Any insight on my AL only Keeper list

[cleo]

This is for a 12 team AL only 5x5 league. We use OB% instead of Avg and use Saves+Holds (instead of Saves) and QS+Wins (instead of Wins).

There will be almost zero SP in the draft. I do not remember a year where no NL SP came over to the AL in the off season and it is looking like the best available SP in our auction will be Eduardo Rodriguez, Josh James, Carlos Rodon and Yusei Kikuchi. All four of these should go for at least $25+ as there are some teams with $$$ to spend and need SP.

I am not sure about keeping Swihart, or Odorizzi....
I have to protect Ohtani as a pitcher as I already have my DH spot taken by K Davis.
Players that have a C in front of their contract year have been extended or I plan to extend. I currently do not plan to extent contracts of Gurriel, Greene or Ororizzi (extra $5 per yr to extend contract)

Any help or comments would be appreciated greatly.

C Blake Swihart C | BOS $1 2020
1B Yuli Gurriel 3b | HOU $2 2019
3B Miguel Andujar 3B | NYY $15 2020
OF Stephen Piscotty OF | OAK $11 2020
OF Aaron Judge OF | NYY $17 C2020
DH Khris Davis DH | OAK $27 C2019

P Trevor Bauer SP | CLE $6 C2019
P Charlie Morton SP | HOU $9 C2020
P James Paxton SP | NYY $20 C2019
P Shane Bieber SP | CLE $14 2020
P Aroldis Chapman RP | NYY $13 C2020
P Shane Greene RP | DET $4 2019
P Matt Barnes RP | BOS $10 2020
P Jake Odorizzi SP | MIN $7 2019
P Shohei Ohtani SP | LAA $2 2020

[virgonomic]

I assume 2C since it's an only. I would throw back Swihart.

Odorizzi is not going to help you. You do have a good base in Paxton/Morton/Bieber/Bauer. Let others overspend on the guys you named (and make sure you nominate them early) and buy pitching when the values start to come out.

[cleo]

Yes, 2 catchers. My thoughts on keeping Swihart is that this position is so weak in the AL now, that some owners are spending $1 to $2 on backups just so they do not hurt their OB%.

On Odorizzi, he had a decent 2nd half last year. I really don't get how his ERA was as high as it was as he only gave up 4 HR in the 63 IP.

63 IP
4.41 ERA
.212 avg against
1.18 WHIP
57 SO

My worry is that that there will only be bidding wars on mid to low level SP and I would expect Odorizzi could go for more than the $7 I have him at. But he will not get me Wins or QS, so I do think I could use that $ on a setup guy. I just hate only having 4 SP.

[joncarlos]

I am a sucker for Swihart, and suck is an important word when referencing AL catchers. Assuming he's not preventing you from keeping someone else, then hell yes I'd keep him rather than pay $3 or more at auction.

The problem with Odorizzi is that not only does he give up a ton of runs, he also can't turn over a lineup 3x, so he isn't going to get you QS. Hell, they might even experiment with giving him an opener. I wouldn't keep him. You seem to have money to spend. Chasing Kikuchi to $25 doesn't seem like the worst idea in the world, though he might also struggle to get QS. Maybe chase E-Rod to $28 instead.

I would extend Yuli. AL 1B is also kind of sucky, and he's with HOU for a while. He'll never be a $30 guy and he doesn't help in OBP but he is a solid contributor in a deep lineup. Greene is about as close to a lock to being traded into a 7th inning role as there is in baseball, so no extension.

[cleo]

thanks Virg and JC for the replies. On Yuli G, I think he will be lucky to see 450 ab this year, and less in 2020. Too much talent on that team and when you look at him batting in the middle of that lineup, his numbers should have been much better last season. So I offered him up in our league thinking someone would trade for him in order to extend his contract, but I only got a mild response.

Anyone else care to chime in on my keeper list?

[Teenwolf]

No extension to Gurriel, especially in OBP format.

I would toss Odorizzi and bid up to $7. Even with a lack of available SP, I think his market is very depressed. He went for $3 in my 12 tm AL Only. I agree about Odorizzi being terrible for W/QS, so for $7, you can get much better ratios than that elsewhere with more upside, I think.

[Teenwolf]

If Swihart is basically free, he's harmless as a 2nd catcher.