10-team Y! H2H standard 5x5 keeper league. We get to keep between 3(min) and 5(max) players each year, and a player can only be kept for 5 seasons before they have to go back into the draft. I have decided on my first four keepers and need some help with the last keeper. We have to submit our final keeper list tomorrow.
McCutcheon (2 years left)
Stanton (3 years left)
Strasburg (4 years left)
Hanley (4 years left)
Deciding between:
Gio Gonzalez (4 years left)
Billy Butler (4 years left)
BJ Upton (4 years left)
Upton: I am always enticed by Upton's upside and am curious to see how he will respond to a new ballpark/league, with his brother on the same team. I like the 20/40 stats he brings, but don't like how streaky he is (H2H) and do not like his BA. He's only played 3 games at Turner field, so not a lot of history. I don't like the idea of keeping 3 OF...the position is so deep.
Gio: Certainly a little nervous about the link to PEDs. Outside of that, I really like Gio. I like him as a NL pitcher and think he is set up really well on a stacked Nationals team. I expect a little regression from last year, but not too much. SPs tend to be valued higher in our league vs. a generic Yahoo league, so I like the idea of keeping 2 SPs and then focusing the early draft solely on offense. However, I wonder if the PED link will push down his value where I could redraft him at a cheaper price and keep Upton or Butler. We don't draft until the very end of March, so we may have more PED-related info on Gio by then (e.g. possible suspension?). However, keeper lists are due tomorrow.
Butler: I really like Butler and feel he is a safe commodity. I'm not sure if he will repeat his 2012, but his growth curve over the last several years indicates he could repeat, or even improve on it. He is 1B eligible for 2013. I really like the safety of his BA. I don't love that he plays such a deep position in a year where a lot of value can be found (Teix, Hosmer, Freeman, Davis, etc). Ultimately, he is probably the safest of the three options, but does he have the upside to justify being a keeper?
Thanks in advance for your feedback. Leave a link and I'll reply.