Archive for keeper leagues

When the FanGraphs meet-up took place in San Francisco on Tuesday night and the group was sitting around the TV hanging on each and every pitch thrown by Stephen Strasburg, inspiration hit for today’s Would You Rather column.  Proven talent versus monumental upside.  Seasoned veteran versus young upstart.  Future Hall of Famer versus….future Hall of Famer?  There are a lot of pros on each side and very few cons.  So if it were up to you…

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Back around the end of May, after a torrid start to the season, I posed the simple question about Tigers catcher Alex Avila — is he for real?  At the time of the piece, we looked at his .333 BABIP, his 30.0 K%, his gaudy 17.4% HR/FB and not only wondered if his .250 ISO was the real deal, but if these numbers were indicating an over-achiever who was headed for a significant drop.  Well, after watching him the rest of the way and looking at his current .304-17-65, it might finally be safe to say that he is, in fact, for real.  Now the question is, what do we do with him next season?

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Welcome to another game of Keeper League Would You Rather.  While first base is widely considered the deepest position in fantasy baseball, it is also has a high percentage of players protected, given the fact that most of your mashers are found here.  Still, dynasty leagues, AL or NL-only, and deeper mixed leagues have numerous owners looking for cheaper alternatives at the position with the hopes that an inexpensive youngster will eventually provide big time power at a bargain rate.  So let’s look at two of the more popular options from the youth bin…

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With so many articles discussing players and fantasy strategies to help advance you in the standings this year, it’s time to throw a bone to those in keeper leagues that are out of contention in 2011 and are already thinking about what to do in 2012.  Remember the game “Would You Rather…?”  I’m sure most of you do, but if you don’t, it’s simple.  You’re given two choices — sometimes both really good and sometimes both absolutely horrific.  Either way, you are obligated to pick one over the other.  Well, this is going to be an ongoing keeper league series now in which you’re given two options of which player you’d rather keep for the following season.  Since we’re in Erik Hahmann’s regular shortstop article time slot, we’ll begin there…

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With the second half of the season beginning this weekend and your league’s trade deadline rapidly approaching, keeper league owners are making the same tough decision that numerous MLB teams are making.  Are they buyers or sellers?  If in contention for a top finish, keeper league owners are deciding which stud protect to deal off to bolster their roster for a run at the title while the bottom-feeders are licking their chops, ready to give up the world to get their man.  It turns into quite the ugly battle in most leagues and is usually a primary source of fantasy angst.  But like it our not, it’s reality.  Welcome to the dump trade. Read the rest of this entry »