How much are you willing to pay?

[Gregg]

How much are you willing to pay for a keeper pitcher in auction leagues. I am not asking about how much will you pay at auction. I am asking about max on your keeper list.

[whalewang]

With a $260 budget, I'd keep one in the $40's depending on my team comp.

Someone in my 9-team NL-only league has DeGrom at $42 and I view that as a very solid keeper.

[TranaGreg]

I personally have trouble going above $40 ... it would have to be a SP at his peak

[Teenwolf]

Last off-season, I had to decide on extension length for Gerrit Cole in a 12 team AL only. He was at $34, and I had Snell $16 thru '21 and Clevinger $11 thru '21, so I figured with those cheaper aces I could afford a longer extension for Cole... those 2 trades out of the AL really screwed up my team build.

I went 2 extra years on Cole to $44 thru '22. Now that I have 2 years left and look like more of a rebuilder, I kinda wish I would have stuck to 1 extra year for $39, but oh well.

$44 is probably the highest priced keeper I've ever kept.

[heyelander]

never been an issue as I seem incapable of bidding over $40 for any player at auction.

Silver lining is I always have some auction cash to spend elsewhere after the auction is done!

[chancellor]

In an only keeper league, - let's use NL only for this example - I'd keep DeGrom at up to $45 for one of two reasons:

1. I have an awesome keeper list of other premium players at good to great prices and am keeping him as my ace for a title run, or
2. I have a catastrophically bad keeper list, and my odds of winning are slim and I'm likely in for a rebuild year and could use him as a chip to get one or more blue-chip players back in a dump deal.

[Ken]

How much are you willing to pay for a keeper pitcher in auction leagues. I am not asking about how much will you pay at auction. I am asking about max on your keeper list.

Assuming no competition for the roster spot, standard auction value * inflation - $1

[Judge Jude]

yes, whether the pitcher is worth keeping at what price depends a lot on context.

in 2019, 12-team-only 5x5 NL-only, I paired Scherzer 44 with CSmith 1 on the freeze list - then bought Jeff S and PLopez for a 1 buck, too (and Cueto for that price as a 2020-21 play).

Max had 243 K, but only 11 W and 172 IP. excellent ERA/Ratio, but in 60+ fewer IP.

that "really good but not Cy Young good" had an impact. even though the 1-unit wonders were 1derful, I only scored 32 points in W/K/ERA/Ratio - or 6 above average. that left me 4.5 points short of 3rd place (and, full disclosure, 32.5 points out of 2nd and 33 points out of first).

have found that paying more for that anchor stud SP feels as if it keeps getting better, as the chasm between the best vs the 20th vs the 50th best SP in a league seems to grow.

this year, the projected top 20 SPs by HQ in this league are (no 2020 season, so these roll over from 2019):

deGrom $45 - owned for $45
Kershaw $33 - owned for $26
BAUER $33
Hendricks $28 - owned for $25
NOLA $25
Strasburg $25 - owned for $30
Darvish $25 - owned for $5
Buehler $24 - owned for $5
Woodruff $24 - owned for $11
SCHERZER $24 - (have option of $44 - no)

Flaherty $24 - owned for $5
LCASTILLO $23
Lamet $19 - owned for $10
SGray $19 - owned for $15
Gallen $19 - owned for $10
GONSOLIN $18 - owned for $5
SNELL $18
Paddack $17 - owned for $15
MORTON $17
Fried $16 - owned for $3

(oh, had not noticed this til now. oof)

[DMT]

I think the highest valued pitcher I've ever kept was Kershaw at $25 (12-team mixed) last year. I can keep at that price again this year and I'll probably roll the dice once more.

[Moonlight J]

I get visibily uncomfortable when a price gets to $40 on a pitcher in a keeper league. Even if I have the clear need, I don't like being pushed to a price.

[joncarlos]

It's obvious, but it's all context. Part of it depends on the rest of my keeper list. If I might need to spend big on hitters, then I want to save the cash and the flexibility for auction. If you're not the kind of person who spends $30+ on a pitcher at auction under the right circumstances, then don't lock yourself into it with your keeper list. But if you are going to need an expensive pitcher anyway, then I'd consider keeping one.

I consider these to be things outside of the normal, straight "value" format - a pitcher's keeper value might be positive, but if you're not comfortable doing it, or don't want your hands tied, then it's understandable.

I would be happy to pay $30+ under the right circumstances, though.

[ssmallz]

This question is impossible to asnwer as so much depends on context of the league and inflation. As Ken said inflated value -$1

[Bene Futuis]

I have swung way, way around on this question in recent years. I’ll pay far more and spend far more to keep an elite pitcher than I once did.