More 2012 Keepers from another bored owner.

[Lucky]

Man, I hate being out of the race. Nothing to do except make a few piddling moves and think about next year. So, even though it is way too early, here's what I'm thinking about my guys.

15-team mixed 5x5 keeper league. "B" means they have two years left on their contract (2012, 2013), "C" means their final year unless extended at $5 per year. I have one "Y" guy, which means he's already extended for 2012 and 2013.

I can keep up to 10. The guys in bold are the ones I'm leaning toward right now.


1B Hosmer, Eric 10.0 B
OF Gonzalez, Carlos 20.0 Y
OF Hart, Corey 4.0 C*
OF Reddick, Josh 1.0 B
OF Stanton, Mike 5.0 C*
OF Swisher, Nick 6.0 C
UT Jennings, Des 5.0 C*
P Hamels, Cole 25.0 C
P Kennedy, Ian 2.0 C
P Shields, James 12.0 B
P Hanrahan, Joel 1.0 C*
P Parnell, Bobby 3.0 B

I don't like the fact that this would lock up every single outfield spot, but Swisher seems a lock for good power numbers.

Parnell could figure in if he nails down the closer job for 2012.

Guys who are cheap but not being considered include: Mike Minor, Jordan Lyles, Jeff Karstens, Omar Infante.

"*" means I am planning on extending for a single year, through 2013.

Not much in the minors, Ryan Khalish.

Are these the ten? Is Hamels a keeper at this price? Am I extending the right guys? Should anyone get a 2-year extension? I'm strongly considering making Jennings $15 through 2014.

Thanks everyone.

[chancellor]

I'd extend Stanton for two before Jennings. I'd also extend Kennedy for a year. All the others I agree with.

[Lucky]

I'd extend Stanton for two before Jennings. I'd also extend Kennedy for a year. All the others I agree with.

You're probably right about Stanton. I don't think we've seen all his power yet. But, assuming I extended him for two, what about Jennings? Decent power and lightning speed?

Interesting about Kennedy. I seldom extend pitchers, other than closers, but I'm not really opposed to it. You think Kennedy is the real deal?

[Pauly]

I would extend Stanton for as much as you can...but then again, he and his huge bat is my avatar unk:

[chancellor]

Interesting about Kennedy. I seldom extend pitchers, other than closers, but I'm not really opposed to it. You think Kennedy is the real deal?

I do, although it'd be interesting to get someone who routinely really digs into hard numbers on pitchers (say, some guy named Seitzer, perhaps?) to weigh in. His "normal" ancillaries sure support him being solid - a K:BB ratio that's now over 3 and upper 7s in K/9, and I believe his BABIP didn't change that much over the past year to indicate a "lucky" year.

Per Jennings...I certainly wouldn't be critical if you did extend him for two. His upside is immense - Crawford-like by all accounts.

[Judge Jude]

Kennedy has a 3.48 xERA - he was pitching to his skills, but lately he's less impressive (3.62 xERA and 2.31 ERA the past month), but even that is solid.

I'll say this, as one of the most ardent "DON'T blow too many units on longterming" guys on the board: I still extended two "sure things" for 2010, Chad Qualls from 2 to 7 (phenomenal 2009 and the skills to back it up) and Sandoval 10 to 15 (ditto). [caveat: in our format, Qualls would have been 12 in 2011 and Sandoval 20]

That cost me 10 units walking into the 2010 auction, and neither were around for my 2011 (well, I got Sandoval back for 23 this year, but I still wasted the 2010 units).

If you don't extend any of these guys, and they all have big years, ok you may win by 20 pts, so consider extending one. Or two, I guess.

The downside of doing what I did in 2010 is that you waste 10 units in a year where you lost the pennant by a whisker.
The downside of extending too FEW is that your players are so outstanding in the coming year that you wish you had them for 10 more units, or whatever. Wait, that's a good thing, because you likely cashed in from those double-digit profits.

If you extend all four guys for even one year, I'd be surprised if you hit on all four and not sure you'll even hit on three. Baseball is an unpredictable game....

[Lucky]

Kennedy has a 3.48 xERA - he was pitching to his skills, but lately he's less impressive (3.62 xERA and 2.31 ERA the past month), but even that is solid.

I'll say this, as one of the most ardent "DON'T blow too many units on longterming" guys on the board: I still extended two "sure things" for 2010, Chad Qualls from 2 to 7 (phenomenal 2009 and the skills to back it up) and Sandoval 10 to 15 (ditto). [caveat: in our format, Qualls would have been 12 in 2011 and Sandoval 20]

That cost me 10 units walking into the 2010 auction, and neither were around for my 2011 (well, I got Sandoval back for 23 this year, but I still wasted the 2010 units).

If you don't extend any of these guys, and they all have big years, ok you may win by 20 pts, so consider extending one. Or two, I guess.

The downside of doing what I did in 2010 is that you waste 10 units in a year where you lost the pennant by a whisker.
The downside of extending too FEW is that your players are so outstanding in the coming year that you wish you had them for 10 more units, or whatever. Wait, that's a good thing, because you likely cashed in from those double-digit profits.

If you extend all four guys for even one year, I'd be surprised if you hit on all four and not sure you'll even hit on three. Baseball is an unpredictable game....

There's something else I think about when extending a player whose contract is about to expire...if they have another year left on their contract, and it's still at a good price, then that player becomes trade bait at dump time. If you're in the race, and have a chance to trade a value guy for a couple of players who may put you over the top, you'll have that option.

[Gregg]

There's something else I think about when extending a player whose contract is about to expire...if they have another year left on their contract, and it's still at a good price, then that player becomes trade bait at dump time. If you're in the race, and have a chance to trade a value guy for a couple of players who may put you over the top, you'll have that option.

Which in my opinion is one of the top reasons to extend.