Javier Vazquez, how good in 2003?

[Guest]

I'm trying to decide between Javier Vazquez, Matt Clement, and Greg Maddux for my keeper league. I don't think anybody can beat the champion of our league from last year in this coming year, so I'm not trying to be #1 this next year. Having said that, I'm leaning towards keeping Mr. Vazquez. Any thoughts?

[accohen]

Maddux, Maddux, Maddux. I know that this is a keeper league and you are worried about "his age and his injuries", etc, etc. The bottom line is that he is still money....and he knows it. Randy Johnson is almost 4 years older and still dominant. Maddux has won 15 games for 15 straight years, and STILL had an ERA of 2.62 last season. Vasquez, for the most part, was not as good as he should have been last year for a variety of reasons, and nobody knows quite yet where he ends up. Clement was a very pleasant surprise last year and is a very good sleeper pick, but at this point, I don't believe him to be keeper material....at this point, I rank Clement and Vasquez pretty equally. And yes, I did have all 3 on my team last year at some point.....

[Arlo]

How soon do you have to make the choice? Right now, I agree that the call is Maddux, with Vazquez second and Clement third. Vazquez' value could change significantly however, if he's traded this winter as seems possible (Arizona is a leading candidate, but lots of teams would be interested).

[Guest]

I can wait to make the choice until late March. I was just checking out my roster for next year recently, and I remembered that due to a rule in our league, I can't keep Maddux. So that's going to make me decide between Abreu, Vazquez, and Clement. I'm going to be very strong in the outfield next year (Green and Andrew Jones for sure), but I think I should probably keep Abreu over Vazquez reguardless. Although I think that Abreu is overrated.

[accohen]

Actually, in my opinion, your choice should come down to Andruw Jones, Vasquez, and Clement. Abreu, your opinions about him aside, is the superior rotisserie player to Andruw, with his BA and steals being much higher; plus, he will have Thome probably behind him this year....a career year is not out of the question. Left with those 3, it would be close, but I would keep Andruw over both Vasquez and Clement, depending on where Vasquez ends up....just my opinion...

[quicksilver8]

I agree that you should keep Abreu. Even though he won't steal as much this year in front of the heavy hitters (Thome, Burrell), he is still good for a .300 ave, 25-30 HRs and 85+ rbi and a ton of runs. Andruw appears to be settling in as a low average, high power hitter and he doesn't even steal anymore. Andruw helps in 2 catagories(HR and RBI) Abreu in at least 4....