Scoresheet: Waving the White Flag
It’s time for me to wave the white flag on this year in Scoresheet. At 27-42, I’m only nine games out of first in my division, but I’m in last. As in dead last in King Kaufman’s AL-Skeeter 12-team AL-only Scoresheet league in the inaugral year. A couple of injuries lasted longer than I thought they would, and I’m not sure I understood how much depth is needed going into the season. In any case, I’m willing to jettison non-keepers to improve my position for next year. Inauspicious beginnings, but there are some things to like about this team still.
Perhaps you can help me identify the best non-keepers. It’s my firm belief that a fire sale should come with a white flag waive — I did that by trading Derek Lowe for a 21st-rounder next year — and then a quick strike with the best tradeable chips leaving first. We keep 13 veterans and as many prospects and/or rookies as we like (rookie is defined as anyone under the rookie eligibility 130/50 PA/IP cap).
So who should I be pushing next? Where are my biggest decisions? I’ve put asterisks next to the veteran keepers I’m looking at — I need three of the guys with (*) next to their name. I shopped Napoli some, but the offers were not exciting, so I’m more likely to work around the edges.
C Mike Napoli *
1B Albert Pujols *
2B Kelly Johnson *
SS Yunel Escobar *
3B Brent Morel
LF Carl Crawford *
CF Alejandro De Aza *
RF Brett Gardner *
DH Nolan Reimold (*)
BN Cliff Pennington
BN Johnny Damon
BN Shelley Duncan
BN Colin Cowgill
BN Alex Liddi
BN Tyler FLowers
BN Alexi Amarista
FM Jacob Marisnick
FM Nick Castellanos
FM Mike Olt
FM Nick Franklin
FM Brian Buxton
FM Lewis Brinson
FM Matt Antonelli
SP Matt Moore *
SP Ubaldo Jimenez *
SP Derek Holland *
SP Jerome Williams (*)
SP Brian Matusz (*)
BP Greg Holland (*)
BP Kyle Farnsworth
BP Addison Reed (*)
BP Matt Thornton
BP Franklin Morales
SM Drew Smyly *
SM Tom Wilhelmsen
SM Charlie Furbush
SM Jacob Turner (*)
FM Rafael Perez
FM Junichi Tazawa
FM Brian Johnson
With a phone full of pictures of pitchers' fingers, strange beers, and his two toddler sons, Eno Sarris can be found at the ballpark or a brewery most days. Read him here, writing about the A's or Giants at The Athletic, or about beer at October. Follow him on Twitter @enosarris if you can handle the sandwiches and inanity.
keep addison reed and probably greg holland. you are going to need a bullpen next season and they both play for teams without outstanding rotations, so they may be converted into starters sometime. You may have the next cj wilson, lance lynn or chris sale on your hands.
Yeah I had those guys as definite keepers but then was worried about the back end of my rotation. Guess that’s what next year’s draft is for. That, and a third baseman…
Reed has started 13 total games since high school. He’s a great talent, but I wouldn’t count on him being converted into a starter. Sale and Lynn were drafted as starters and were only used in the bullpen until they were deemed ready to start.
I’d definitely see what you can get for Johnson, Escobar, and Jimenez. Ubaldo would be my top priority to trade as his value has fluctuated so much and you want to sell while his value is on an upswing. If anyone would give you a decent draft pick for Williams I’d definitely take it. Maybe Gardner too if there were any interest at all for him. I’d wait until Crawford comes off the DL to see what kind of player you think he’s going to be going forward before making a decision on him.
Pujols I’d only think about if you’re getting a decent upside 1B in return plus some other good prospects (ie massive return). Now that he’s hitting again he’s probably your most valuable trade chip. If you end up trading Johnson and/or Escobar I’d definitely try to go after Profar for next year as there’s a decent chance he ends up playing 2b for the Rangers at some point next year.
My list of keepers would definitely include de Aza, Reimold, Moore, both Hollands, Matusz, Reed, Wilhelmsen, Smyly, and maybe even Morales, (who seems to be putting up good numbers in Boston and could have a future as a starter).
Going into next year it looks like pitching will clearly be your strength so I’d definitely lean towards young/recovering position players with upside as trade targets. If Tulowitzki’s (2 months on DL from today) owner is still in close competition you might try a Pujols/Escobar/Tulo centered trade. SS is always a harder position to find quality than SS.
American League only and I gotta keep 14, so I think most of those keepers are just keepers, unless I trade them for other keepers.
Also, last year Napoli didn’t really turn it on until July so he’d probably be worth holding onto him until at least mid-July before trading him. He’s a free agent after this year and might sign with a less offensively friendly team than the Rangers so there’s a risk that he won’t be as productive even if he does rebound this season, (and I think he will).
One last thing, keep in mind that the Astros are moving to the AL next year so that means Altuve will be available at 2B.
Looks to me like you drafted waaay too many rookies. You can keep as many as you like, but I’ve never seen a team that kept more than 6 that was able to compete the next year.
We are allowed to keep up as many prospects as we want in this league, outside of the 13 regular keepers.