Keeper League Question: Who To Keep?

[Waltsanity]

So I have to declare my keepers for this season soon and I am pretty sure who I want to keep, however I would appreciate some input from the community. This year we have dropped the keepers from 8 to 7 players. These are the statistical categories for the league:

Hitting: Runs (R), Home Runs (HR), Runs Batted In (RBI), Stolen Bases (SB), Batting Average (AVG), On-base + Slugging Percentage (OPS)
Pitching: Wins (W), Saves (SV), Strikeouts (K), Earned Run Average (ERA), (Walks + Hits)/ Innings Pitched (WHIP), Strikeouts per Walk Ratio (K/BB)

This is a 12 team league, and I finished 7th. However, I won the consolation meaning I draft 1st overall this year.

My roster as it sits from the end of the playoffs is as follows:

C: Carlos Santana
1b: Prince Fielder
2b: Jason Kipnis
SS: Elvis Andrus
3b: Will Middlebrooks
OF: Andrew McCutchen
OF: Justin Upton
OF: Alfonso Soriano
UTIL: Will Venable
BN: Daniel Murphy

SP: Clayton Kershaw
SP: David Price
P: Jon Lester
P: Chris Archer
P: Ervin Santana
RP: Kenley Jansen
RP: Joaquin Benoit
BN: Corey Kluber
BN: Brandon Beachy
BN: Chris Tillman
BN: Edward Mujica
BN: Erik Johnson

Pretty sure Erik Johnson was a spot start during the playoffs, etc...

Anyways, my current thinking is McCutchen, Fielder, Kipnis, Kershaw, Price, Upton, Santana

I am going back and forth between Santana and Andrus. Santana will possibly get 3b eligibility this year if he shows well at 3b during the spring.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

[KnuckleBalls]

I'm a Tribe fan so I might be a little biased against Santana. He really is a knucklehead and I am afraid the move to 3B could mess with him at the plate. You're probably using him for C anyway. I'm not one to punt a category either. If you have a plan for steals somewhere else okay but I like steals from SS especially. I'd take the 90 runs, good average and 40 steals and get my low average power catcher later.

[Hornsby]

Yeah, I'd keep Andrus, I agree with Knucks that you really can't punt a category, although it's probably easier with the extra categories. In a one cather mixer with 12 teams, catchers are a dime a dozen, I wouldn't be surprised if you could get Santana back in the draft. Finding 30+ steals, and filling a middle infield spot are a bit tougher IMO. And let's not forget that Andrus is only going to be 25 this season, there is still room for growth.

[kldub4life]

I keep Jansen over both Santana and Andrus.

Santana's value is at catcher not 1st or 3rd, and I don't like his pregression as a hitter. The #12 catcher is not too much of a drop off from Santana in my view.

Andrus isn't really that far from the 12th SS either.

Whereas Jansen is potentially dominant at closer

[madducks]

If it was a 5x5 league i would take Jansen over Santana. But in a 6x6 league i think Jansen loses some value while Santana gains value. So i would stay with your seven (McCutchen, Fielder, Kipnis, Kershaw, Price, Upton, Santana).

[Hornsby]

Where are you seeing 1 catcher league? Where are you seeing a middle infielder?

I assumed it was a standard league. If there are only one catcher per team and no middle infield spot, neither Andrus nor Santana are great keepers.

And what's not to like about Santana's progression? He's pretty much gotten better every year. Andrus is the one who shat the bed last year. And while Andrus is young, Santana is only 27. And he won't have to deal with the rigors of catching every day. Santana is much closer to being the #1 catcher than Andrus is to being the #1 shortstop, that's for damn sure. Moreover, having the OPS category masks Santana's shortcomings in BA (and let's not forget that their batting averages were nearly the same last year) to a degree since he gets credit for being an awesome on-base guy. Really just about all Andrus brings to the table are SBs and maybe 10-15 more runs than Santana. That's good and fine but if that's all you need, find it on the cheap on draft day instead of wasting a keeper.

Because he only lists one catcher? And SS IS a middle infield position...

BTW, Santana is a pretty crappy RBI guy, he's averaged about 75 per year for the last 3 seasons...Andrus averaged 63 RBI. Makes his steals look a whole lot more valuable to me.

[Waltsanity]

Thank you for the input.

I am still on the fence between Santana and Andrus. And, as kldub4life mentioned Kenley Jansen, I have thought about him as a potential keeper as well. I have never been one for drafting closers high, and certainly have never kept one (such a carousal unless you have a top 3). At this point it's going to be if I value Andrus SB and Run potential more or Santana's OPS and HR potential, as the other cat's are pretty close. I'm not sure what the available SS's will be until keepers are declared, as well as C's.

Jansen, as he has shown, is a dominant closer (Kimbrel and Chapman status). Drafted him last few rounds last year hoping League would lose the job quicker than he did.

[kldub4life]

I'd rank them:

1. Jansen
2. Santana
3. Andrus

Also how long do you think the Indians are going to have Santana keep catcher eligibility? Just a thought.

[Don Quixote]

I'd rank them:

1. Jansen
2. Santana
3. Andrus

Also how long do you think the Indians are going to have Santana keep catcher eligibility? Just a thought.

I agree with this ranking, but I'm prejudiced, as I'm a big Jansen fan.

I think Santana will catch enough to maintain eligibility there for another year, but it all may depend on how well Yan Gomes does as the regular C.