Taking Over A Keeper Team, Will Need To Rebuild It

[OriolesBaseball]

Hi everyone this is my first post here. I've been reading these boards for the past few months but I decided to register and get involved in the dicussions. I've been playing fantasy baseball for 5 years, until now it had only been one year leagues. However, I decided to take the step up to a Keeper League. I'm taking over a team that is pretty old. This is a Roto League with the normal 5x5 stats. We get to keep 6 players each year. I have the 4th pick in the draft, and it's not a snake draft. We follow the same order for each round. Here's my team:

C M. Piazza (NYM - C,1B)
1B T. Martínez (NYY - 1B,DH)
2B J. Kent (LA - 2B)
3B H. Blalock (Tex - 3B)
SS J. Wilson (Pit - SS)
OF S. Green (AZ - 1B,RF)
OF C. Biggio (Hou - LF,CF)
OF L. Walker (StL - RF)
Util R. Belliard (Cle - 2B)
Util J. Rollins (Phi - SS)
H. Choi (LA - 1B)
C. Peña (Det - 1B)
Jo. Cruz (TB - RF)
B. Williams (NYY - CF,DH)
R. Alomar (CWS - 2B)
K. Griffey Jr. (Cin - CF)

Pitchers
SP R. Clemens (Hou - SP)
SP G. Maddux (ChC - SP)
RP M. Rivera (NYY - RP)
RP C. Silva (Min - SP,RP)
P J. Moyer (Sea - SP)
P D. Wells (SD - SP)
P K. Ishii (LA - SP)
P E. Guardado (Sea - RP)


Yeah, not that great of a team. It will be a fun challenge turning it into a contender. Anyways, the 6 I think I should keep:

Blalock
Kent
Rollins
Clemens
Maddux
Rivera


I'm going to try and make some trades before the deadline to do so, which is the 4th of Feb. Does anyone disagree with this list of keepers or any other advice in general for this team? Thanks!

[WV Pirate]

Get rid of Clemens immediately! Trade him for as high a draft pick as you can get and a top flight pitching prospect like Edwin Jackson for instance(the Dodgers will trade Ishii).

Also try to get some sort of value for Maddux, the last thing you need now are aging pitchers, or even hitters. Your looking at 2006 at least to be competitive, probably longer.

Keep Blalock,Rollins,Kent and Rivera, but also keep Pena and Shawn Green or even better Jack Wilson. You could trade Wilson in May or June as he will continue to tear up the NL and someone will love to give up some young gun or arm to acquire him. Also always try to stockpile draft picks for next winter.

Make sure you don't flat turn down any trades, counter,or politley decline with an eye to the future, if someone offers you a player, make a note somewhere of the player that was shopped for future considerations. And consider trades with 2006 and beyond in mind, of the prospects you'll acquire this year you'll be lucky if half turn out the way you think in the next few years.

Good luck, it will be an exciting season for you.

[Shadowmaster28]

I agree about keeping Jack Wilson, also trading Rocket. If you trade Rocket and get another very good pitcher which is preferably younger and work from that you will be good for the next few years.

[roadrunner]

do you have to keep 6, and if you only are keeping 6 you will be suprised at all the talent that winds up back in the free agent pool . one of my 12 team leagues keeps 8 players and when your turn comes up even through the 18th round where we are now, it's like wow i can't believe these guys are still available. Anyway back to your question, keep the 6 players you feel everyone or anyone else in your league would take that you really don't want to lose

[eftda]

Blalock
Kent
Rollins
Clemens
Maddux
Rivera

Thats a great set of Keepers. Clemens might not pitch in 2006, but he will be an ace in 2005. You should make a strong run in 2005 but if you find yourself behind you might want to start thinking about the future.

[sudds]

This is going to sound crazy to a degree but I might take a look at keeping Walker or Guardado over say Rollins.....relievers are always around but in a deeper league having those 2 might be alright as well as Walker looked pretty decent with St. Louis at the end of the year...yeah he's injury prone but the upside with a great hitter on a great hitting team is very tempting to me........