Fantasy baseball just around the corner... keeper options
 

Poll to follow. Team One is a 12 team 4 keeper league, Team Two is a 12 team 8 keeper league. So choose up to 4 and 8 players respectively. Obviously team 1 is loaded with keeper options and team to I sold off my keepers last year at the deadline to make a run at winning the league back to back. It looks like I won't be keeping 8 in this league and taking my lumps unless I find several diamonds late and off the wire this year. The round the player may be kept is the number next to the players name.

Baseball is just around the corner so let's talk some FBB.

Right now Upton and Hanson are locks. Broxton is very likely to be kept as well but maybe not. IMO the choice is then Votto, Kinsler or Wieters.

Team Two, Lackey and Rivera are my only locks. Sandoval likely as well. Outside of them there are no real great options.

2b is a wasteland; you need to keep both Kinsler and Cano. 3b is surprisingly shallow as well. Ludwick at 25 is a great bet behind Pujols and Holliday, IMO.

I never keep closers unless it's a points league with an IP limit. If so, keep Broxton over Wieters.

I love Joey Votto this season.

It is a H2H points league, not Roto. I really like Votto too. If not for his one bad month when dealing with his father's(I think) death last year he likely finishes the season neck and neck with Prince Fielder, Tex and Howard.

What is your budget and how many players do you roster?

I have a hard time picking just four for team one, but I think I'd take Kinsler, Upton, Votto and Wieters. I'm assuming catcher scarcity there but if catchers are plentiful I'd keep McCutchen instead.

Team two you have a lot of keepers so I guess Lackey is ok, but I wouldn't look for him to have a great season. His injuries the past two seasons have me gun shy - I'm probably going to toss him back in the pool in my primary league.

My first auction is just a month away, I'm starting to get the fever.

I traded a very low priced Votto when he was out last season for several more expensive players. The trade allowed me to finish in the money, but I sure miss Votto now.

Not an auction. 12 team snake draft. Tommy Hanson is going to be a keeper for me without a doubt. The guys in this league are nuts for pitching, which is why I may keep both he and Broxton. Likely only Hanson though. Typically in this league I grab one SP in the first 5-6 round and have stud bats.

How do the numeric values of the players you keep affect your draft strategy? Do the players in the draft pool have a numeric value as well, or just the keepers?

I play in two keeper auction leagues and one keeper league with a snake draft, but this year will be our first re-draft so I don't know exactly how that works yet.

The numbers next to the player are the round in which the players may be kept. Example: Joey Votto may be kept in round 13 and Adrian Gonzalez in round 4.

Edit: If a player is not kept, he is put back into the draft pool and may be drafted by anyone at any time.

Interesting, I've not seen that before. What determines the round they can be kept in. Is it the round in which they were originally drafted?

Yes. Players may be kept one round before they were drafted or kept the year before. Players in league one may be kept for two years, league two they may be kept three years.

In that case, you can't go wrong with your team 1 choices. You should do well in that league.

Yeah, team one took second place last year and I really tried to unload some of my keepers for early round talent but could not find any takers. Unfortunately now guys that should be keepers for the next couple years will be going back in the draft pool early.

I have Kinsler, Upton, and Votto as 3 of my 6 keepers on my team and I am very happy with them. Kinsler is a monster at a terrible position, and Upton and Votto are on the verge of superstar status.

I don't think 2nd base is really all that terrible anymore.

Utley, Aaron Hill, Kinsler, Cano, Pedrioa, Brian Roberts, Brandon Phillips are all pretty good options. Some much better than others, but 2nd base used to be about 3 deep.