Who to keep

[Gmunu]

I am new to keeper leagues and I don't know who to keep on my team. We can keep 6 players and it is a deep league. We start C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, MI, OF, OF, OF, and Util, Util as well as SP, SP, SP, RP, RP, P, P, P, P. We have a 30 man roster in a 12 team league.
I have to choose 6 keepers out of:
Chase Utley* Jason Verlander*
Mark Texiera* Mariano Rivera
Carl Crawford* Ryan Franklin
Joey Votto* Brandon Wells
Chone Figgins Ricky Romero
Victor Martinez* Randy Wells
Yunel Escobar Randy Wolf
Garrett Jones
Andrew McCutchen

Not having done a baseball keeper before I don't know if there is any area I should try to focus on or just keep the 6 guys I figure will do the best this season. Right now I am leaning toward keeping the guys with the * after their names. Any input will be appreciated.

PS. The league is a head to head league with the following stat categories:
Runs, Hits, RBI, HR, SB, Average, Walks for hitters and Wins, Saves, Ks, ERA, Whip, Ks per 9 innings, Pitching appearances, and Holds for pitchers.

[The Artful Dodger]

The golden rule of keeper leagues is to select your very best heading into the draft. That said, I think you're keeping your best 6 (Utley, Tex, Crawford, V-Mart, Votto, Verlander).

[HOOTIE]

I like McCutchen over VMart.

[fang]

There's a lot of good OFs, not alot of good C, I'd take VMart over McCutchen all day.

[tribefan08]

The golden rule of keeper leagues is to select your very best heading into the draft. That said, I think you're keeping your best 6 (Utley, Tex, Crawford, V-Mart, Votto, Verlander).

AD's list is right on, you cant take a mccutchen over a SOLID catcher (vmart).

[MaudDib]

The golden rule of keeper leagues is to select your very best heading into the draft. That said, I think you're keeping your best 6 (Utley, Tex, Crawford, V-Mart, Votto, Verlander).

AD's list is right on, you cant take a mccutchen over a SOLID catcher (vmart).

I disagree. Sometimes it is better to take guy who has potential and has shown what he can do over an older player who soon will be on the decline. Taking a risk like this can pay off huge and if you miss i tends to not be devastating to your season. I think I would be very happy taking McCutchen over VMart and you should see some pretty good numbers from him this year.

[HOOTIE]

There's a lot of good OFs, not alot of good C, I'd take VMart over McCutchen all day.

How many 23 year olds could go 20/40? Vmart each year, is catching less and less. He plays a lot of 1B, mixing in DH. In some leagues, he will lose C eligibilty soon.

[Gmunu]

Thank you to everyone who has given insight so far. This is exactly what I was looking for. The possibility of keeping McCutchen is one of the things that I have had to consider. What do you all think of Garrett Jones for this season too? If you extrapolated his numbers from the half season he played last year out to a full season he would be a top draft pick. Does anyone think he can come close to the same production for a full season? And Figgins? Is he too one (steals) dimensional to keep at 3rd base. Last season I had the luxury of Figgins, Crawford, and Bourne (but only till I traded him away) in the lineup and won the stolen base category almost every week. Also, does keeping a stud RP (Rivera or Franklin) merit any consideration?

[Fantasy Star]

You're keeping your very best players for 2010. I like your choices. McCutchen will be much more replaceble/easier to draft than VMart. While it is true Vmart is heading for a decline, there's a very short list of catchers who have the ability to put up numbers like he is capable of.

[The Artful Dodger]

The golden rule of keeper leagues is to select your very best heading into the draft. That said, I think you're keeping your best 6 (Utley, Tex, Crawford, V-Mart, Votto, Verlander).

AD's list is right on, you cant take a mccutchen over a SOLID catcher (vmart).

I disagree. Sometimes it is better to take guy who has potential and has shown what he can do over an older player who soon will be on the decline. Taking a risk like this can pay off huge and if you miss i tends to not be devastating to your season. I think I would be very happy taking McCutchen over VMart and you should see some pretty good numbers from him this year.

Yeah, forgot to include that McCutchen is worth of consideration over V-Mart. I think it depends on your leaguemates and how high of a draft pick you have. Without knowing anything else, V-Mart's probably going to be taken off the board faster than McCutchen, which is why I'd give the nod to V-Mart. However, McCutchen's upside is worth the spot. I don't think he'll go 20/40 as soon as next year, but I can see him reasonably going 15/30, with the solid plate discipline he sports.