana, Harrison
not crazy to trade Upton, just make sure you get a nice return…still a top keeper league option in my mind
@Mike: of those 4 guys..james paxton..d robertson..carlos santana and josh harrison..which 2 would u keep
Santana, Harrison
Hi Mike,
Keeper dynasty league,
Cargo for Baez/ Pederson?
I own Dozier.
Thanks
I’d stick with Cargo
I can keep 3 players and franchise tag 1 which cuts the players auction value in half for 3 seasons. Auction value can not be less than $10 for a keeper. You can keep a player as long as you want. you simply add $1 to his keeper value every season.
Franchise tag – Anthony Rizzo ($10)
keeper 1 – George Springer ($10)
keeper 2 – Jorge Soler ($10)
keeper 3 – ?
I have these players to choose from:
– Kris Bryant ($10)
– Xander Bogaerts ($11)
– Christian Yelich ($10)
– Adam Jones ($35)
– Matt Holliday ($21)
– Jayson Werth ($19)
– Jose Fernandez ($10)
– Corey Kluber ($10)
– Doug Fister ($16)
– James Paxton ($10)
– Trevor Bauer ($10)
As of right now I have Corey Kluber in that last spot. Just wanted to get another take and see what you thought about it. Thank you.
Klubes makes sense…I like Yelich there too
Hey Mike,
Im up to pick again. JD Martinez was taken right before me so I grabbed Hosmer.
The options at closer are getting pretty slim. I was thinking that I should maybe grab one here. Or another starter.
What do you think?
C-C.SANTANA(1B/3B)
1B-E.HOSMER
2B-J.BAEZ(SS)
3B-T.FRAZIER(1B)
SS-H.RAMIREZ
OF-M.KEMP
OF-K.CALHOUN
OF-Y.TOMAS(3B)
UTIL
UTIL
SP-M.BUMGARNER
SP-C.KLUBER
SP-C.HAMELS
RP-A.CHAPMAN
RP-
P-G.COLE
P-J.FERNANDEZ(DL)
Best available
M.TRUMBO
J.GYORKO
B.ZOBRIST
L.DUDA
B.MOSS
A.LAROCHE
ME.CABRERA
S.CHOO
J.WERTH
AJ.POLLOCK
L.MARTIN
B.REVERE
J.SEGURA
C.LEE
D.SMYLY
M.FIERS
H.BAILEY
D.SALAZAR
H.RONDON
J.BENOIT
S.CASILLA
N.FELIZ
A.REED
Thanks again
with Chapman in hand, I think you can wait a little longer on a closer. I’d go after Pollock or Trumbo
@Mike:
I grabbed Trumbo. My focus now is on grabbing another closer, another SP and some speed. we also have an N/A spot on our team for prospects so I could grab one here. Best ones available are A.BRADLEY, M.SANO, C.SEAGER and C.RODON.
Best available fas
H,RONDON
J.BENOIT
J.MCGEE/B.BOXBERGER
S.CASILLA
A.REED
M.FIERS
D.SMYLY
C.LEE
D,SALAZAR
D.HUTCHISON
S.KAZMIR
L.MARTIN
J.SEGURA
J.ROLLINS
B.REVERE
S.CHOO
AJ.POLLOCK
S.SOUZA
thanks again
Pollock, Segura, Seager…Revere
12 team 6 player keeper league. can only keep 3 batters and 3 pitchers, draft starts in 7th round. No limit on years
which 3 would you keep
gomez
altuve
springer
arendo
soler
pitchers: leaning at 2 sp and 1 closer
harvey
klubler
tanaka
K.Jensen keep for saves/era/whip/k’s
Gomez, Altuve, Arenado
I’d keep the starters. Jansen over Tanaka if you’re concerned about the elbow
Mike. What’s the deal with JD Martinez? Why is everyone ranking him so high? Should I be worried about his BABIP and K%?
I don’t know how high you’re seeing him go, but I have him lumped in there with a guy like Bruce. The power is legit but the average probably not so much. Thinking more like a .260 guy with 20 or so dingers.