Fantasy Baseball 2009 Running Advice Thread.

It also never hurts to get C.C. Sabathia straight up for Jeff Keppinger in an April trade

 

It depends what kind of starting pitching you can get in the draft then. I like the values there on Maholm, Jurrjens and Rodriguez. Sanchez isn't a terrible gamble, but $6 might be a bit much to keep Bush.

I still like the value of the trade for you.

 

That is true, but sometimes it is still useful to bounce ideas off of others, or to discuss general values of players. Plus, talking baseball is part of the draw of playing fantasy baseball to begin with.

 

Well, Sanchez and Bush are both strikeout pitchers (like Nolasco), and at a combined $11 doesn't hurt my payroll. Probably will only keep one of them. I'll have plenty of money to get a big-name No. 1 pitcher. Plenty are available. Nobody is going to keep a Santana at $47. They think they can do better with two guys combining for that much.

 

Oh, I wasn't trying to staunch the discussion by any means.

 

Understood. Just giving my own perspective. Your points are why I hesitated to get too deeply into the specifics of my league when I asked about Marmol. My league has too many quirks to explain here and nobody is going to know the draft tendencies of the other owners in my league like I do. But the discussion of Marmol's value is useful, not just to me, but I would think to other fantasy players.

 

Well, for a change of pace, if you were to have the #1 pick in your draft, who would you take? I'll have to still say A-Rod. Although I'm a Sox fan, you can't disregard those numbers he puts up season after season.

 

Hanley Ramirez seems to be the consensus No. 1 pick right now.

 

In a redraft league, I agree. Pujols is better, but there is still some risk due to his elbow. if you have the top pick overall, you have to get monster production out of that player and Rodriguez is the safest bet.

If you are in a keeper league, Hanley Ramirez is the better option because he is eight years younger. I don't think you could go wrong taking him first in any format, though for 2009 alone the low RBI numbers put him slightly behind Rodriguez. Ramirez's advantage is in steals and runs scored, but you can get those later. Power is always at a premium.

 

My worry this year is at the catcher position. I got lucky as hell and picked up Brian McCann as a late-round pick and he was gold for me all season. I don't think I hold a chance of getting Soto and I don't know if I want to risk McCann again after his production dropped after his concussion.

 

I'm assuming this is a keeper league? McCann is an elite catcher, among the top three or four in any ranking you will see and deservedly so. That's not a guy you cut loose.

 

Oh, no. No keeper league. I drafted McCann and had him in my lineup from start to finish other than the week or two where he was out with the concussion.