Help me pick my auction keepers! WHIR!

[Hustler8800]

12-Team, H2H, standard 5x5.
Auction keeper, $360 budget, unlimited keepers($6 tax on previous years salary) with 1 max contract(no tax)


C Mike Napoli $13
1B Eric Hosmer $17
2B Danny Espinosa $12
3B Evan Longoria $35
SS J.J. Hardy $6
OF Carlos Gonzalez $41
OF Andrew McCutchen $18
OF Nelson Cruz $36
UTIL Kelly Johnson $6
BN Jose Tabata $6
BN Brennan Boesch $6
BN


SP Stephen Strasburg $28
SP CJ Wilson $12
SP Gio Gonzalez $12
SP Ubaldo Jiminez $21
RP Craig Kimbrel $14
RP Mike Adams $6
P Ricky Nolasco $6
BN Joakim Soria $25
BN Mike Minor $6
BN Brett Anderson $6
BN Edinson Volquez $6
BN Tim Stauffer $12

[Urban Cohorts]

Are those the prices to keep them this year or are they the prices from last season?

[Hustler8800]

Those are the prices they can be kept for.

[Element]

I like your offense a lot, but not so much with your pitching.

C Mike Napoli $13
1B Eric Hosmer $17
2B Danny Espinosa $12
3B Evan Longoria $35
SS J.J. Hardy $6
OF Carlos Gonzalez $41
OF Andrew McCutchen $18

SP Stephen Strasburg $28
SP CJ Wilson $12
SP Gio Gonzalez $12
RP Craig Kimbrel $14

This totals $208 ($152 remaining). Hopefully there is some pitching available in your draft.

[kaiser]

Hosmer
Longoria
Cargo
McCutchen
Cruz

[Urban Cohorts]

Those are the prices they can be kept for.

Thanks for clearing that up!

Here are my clear cut must keep players-
1B Eric Hosmer $17 - Young, huge upside, great price
3B Evan Longoria $35 - Top talent 3B (along with Bautista), then there is a drop-off. Looks like a reasonable price
OF Andrew McCutchen $18 - Young, establish, incredible value at $18
SP Gio Gonzalez $12 - High upside, young SP. Great price makes him a keeper

Here are the gray area keepers (guys who may or may not be great choices, and need clarification on)-
C Mike Napoli $13 - Good value, but how does your league value catchers? If the top guys are going for $25, I think you keep Napoli
OF Carlos Gonzalez $41 - Elite player, but how many other guys are $40+? If a standard 1st round guy is $40+, I say hold onto Cargo
SP CJ Wilson $12 - Could have really good value at $12, but I think you have to wait to see where he ends up
SP Brett Anderson $6 - Most likely worth a $6 bet. If he is healthy, he can return HUGE value. I would wait until spring training though
RP Craig Kimbrel $14 - Decent value, just not sure if you like to hold onto closers (I don't)

Tough cuts-
2B Danny Espinosa $12 - I think this kid has talent, but in a 12 team league I wouldn't keep him for $12. Unless the 2B FA class is shallow
OF Nelson Cruz $36 - WAY overprice at $36 IMO. Guy is a legit hitter but always seems to get injured at some point.
SP Stephen Strasburg $28 - Price tag is too high again, especially for a H2H league. His IP will probably be capped and come playoff time he will be a no factor for your team.

[fast dogs]

I think you should have included starting positions as well. If you start 3 OF & no middle or corners, then going with some higher priced guys makes more sense as theres still plenty left in the FA pool after you pay for stars. Having said that, I'd never keep Cruz at that price even in a shallow league. Cargo is borderline, in a 3 OF maybe, in a 5 no, in a 4 I wouldn't but you could.Strasburgs no gift at that cost but he'll probably go for that in the auction so if he's your guy I guess thats your price.Espinosa in a middle league that doesn't count K's against you maybe, in a shallow (no middle) maybe not. Longoria goes for that, Gio, Cutch Hosmer Nap Wilson Kimbrel all in
Cargo and Espinosa are the tough calls for me, I really have Espinosa as the 10-12th best 2nd basemen with acceptable options under him as well. Cargo really depends on your # of starting OF, if its 3 I can see it. If you only get guys for 2 years and Cargo went for $35 this spring then I think you pass; he shouldn't go for more after his 2011 year than his amazing 2010

[lane_anasazi2]

Starting positions would be helpful to know. For my analysis I'm going to assume Yahoo standard (1 C, 3 OF, 2 UTL)

Since the budget is $360, you have to adjust your prices up. In a 12 team league with relatively shallow positions (see above), the top guys aren't going for $50, they're going for $70 or more. That being said, I'd keep:

C Mike Napoli $13. No-brainer. Adjusting for the higher budget and a 1 catcher league, Napoli is easily capable of being worth $25. Lots of surplus value here.

1B Eric Hosmer $17. Also an easy call. A low-end projection would make this a fair price, but with his talent he could be worth double that.

3B Evan Longoria $35. This is actually a tough one. He stats just don't warrant that price. If you had him for $29 last year you still didn't get any value. I'd probably still keep him since his perceived value is much higher and 3B is shallow.

SS J.J. Hardy $6. Sure, why not? He's capable of hitting 30 HR from the SS position. Who doesn't like home runs?

OF Carlos Gonzalez $41. Also a tough call. But in a $360 budget league, this price doesn't require that he perform like a 1st round talent and still leaves the possibility that you extract some value.

OF Andrew McCutchen $18 - Yes. Great price, obviously.

SP Stephen Strasburg $28 - this one is your call. You're not getting a discount here, but with the amount of hype he generates, it's tough to see him going for less in the draft. The best pitchers in the game are worth less than the best hitters. (James Shields would have been worth something like $30-35 in this league). Even if Strasburg becomes a top 5 pitcher in the next few years, in 2 years you'll be paying $40 for him.

SP Gio Gonzalez $12 - I like to keep a few high-upside pitchers at a cost-controlled price. Without knowing league specifics you might be able to do better in the draft, though. Not keeping him wouldn't be a big deal.

RP Craig Kimbrel $14 - I have no problem keeping closers when they're this good. $6/season is a pretty big increase so you may not be able to keep him for long, as at $20 he doesn't look quite so good. Still, enjoy it while it lasts.

Not keeping:
2B Danny Espinosa $12 - with price increases every year he's a 1 year keeper, and even then you can get someone as good or better for the same amount.
OF Nelson Cruz $36 - Not worth it. At that price you're banking that he stays healthy for 140 games at least, and that's not a good bet.
UTIL Kelly Johnson $6 - no
BN Jose Tabata $6 - why?
BN Brennan Boesch $6 - no
Most of the pitchers - obviously too expensive. It's the same reason for all of them. Relatively small league, pitching is everywhere. Just load up in the draft.

[raiders_umpire]

C Mike Napoli $13
1B Eric Hosmer $17
2B Danny Espinosa $12
3B Evan Longoria $35
SS J.J. Hardy $6
OF Carlos Gonzalez $41
OF Andrew McCutchen $18
OF Nelson Cruz $36

SP CJ Wilson $12
SP Gio Gonzalez $12
RP Craig Kimbrel $14
BN Brett Anderson $6