My leauge settings are in my signature.

We have a rule that salaries escalate by 20% every year with a minimum cost of $10 with an exception for guys under $5 - we can keep one sub-$5 guy for $5 and then he goes to $8 in the next year.

I can only keep 8 guys for a maximum of 2 years, who should they be?

I already have Broxton, Hamilton and Mcgowan under contract for next year.

My roster (current year salary) is:
C - Napoli$7, Salty$2, Mauer - unretainable
1B - D.Lee $24, Votto $1
2B - Weeks$19, A.Cabrera$1, German$1, Hill - unretainable
3B - Iwamura$3, Fields$6
SS - M.Young$21, F.Lopez$4
OF - Hamilton$10, Ankiel$8, Giles$1, willingham$1, fukudome$11, roberts$1, podsednik$1
DH - Thome $22
P - Bedard$37, Billingsley$12, Gallardo$12, Mcgowan $5, Kershaw $1, Meche$6, Wellemeyer$1, Piniero$1, Suppan$1, Smoltz$21, Broxton$5, Ryan $8, Torres $1, Marmol $4, Saito $25, T.Pena$1, Al.Reyes$1

Our trade deadline is in 2 weeks so if I want to get some value for Mauer, I need to move him soon. Who else should I package out?

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Baseball 11 team mixed Roto Salary cap keeper
$300 cap auction for 2 of each IF,1UT,5OF,3SP,2RP,4P + 10 reserves
Auction 25 player starting rosters + 10 round draft of $1 players
6x5 (add OPS)
C - AJ.Ellis,VMart,Grandal
1b - Hosmer,Konerko,Dunn,Moreland
2b - Kipnis,M.Ellis
3b - Beltre,Seager,Donaldson
SS - Segura,D.Espinosa,N.Franklin
UT - Bautista
OF - N.Cruz,BJ.Upton,Morse,Stubbs,Crisp,McLouth
SP - Lester,Shields,Darvish,Medlen,Lohse,Niese,Pettite, Beachy,Kazmir
RP - Kimbrel,Nathan,League,Valverde

So does this mean everyone else on your team that has a price is available for another year or two years?

I\'d rather have Kershaw than Billingsley and Gallardo considering the price. He won\' be as good yet but he should grow quickly and is really cheap. I also like Ankiel at $8. Now looking at the prices, I would then splurg for Billingsley and Gallardo also considering the other options. Finally Votto seems like a great value.

So Broxton $5, Hamilton $10, McGowan $5, Kershaw $1, Ankiel $8, Billingsley $12, Gallardo $12, Votto $1.

So $54. IS that good compared to others?

This is difficult to evaluate but there is my attempt. If you trade Mauer for another unretainable from someone else wouldn\'t that get you fair value? THat way the new team can sign him and then you can sign someone of similar value in return right?

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08-09 (Before Ownership): DHL Stars
Fisher, Fehr, Hagman, Stoll, Dubinsky, Zubrus, Brule, Boyd, Stempniak, Bergeron, HIggins, Nylander, Langkow, Bourque, Burrows, Pyatt, Crombeen, Hunwick Ohlund, Salo, Bergeron, Thomas, Quick, Ersberg, LaBarbera, Raycroft

12-13 (Present): DHL Capitals
Heatley, Semin, Vanek, Roy, Ribeiro, Kessel, Couture, Turris, Kopitar, Marleau, Hossa, Pominville, Conacher, Nyquist, Silfverberg, Rajala, Arcobello, Karlsson, Green, Enstrom, Wisniewski, Ellis, Elliott, Murphy, Brennan, Benoit, Fleury, Bryzgalov, Elliott, Nabakov, Lehner

Mauer and Hill\'s contracts terminate at the end of this season and even if I trade them to another team, they must be returned to the auction pool.

Broxton, Hamilton, and Mcgowan\'s contacts terminate at the end of 2009.

All others with a price are retainable for 1 or 2 years - salaries inflating by 20% each year with a minimum value set at $10 but we are allowed ONE \"rookie\" exception where a sub-$5 guy is kept for $5 for 1 year and then $8 in his 2nd year

eg. Votto and Kershaw are both $1 this year, if I keep them both for 2 years and designate Kershaw as my rookie, their salaries will be: Votto $10, Kershaw $5 in 2009 and Votto $12, Kershaw $8 in 2010.

We are also allowed ONE salary freeze for a 1 year deal. eg if I wanted to keep D.Lee $24 for 1 year, I could freeze his salary at $24 for 2009.

