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Regardless of what happens from here, the draft itself is always one of the highlights of the season so I was very happy we stayed the course and held this last night. Who knows when the season will start but dammit I had a really good set of keepers so the hell if some virus is going to mess with my contention window 
THE KEEPERS:
Ronald Acuna $5, Mookie Betts $20, Trevor Story $15, Ozzie Albies $15, Aaron Judge $13, Andrew Benintendi $11, Mitch Garver $3, Nick Senzel $6, Taylor Rogers $1, Ken Giles $19
THE PLAN:
So before we set keepers I made a trade to get Giles who imo is one of the safer closers. Had I known that someone like Archie Bradley would go for $15 (great buy) I probably would have not done this trade and just held onto Trent Grisham ($7) but as others have said inflation runs high and I felt better about locking down saves pre-draft. Initially I was going to extend both Judge & Benintendi 1 additional year apiece but then I decided shorter 2-year deals to better align to my contention window and both players have some questions be it health or just productivity. So with these keepers, my offense was STACKED and I had my saves. So clearly my draft plan would center around SP and finding some value hitters to fill out the roster. This is a very active trading league but I don't like to leave the draft with holes as that takes away leverage in trades imo. Pre-draft I wasn't sure if I'd go after DeGrom once he went past $50 or if I'd spread the $ around a bit. I did know that I wanted 3 strong SPs one way or the other to provide a foundation to stream against.
THE TEAM: Keepers in bold
C = Mitch Garver ($3)
1B = Miguel Cabrera ($8)
2B = Ozzie Albies ($15)
SS = Trevor Story ($15)
3B = Evan Longoria ($10)
MI = Nick Ahmed ($6)
CI = Mitch Moreland ($3)
OF = Ronald Acuna ($5)
OF = Mookie Betts ($20)
OF = Aaron Judge ($13)
OF = Andrew Benintendi ($11)
OF = Nick Senzel ($6)
DH = JP or Brandon Crawford ($3/$2)
DH = Yoenis Cespedes ($6)
P = Stephen Strasburg ($41)
P = Luis Castillo ($35)
P = Kyle Hendricks ($22)
P = Anibal Sanchez ($5)
P = Kwang-Hyun Kim ($5)
P = Ross Stripling ($2)
P = Diego Castillo ($2)
P = Taylor Rogers ($1)
P = Ken Giles ($19)
P Bench = Taillon ($2), May ($1), Ponce de Leon ($1), Lorenzen ($2)
THE VERDICT:
Feel like I executed my plan. Castillo was one of the first pitchers up so was very happy to lock him in early a few bucks under what I was willing to pay. Wish I pushed DeGrom as he went for $50 and I hit the +1 too late. But I was able to get Strasburg at $41 which then allowed me to grab Hendricks for $22 who I also would have paid a little more for. So with those top-3, I get great ratios and a good # of Ks. Stripling, Kim and Castillo were all targets and the rest were just players I was willing to hit the +1 on. Taillon should be a trade chip while May & Lorenzen are good MRs with at least some path to saves. Ponce de Leon backs up Kim as the #5 SP in STL was not announced before camps broke up. Sanchez is just a backend SP on a good NL team. Wasn't intentional per se but all my SPs are NL which is generally my preference.
On offense, I have long felt there is value in these deep keeper leagues in the crusty old vets which is why you see so many on my team. None were targets per se in isolation but the plan was to scoop up hitters under $10 with PT. Cespedes might be a mistake but at $6 maybe he's healed up a bit more if and when a season starts.
So all things considered this is a team that I'm happy to go into battle with!
THE KEEPERS:
Ronald Acuna $5, Mookie Betts $20, Trevor Story $15, Ozzie Albies $15, Aaron Judge $13, Andrew Benintendi $11, Mitch Garver $3, Nick Senzel $6, Taylor Rogers $1, Ken Giles $19
THE PLAN:
So before we set keepers I made a trade to get Giles who imo is one of the safer closers. Had I known that someone like Archie Bradley would go for $15 (great buy) I probably would have not done this trade and just held onto Trent Grisham ($7) but as others have said inflation runs high and I felt better about locking down saves pre-draft. Initially I was going to extend both Judge & Benintendi 1 additional year apiece but then I decided shorter 2-year deals to better align to my contention window and both players have some questions be it health or just productivity. So with these keepers, my offense was STACKED and I had my saves. So clearly my draft plan would center around SP and finding some value hitters to fill out the roster. This is a very active trading league but I don't like to leave the draft with holes as that takes away leverage in trades imo. Pre-draft I wasn't sure if I'd go after DeGrom once he went past $50 or if I'd spread the $ around a bit. I did know that I wanted 3 strong SPs one way or the other to provide a foundation to stream against.
THE TEAM: Keepers in bold
C = Mitch Garver ($3)
1B = Miguel Cabrera ($8)
2B = Ozzie Albies ($15)
SS = Trevor Story ($15)
3B = Evan Longoria ($10)
MI = Nick Ahmed ($6)
CI = Mitch Moreland ($3)
OF = Ronald Acuna ($5)
OF = Mookie Betts ($20)
OF = Aaron Judge ($13)
OF = Andrew Benintendi ($11)
OF = Nick Senzel ($6)
DH = JP or Brandon Crawford ($3/$2)
DH = Yoenis Cespedes ($6)
P = Stephen Strasburg ($41)
P = Luis Castillo ($35)
P = Kyle Hendricks ($22)
P = Anibal Sanchez ($5)
P = Kwang-Hyun Kim ($5)
P = Ross Stripling ($2)
P = Diego Castillo ($2)
P = Taylor Rogers ($1)
P = Ken Giles ($19)
P Bench = Taillon ($2), May ($1), Ponce de Leon ($1), Lorenzen ($2)
THE VERDICT:
Feel like I executed my plan. Castillo was one of the first pitchers up so was very happy to lock him in early a few bucks under what I was willing to pay. Wish I pushed DeGrom as he went for $50 and I hit the +1 too late. But I was able to get Strasburg at $41 which then allowed me to grab Hendricks for $22 who I also would have paid a little more for. So with those top-3, I get great ratios and a good # of Ks. Stripling, Kim and Castillo were all targets and the rest were just players I was willing to hit the +1 on. Taillon should be a trade chip while May & Lorenzen are good MRs with at least some path to saves. Ponce de Leon backs up Kim as the #5 SP in STL was not announced before camps broke up. Sanchez is just a backend SP on a good NL team. Wasn't intentional per se but all my SPs are NL which is generally my preference.
On offense, I have long felt there is value in these deep keeper leagues in the crusty old vets which is why you see so many on my team. None were targets per se in isolation but the plan was to scoop up hitters under $10 with PT. Cespedes might be a mistake but at $6 maybe he's healed up a bit more if and when a season starts.
So all things considered this is a team that I'm happy to go into battle with!
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