Keeper Help in Unique League

minor league rover Joined: Jan 10, 2005 Posts: 38

I'm in a league that use the previous years actual MLB salaries to determine a players value for this season. It is a standard 8 team 5x5 league that also allows you to to draft 4 NL players. We are allowed 6 keepers. Last season I ran away with the league. My dillema this season is that I have great talent but a lot of it comes with a high cost. The lineups are a standard C,C,1B,2B,SS,3B,MI,CI,5 OF, & 10-P with a 705 salary. Here is a list of players that I may keep with the associated salaries:

Randy Johnson (160)
Curt Schilling (120)
Johan Santana (16) - definite
Rich Harden (3) - definite
Keith Foulke (35)
Octavio Dotel (27)
Hank Blalock (3) - I can tade him for a second round pick...and will
Miguel Tejada (49) - definite
Aubrey Huff (26)
Carlos Beltran (90) - only 1 NL player can be kept out of the 6
Gary Sheffield (130) - too much

Lately I have been leaning toward keeping Santana, Harden, Schilling, Johnson, Foulke & Tejada but this will eat up a lot of salary....I worked with similar salaries last season but I will have to build a cheap offense which isn't impossible...

Just looking for some advice...I've also contemplated going with a small salary with Foulke, Dotel, Santana, Harden, Tejada & Huff...

There are a lot variables...looking for Help!!!!

Thanks

Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 10:46 pm

Um, well I'm not sure why you'd considering trading Blalock at that great price.

I think I'd go Santana, Harden, Foulke, Tejada, Blalock, Dotel and if for some reason you really want to dump Blalock, I'd go ahead and keep Beltran.

Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2005 6:08 am

Maybe I don't get it but I always look at it as production.

Harden and Blalock for a combined 6 bucks. Yet they will probably give you enough production next season to be 80-100 bucks.

Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2005 10:41 am

I would keep the following:
Johan Santana (16)
Rich Harden (3)
Hank Blalock (3)
Miguel Tejada (49)
Carlos Beltran (90)
Aubrey Huff (26)

Santana, Harden, and Blalock are huge bargains and should stay on your roster. They give you HUGE amounts of flexibility, which is their real value. Beltran is the best player fantasy wise, so keep him (90$ seems reasonable). Tejada is also a great bargain and the best SS in the game. Huff is solid and also at a fair price.

Moderator Joined: Dec 11, 2003 Posts: 2165

I agree with Matt.

minor league rover Joined: Jan 10, 2005 Posts: 38

Thanks for the advice...It seems the the concensus is to keep a cheap payroll going into the draft....I was thinking that I could get a big jump in pithcing with Schilling & Johnson along with Santana & Harden but at a cost...there isn't that much quality in the AL in pitching...I don't see trading Blalock as that big a deal, while he will give me great production at a great price; I can still keep Huff @ 3B as well as pick up a 2nd round pick...

I also forgot to mentions that I had Joe Mauer & Aaron Rowand @ $3 each...Do you think these guys are worth keeping over some of the others...

Thanks again

Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 7:42 am

to me it sounds like u have the cap flexibility, so i would keep randy or Schilling, but not both, along with the others mentioned. its a toss up, i'd go with Schilling but thats probably my red sox bias creeping in, but with a staff starting with say Schilling, santana, and Harden, you should be in very good shape, you can try and go out and get a young cheap option like a jake westbrook to go with it and you're pitching would be very good next year

Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2005 12:23 pm

Is there anyway to trade Blalock for picks plus Cash? Because there just isn't a way you can get rid of that low cost from your roster. Great production, and he's basically free.

Seriously, do you consider Aubrey Huff to be worth NINE Hank Blalocks?

Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2005 1:40 pm

Munch wrote:

Seriously, do you consider Aubrey Huff to be worth NINE Hank Blalocks?

I think its unfair to look at Huff that way. Huff is a good bargain at 26$. He should post solid numbers and qualifies at a decent amount of positions.

He has Blalock for an awesome price, but how often does that happen? Is Beltran worth 30 Blalock's? Of course not. You could just as easily compare Blalock to any of those keepers at that price.

minor league rover Joined: Dec 31, 2004 Posts: 21

For the most part I would agree with previous assessments :

Johan Santana (16)
Rich Harden (3)
Hank Blalock (3)
Miguel Tejada (49)
Aubrey Huff (26)