So I was thinking that ideally I should keep:
Hamilton for $12
Ankiel for 2 - $10 and then $12
Billingsley and Gallardo I would keep one of these guys for 1 year at the frozen cost of $12 and then keep the other for 2 years - $14 and $17
Kershaw - as a rookie for $5 and then $8
Votto for 2 - $10 and $12

trade 2 of Ryan $10, Mcgowan $8 and Broxton $8 for one keeper (trying to get Huff who would be $12 and $14).

If I\'m successful, in 2009, I would have:
1B - Votto $10
1B/3B/DH - Huff $12
OF/DH - Hamilton $12
OF - Ankiel $10
P - Gallardo $12, Billingsley $14, Kershaw $5, + 1 of: Ryan $10 or Mcgowan $8 or Broxton $8

That would be 8 guys for a committed salary cost of: $83 or $85 which would be very good considering the minimum keeper salary is normally $10 each.

I\'m dreaming of the K\'s that Gallardo, Billingsley and kershaw could come up with in 2009 - especially if I can pick up an ace like Santana as well.

I am hoping that I can get Marmol back for $10 or less. As long as he isn\'t closing, I\'m pretty sure I can do it.

__________________
Baseball 11 team mixed Roto Salary cap keeper
$300 cap auction for 2 of each IF,1UT,5OF,3SP,2RP,4P + 10 reserves
Auction 25 player starting rosters + 10 round draft of $1 players
6x5 (add OPS)
C - AJ.Ellis,VMart,Grandal
1b - Hosmer,Konerko,Dunn,Moreland
2b - Kipnis,M.Ellis
3b - Beltre,Seager,Donaldson
SS - Segura,D.Espinosa,N.Franklin
UT - Bautista
OF - N.Cruz,BJ.Upton,Morse,Stubbs,Crisp,McLouth
SP - Lester,Shields,Darvish,Medlen,Lohse,Niese,Pettite, Beachy,Kazmir
RP - Kimbrel,Nathan,League,Valverde

qstar that sounds good if you can pull it off. So essentially when you are trading a guy like Mauer he is just a throw in for the rest of this season.

In a system like that, a young trio of Gallardo, Billingsley and Kershaw sounds as good as any for that price. Sux you can\'t keep anyone beyond two years though. I assume you can redraft them though right? Interesting set-up but not easy thats for sure. I\'d avoid trading Kershaw in a deal to get Huff. Use others as you mentioned... Ryan and McGowan would be good I think but will he take it?

__________________
08-09 (Before Ownership): DHL Stars
Fisher, Fehr, Hagman, Stoll, Dubinsky, Zubrus, Brule, Boyd, Stempniak, Bergeron, HIggins, Nylander, Langkow, Bourque, Burrows, Pyatt, Crombeen, Hunwick Ohlund, Salo, Bergeron, Thomas, Quick, Ersberg, LaBarbera, Raycroft

12-13 (Present): DHL Capitals
Heatley, Semin, Vanek, Roy, Ribeiro, Kessel, Couture, Turris, Kopitar, Marleau, Hossa, Pominville, Conacher, Nyquist, Silfverberg, Rajala, Arcobello, Karlsson, Green, Enstrom, Wisniewski, Ellis, Elliott, Murphy, Brennan, Benoit, Fleury, Bryzgalov, Elliott, Nabakov, Lehner

You got it JS, guys in the terminating year of their contract are rentals for the season. But as you guessed, they can be re-drafted in the following year.

Even though there are home-team premiums, I really doubt that Mcgowan and Ryan would get me much...even with a Mauer sweetener.

I will try though.

My other question is, how long should I keep Gallardo and Billingsley? Kershaw is a no-brainer 2 year extension at $5 and then $8.

But what about Billingsley and Gallardo - $14 in 2009 and then $17 in 2010?

I was going to nominate Gallardo for your band aid boy squad, but I don\'t want to jinx myself....signing him for 2 more years seems like I could be asking for trouble.

__________________
Baseball 11 team mixed Roto Salary cap keeper
$300 cap auction for 2 of each IF,1UT,5OF,3SP,2RP,4P + 10 reserves
Auction 25 player starting rosters + 10 round draft of $1 players
6x5 (add OPS)
C - AJ.Ellis,VMart,Grandal
1b - Hosmer,Konerko,Dunn,Moreland
2b - Kipnis,M.Ellis
3b - Beltre,Seager,Donaldson
SS - Segura,D.Espinosa,N.Franklin
UT - Bautista
OF - N.Cruz,BJ.Upton,Morse,Stubbs,Crisp,McLouth
SP - Lester,Shields,Darvish,Medlen,Lohse,Niese,Pettite, Beachy,Kazmir
RP - Kimbrel,Nathan,League,Valverde