Fantasy Baseball 2009 Running Advice Thread.

In honor of spnited, I thought we should have a running thread for general fantasy baseball discussions. we had one of these for the 2008 season as well. Now seems to be about the right time, with cut deadlines for keeper leagues approaching.

To get us started, where do you all think Carlos Marmol should rank among closers in a keeper league? I've seen him among the top 10 in some rankings. He was one of the best relievers in baseball last year, mostly setting up Kerry Wood. Now Wood is gone and only Kevin Gregg stands in Marmol's way.

I'm considering him for the final spot on one of my keeper-league teams. I am already keeping Joakim Soria and I normally don't like to keep two closers, but Marmol is the best value of my options if he closes. I'm thinking he is like Francisco Rodriguez entering the 2005 season, a dominant set-up guy who had finished a few games in his career getting the opportunity to close.

What say you, fantasy baseball geek brethren of SportsJournalists.com?

 

How many people do you keep?

 

I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever draft a closer high again.

Burned by Putz last season. Picked him in the fifth round.

My last pick of the entire draft was Brian Wilson, who of course was 100 times better than Putz.

The players who did well in our league with saves used their waiver priority smartly and kept rotating guys. Very volatile position with maybe three stone-cold lock guys. Of course, Putz was one of those guys heading into last year. Sigh.

 

Sorry, I should have included that. I was just trying to get some general discussion going on Marmol, who should be an interesting case for this year.

I have Marmol in a 10-team, mixed-league keeper. We keep 14. The cut list is due Feb. 15. We have seven starting pitchers and five relievers active, so starting pitching is at a premium and middle relievers are very useful. Holds is also a category, so Marmol has value even if he does end up back in a set-up role.

I am locked in with these 13 as keepers: Joe Mauer, Miguel Cabrera, Chase Utley, Troy Tulowitzki, Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Quentin, Alex Rios, Nate McLouth, Brandon Webb, Jake Peavy, Zack Greinke, Felix Hernandez and Joakim Soria.

All things being equal, I prefer keeping five starters and one reliever. My best starting pitcher not already protected is Scott Baker. Baker would be a first-round pick in this league, but he is nothing special. Marmol definitely has more upside.

 

I'd rather have Marmol than Baker. I'm assuming there aren't any position players worth a look over him?

 

Cubs are paying Gregg a lot of money to just set up. It's a fishy scenario. I think it's Marmol's job to lose, but Gregg's presence and the Cubs' situation mean it's a short leash.

Here's a question. Just offered a trade in my NL-only franchise keeper rotisserie league. It's auction format, with players getting three-year contracts at their auctioned salary.

I've been offered Brandon Phillips ($15) and Matt Capps ($5) for Ricky Nolasco ($10) and Lastings Milledge ($10). I'm weak in middle infield and definitely need steals. I have Brian Wilson at closer, but you need two closers to compete for more than a couple of points. I have cheap depth at starting pitcher, but Nolasco is one of my top guys. I have plenty of money to use to get a top starter, though, so I'm considering this even though I know I'm probably not getting the better of it.

THoughts?

 

Jhonny Peralta is the best I'm cutting, but he will slip a round or two in the draft (I know how these guys draft). I am pretty well set on Marmol or Baker, then hope I can take the other one back with my first-round pick.

mjp brings up my biggest concern. Pinella seems to prefer having Marmol in that set-up role, though if he really is going to allow him to compete with Gregg, I don't see how Gregg wins that competition. Gregg is not horrible, but he did blow nine saves in '08.

 

It would help to know who else you have at starting pitcher. As much as I like Nolasco at that price, I would take the deal. It fills two needs at reasonable prices and I think Phillips is going to bounce back nicely. I'm not a big fan of Milledge, so that plays a part in my opinion.

 

No freaking way am I giving away trade secrets on this site. No way. Not after last year, when I think I finally figured it out.

 

Nolasco is easily my "best" pitcher, but I have a ton of cheap value. These are the guys I'd likely keep without the trade:

Maholm ($1), Jurrjens ($4), W. Rodriguez ($2), J. Sanchez ($5), Bush ($6), Wilson ($5), Nolasco ($10).

Also have Andrew Miller at $6, but not sure about my faith in him.

Had Santana, too, but traded him for Matt Kemp ($5) and Prince Fielder ($15) at the deadline last year.

 

Well, that's not a very friendly attitude. (Very easy for me to say since I no longer compete in any SportsJournalists.com fantasy baseball leagues.)

 

OK, here it goes. The single best fantasy advice is to figure out how to exploit your own league's rules. What may be true in one league may not be true in another, depending on the idiosynchrocies of the particularl league's rules.