Fantasy Baseball Thread IV

[Brodeur]

Debating keepers for AL Only 5x5 roto, $260 budget. I can keep up to five.

For sure keeping:
RP Kelvim Herrera ($8)

Debating:
3B Manny Machado ($36) - Unfortunately for our league, he has to earn SS eligibility again (play at least 20% of his games there). As a SS, the $36 would be easier to handle. Also went from 20 steals in 2015 to 0 in 2016.

1B Greg Bird ($8) - Mashing in the spring and was named starter.

1B Mike Napoli ($8) - I feel like I should be happy with what he got me for $1 last year and move on. Also worried that I might paint myself into a corner if I keep two 1Bs.

2B Devon Travis ($8) - Injuries are a concern.

2B Starlin Castro ($11) - Nice for the power, but a little underwhelming in OBP (and ergo runs). Similar concerns if I keep two 2Bs off the bat.

SP Jose Quintana ($18) - Feels like close to full value. Also our league has the caveat that if a guy gets traded to NL, you no longer accrue stats. Quintana's been rumored to be a trade option, albeit Houston seems to be the most interested team but Pittsburgh/Atlanta have been kicking the tires.

 

[rangerssharks414]

Do you at least get the money back if they switch leagues? What happens if you keep less than five?

 

[Brodeur]

Do you at least get the money back if they switch leagues? What happens if you keep less than five?

If a player switches leagues, their salary then gets freed up.

I don't necessarily have to keep five. I was reminded yesterday that one guy dropped out from last season (we're down to 7 teams), so Machado at $36 might be worth it again. There'll be a number of useful cheap players at the end of the draft, so I might just punt Travis/Castro/Napoli back into the pool.

 

[rangerssharks414]

If a player switches leagues, their salary then gets freed up.

I don't necessarily have to keep five. I was reminded yesterday that one guy dropped out from last season (we're down to 7 teams), so Machado at $36 might be worth it again. There'll be a number of useful cheap players at the end of the draft, so I might just punt Travis/Castro/Napoli back into the pool.

Yeah, Machado is worth it even without the shortstop eligibility and the steals. I'd keep Bird and Quintana as well as Herrera.

 

[rangerssharks414]

Who do I cut? I need three cuts. It is a 10 team 6x6 roto dynasty (standard plus OPS and holds)

C- Grandal
1B- Freeman
2B- Kinsler
3B- Carpenter
SS- none
IF- Hosmer
LF- Bryant
CF- Trout
RF- Piscotty
OF- Yelich
Util- Gordon
SP- Bumgarner
SP- Strasburg
RP- Melancon
RP- Herrera
P- Dyson
P- F. Rodriguez
P- Watson

BN- McCutchen
BN- Bruce
BN- Desmond
BN- Mazara
BN- Franco
BN- Bregman
BN- Price
BN- Porcello
BN- S. Gray
BN- Odorizzi
BN- Maeda
BN- Hill
BN- Stroman
BN- Harvey
BN- McCullers
BN- G. Cole

 

[Winger for Hire]

Bruce, Gray, ???

 

[Falco Lombardi]

^^^Those 2 + Hill I'd say

 

[rangerssharks414]

Bruce, Gray, ???

Yeah, I'm really having a difficult time deciding. I just missed out on the championship last year. I think I came in 2nd by a couple of points.

^^^Those 2 + Hill I'd say

Hill is still good when healthy, but that seems to be an issue for him. Plus, he's really old. I think I'm gonna agree with you guys. Thanks.

 

[Brodeur]

Yeah, Machado is worth it even without the shortstop eligibility and the steals. I'd keep Bird and Quintana as well as Herrera.

Ended up keeping Machado, Bird, Napoli, Travis, and Herrera. We have an extra utility hitter spot and I wouldn't be surprised if Napoli ended up qualifying at DH as well. The other caveat in our league is that a player can lose eligibility if he doesn't maintain 20% of his games at a position after the first month.

The last couple of years I got burned and had my 1B lose eligibility (Prince Fielder in 2015, Albert Pujols in 2016) which created a hole in my roster.

Any AL prospects outside of Benintendi/Moncada who I should be aware of that might play later this year or 2018? Typically each team will take a flyer on a guy late in the draft with the hopes of having a cheap keeper for the following year. Last year didn't really pay off for me with Joey Gallo occupying a roster spot all year.

 

[rangerssharks414]

Ended up keeping Machado, Bird, Napoli, Travis, and Herrera. We have an extra utility hitter spot and I wouldn't be surprised if Napoli ended up qualifying at DH as well. The other caveat in our league is that a player can lose eligibility if he doesn't maintain 20% of his games at a position after the first month.

The last couple of years I got burned and had my 1B lose eligibility (Prince Fielder in 2015, Albert Pujols in 2016) which created a hole in my roster.

Any AL prospects outside of Benintendi/Moncada who I should be aware of that might play later this year or 2018? Typically each team will take a flyer on a guy late in the draft with the hopes of having a cheap keeper for the following year. Last year didn't really pay off for me with Joey Gallo occupying a roster spot all year.

DH spot as in only someone who played 20% of their games at DH can only be put in that spot? If so, yuck.

I'm not really a prospects guy, so I can't give you great advice there.

 

[Virtanen18]

Season's almost here. Starting to convince myself more and more to go with Sanchez and move Posey. Kinda wanna move Posey+ for Trout if I could lol

 

[Brodeur]

DH spot as in only someone who played 20% of their games at DH can only be put in that spot? If so, yuck.

