According to our website, CBSSPORTS.com, I have the following price tags attached to the following players I had on my team last year...I am allowed to keep 4 + 1 prospect:

Miguel Cabrera $43
Ian Kinsler $39
B.J. Upton $32
Nick Markakis $29
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Total = $143 spent on 4 players. We draft a total of 14 hitters and 9 pitchers.

Am I totally screwed here? My other options are:

Jason Bartlett $25
David Price $15
Javier Vasquez $26
Rick Porcello $10

I am pretty set on my prospect choice of Carlos Santana $5, but I also have Jesus Montero $0 to choose from.

Any help on these choices/decisions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

I'm not one for auction drafts but I would think that you should keep the best value. I remember reading recently that unless you have Pujols, HanRam for one of the elite elite options you should just throw him back in the pile. I know that's tough. You protect the best value, not the best players.

Here's an article that might help (It's where I read that stuff above):

read the whole thing or scroll down to the "Before the Draft" section

http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/ba...k2k10manifesto

Excellent feedback and great article! I will definitely be able to use that, thank you!

I guess I should mention that my draft is a 'snake' draft and being able to re-acquire players via auction will be next to impossible considering I draft 5th, 20th and then again 29th overall for the first 3 rounds. This pretty much cripples my decision making and spending ability in hopes of snagging some late-round players who may have a little $value attached to their names.

So I'm really stuck. I don't have a whole lot of options to choose from, but my team is set up much nicer than other teams who don't have solid protectables or teams that are in the same boat as I am.

As much as I am big on Kinsler I would be inclined to through him back to the dogs and let everyone else fight over him for what he is worth. I have been in a number of message boards here that don't value Kinsler as much as I do and I am starting to turn the tide and side with them (I actually just traded him away in my keeper). He's just too much of an injury concern (isn't he hurt right now?). Let someone else spend the money on him and deal with his shinanigans.

I am not 100% familiar with an auction draft but even though it is a snake draft you still get a chance to bid on all players no? So the players you do throw back in the pile you could potentially get them back? Or is it a snake draft and all you can do is draft (snake format) according to your budget? Pardon my ignorance but I'm curious.

Maybe the same goes for Cabrera? Hopefully someone else can chime in and set it straight. That's an awful lot of $ but I wouldn't know because I don't do keeper auction drafts (only mock).

Yes it's a snake draft. 1 thru 12 and then 12 thru 1 and so on....

If I throw either Kinsler or Cabrera back into the mix, who do you suggest I keep instead from the other players I mentioned? We have to have 4 keepers from the previous year regardless of their price.

I don't believe either of these guys will be available to me in the 5th spot of my draft should I dump them. The league is crazy deep and the owners are very sharp.

How many hitters/pitchers do you roster? I'd probably let BJ Upton go - he's the one that seems the most inflated out of the 4, and hold on to Bartlett. You'll get the same or better production at a position that will be extremely scarce. Kinsler seems over inflated as well and would consider keeping Price.

23 players - 14 hitters/9 pitchers with 8 reserves

Upton remains someone I am skeptical about but has the ability to things in fantasy only few can. He's young and still raw, but I know exactly what you mean about dropping him for Bartlett.

Hitters are at a premium in our league, letting go of 2 possible legitimate 30/30 guys is difficult in this crazy deep and intelligent-minded manager dynasty league.

Ugh, tough decisions for sure!

Hey guys,

Do you think keeping Bartlett and his $25 value at SS would be a better idea than keeping Markakis and his $29 value at OF? Considering position scarcity, Bartlett ranks much higher at his position than Markakis does.

Thoughts?

Even considering position scarcity in an AL only league I'd sooner have Markakis's numbers that Bartlett's for $4 more and see what kind of SS value is available in the draft.