Who to keep?

Here is a question that Mikey recieved and turned over to me to discuss in the Fantasy Baseball Express Rumble Pit.

The question asks which 5 players he should keep out of the 7 players he mentions. (Looks like a pretty good problem to have.......)

Here are the players
Utley
Wright
Jeter
Baldelli
Hamels
Jered Weaver
H. Ramirez

Chase Utley is the definition of a 5 category player. He is at the prime age of 28 and is playing for an emerging phillies team. His surface situation suggests that this could be his career year. Utley had somewhat of a flukey year last year; he solved his hitting woes vs lhers and scored a rediculous 131 runs. He went from 220 in '05 to 331 in '06 (Vs.LHers. There is no real explanation for this (Utley is a solid contacting hitter.) It is possible that his low Ba. was simply poor luck. His 131 runs can be attributed to his starteling amounts of Ab's in the second half, so expect that to come down a little bit. Im assuming becuase you are thinking of keeping Utley you do not have a better 2b option, but really there is not one anyway.


The next guy you need to keep is David Wright. Here is another 5 category player. His stats this year should actually be similar to Utley. He should have a few less runs with a lower Ba. His Fly ball percentage rose last year which could mean more power is coming. He is still only 24 so he is growing, but belive me it's coming.


Derek Jeter is worth keeping also. His .343 Batting average last year was a complete fluke, but he has consistantly been a 300+ hitter his whole career. His second half was far better than his first half last year. At the age of 32 Jeter should start to decline sometime soon, but he will definetly be worth keeping this year. If you keep Utley, Wright, and Jeter you are well on your way to a championship. You are getting Power and speed along with an absolutley elite batting average.

I would also keep Hanley Ramirez . His power spike in the second half of last year was crazy. Definetly do not count on him being a 15-20HR 80 Sb guy. He always makes contact and if you combine that with is blazing speed he should be a 300 hitter. You can't expect an improvemnet over last year but you should be happy with his 10Hr/60 Sbs.

I like Cole Hammels over Jered Weaver. Hammels Strikes more batters out, plays in the national league, and has a far better k/b ratio. Jered Weaver is an injury risk becuase of the innings he pitched last year.

I cant say that i would keep Baldeli until i see him produce over a full season. He is a small/fragile kid who is always hurt. Mikey compares him to Sizemore???? I can't say i agree with you on this one........

Hoped that helped a little bit...