Keeper league eval?

[acw9293]

I'm in an 8-team points league. I took over the team that finished dead last last season and have done a lot of work. What do you think?
C: Molina
1B: Rizzo, Encarnacion, Teixeira
2B: Phillips
3B: Machado
SS: Andrus
OF: Gonzalez

SP: Moore, Garza, Latos, Parker
RP: Chapman

Machado isn't technically on my team now, but I have the #1 pick and plan on taking him. Do you think my team can contend at all?

[Quackman]

for 8-team id say your in trouble. No ace pitchers and hitting is like B-. Agon i think will have a better year but who knows. I would try really hard to trade for a big pitcher. Or draft a few sleeper pitchers, maybe guys that are coming back from injury. Good luck.

[lambo1203]

I agree with Quackman. Obviously, you can't really control the lackluster roster left from years past, but you're relying on a lot of 'what if' players instead of a few players you know will dominate. Molina and Machado are nice players to have because they can have breakout games for sure, and Rizzo could explode this year. But there's no guaranteed HR hitter and RBIs might be hard to come by.

With pitching, I really like Moore as a sleeper, but as of now, if he's your #1, you could be hurting. And I don't imagine there's too many good pitchers in the draft that you can steal. I'd try and dump Chapman (who knows if he's actually starting or will be their closer...question marks like that I like to get rid of) and maybe Encarnacion for a stellar SP. Good luck!

[Fear the Beard]

As i do agree with them that u need pitching its not as bad as it looks Chapman will be a starter this year for how long unno but Moore Latos and Parker all have good upside and u can always use ur depth at 1b as trade bait to fill needs and Machado is a good pick up depending on who else is out there to get

[MadDog36]

Tex is probably worth shipping away.
What is available elsewise?

[fsbarren]

Moore and Latos seems to be in the top 20-25 range (ESPN anyway) so an ace might be what you really need to be OK in pitching. Maybe Encarnacion and Chapman for a top 10 SP and a decent hitter. Or maybe Encarnacion for Cain straight up.

If you have a great draft you can definitely bridge the gap a bit, but this is most likely going to be a waiver-wire or die team for you. BUT, with with only 8 teams there will probably be more than a few high-level prospects to gamble on so it'll be a tough but interesting challenge.

Good luck.