I\'ve struggled hard the past 2 seasons in this league after taking over a team that was in similar shape. I thought I was making moves to make it better, but I\'ve basically just treaded water and moved no where. I can\'t get a grasp on the value of prospects in baseball since they take so long to develop and so many flunk, unlike hockey.

I\'d never make a post like this for hockey as it\'s asking for way too much advice, but I just don\'t have a clue what direction to take right now.

anyways, I get to keep 11 of these guys, plus 2 \"prospects\" (Scherzer, Loney, or Lester)

We play 1 of each infield, 5 OF and 2 Util + 5 SP, 2 RP.
Head 2 Head weekly, with R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, W, SV, K, ERA, WHIP.

My roster was:

Bobby Abreu *
Eric Byrnes *
Chone Figgins
Troy Glaus
Corey Hart *
Derek jeter
James Loney
Jose Lopez
Victor Martinez *
Aramis Ramirez *
Alex Rios *
Gary Sheffield
Nick Swisher
Vernon Wells *

Josh Becket *
Chad Billingsley *
Mark Buehrle
Matt Capps
Chris Carpenter
Aaron Harang
Felix Hernandez *
Jon Lester **(prospect)
Ted Lilly
Ricky Nolasco *
JJ Putz
Oliver Perez
Max Scherzer **(prospect)
Brian Wilson

I marked with *s my expected keepers. I\'d love to keep Putz, but last year i took him early and he disappointed too (as I hear is common with drafting/keeping relievers).

I traded for Carpenter last year with the expectation of keeping him, so Im pretty sure I\'ll find a way to get him into my keeper list, probably knocking Byrnes off (I\'d redraft Byrnes, love the guy).

V Wells is another option to not keep, and hope to draft back. I expect big things from him this year.


Anyways, Thanks and Karma for any help.

How are prospects determined?

The following players are the players I want to protect.

1) Bobby Abreu
2) Corey Hart
3) Derek Jeter
4) Aramis Ramirez
5) Alex Rios
6) Chad Billingsley
7) Felix Hernadez
8) Jose Lopez (underrated 2B who had a breakout season a couple seasons ago...but if you didn\'t own him, you probably didn\'t realize that)
9) Victor Martinez (I don\'t like him as much as some people, but his name alone could probably get you some value in return should you seek a trade)
10) Chone Figgins
11) Vernon Wells

Your two prospects Lester & Scherzer are wise choices, as Loney doesn\'t generate enough power to warrant a 1B slot.

Putz won\'t be the primary saves guy with Francisco Rodriguez on the same team, so keeping him is of no use to you.

You have a good young pitching staff. Your offense however needs some work, and would look to draft guys that can hit you 30+ HR. As it stands, it doesn\'t look like you have anyone that can currently do that for you. Don\'t bother drafting pitchers this early as you have protected 5 SP. Look to fill up on high K, low WHIP middle relievers during the end rounds.

In a H2H league, you should be able to compete in the pitching category.

Offence is another story, so make drafting some power hitters priority #1.

Hope this helps.

__________________
Keeper League:

F) N.Backstrom, E.Malkin, V.Lecavalier, P.Mueller, A.Mcdonald, B.Boyes, A.Hemsky, S.Horcoff, K.Turris, D.Jeffrey, M.Perreault, C.O'Reilly, S.Upshall, M.Erat, S.Gagne, D.Legwand D) S.Souray, M.Streit, A.Babchuk, T.Gilbert, I.Cole, J.Hillen, M.Methot G) B.Elliott, S.Varlamov, C.Ward, J.Reimer P) N.Kadri, E.Kuznetsov, S.Shirokov, V.Tarasenko, J.Blum, OEL, J.Moore, O.Pavelec

1) Beckett
2) Billingsley
3) Felix Hern
4) Corey Hart
5) Victor Martinez
6) Arimas Ramirez
7) Alex Rios
8) Bobby Abreu
9) Chone Figgins
10)Jose Lopez
11)Vernon Wells

I like the idea of keeping Lopez as well... VERY solid last season (I noticed cause I picked him up after making many-a-trades in a rebuild) - Along with Schezer and Lester.

