12 team AL Only Keeper Thoughts...

[frae]

5x5 12 teams AL Only with some RJ guys in it. Last year this team finished 3rd, but the cupboard is not as empty as the PONY team I had up last week. Anyway here are my early thoughts...

Locks
Carlos Santana $5 yr 1
Matt Wieters $5 yr 2
Nelson Cruz $8 Guaranteed through 2011 (g11)
Ben Zobrist $3 opt yr
Wade Davis $5 yr 1

Probably
Mark Teixeira $34 opt
Kevin Gregg $7 yr 2
Jim Thome $9

Pickem
Adam Lind $21 opt
Ichiro $33 yr 2
Ryan Kalish $5 yr 1
Ian Kinsler $32 yr 2

Honestly my thoughts were to pair up Ichiro and Lind as they are somewhat complimentary. I do like Kalish though and just wish he had job, but with the injury history of the Boston OF he could easily get his AB's. What do you guys think? I don't have to keep 10, that is the max so you can make the argument for just keeping 8. Thanks.

[Rush]

8@$80 looks good - what's the inflation rate like? How does the potential player pool look like?

Ichiro - if he hits .310 instead of .325, and the steals go down at all, we are not talking a $33 OF. I expect Lind to rebound some in avg. but he is DH only so you tie up that spot going in. I agree these two are a good compliment, it's just a matter of the price. If inflation is high and the pool looks shallow then keeping them makes sense

[frae]

8@$80 looks good - what's the inflation rate like? How does the potential player pool look like?

Ichiro - if he hits .310 instead of .325, and the steals go down at all, we are not talking a $33 OF. I expect Lind to rebound some in avg. but he is DH only so you tie up that spot going in. I agree these two are a good compliment, it's just a matter of the price. If inflation is high and the pool looks shallow then keeping them makes sense

I totally missed Lind now being DH only and planned on keeping Thome who is definitely DH only. I still have him in the OF on my league site and didn't notice that he had lost qualification at an actual position. Now we do have a different system where we use our auction money ($264) to also buy our reserves. So since Lind will be playing 1B this year after 5 games of him playing there and qualifying I could insert him at CI. So the theory would be take some $1 CI player late with the plans of using Lind there once he qualifies.

Inflation is high, but not crazy. Miggy went for $46 last year and King Felix for $39 and Papelbon for $30. Most other stud hitters fall into the high 30's to mid 30's. The big name pitchers tend to go just into 30's or the high 20's and most of the other closers in the mid 20's.

[frae]

Ok one last bump now that it is much closer. My keepers are due tomorrow.

I am keeping these 7...

Carlos Santana $5 yr 1
Matt Wieters $5 yr 2
Nelson Cruz $8 Guaranteed through 2011 (g11)
Ben Zobrist $3 opt yr
Wade Davis $5 yr 1
Mark Teixeira $34 opt
Kevin Gregg $7 yr 2

Before anything else do you see a 1 year extension on Zobrist to $8 as good move?

Ok last 3 slots, I don't have to fill them but as I look around I have a bad feeling about a lot of studs being kept. So that said...

1. Kinsler 32
2. Lind 21
3 Ichiro 33
4. Thome 9

I have been giving real thought to going Lind, Ichiro and Kinsler. It would put me at $153 or $158 depending on what I do with Zobrist. Or I could go in cheap and hope that inflation doesn't go crazy and I can throw my money around. All thoughts appreciated, thanks.

[Gregg]

Or you could keep Kinsler and Lind and have an exta $33 to spend? I would probably play Zobrist out.

[frae]

Or you could keep Kinsler and Lind and have an exta $33 to spend? I would probably play Zobrist out.

Yeah and that is what I thought early on, just concerned about having only 1 OF keeper. As deep as OF can be in mixed leagues, it feels so shallow in a 12 team only when you start looking around.

[axman]

I hear you with the OF situation getting shallow in AL only pools. I would give Zobrist a 1 year extension but I think I like him more than most (even though I don't own him in any pools). I really like your top 7:
Carlos Santana $5 yr 1
Matt Wieters $5 yr 2
Nelson Cruz $8 Guaranteed through 2011 (g11)
Ben Zobrist $3 opt yr (I would extend to $8)
Wade Davis $5 yr 1
Mark Teixeira $34 opt
Kevin Gregg $7 yr 2

I would probably keep Kinsler also. Lind's price is ok but I really don't like tying up DH spots going into the auction. Depending on how the auction plays out you can slide Zobrist to OF. While 2b isn't deep with great talent I think there are quite a few guys that can provide some value at MI if the OF talent dries up.

Good Luck.

[frae]

I hear you with the OF situation getting shallow in AL only pools. I would give Zobrist a 1 year extension but I think I like him more than most (even though I don't own him in any pools). I really like your top 7:
Carlos Santana $5 yr 1
Matt Wieters $5 yr 2
Nelson Cruz $8 Guaranteed through 2011 (g11)
Ben Zobrist $3 opt yr (I would extend to $8)
Wade Davis $5 yr 1
Mark Teixeira $34 opt
Kevin Gregg $7 yr 2

I would probably keep Kinsler also. Lind's price is ok but I really don't like tying up DH spots going into the auction. Depending on how the auction plays out you can slide Zobrist to OF. While 2b isn't deep with great talent I think there are quite a few guys that can provide some value at MI if the OF talent dries up.

Good Luck.

On the bright side we do our rsv draft at the same time as our auction meaning you basically have 4 extra DH slots so I can keep Lind and not really tie up my DH slot. That is the main reason I am ok keeping him because then I can move him to CI later in the year if need be to free up DH for someone else.

[frae]

Decided to keep 9 and throw back Ichiro. So I kept my $21 Lind and my $32 Kinsler. Thanks for the thoughts guys.