Unsure of last 2 Keeper Spots, Please Help!

[ksenor]

I have to set my 6 keepers by the 15th. Based on the league settings (below), who would you keep?
I have 4 that I feel good about: C.Crawford, M.Cabrera, E.Longoria, J.Werth
Unsure of the last 2 spots among these players: BJ.Upton, A.Ramirez, N.Cruz, J.Santana, J.Vazquez

10 Team Roto Keeper League
AVG / HR / RBI / R / SB / OPS
K / W / ERA / WHIP / S / Holds
Roster spots all 1 except OF which is 5
C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 2B/SS, 1B/3B, UTIL....OF x5
9 pitcher spots
4 bench spots

I really appreciate any help.
Kevin

[Captain Hook]

I have to set my 6 keepers by the 15th. Based on the league settings (below), who would you keep?
I have 4 that I feel good about: C.Crawford, M.Cabrera, E.Longoria, J.Werth
Unsure of the last 2 spots among these players: BJ.Upton, A.Ramirez, N.Cruz, J.Santana, J.Vazquez

10 Team Roto Keeper League
AVG / HR / RBI / R / SB / OPS
K / W / ERA / WHIP / S / Holds
Roster spots all 1 except OF which is 5
C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 2B/SS, 1B/3B, UTIL....OF x5
9 pitcher spots
4 bench spots

I really appreciate any help.
Kevin

A couple of way to look at your choices
1) If you use the tools/projections on the site which guys rank higher?
2) If the four players you list were available and you were Drafting, which would you pick?
3) Assuming you have exhausted the trade opportunities ......you could easily find a team where you could trade Santana and Upton for one player you liked better than either of those, I would keep Cruz first and then probably Aramis Ramirez.... not a huge Upton guy and you would be too heavy at OF spots and the dwindling value at CI ....and wanting to put pressure on your opponents at that spot favor Ramirez....unless you thought you needed a pitcher.

I would try and trade any of your four to get a MI you wanted to keep or upgrade at SP

[da_big_kid_94]

I think your last two keepers are Upton and Cruz. I say no to Santana because the Mets are already in trouble, they'll play well behind him, but they won't be good enough to help him enough. I rule out Vasquez because of the switch to the AL and he calls Yankee Stadium home instead of Atlanta. The lure of the upside is what makes me lean towards Upton, and that he's finally healthy and is now going to get his head screwed on right when he saw what his brother just got.

[Todd Zola]

I'm in process of providing the poster with custom values, but via the eye test, I also would not keep the pitching since the hold categories opens it up for some solid middle relievers, meaning you can use the boring but solid starters and not be required to take a shot on a potential risky ace.

As for the hitters, you can argue any 2 of the 3. I think most will suggest Cruz.

The knock on Aramis is injury, not production. He would be your CI or UT and in a 10-team league, will be fairly easy to replace if he gets hurt. That would be my suggestion.

Upton's forte is speed and in a 10-team mixed league, the waivers will be just dripping with speed guys if you need a boost in that area.

[ksenor]

Cruz has the 'homer' card in his favor too being a lifelong Ranger fan down here in Texas.

[Tig]

my first attempt would be to package some guys for a keeper. Tho, that may be difficult with only 10 teams.. as your target teams should be those with less than 6 viable options.

if no trades can be had, then id keep 2 of the hitters.

[lawr]

i cannot argue with any of the points made.

cruz is pop, for sure.

but, i like upton, and i actually think johan could be just fine. for the most part, the league is so shallow that you should be able to spell him as easily as you can get the speed todd noted.

the thin about santana is that among the players you noted, he is the one who could be a game changer, and in a shallow league i would tend to hang onto that.

true the mets are in trouble. so were the phils when carlton won 27. someone has to do it.

[da_big_kid_94]

true the mets are in trouble. so were the phils when carlton won 27. someone has to do it.

Point taken.

[Todd Zola]

Sort of off-topic, buy a pet peeve nonetheless...

A good pitcher on a team with a good offense will win.

Sometimes teams have a bad record because their pitching is horrid.

Last year's Nats come to mind.

On the recent First Pitch Forum tour, there was a discussion about Strasburg and the point was repeatedly made that on a bad team, you don't get wins. Besides the fact that as fantasy enthusiasts, we should know not to use that in an argument, the fact is Washington was in the middle of the pack in run scored in the NL. So an above average pitcher on paper, SHOULD have a winning record.

ok, back to your regularly scheduled keeper discussion

[da_big_kid_94]

If you are referring to Santana, I believe it goes simply beyond the Met record. I look at the games he pitched last year (not to mention coming off surgery for a bone spur) and I find that from June until August 20 (his last game of the year), the Mets were 6-9 in games he started. That is not what you are expecting from games where your ace starts. That may be the norm for Perez, Maine, Pelfry, et al, but that's not supposed to be for Santana. I'm not looking for him to win every time out - but the fact that the Mets couldn't get up to a .500 record in games he started from June until he was shut down is not encouraging. Then I look at how they have improved and I see Jason Bay. Then I look at the negatives - possibly starting the season with a rookie SS, Pagan back in center instead of Beltran, An Abbott and Costello routine and J.J. Putz redux from the guy you signed to be the 8th inning guy (who wasn't the poster boy for arm health in the first place).

Santana still has the capability to rise above the material he's working with - but for how much longer?

[Todd Zola]

Sorry, didn't mean to imply I was commenting specifically on Santana -- I personally think the Mets are in store for a whole lot of hurt with respect to scoring runs.

Just in general, though spurred by the Santana discussion.

[lawr]

well, i agree wins are not something to scrum for. i like to think my best pitchers will win 14-15 games, and my worst, provided they go 180 innings or so, will get ten or so.

i do think if the pitcher can get strikeouts, that helps.

but, to the point, grienke was on a bad team and he won like 16, despite the dominance.

anyway, i do draft for strikeouts and innings, and i like it if my guy is on a team that wins, that is fine.

i do think the mets will struggle this year.

but, i also think santana can still be dominant, and he does pitch in the nl. i doubt anyone else in the free agent pool has his potential upside, either, and because there are ten teams, you can compensate should he struggle.

there will be starters out there and decent ones, too.

[ksenor]

Man, Thank you so much guys for all the comments. I think I finally found a good fantasy baseball forum!!!

I have threw out quite a few offers to try and get a MI for Santana and Upton but haven't heard anything back. Keeper set deadline is midnight so we'll see if I hear anything back.

Based on prior years and talking to some of the guys about who they are keeping, there are not very many SP being kept at all. I think I can get Santana back in the 7th Rd (1st round after keepers) or even possibly upgrade. I am going to keep N.Cruz and am leaning to A.Ramirez as the last spot. With Miggy, Longoria and Aramis, I would have my corner spots filled and be able to not have to worry about that weak spot and focus elsewhere.