Yeah, I had Evan Gattis last year and it took a few months for him to get to 20% to qualify at catcher. For our league, the guy has to keep >20% throughout the season which is a fun wrinkle.

Sometimes it can get goofy with leagues where guys qualify after 5 games. One year I was able to exploit Troy Glaus who was 2B eligible and Josh Donaldson's breakout year he was still listed at catcher in Yahoo.

 

[rangerssharks414]

Yeah, I had Evan Gattis last year and it took a few months for him to get to 20% to qualify at catcher. For our league, the guy has to keep >20% throughout the season which is a fun wrinkle.

Sometimes it can get goofy with leagues where guys qualify after 5 games. One year I was able to exploit Troy Glaus who was 2B eligible and Josh Donaldson's breakout year he was still listed at catcher in Yahoo.

Pablo Sandoval was catcher eligible during his breakout year if I recall correctly.

I still think having a position just for DHes is silly.

 

[Winger for Hire]

I remember, back in the day, exploiting Phil Nevin's catcher eligibility

 

[Evincar]

Yeah, I'm really having a difficult time deciding. I just missed out on the championship last year. I think I came in 2nd by a couple of points.



Hill is still good when healthy, but that seems to be an issue for him. Plus, he's really old. I think I'm gonna agree with you guys. Thanks.

I would keep one of Gray or Bruce and cut Dyson.

 

[Winger for Hire]

Why would you cut Dyson?

 

[Evincar]

Because he really isnt that good. Good chance he loses the closer job this season.

 

[Winger for Hire]

I'd cut Watson before Dyson in that case... but they count holds too, so they'll both hold value.

 

[rangerssharks414]

Bruce and Gray were the two I was sure that I was going to cut.

 

[Virtanen18]

Pablo Sandoval was catcher eligible during his breakout year if I recall correctly.

I still think having a position just for DHes is silly.

I love it. I would have to trade Bogaerts if there was no DH spot

Because he really isnt that good. Good chance he loses the closer job this season.

I'm certainly drafting Matt Bush.

 

[rangerssharks414]

I love it. I would have to trade Bogaerts if there was no DH spot

A DH spot on ESPN is different than a utility spot.

 

[jw2]

joined an competitive league at work..
I dont watch baseball and havent played fantasy in years.

Doing my pre-rankings for tomorrows draft and realize I know less than I thought.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

What does everyone make of Jackie Bradley? Breakout potential? Will remain too streaky, but flashes of dominance?

I'm drafting tonight, either the fourth or fifth year of a keeper (I guess dynasty? no one owns prospects unless they roster them, so I guess it's just a long-going keeper? never been sure of this distinction). 12 teams, H2H points league, we keep about 10 players each.

I already have Marte, Polanco, and Braun as OFs, but I'll definitely use one U spot for an outfielder, and more than likely both, though I'm still trying to work out my exact strategy. Bradley strikes me as someone who could be worth spending a decent amount of money on, but I also think that the strategy which is smartest for me is to spend less money on my OF and concentrate it on SP and C. I figure I might take a big flier on somebody like Haniger and see if he stays hot in April, and also I may deploy a longer-term strategy of trying to roster Austin Meadows at $1, as a huge Pirates homer.

In any case, does anyone have strong opinions about Bradley? What kind of dollar value would you put on him? I'm in the latter half of the first round, but I wish I was one of the first few, so that I could try and float a guy like this early and maybe land a bargain. I'm guessing maybe $15 is a reasonable gamble for him to find some consistency and break out. Inflation is somewhat of an issue in my league, so I'm guessing all things being equal, he'll probably go for higher than this, which makes him a bad big value gamble.

The top players available are guys like Carlos Martinez, Cabrera, and Votto. I have 175 dollars to spend, so I can go after somebody for big money, but it's likely that the big guns will be inflated to 45++, since a couple teams have a little under 300 dollars. That's why I'm thinking the best first round approach is to try and nominate a breakout-possible player and hope other teams still want to hoard money.

 

[rangerssharks414]

Bradley faded badly after the All-Star break (.926 OPS before, .728 after). I honestly didn't see last year's offensive outburst coming, but again, he faded after the ASG. I always thought he'd be a defense first outfielder that could occasionally provide offense. I don't expect him to OPS over .800 again. Let someone else have him.

 

[DJ Spinoza]

Thanks, I had the exact same thought about him when he first came up, and now had been thinking that if the OPS was actually sustainable, and he added some speed back into his game, he could be a good value get. But, there are just so many other options are OF, and I already have 3 OFs as keepers (though Braun has injury question marks, and my other two aren't exactly health locks).

Now I have to decide what my play is on Glasnow. Being the only Pirates fan in the league makes things slightly tricky, because I'm sure if I nominate him, someone will try to get me to spend more than I should. An owner had Glasnow but decided not to keep him (after attempting to get me to trade Goldschmidt for Glasnow + Chris Davis), and I think there are legitimate enough concerns about his immediate and near-future to make using a keeper spot on him questionable.

I do think, homerism aside, that Glasnow is still one of the best options for boom potential at young SP, and he's slightly post-hype enough after showing so little positive signs last year that he could still be acquired for a value. I'm (always) in win-now mode, though, so I can't get too precious about it. I think I'll try and wait on nominating him, and hope to get him for 5-6 dollars, but strategically it might be best to get him out there when the more stable options are plentiful and teams are also worried about filling all of their needs, and thus less likely to overbid on a prospect or try and drive his value up. It helps me that his immediate future as the #5 starter is still not certain, but that could also burn me if I go a little over budget and he goes to AAA.