Crowdsourcing the Scoresheet Offseason

One thing I like to do with our readers is crowdsource strategy. Not that I’m like people who ask 10 different experts on Twitter about a possible trade, but just that I like to get the creative juices flowing, and our readership is pretty good for that.

A couple weeks ago I asked you all about Ottoneu strategy, and today I’m going to ask you about Scoresheet strategy.

Basically, it’s a simulation-type league based on real-life stats. Simulations are done a week at a time. If you don’t have enough players to fill a spot, you are assigned the dreaded “AAA player/pitcher” who is basically a bad space-filler.

Keepers work this way: anyone you keep that is a non-rookie costs you a pick at the front of the draft and rookies cost you on the back end. There are 35 rounds in the initial phase, with two round supplemental drafts throughout the season. You can keep up to 13 big league players.

Anyway, here’s my roster — it’s a 24-team league, by the way — and here’s what I’m thinking I’ll do:

Starting Pitchers:

Sonny Gray
Kyle Gibson
Chris Sale
Garrett Richards
Ricky Nolasco
Yu Darvish
Masahiro Tanaka
Marcus Stroman
Kevin Gausman
Andrew Heaney
Enny Romero
Jose Berrios
Kohl Stewart
Randall Delgado
Allen Webster

At first glance, it’ll be Gray, Richards, Sale and Darvish for sure. I like Gibson a fair amount — I wrote about him here recently — but not enough to keep. I think Stroman is pretty much a slam dunk, as are Berrios and Stewart as minor leaguers. My strategy will be to throw back non-elite prospects, so Romero will get put back into the player pool. Gausman and Heaney I’m torn on. I think I’ll probably keep Gausman since I’ll already be sacrificing a fair number of keeper picks. He’s not worth giving up a third rounder, for instance, but he’s probably good enough for a 10th, I think. Heaney is at 29.1 career innings, so he’s still a minor leaguer. That is ideal.

Relievers:

Glen Perkins
Casey Fien
Fernando Abad
Matt Belisle
Oliver Perez
Jonathan Broxton
Justin DeFratus
Boone Logan
Carter Capps

This is pretty easy; I’m not keeping any relievers.

Catchers:

Josmil Pinto
John Jaso
Yasmani Grandal

I’m thinking long and hard about keeping Grandal here. Projections seem to be pretty strong for him, and it’d be nice to have some stability at the catcher position after I threw back Salvador Perez last year. It worked out, though — I ended up getting Abreu and Tanaka. I’d like to keep Jaso, and probably would had he been healthy, but it’s just not a good gamble at this time.

First Basemen:

Jose Abreu
Kennys Vargas
Mitch Moreland
Jesus Montero
Lucas Duda

Abreu is an obvious yes, and I think Duda at DH with the new fences in Queens might be a worthwhile keeper too. Everyone else will get flipped back into the player pool. I may try trade Vargas.

Second Basemen:

None rostered

Shortstops:

Xander Bogaerts
J.J. Hardy
Jed Lowrie
Mike Aviles

Even after a rough year, it’s a no-brainer to keep Bogaerts. The nice thing is, if I keep Hardy I can use both of them as a solid left side of the infield. Hardy’s only projected for a .304 wOBA by Steamer, though. I think I’ll throw him back and try grab him again somewhat early in the draft.

Third Basemen:

David Freese

Freese mauled lefties, so if I need to go with a third base platoon I’ll consider him late. There’s no prayer I’m keeping him, however.

Outfielders:

Jackie Bradley Jr.
Aaron Hicks
Jason Heyward
Marlon Byrd
A.J. Pollock

Heyward is a no-brainer, and I think Pollock, who had a really nice half-season with the Diamondbacks, also is almost a guarantee. It’ll be nice to have almost a full outfield before the draft starts.

So here’s what it appears I’ll be set up with:

SP- Sale
SP- Darvish
SP- Tanaka
SP- Gray
SP- Richards
SP- Stroman
SP- Gausman
C- Grandal
1B- Abreu
SS- Bogaerts
OF- Heyward
OF- Pollock
DH- Duda

Rookie-Eligibles- Heaney, Stewart, Berrios

Alright, so it looks like 13 keepers and three rookies. What do you think? It looks like I used all the keeper spots; what would you have done differently?