Fix My Team: Keeper Dilema

Jason asks...

Hi Brett,

I was wondering if you guys would help me out on a keeper situation I am up against?

We are a 12 team H2H daily league (R, HR, RBI, AVG, OBP, SB – W, L, K’s, SV, ERA, WHIP) with 6 keepers per year that move up one round each year at the draft.

My 5 Definite:

Clayton Kershaw in the 3rd

Justin Verlander in the 4th

Giancarlo Stanton in the 5th

Stephen Strasburg in the 13th

Mike Trout in the 18th

I have narrowed the last spot to a few players:

Adrian Gonzalez in the 2nd

Aramis Ramirez in the 6th

Kendrys Morales in the 11^th

Wilin Rosario in the 15^th

Leaning towards Aramis but just wanted to get your take.

Thank you!

 

First I just have to say WOW. Your keepers are a true blend of 1^st Round talent, great drafting in the previous years!! The remaining players that you are on the fence with, you have some interesting choices. Gonzalez is always a solid choice at 1B and if your league has qualifier eligibility at 15 games played he is a super option for OF. Curious too if your league has a CI slot. Currently I have A-Gon as the 10^th 1B off the board coming in the 3^rd round. His line this year of 25HR 98 RBI .288 is a little lower than his career averages but he is not in a hitters park and could eventually hit 5^th in that Dodgers line-up which would cost him ABs. So a 2^nd round pick with Gonzalez seems too high this year.

Aramis in the 6^th appears to be the bargain of the draft. I currently have Aramis as the 40^th pick off the board and the 4^th 3B selected behind only Cabrera, Longo and Beltre. What I like about Ramírez the best is he is in a contract year, extra incentive to get one more multiyear deal done before he retires. The drawback is he goes down with fluky injuries every other year. Still I look for him to hit cleanup behind Braun, a huge plus, and put up 29 HR 99 RBI .291 5 SB. Those are great numbers to have as a 6^rd round selection!

Kendrys is moving to a much worse team but he does have a chip on his should after the trade and may want to prove something. The only problem is no one will be on base for him to prove his worth.  With only 1B eligibility and possibly losing time at DH and 1B he may only get 480 ABs this year. Look for 21 HR 85 RBI .271 as his upside, it could be much worse. I am not targeting him at all in any leagues this year.

As you have seen in some of my previous posts I have a hard time committing to a Catcher in Keeper leagues. I drafted Rosario a couple of years ago in a Dynasty League and used him last year but I cut him loose this year, did not keep him. Would I redraft him…absolutely! But there are so many choices to use as valuable Keepers. I do have Rosario as the 7^th C off the board and he could reach 30 HR in Coors but to me he is still a Catcher.

So with that said, I too think you are leaning in the right direction with Aramis as a steal in the 6^th Round. Good Luck and go win your League.