Who to protect from an expansion draft?
Posted: January 6th, 2021, 1:19 pm
Our Diamond Mind sim league is expanding from 16 to 20 teams so we're having an expansion draft and can only protect 10. When we have a player taken we can protect 1 more, up to 14, so 10-1-1-1-1. I'm defending champ and unfortunately guaranteed to lose 4 pretty solid players. I feel pretty confident of my top 8, but any input would be greatly appreciated. There are no contracts and we can keep forever. We use the previous year's stats to run the sim so this year is going to be bonkers with only 60 games of stats to rely on. I'm torn because my team should be competitive but another guy has Bieber, Bauer, Clevinger, and Bassitt and I don't see him losing with that staff.
C Realmuto (he really stunk last year in the sim but he's the clear #1 C)
1B Olson (putrid BA but power undeniable)
2B Marte (big drop-off from 2019 but still seems like a good bet to rebound)
3B Arenado (not a good year but obviously still a stud)
LF Ozuna
DH Cruz (I know he's old but he could hit 60 HRs in the sim [he hit 47 in last year's sim] so I can't leave him unprotected, can I?)
SP Woodruff
SP Scherzer (yes the end is nigh but I'll ride him until he falters, was my world series co-MVP)
~~~~~~~~~
Really torn on which 2 to choose from these for my protect list, but then how to rank them after as well:
RF Santander (metrics back up his performance and hitting prime age)
2B Altuve (similar to Arenado but his 2020 was truly awful and the cheating scandal seems to have really affected him. If I keep him, I can move Marte to CF because we're going with 1-game position eligibility this year)
CF Dylan Carlson (weak debut but I'll really be kicking myself if he lives up to his lofty expectations...will he though?)
SP Chris Paddack (he was stellar on my sim team this year but really struggled in real life. Baseball HQ likes his peripherals but both xERA and FIP are around 4 which is decent but not great)
RP Liam Hendricks (only the best closer in baseball but RPs are undervalued due to supply because we can use any RP as closer)
RP Josh Hader (also elite but he wasn't great last year and LHs get pounded...e.g., I had to bench him in the playoffs)
C Willson Contreras (was also the World Series co-MVP and as a Cubs fan it pains me but I can't justify keeping 2 Cs)
SP Zach Eflin (really intriguing, is he ready to take the next step?)
SP Adam Wainwright (will perform really well this sim season but obviously not a priority given his age)
SS Semien (so good in 2019 and I really don't like possibly not having a SS if he gets taken)
SP Patrick Corbin (blech what happened?...really not considering him but wanted to present all my options)
CF Jacoby Jones
How would you approach it? TIA
C Realmuto (he really stunk last year in the sim but he's the clear #1 C)
1B Olson (putrid BA but power undeniable)
2B Marte (big drop-off from 2019 but still seems like a good bet to rebound)
3B Arenado (not a good year but obviously still a stud)
LF Ozuna
DH Cruz (I know he's old but he could hit 60 HRs in the sim [he hit 47 in last year's sim] so I can't leave him unprotected, can I?)
SP Woodruff
SP Scherzer (yes the end is nigh but I'll ride him until he falters, was my world series co-MVP)
~~~~~~~~~
Really torn on which 2 to choose from these for my protect list, but then how to rank them after as well:
RF Santander (metrics back up his performance and hitting prime age)
2B Altuve (similar to Arenado but his 2020 was truly awful and the cheating scandal seems to have really affected him. If I keep him, I can move Marte to CF because we're going with 1-game position eligibility this year)
CF Dylan Carlson (weak debut but I'll really be kicking myself if he lives up to his lofty expectations...will he though?)
SP Chris Paddack (he was stellar on my sim team this year but really struggled in real life. Baseball HQ likes his peripherals but both xERA and FIP are around 4 which is decent but not great)
RP Liam Hendricks (only the best closer in baseball but RPs are undervalued due to supply because we can use any RP as closer)
RP Josh Hader (also elite but he wasn't great last year and LHs get pounded...e.g., I had to bench him in the playoffs)
C Willson Contreras (was also the World Series co-MVP and as a Cubs fan it pains me but I can't justify keeping 2 Cs)
SP Zach Eflin (really intriguing, is he ready to take the next step?)
SP Adam Wainwright (will perform really well this sim season but obviously not a priority given his age)
SS Semien (so good in 2019 and I really don't like possibly not having a SS if he gets taken)
SP Patrick Corbin (blech what happened?...really not considering him but wanted to present all my options)
CF Jacoby Jones
How would you approach it? TIA