Our first keeper list is in!

C - Bengie Molina 
1B - Eric Hinske 
2B - Placido Polanco 
3B - Chipper Jones 
SS - Hanley Ramirez 
OF - Brad Hawpe 
OF - Bobby Abreu 
OF - Raul Ibanez 
UTIL - Skip Schumaker 
UTIL - Lastings Milledge 

SP - Adam Wainwright 
SP - Javier Vazquez 
SP - Ryan Dempster 
SP - Brandon Webb 
SP - Matt Garza 
SP - Hiroki Kuroda 
RP - Matt Lindstrom 

Bench - Carlos Guillen (1B/SS/3B) 
Bench - Melvin Mora (3B) 
Bench - Luke Scott (OF) 
Bench - Anibal Sanchez (SP) 
Bench - Greg Smith(SP) 
Bench - Doug Davis (SP) 
Bench - Matt Wieters (C) (prospect) 

Who should I keep?

Fantasy Bullpen is very excited to be doing their first keeper analysis of the 2008-09 off season. Anyone else who needs some help with their keeper list, email rosters and league info to alex.geshwind@fantasybullpen.com. 

Ok so the first thing we do is quickly pick the top 2 guys. Hanley Ramirez and Brandon Webb both are easy choices. Ramirez should be a top 5 pick next year, and could go first in some leagues. Webb is a top 5 pitcher, probably behind only Tim Lincecum, CC Sabathia, and Rich Harden on most draft boards next season, and has a shot to go in the second round in deeper leagues. 

After that it gets a little harder. To make the list easier I’m going to take a few guys off. Molina, Hinske, and Planco are all decent players but none of them deserve a spot on this list. The same can be said for Hawpe, Ibanez, Milledge, Kuroda, Lindstrom, and everyone on the bench except Wieters. 

Of the guys left lets first look at Chipper Jones. Jones was one of the best players in baseball in 2008, hitting over .360 with a .470 OBP and an OPS+ of 177. Had he not been injured he would have been a good bet for 30 home runs, and we can assume he would have helped owners in a few other categories. The problem is Jones never stays healthy. We can be fairly certain he will be back in 2009, and nothing is structurally wrong with his shoulder. My question is: Would you rather have 80% Chipper + 20% replacement player, or 100% of a second tier third basemen. The thing is, its not really close. I’m adding Chipper to my list. 

This narrows things down a lot. The way he killed the minors this season, and the age of this roster, make it pretty hard to keep Wieters off this list, leaving only one spot left.

Of the players left, I have narrowed it down to one outfielder or one starter. Of the starters, I would probably not keep Vazquez just because an unlucky 08 season will kill his value, and you can probably get him back in the late rounds. Garza’s numbers are really nothing special, and neither are Wainwright’s. The argument for a starting pitcher comes down to Demptster, and boy is it a good argument. Demptster was able to lower his ERA and tRA after moving into the rotation, his tRA moving all the way down to 3.49. I see no reason for him not to be considered a top 15 pitcher. Although we have two decent outfielder, none of them have Dempsters value so I’ll add him to the list.

Final list: 

Hanley Ramirez

Brandon Webb

Chipper Jones

Matt Wieters

Ryan Dempster