Craig Kimbrel for Jose Fernandez

[amcg]

12 team mixed 5x5 keeper; 7 keepers and no contracts.

Craig Kimbrel for David Price is on the table but intrigued by offer of Jose Fernandez who under league rules I could keep essentially as a "free" 8th keeper heading into next season.

Am into rebuilding mode so Kimbrel's saves are worthless to me this season but I'd have no problem keeping him into next year if pushed.

Looking for views on Price and Fernandez.

[overkill94]

Fernandez is a great talent, but no one expected him to succeed so quickly so he will continue to be inconsistent this year and probably next. How long would you be able to keep him?

Price is much more of a sure thing and a preferable trade target unless the contracts are way different.

[Sour Masher]

When you say free, does that mean you don't lose your first round pick? If not, and it is actually just a free 8th keeper, I think there is huge value in players (I assume rookies?) that can be kept as an 8th keeper, especially players with the talent and upside of Fernandez. If you don't lose your first pick in this scenario, it is a no brainer slam dunk--take Jose and run. If you do lose the pick, the value of that 8th keeper lessens a great deal, as there are still really good players available in the 8th round of a 12 team mixed league, especially when the first 7 rounds don't necessarily represent the top 84 players, which is likely the case in a keeper league. In that case, it would be a decision about whether Price offers more value over your current 7th best keeper than Fernadez offers more value than your expected pick in the 8th round. In that case, I suspect Price is the smarter play.

In both cases, I'd be curious about who your current top 7 keepers are, and if it would be possible to package another one of them with Kimbrel for an even better player than Price or Fernadez.

[amcg]

Well today was interesting.

The Price owner had gone to ground - his loss.

In discussions re. Fernandez we went off on a tangent and Kimbrel was finally packaged up with Josh Hamilton in return for Giancarlo Stanton and a pick.

Beautiful.

(p.s. if I had taken Fernandez, I would not have to give up the 1st round pick - it was a very decent offer but I wanted to push him on it)

[Sour Masher]

Well today was interesting.

The Price owner had gone to ground - his loss.

In discussions re. Fernandez we went off on a tangent and Kimbrel was finally packaged up with Josh Hamilton in return for Giancarlo Stanton and a pick.

Beautiful.

(p.s. if I had taken Fernandez, I would not have to give up the 1st round pick - it was a very decent offer but I wanted to push him on it)

I like the direction you ended up going with it--packaging Hamilton to trade up to a young top bat was a good move, despite Stanton's risk. But I gotta say again, in that league set up, high upside players in the free 8th pick category (again, I assume rookies), are really valuable, and I'd pursue acquiring one if you don't have one.

We have a similar set up in my hockey league, and I love the value of a "free" rookie keeper. If gives you another year to evaluate high level talent. Now, a player like Jake Odorizzi or someone isn't worth the bother of pursuing for such a slot, but a high upside player that could turn into a legit top 50 talent in a year or two, that sort of player is definitely worth pursing hard.

[amcg]

Oh yes I love the free keeper, even if it's only for one year. It's essentially an extra 1st round pick, and a very high one at that. Definitely something I'll be looking for but it's equally prized across the league.

Couldn't turn down the chance to get Stanton though