$27 Joey Votto or $4 Josh Bell?

[TopChuckie]

Who would you rather have as a keeper?

11-team NL-Only. I'd like more spending money for the draft, but debating if I should take the hit to go from Votto to Bell. With Votto my Keepers add up to $172 of my $260 budget, with Bell it's $149. Also, Votto's contract expires after '17, Bell expires after '18 and I'd have the option to extend heading into next year.

[revo]

if you toss Votto back, what is his expected price tag?

[joncarlos]

I think it depends if you expect your team to compete this year. Maybe you can flip Bell for Votto plus in June. Maybe not, depending on your league's trade tendencies. It also depends a lot on inflation. In a vacuum I'd rather keep a nice underpriced Bell and pay $30 for Ian Desmond.

[Hammer]

I prefer Bell but might try to find a way to keep both.

[TopChuckie]

I would be trading Votto for Bell, so both isn't an option, nor would getting Votto back in the draft. The best bats in the draft are Harper, Rizzo, Freeman, Eaton, Ozuna, Adrian Gonzalez, Belt, Forsythe.

My keepers are currently:

OF: Ian Desmond OF,SS | TEX $20.00 *('18)
OF: Gregory Polanco OF | PIT $15.00 *('17)
OF: Michael Conforto LF | NYM $4.00 ('18)
OF:
OF:
C: J.T. Realmuto C | MIA $7.00 *('18)
C:
1B: Joey Votto 1B | CIN $27.00 ('17)
3B: Nolan Arenado 3B | COL $14.00 *('17)
CM:
2B:
SS: Chris Owings 2B | ARI $7.00 ('18)
MI:
DH:
P: Clayton Kershaw P | LAD $44.00 *('17)
P: Rich Hill P | LAD $20.00 *('18)
P: Jon Gray SP | COL $4.00 ('18)
P:
P:
P:
P:
P: Addison Reed P | NYM $10.00 ('18)
P:

Total Keeper Salary $172.00, $88.00 to spend.

Free to keep Rookie Keepers:
RK: Gavin Cecchini SS | NYM $5.00 R-('18)
RK: Jose Peraza 2B | CIN $15.00 R-('18)
RK: Corey Ray OF | MIL $5.00 R-('18)

Topper (Fincher) Rights:
Mark Melancon P | WAS
Anthony Rizzo 1B | CHC
Billy Hamilton OF | CIN

[Ken]

I would be trading Votto for Bell, so both isn't an option, nor would getting Votto back in the draft. The best bats in the draft are Harper, Rizzo, Freeman, Eaton, Ozuna, Adrian Gonzalez, Belt, Forsythe.

Fair but the "what would Votto cost in the auction" question can be treated in a hypothetical context in order to evaluate the merits of the comparison. If there's significant inflation and Votto would go for $38, it's a different analysis than if there is no significant inflation and the existing contracts are representative of the prices that each would cost in auction.

[Todd Zola]

No brainer -- Votto.

All the contextual questions are usually apropos, but the certainty of Votto at a very reasonable price is gold in a keeper setting. Knowing what you're going in with trumps any cute games of hoping you can do better.

[DMT]

No brainer -- Votto.

All the contextual questions are usually apropos, but the certainty of Votto at a very reasonable price is gold in a keeper setting. Knowing what you're going in with trumps any cute games of hoping you can do better.

Yea, seeing the additional info makes this a pretty easy call for Votto as well.

[TopChuckie]

Fair but the "what would Votto cost in the auction" question can be treated in a hypothetical context in order to evaluate the merits of the comparison. If there's significant inflation and Votto would go for $38, it's a different analysis than if there is no significant inflation and the existing contracts are representative of the prices that each would cost in auction.

I think Votto is underappreciated, but the owner I'm talking to regarding Bell thinks Rizzo will go for $50 at our auction. I'm not sure Rizzo will get to $50, but I think Votto would go for a little less even though he had a better season than Rizzo last year. I think Votto would be around $40.

Also, I have what we call Fincher rights on Rizzo, which are like Toppers except instead of topping the final bid by $1.00, I can get a "hometown discount" of up to $4.00, depending how I allocate that $4.00 for Melancon and Hamilton whom I also hold Fincher rights. However, because I have so much committed to keepers, I'm not able to go that high for Rizzo anyway. If I traded for Bell, I could think about Finching Rizzo, but I'm still not inclined to go that high if my fellow owner is correct.

[Ken]

I think Votto is underappreciated, but the owner I'm talking to regarding Bell thinks Rizzo will go for $50 at our auction. I'm not sure Rizzo will get to $50, but I think Votto would go for a little less even though he had a better season than Rizzo last year. I think Votto would be around $40.

Also, I have what we call Fincher rights on Rizzo, which are like Toppers except instead of topping the final bid by $1.00, I can get a "hometown discount" of up to $4.00, depending how I allocate that $4.00 for Melancon and Hamilton whom I also hold Fincher rights. However, because I have so much committed to keepers, I'm not able to go that high for Rizzo anyway. If I traded for Bell, I could think about Finching Rizzo, but I'm still not inclined to go that high if my fellow owner is correct.

As others are saying on this thread, don't overthink it. Stick with Votto.

[TopChuckie]

Thanks guys.