IF you feel you MUST keep Loney - drop Scherzer OR keep him over a figgins or someone. I dont like the idea of keeping 4 OF here in a 5 OF league - I\'d prefer more balance in my keepers, but unfortunately these guys are where your bats are!

re Carpenter: a decent gamble last season to trade for him. BUT he is 34 I think. It\'s not like he\'s a spring chicken anymore. Even if he were younger, he will likely not produce enough to warrent a keeper slot this season. If he were like 26 ... for sure.... but if he\'s not full strength until next season... argh.
Good Luck

Karma to both.

Is the general consensus is that Nolasco played above his level last season? I don\'t think I watched a single game of his, but his stat line was looking good in the 2nd half. Both of you advised to not keep Nolasco, and keep Figgins instead.

I have no problem keeping Figgins, I\'ve redrafted him in the past 2 seasons. Based on Byrnes\' short season he\'ll probably be the easier one to redraft this year between the 2, so easy to knock Byrnes off my keeper list.

Based on numbers, I guess Byrnes would be off my list, and Lopez on. Still don\'t have room for Figgins as I\'m not sold on not keeping Nolasco yet.

Got a few more days left to decide

I think there are a couple options for you here.
First and foremost your staff is stellar with a ton of K\'s coming and players that are in positions to have an opportunity to get alot of wins.
You have enough depth as well that you could probably pick up someone on the cheap in your draft and move Beckett for some power which appears to be a glaring hole beyond A-Ram....although you have a great mix of 5 category players.
Your top 4 OF is strong and although you got some love for Byrnes.
I\'m not high on Byrnes (posible platoon and you can probably draft him back), Carpenter (injury) or Figgins (probably only 3B eligibility this year although could be slotted in your UTIL). I actually with the great mixture of youth already would suggest you take one ride on the Jeter train. Obviously on the decline but I suspect there is very little not being kept in as a deep a league as your in.

Check Nolasco\'s second half split and his game log....I really like him.

Victor Martinez *
Derek Jeter *
Aramis Ramirez *
Alex Rios *
Vernon Wells *
Corey Hart *
Bobby Abreu *

Josh Becket *
Chad Billingsley *
Felix Hernandez *
Ricky Nolasco *
Jon Lester **(prospect)
Max Scherzer **(prospect)

\'ducks hope i\'m not too late in offering another opinion, so here it goes...

Billingsley,
Felix,
Nolasco,
Beckett,
Hart,
VMart,
A-Ram,
Rios,
Abreu,
Lopez,
-Carpenter-

Scherzer **
Lester **

The way I see it - and it\'s a questionable strategy to keep some of the names on there (Carpenter is a personal choice for you, so i included him in there although I personally wouldn\'t cling to him just yet) - but I\'d like to have the dominant pitching that your staff could offer for years to come with Lester, Chad, Felix, Nolasco, Scherzer anchoring your team with high K rates, some solid enough era to counter rough starts, and enough wins to push you over the opponent week-in, week-out - especially in a Weekly H2H system. You bring a team of killer pitchers and the other opponent has to scramble as a result to make sure he\'s got more risks on offense to carry those stats, and the guys that you\'d keep for now on the hitting side offer balanced numbers per week.

Paragraph summary: Keep the killer pitchers, dominate your H2H-Weekly with punishing pitching stats, and keep your offense balanced enough to stay competitive. Over the year you can trade a pitcher for a power-bat if needed, and that\'ll help you rebuild and restabilize your team by next season.

hope it helps, and hope you keep your head up (especially in a keeper system where you can swallow a losing season if need be to restock/rebuild/retool)

Hey Dud, here is my .02.

1. J. Lopez
2. Jeter
3. Ramirez
4. V. Martinez
5. Abreau
6. Hart
7. Rios
8. Beckett
9. Billingsly
10. Hernandez
11. Capps or Wells
Prospects - Can\'t go wrong with Lester and Scherzer, in fact, I can\'t believe that they\'re allowing Lester as a Prospect.

The most difficult choice is between the bandaid boy Wells who already tweaked his Hammy this spring and Capps. Very good closer on a bad team. I would not waste a spot on C. Figgins with your 3B position already covered by Ramirez. Also, my guess is that there is much more talent available in the OF than RP. Good Luck