I recently received a question from Schmidty who asked for a little bit of guidance for his team regarding keepers. I love these questions and encourage you to continue to send stuff like this in. I’ll answer everything that I can in this new section called the Fantasy Inbox.
“I’m in a 10 team roto league (5X5) and i can keep 6 so who should i keep from this roster.
Hitters:
Kenji Johjima, Ian Kinsler, Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Derek Jeter, Carlos Beltran, Chone Figgins, Jeff Francoeur,Melky Cabrera, Aramis Ramirez, Victor Martinez, Howie Kendrick, J.J. Hardy, Hunter Pence.Pitchers:
Johan Santana, Matt Cain, Jered Weaver, Chris Capuano, David Weathers, Carlos Zambrano, Aaron Harang and last but not least Yovani Gallardo.Thanks in advance!”
Schmidty, I only want to keep one of your pitchers. And if I am only keeping one, obviously, it’s Johan Santana. Not only is he, arguably, the best in the game right now, but he’s also, most likely, going to be pitching for the Red Sox or the Yankees next season. That equates to even better numbers.
Victor Martinez is another must keep as he’s the top catcher in fantasy baseball. After he and Russell Martin there is a production drop off at the catcher position, so it’s my opinion to keep Martinez and not bother with wading into the sub prime catcher market. Another top tier option for you to keep is Prince Fielder. You just can’t give up his power production.
I’m going to move away from power numbers for my next two picks and advise you to keep Chone Figgins and Carlos Beltran. Figgins is really going to boost your batting average and stolen bases and Beltran is a five-tool fantasy outfielder who is also a top tier fantasy outfielder.
My last suggestion for you was one I struggled over, but finally chose Ryan Braun. There are many who fear a sophomore slump from this guy. I’m not sure which side of that fence that I stand, but Braun hit .324 and 34 home runs in only 113 games. In 2008 he’ll play in many more games and if you get the same numbers from him, he’s a great choice for a keeper. but what if he produces more with the added at-bats? You just can’t pass up that upside potential.
So to keep everything nice and neat, here is my list of keepers for you.
- Johan Santana
- Victor Martinez
- Price Fielder
- Chone Figgins
- Carlos Beltran
- Ryan Braun
Thanks again for the question, Schmidty. If anyone else has any questions about keepers, fantasy baseball or any other related topic, please use the contact form to find many ways to reach me.
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December 20th, 2007 at 1:04 am
By the way, I’m just starting a new blog.
http://modernrooters.blogspot.com/
Check it out if you’ve got some time and let me know if you’d want to exchange links.
April 4th, 2009 at 6:37 am
I agree with your analysis on SAntana, Fielder, Beltran and Braun. They are each at the top of their position and likely no later than mid-2d round choices. I would not keep either Figggins or VMart. Figgins plays 3B and is a huge drag on power if you keep him. Sure, you could get SBs, runs a BA, but the hit you take in HR and RBI is too much to make up elsewhere. VMart is a question mark, will he come back or not? Perhaps most importantly, neither one of them would be drafted in the first six rounds of almost any draft, so you could get them back. For my picks, I’d take Kinsler and ARam, who are drafted in the 2d or 3d round, respectively, of just about every draft. Kinsler’s injury was a trauma vs. chronic so he’s expected to come back without lingering problems and he fills all five categories at a very shallow position. ARam consistently goes .290-30-100-95. They are both more consistent and reliable than Figgins and VMart