NL-Only 12team 4x4 Keeper League (DeGrom $4-s1 or Hamilton $11-s1)

[YourPalChrisMal]

NL-Only 12team 4x4 Keeper League, which would you rather have with all other things being equal?

DeGrom $4-s1
or
Hamilton $11-s1

s1's are entering their option year in 2016, so would have to be extended or 2016 will be their last year.

[Sour Masher]

DeGrom for me. I know some will say hitters over pitchers, always. But Degrom is $7 cheaper, and, while he has risks as a pitcher, Hamilton does too. Despite his total dominance in steals, he could hit so poorly that he loses ABs at some point.

[Gregg]

This is a 4x4 so I take Hamilton and win the category.

Doesn't Hamilton's glove plus speed pretty much guarantee him playing time?

[joncarlos]

Maybe Jesse Winker could take over in CF? Or the Reds could decide they're happy with a Brennan Boesch type out there?

It is really, really hard to pass up Hamilton in a 4x4 league. This is a tough one. I wish Hamilton was showing any sign of learning how to hit.

Even in 400 ABs he probably earns $20+ in a 4x4. Degrom is an amazing pitcher but he's already 27 and has TJ in his history.

I'd probably keep whichever of them I had for fear of being wrong. If I had neither I'd take Degrom and just commit to a massive overpay for steals... but really, where are you going to get them? Gordon is going to be a long-term keeper. Marte might be too. Ben Revere is trade bait this year. The NL steals scene is rough.

[Gregg]

Maybe Jesse Winker could take over in CF? Or the Reds could decide they're happy with a Brennan Boesch type out there?

It is really, really hard to pass up Hamilton in a 4x4 league. This is a tough one. I wish Hamilton was showing any sign of learning how to hit.

Even in 400 ABs he probably earns $20+ in a 4x4. Degrom is an amazing pitcher but he's already 27 and has TJ in his history.

I'd probably keep whichever of them I had for fear of being wrong. If I had neither I'd take Degrom and just commit to a massive overpay for steals... but really, where are you going to get them? Gordon is going to be a long-term keeper. Marte might be too. Ben Revere is trade bait this year. The NL steals scene is rough.

Yep.

4x4 and NL only makes a huge difference.

[Sour Masher]

I'm not familiar with nl only 4x4 dynamics. If steals are really that rare and pricey, then I guess I will flip my answer to Hamilton. I still don't trust him as a hitter, but if he really will earn $20+ even if he ends up with 400 abs, that is a hell of a high floor.

[YourPalChrisMal]

I'm the one that has Hamilton and was offered DeGrom for Hamilton, and I'm also in the "stand-pat for fear of being wrong on this one" camp at this point.

(Funny, if you read the comments in this thread, I lean towards Hamilton, but when I look the poll results it's 5 for DeGrom and only 2 for Hamilton.)

[harmon]

This is a very interesting question for me as I own both in a 4x4 NL only at $10 and both need to be extended next year. I had to think long and hard about your question....

deGrom has been outstanding and contributes in 3/4 categories. He is in a group of about 10 NL starters. Billy and Gordon are far away at the top of the steals heap. Billy contributes in 1/4 categories.

In the end I voted for Billy as it is just so nice to go into the auction not having to chase and overpay for steals. I think flexibility at the auction is hugely underrated and should be a strong consideration in your decision.

For my team I plan to extend deGrom 2 years and Billy 3 years and should get good value from both. My only hesitation is that a Billy injury is probably more damaging than a deGrom injury.

[Gregg]

I've joked about it before but the risk that Hamilton is demoted or benched or whatever is extremely real. He is just a really, really terrible hitter. I mean like blind catcher bad. He even somehow looks like he's managing to get worse at the plate, as scary a thought as that is. You would have to be crazy to extend him for three years, imo. While I certainly wouldn't mind having him on my team, particularly in a 4x4, deGrom is actually good --- he's actually really good. Hamilton is like Scott Podsednik but without the hitting ability and a little more SB ability. Yeah, no thanks to any extension (or to trading for him).

Exit: jc made a good point a while back that Hamilton is good enough defensively to stick regardless of his hitting. That's a great point that shouldn't be forgotten in this analysis. Of course that profile didn't work out so well for Tony Gwynn, Jr. but still....

I understand your point and am in the middle as far as extensions go. If I owned both at the salaries mentioned, I would give them both a year and not more. I would use the extra money at auction. No way would I go two and three years.

[harmon]

Billy would go for far more than $15 at auction which would be the one year extension salary. For 5x5 it's a different story, but for 4x4 he is worth a lot more.

He's struggled with bunting and thats the key to raising his OBP. He's too good of an athlete to not get better at that skill.