Scoresheet Retrospective and Keeper Help

by
October 31, 2015

Last week we took a look at my Ottoneu build, and this week I’d like to take a look at the recap from another successful season in Scoresheet.

I play in the BP Kings league — which has Baseball Prospectus roots — and have put together some pretty solid seasons. Here’s a look back at the season-ending standings for as long as I’ve been in the league.

2015 – Wasted Aces – 95-67 (tied for 1st)
2014 – Four Aces and a Nolasco – 95-67 (2nd)
2013 – new Warne order – 76-86 (tied for 2nd)
2012 – Warne – 76-86 (3rd)
2011 – Warnhardt Dynasty – 68-94 (last)

I take some solace that I was eliminated in the playoffs by Brent S. Gambill, who went on to lose the World Series to Pete McCarthy. It’s been a steady climb since the inaugural season when I shared the team with John Erhardt. This was also a mighty successful season considering after my keepers were set, I lost Yu Darvish for the season and Marcus Stroman for what we thought at the time was the season. I was also heading into the season with massive worry about Masahiro Tanaka, who ended up getting through the season — for the most part.

I documented earlier this season what I did to get to this point, and the link is here.

But what I’d like to share with you today is the roster I concluded the season with, to sort of crowdsource what I should do in terms of keeping players.

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First, here are the in-season transactions I made:

Trade:

Chris Sale to Nate Stephens, received Carlos Gomez, Danny Salazar and Johnny Giavotella

I made this deal in late June, with an outfield that was struggling and with the idea that I might not be able to contend but that I’d let it ride for one more month. I desperately needed a second sacker and in late June Giavotella was hitting .266/.321/.359. Certainly not all that great but a fine throw-in to get me by until I waited for Jonathan Schoop to get healthy. I’d give the trade a B+, because I love Salazar, but Gomez struggled a bit.

Supplemental Picks (in order):

San Francisco OF Justin Maxwell
Milwaukee OF Domingo Santana
St. Louis OF Stephen Piscotty
Texas OF Lewis Brinson
Colorado SP Chad Bettis
Baltimore MR Chaz Roe
San Francisco SP Phil Bickford
Arizona SS Isan Diaz

Some decent pieces here, and I nailed it with Piscotty by grabbing him in the May supplemental. All told, getting Piscotty gives me maybe an A- here. Thoughts?

So here’s what I’m working with after the season (in no particular order):

Starting Pitchers:

Sonny Gray
Kyle Gibson
Danny Salazar
Masahiro Tanaka
Tommy Milone
Chad Bettis
Andrew Heaney
Henry Owens
Ricky Nolasco
Marcus Stroman
Yu Darvish
Jose Berrios
Kohl Stewart
Phil Bickford

Relief Pitchers:

Brad Ziegler
Casey Fien
Bryan Morris
Addison Reed
Shawn Kelley
Chaz Roe
Jason Frasor
Joba Chamberlain
Javy Guerra

Catchers:

Kurt Suzuki
Yasmani Grandal
Jorge Alfaro
Reese McGuire

Corner Infielders:

Jose Abreu
Nick Swisher
Danny Valencia

Middle Infielders:

Johnny Giavotella
Jonathan Schoop
Eduardo Escobar
Xander Bogaerts
Jed Lowrie
Isan Diaz

Outfielders:

A.J. Pollock
Jason Heyward
Carlos Gomez
Justin Maxwell
Dustin Ackley
Stephen Piscotty
Jarrod Dyson
Domingo Santana
Michael Saunders
Dayan Viciedo
Lewis Brinson

I’m able to keep 10 big leaguers and as many minor leaguers — under rookie threshold — as I’d like. My guess is that it’s going to be another roster crunch this season.

Here’s where I’m at right now for keepers:

Pollock
Heyward
Gomez
Piscotty
Bogaerts
Abreu
Grandal
Gray
Salazar
Tanaka
Stroman
Darvish
Heaney
—
Alfaro
McGuire
Berrios
Brinson
Stewart/Bickford/Diaz (maybe?)

That’s already way too many big league keepers. Who would you trade? Who would you keep? Moving an outfielder makes a lot of sense, but which one? I’d lean toward Gomez. Do Schoop and Gibson have trade value? I’m looking forward to hearing all of your opinions.





 

In addition to Rotographs, Warne writes about the Minnesota Twins for The Athletic and is a sportswriter for Sportradar U.S. in downtown Minneapolis. Follow him on Twitter @Brandon_Warne, or feel free to email him to do podcasts or for any old reason at brandon.r.warne@gmail-dot-com

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tb3nn3ttMember since 2025
10 years ago

I would try to deal Grandal – bad park and injury history. I usually prefer to go with a platoon behind the plate – that ensures that I have enough PA plus you can usually get non-keeper platoon types on the cheap.

Then I think I would try to deal two of Tanaka/Darvish/Heaney – grab enough upside SP in the middle rounds and there’s a chance you snag a guy who masters a new pitch/bumps his velo and turns into a keeper.

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