hi rotoman…i was wondering if you can help me with a decision….i play fantasy baseball in a mixed, 12 team, draft, 5×5 league, with a 4 player keeper rule.
i have ichiro, pujols and bonds locked up as no-brainers )*please correct me if i am wrong), but my fourth player is a tough choice. here are my candidates: paul loduca (*thinking is catching is very thin and paulie is at the top in offensive #’s), adam dunn (*monster output, but poor ba…do you think his sb’s will increase?), ryan klesko (even though he’s headed to OF, i like his potential for career #’s and the SB’s are key) and finally, keith foulke.
not sure if you have any time to waste on me and my dilemma, but if you do…i would greatly appreciate any insight you can give me.
“Almost there”
Almost is right. Here are my comments…
Lo Duca never showed what he showed last year before last year. He’s a catcher and it would seem he has to be better than anyone expected, but it’s unlikely he’ll repeat. He’s not bad to have for a catcher, at all, but he’s not powerful enough to best the other guys.
Dunn is too young. He has great promise, but as we saw with the stalling of Sean Casey last year, potential needs to round into form. Dunn could be great, of course, but few players advance through their second ML tour without growing pains.
Klesko has established himself, his power and his stolen bases. He’s a reasonable keep, much as I fear that the SB could stop as abruptly as they started. It’s just too weird.
Which is why I like Foulke. He’s one of the Top Five closers in the game, and while closers in mixed leagues are of even more limited utility than they are in single-league leagues, getting one of the best players at a position is goal of a mixed-league freeze list.
You’ll have plenty of chances to take risky guys in the draft. Use your keeps to hold onto the best players you can.
Rotoman