However, I think that inflation of draft values needs to be figured in. In a 8 team league with 6 keepers, potentially 48 players are not draftable. I would look at the other rosters and figure who they keep and decide "whose left" Given the right set of circumstances, (everybody is keeping lots of high priced guys) you could clean up with having tons of Cash around to draft when everybody else is already commited a large portion of thier budget to thier keepers. But given different circumstances (everybody is locking in low cost players like you are at ridiculusly low prices) you could have a draft where the players available are going for at least double thier value (since supply of talent is low with 48 players already locked away and everybody having tons of Cash)...keeping a Beltran at 90 might be wise.

minor league rover Joined: Jan 10, 2005 Posts: 38

Thanks again for the help...as somebody stated the difference in production between Blalock and Huff appears quite large but it really isn't...the key to winning the league is to not miss with your high priced salary guys and get a little lucky with the low priced players that you fill in with...for example I pick Aaron Rowand off waivers last season and that helped me to the title...after looking at you projections I just may have to hold on to Rowand...I am also seriously considering keeping Randy Johnson even with his high salary...along with Harden and Santana, it will give me a very nice start on wins/era/whip/k's...it would also be nice to hold on to Schilling but that doesn't seem realistic...I've been flip-flopping on my approach to how to go...

Again thanks for the input...

also what are your thoughts on Joe Mauer? Does he have more value that say Aubrey Huff or Octavio Dotel?

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2005 7:06 am

Matt wrote:

I think its unfair to look at Huff that way. Huff is a good bargain at 26$. He should post solid numbers and qualifies at a decent amount of positions.

He has Blalock for an awesome price, but how often does that happen? Is Beltran worth 30 Blalock's? Of course not.

Yes, but I'm not looking at Huff that way, I'm looking at Blalock that way. The fact is, if you could fit 9 Hank Blalocks into the one starting roster spot that Huff is in, you would - you'd clean up. If you could fit 30 of him into Beltran's spot, you'd clean up even moreso. That is why it would be ridiculous to not keep Blalock.

Of course, you can't do that. But it does allow you to look at the value on hand.

Quote:

You could just as easily compare Blalock to any of those keepers at that price.

Exactly. And that's what he should be doing - he has an absolute bargain on his hands, and it would dumb to let it pass by.

Quote:

as somebody stated the difference in production between Blalock and Huff appears quite large but it really isn't

It's not a matter of the difference in production, it's a matter of difference in value. Would you rather pay 10 cents a homerun (Blalock), 35 cents (Huff), or $2.25 (Beltran)? And if you pay 10 cents per homerun for Blalock, you're more capable of affording Beltran as well, or of making a trade down the line to fill in an injury hole. Or any number of things.

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2005 10:23 am

Munch wrote:

Matt wrote:

I think its unfair to look at Huff that way. Huff is a good bargain at 26$. He should post solid numbers and qualifies at a decent amount of positions.

He has Blalock for an awesome price, but how often does that happen? Is Beltran worth 30 Blalock's? Of course not.

Yes, but I'm not looking at Huff that way, I'm looking at Blalock that way. The fact is, if you could fit 9 Hank Blalocks into the one starting roster spot that Huff is in, you would - you'd clean up. If you could fit 30 of him into Beltran's spot, you'd clean up even moreso. That is why it would be ridiculous to not keep Blalock.

Of course, you can't do that. But it does allow you to look at the value on hand.

Quote:

You could just as easily compare Blalock to any of those keepers at that price.

Exactly. And that's what he should be doing - he has an absolute bargain on his hands, and it would dumb to let it pass by.

Quote:

as somebody stated the difference in production between Blalock and Huff appears quite large but it really isn't

It's not a matter of the difference in production, it's a matter of difference in value. Would you rather pay 10 cents a homerun (Blalock), 35 cents (Huff), or $2.25 (Beltran)? And if you pay 10 cents per homerun for Blalock, you're more capable of affording Beltran as well, or of making a trade down the line to fill in an injury hole. Or any number of things.

I think you didnt understand what I was trying to say. To start off, he should keep Blalock as I said earlier.

What I was saying is that he should keep Huff and Beltran, regardless of what he is paying for Blalock. He has Beltran for 90$, which is a huge bargain when other top players like Schilling + Johnson are going for such high prices. Huff is also at a bargain at 26$ when compared to other players (Dotel and Foulke). I would pay the 26$ for Huff and the 90$ for Beltran because those numbers are low for the talent your getting. Both of those players are worth more, they just arent supreme bargains like Blalock.

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2005 10:31 am

Gotcha. I agree, he should definitely be keeping all 3.

minor league rover Joined: Jan 10, 2005 Posts: 38

thanks again...I don't know if you saw but I also own Aaron Rowand and Joe Mauer @$3 each...would you keep one of these guys over Huff or Beltran...I may drop Beltran because I think that I will be able to get him or Abreu in the draft...most of the other owner shy away from the high priced NL players...