Speaking of keepers, I am in a league where you get to keep any 4 players from your roster at the end of the year.

I plan on keeping Teixeira, Lincecum, Johan (hopefully he bounces back) and one of the following:

Tommy Hanson
Andrew McCutchen
Gordon Beckham
Andre Ethier
Curtis Granderson
Wandy Rodriguez
Nelson Cruz

Who do you think has the most value for next year?
I'm leaning toward Beckham...



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written by Bob Taylor, September 03, 2009
Rule out the bottom three immediately. You're picking from the top three.


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written by Kevin_Foss, September 03, 2009
If this were my team, I'd keep Hanson and see if I could trade Santana in the offseason for a big outfield bat with a little speed. But if you don't think you can get someone better than McCutchen for Santana, keep McCutchen. Try emailing the other owners now to gauge their interest in Johan. Just know you are selling low. Otherwise, keep Hanson and draft offense for your first ten picks. Regarding Santana, you need to ask yourself if you think his best days are behind him. He is no longer the best pitcher in the National League. Even if you sell low now, you should still get a nice player that will help you now and down the road. There is absolutely no guarantee Johan regains what he once had. And banking on him to do just that is a losing strategy.


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written by Bob Taylor, September 03, 2009
That's not a bad plan, Kevin. Especially considering when I first looked at his list I thought, "Well, I'd definitely keep Hanson, but he'd be keeping too many starters then."


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written by Robtobular, September 04, 2009
I like the trade Johan idea that could be good if I could get some good value, but what about in 03' when he had the same surgery and then came back to have one of his best seasons?

You guys don't seem to be very high on Beckham, he hit 28 HRs and hit .411 his last year at Georgia. I think he could have serious numbers from a corner infielder.

Its not that I don't like McCutchen he could potentially be 30/30 (also I feel like he may see some 3 hole next year), but I feel like OF's are a lot easier to find midseason than a solid corner infielder.

I really like Hanson, he might be a no-brainer, but possibly 3 starters is a bit much.

For those three young guys who do you think has the higher ADP for next year?

Regarding Johan, '03 will be seven years ago. That's at least 1000 innings that have elapsed since then. I'm not calling for a precipitous decline, but he does have a fair history of injuries. I tend to listen to those who say hitters hit, pitchers get injured. Johan still has a ton of value, but you need to assess who may pay for him. This isn't a great time to ship him off, perhaps a couple good outings in spring training will boost his value. What you are looking to do with keepers is avoid any risk, lock in some positions to build a solid foundation. Johan's risky and you already have an ace. Pitchers emerge, even in keeper leagues. Five keepers is relatively small, so there will be a real nice pool of people to draft from.

I'm a huge Beckham fan, check some of my early posts about him touting him for the AL ROY. I drafted him in the dynasty league Bob's writing about as well. His recent cold spell probably killed his chances for that. Couple things about him:
-His ability to steal bases is not that good. He gets caught stealing 40-50% of the time so expecting more than 10 steals from him is ambitious.
-Is he a 30 HR guy? Perhaps he is, but it may not be next year. 20 is more realistic, especially if he continues to hit in the 2 hole.
-I'm thinking next year, he's .280 20/75/10/85 as a 3B. Pretty good. Perhaps he'd be your first round pick in the redraft? 6-7th round value?

McCutchen has the better skill set than Beckham, allowing him to steal more bases at a much better success rate. He also has a comparable batting eye, perhaps as good as Beckham. Depending on where he hits, you might end up trading SB for RBI if he moves down. But his talent alone makes him a 4th-5th round pick. Put it this way: Would you rather have him, Corey Hart, Nate McLouth, or Alex Rios in a keeper league? Exactly. Think about where those guys were drafted this past year. I have him in my keeper league along with Victorino. I'd keep him over Victorino in a heartbeat. I'd keep Victorino over Mc Louth, Rios and Hart in a hearbeat. I think he could end up in Matt Kemp territory if all breaks well in the next few years. He's that good.

Hanson, being a pitcher, will go after these two guys in the draft. He could be taken in the first couple rounds of your draft depending on what needs other teams have. I can see him going in the 7th-8th round of drafts next year. Remember, you can pick up good pitching in the middle rounds of most drafts. But keeper leagues are a different animal. Last year, my first two picks on my keeper league team (five keepers) were Votto and Stephen Drew. With having Lineceum, Kemp, Victorino, Soto, and David Wright as keepers, I still walked away from that draft with Billingsley, Felix, Danks, and Joba as my starters. So, pitching can be found in the middle rounds. Like I said, if you can trade Johan do it. If you can't, keep McCutchen. Hanson will be there on your first or second pick most likely. If he isn't, maybe Ubaldo Jimenez or Josh Johnson are. That's not a bad consolation prize.

I so want to tell you to just keep Cutch. But I'm such a homer when it comes to that dude.

Hey Guys,

Remember this thread? I have to select my keepers by April 1.

Turns out no one wants Johan.... Is he even keepable? (Is that a word)

If Johan is dominant again hes one of the best strikeout pitchers out there. When hes been healthy hes never been just OK hes been far average.

ADP on ESPN has Granderson going before all of those guys. Does him as a Yankee change your opinion on him that much?

Can Cruz hit 30+ HRs and steal 20 bases?

You guys have been helpful before.

Check out my Chin Music post about why I like Grandy to bounce back hard this year. With such few keepers and already having Lincecum already, I recommend that you keep three bats. I'd keep Beckham and Granderson to go along with Tex and Stoner Timmy. Let Santana go, draft him back if you want him again. But you shouldn't need to draft another starter again until guys like Ubaldo, Wandy, and Hanson are coming off the board. Beckham's eligibility pushes him into the sixth or seventh round, but he could really outperform that pick. I really like McCutchen as well, it's difficult to tell you to throw him back but I'd recommend re-drafting him instead of keeping him.