Fun with no names

[shimposter]

I am torn who to keep for the upcoming season. We have standard 25-man rosters and 5x5 head-to-head scoring and a $300 salary cap. I want to keep guys with the best VALUE, not necessarily the best players. That way I will have a great-sized budget going into the free agency draft come March.

The names have been removed to decrease player bias, and I thought it would be fun to see the responses. We keep five, and so far I have decided to keep these three:

1) A productive 26-year-old 1B for $1
2) A breakout 31-year-old SP from '08 for $1
3) A struggling franchise's 24-year-old young arm whose role is still uncertain for $1

... and have to choose two of these four...

A) A 26-year-old top-3 2B for $21
B) A 29-year-old top-5 SP in a weak division for $21
C) A 29-year-old potential closer who showed signs of greatness in '08 for $1.
D) A 27-year-old, likely Opening Day starter, who is on a very young team with great talent behind him for $11.

Which two would be the best value from A, B, C and D?

Thanks... WHIR.

[Neato Torpedo]

Player bias is important because it tells us who's good and who's not. This'll be fun, I'll guess the names.

1) Conor Jackson
2) Justin Duchscherer
3) Brandon Morrow

A) Ian Kinsler
B) Brandon Webb
C) Brad Ziegler
D) James Shields

Kinsler and Webb are very good bargains even at $21. I'd even keep Shields over Duch because I don't see Duch getting anywhere close to his '08 numbers, while Shields should outperform $11 by a significant amount. Jackson and Morrow are good keeps though.

[auclairkeithbc]

A and D. Especially if it really is Kinsler and Shields.

[ensanimal]

A and D as well for me. A top 3 second baseman is worth $21 no matter what. An ace type pitcher is also worth $11 pretty easily. Wouldn't go with a potential closer. B would be hard to pass up though if he is a top 5 pitcher. I just think the $10 savings might be worth it.

[shimposter]

Thanks for the help, but now there is another issue.

The keepers are Conor Jackson, Ryan Dempster and Brandon Morrow.

From the talk above, would bumping a $1 Dempster be a better play to be able to keep both a $21 Webb and an $11 Shields?

Can Dempster be even 80 percent as effective as he was in '08? If he can, then he would certainly be worth the keeper... or would he?

Argh! So now the question goes, which two?

Dempster $1
Webb $21
Shields $11

Thanks...

[skmo2345]

Dempster and Shields, that one is easy for me. Don't throw too much money at your pitchers.