Fantasy baseball question

[realmofotalk]

I have an upcoming selection in a keeper league and among some the batters I can pick from are Rafael Furcal, Ryan Zimmerman, Adam Dunn, and Delmon Young, while some notable starting pitchers include Ben Sheets, Brett Myers, Scott Kazmir, and D-train. Whom would make the best pick?

FWIW, my keepers on offense are A-Rod, Soriano, and Carlos Lee.

The scoring categories are the Yahoo standard 5x5 plus "hits" for batters and "L's" for pitchers.

[DiamondDave]

I have an upcoming selection in a keeper league and among some the batters I can pick from are Rafael Furcal, Ryan Zimmerman, Adam Dunn, and Delmon Young, while some notable starting pitchers include Ben Sheets, Brett Myers, Scott Kazmir, and D-train. Whom would make the best pick?

FWIW, my keepers on offense are A-Rod, Soriano, and Carlos Lee.

The scoring categories are the Yahoo standard 5x5 plus "hits" for batters and "L's" for pitchers.

OK... pretty standard 6X6 scoring... but your added categories favor skilled hitters and starting pitchers on good teams with good talent... this kind of scoring kills a player such as Dunn or any relief pitcher.... I would almost inherently say Willis, but you have to think of that loss category now. The thing is though he can do fine for you in 4 out of 6 categories on his own, and if Florida suprises and is close to .500, his losses will not be in double digits...

Of the others.... Kazmir and Myers can be had in later rounds, so why have them as keepers??? Zimmerman is maybe the 8th best 3B, that is not really keeper material, especially with 3B being a deep position... Furcal is OK, can hit for average, get steals, score runs, but you will lack in power and RBI... I just do not consider him a pick that goes in the first 5 rounds. If I keep a SS, I want a guy who has power as well.

Now to the other ones to puzzle about... Sheets and Delmon Young. Sheets is 29 and injury prone, but when healthy he is a probable top 5 SP. Young has all the talent in the world, and could be easily labeled a 5 tool guy, but he has not proven anything as of yet.

IMHO your choice has to come down to Sheets, Willis, and Young.... While Young may be the youngest and 'most talented', he has also only been in the ML a short period of time. Sheets is proven but has as many question marks coming off of last year. I say you have to rank Willis as your top choice, since he is still very young and he always has the possibility of being traded off to a contender which INSTANTLY raises his value immensely. I'd rank Sheets #2 and Young #3, and I would not even consider the rest

[DirtyKash]

In order for batters:

1. Delmon Young
2. Ryan Zimmerman
3. Rafael Furcal
4. Adam Dunn

In order for pitchers:

1. Scott Kazmir
2. Ben Sheets
3. Dontrelle Willis
4. Brett Myers

[realmofotalk]

Dave, Kazmir had a better strikeout-to-inning ratio, ERA, and WHIP than Willis last year, although Kazmir also missed a number of games because of a shoulder injury. The only reason I would consider Willis is because Willis is considered to be more "proven" than Kazmir.

[Kingdom]

Willis has a better supporting cast, he'll likely have more wins because of it.

I would pick Furcal, he seems comfortable with the dodgers now and gives you plenty of steals and some pop. Young could go off.. on the ball or another player/ump/fan/ballboy.

[DiamondDave]

Dave, Kazmir had a better strikeout-to-inning ratio, ERA, and WHIP than Willis last year, although Kazmir also missed a number of games because of a shoulder injury. The only reason I would consider Willis is because Willis is considered to be more "proven" than Kazmir.

Various young pitchers had better ERA's etc than pitchers such as Willis or Peavy last year... that does not mean that I would rank them higher. Willis is more proven and has shown that he has the pure stuff, and as stated, you have to look at FA status and trade possibilities, that make a player such as Willis VERY attractive as well. His value goes up by about 50% if he gets traded to a mega-team such as the YankMes, or a contender who is looking at 90+ wins.

Kazmir is a good pitcher about to become a damn good pitcher. But in average drafts, even keeper, he is going after the 5th round... hence he can be had after the keeper portion of most drafts.... I do not see Willis lasting that long. So there is a shot where Willis could be picked up as a keeper, and Kazmir picked up in a round after the keeper portion... I do not think the reverse would happen.