I need some keeper-league advice for my NL team. I play in a 12 team league with a salary cap of $280 to fill 24 slots. Should I keep the following players at their current prices?
Danny Bautista $6
Michael Barrett $6
Derrek Lee $5
Greg Norton $6
Kevin Millwood $21
Kirk Rueter $6
Chad Fox $6
Andy Ashby $13
I assume the values in your league are about the same as in a 13 team NL league with a $260 budget. You don’t say what sort of inflation you expect, so I’ll just riff on each of these guys. You judge if they’re good enough to keep in your league.
Bautista: He got sexy in a hurry during the playoffs. He may well end up with a full-time job coming out of spring training, though more likely he’ll end up on the good side of a platoon. He’ll earn more than $6.
Barrett: The always promising backstop hasn’t show much ability to translate talents into production. I’d be tempted to keep him if I was chucking batting average. He’s going to have a breakout season at some point. But if it isn’t this year whatever power he generates could be negated by him hitting .240.
Derrek Lee: Yes, keep him. He earned $15 last year. He is far more likely to get better this year than worse.
Norton: If Todd Zeile can’t play third, or can’t hit, Norton will get more chances to play. He earned $5 last year. Still, he’s marginal enough, with a poor enough AVG, to be a good pickup for a buck or two. He could earn $6, but you’d be better off not paying that.
Millwood: The only year he earned $21 was 1999, when he was a great, great pitcher. In no other year has he come close. He’s certainly worth a mid-level flyer. I’d pay $10 for him. Somebody else would probably pay $15. But you shouldn’t pay more.
Rueter: In a league with a lot of inflation you could justify Rueter for $6, I suppose, but he is a total crapshoot whose Ratio is going to hurt. Let him go.
Fox: Isn’t yet the closer in Milwaukee and may not become the closer. Still, he’s a good enough pitcher that he could earn $6 in middle relief. He earned $9 last year. But you should never pay for middle relievers. So, he’s worth $6 coming out of camp if it looks like he might take Leskanic’s job. Otherwise, let someone spend their good money on his good stats.
Ashby: he hasn’t earned $13 since 1999. If he’s healthy coming out of spring training I suppose his price will rise into this range, but he’s been so hurt and so ineffective the past two years, I think I’d let him go.