Keeper League DL Waiver Wire
The following is a list of players on the DL that should be owned in keeper leagues in preparation for next season. These are players have no value for the 2011 season, but could be kept or used for trade bait for 2012.
All owned % are from ESPN
Buster Posey (15.2% owned) – I really can’t believe Posey would be available on the waiver wire in a keeper league. If available, pick him up now.
Zack Cozart (0.8% Owned) – Cozart could be a fairly productive SS. He has a nice combination of speed (30 SB in AAA in 2010) and power (17 HR in the same 2010 AAA season) even though his batting average will not be high (~0.250). His production is similar to teammate Drew Stubbs.
With SS being a rather shallow position, he should at least be considered as a possible keeper. Also by holding him, another team won’t be able to keep him.
Charlie Blackmon (1.4% owned) – Carson Cistulli’s love child may be a viable option for a team looking for speed. In leagues that a player’s draft position increases every year, he could be added cheaply and kept for several seasons.
Adam Wainwright (1.7% owned) – Compared to the other pitchers out for the entire 2011 season, he is the best bet to have a productive 2012. Players returning from Tommy John surgery take about a year to recover. He had the surgery in late Febuary, so even if he is a little bit behind in rehab, he should be ready for the beginning of season.
Johan Santana (8.4% owned) – I am not sure what to expect from the 32 year old, but I don’t have too high of hopes for him. An owner of him does have time on their side to see if he is able to return to his former glory. I would probably take my chances with letting him go and picking him up in the draft/auction if the decision was to be made today.
Brett Anderson (31.6%) – Anderson usually produces at a decent level, if he is healthy. Anderson is rarely healthy. I see no reason to keep him, but maybe you can attempt to move him to another team to sweeten up a trade.
Jorge de la Rosa (7.8% owned) – Jorge looks to start the season on the DL, but could be ready earlier. Depending on the day that keepers are set, it may be worth rostering him now and making a decision later on whether to keep him.
Jeff, one of the authors of the fantasy baseball guide,The Process, writes for RotoGraphs, The Hardball Times, Rotowire, Baseball America, and BaseballHQ. He has been nominated for two SABR Analytics Research Award for Contemporary Analysis and won it in 2013 in tandem with Bill Petti. He has won four FSWA Awards including on for his Mining the News series. He's won Tout Wars three times, LABR twice, and got his first NFBC Main Event win in 2021. Follow him on Twitter @jeffwzimmerman.
For extreme deep leaguers: don’t forget these guys that also fit this criteria:
Rubby De La Rosa
Daniel Murphy
Juan Nicasio
Kris Medlen
Garrett Richards
Rubby won’t be ready until 2013 though, he went down middle of the summer this year.
Murph is going to have to fight for a position on the Mets next year, Duda will probably man the corner, Ike at first, Bay in left and some combo of players for 2b (Turner, Tejada, Murph).
I have been stashing Medlen all year. Luckily 4 DL spots in my league but if he comes back next year and sucks I’m going to groan.
Why would someone stash Medlen? I don’t think he’s a starter when he comes back with Teheran, Minor, and Delgado all ready with no spot and more talented than Medlen.