Advice with Protection List

Hello DobberBaseball-ites! I have till December 31 midnight to hand in my protection list and was wondering if I could get a little advice or thoughts from some of you gurus! To give you a little knowledge of the league it is a 20 team league with a $300 salary cap. We can protect 9 players each year. The salary increase is %20 the first year and then goes up %5 every year after that (ex. 25%, 30%). Min protected salary is $6 unless player is a rookie, which is 150 AB or 50 IP. Draft picks are $2. The pre-season auction is consisted of all the top players, to fill the active rosters of all 20 teams, from the previous year! A team doesn't have to fill their roster at the auction however and can draft the rest of their team. Anyway hopefully this helps a little! My team is in my signature with their protected salaries for next year!
I have 11 players I want to protect but can only protect 9, so I would like to try and trade a couple for something a little better...
SS-Tulo, 1B-Pena, 2B-Uggla, 3B-Figgins, C-Iannetta, OF-Quentin, Young, Milledge, P-Billingsley, Gallardo, Jenks

I was thinking of maybe trading Figgins, and Uggla for Utley or something in that regards! You know upgrading with a 2 for 1 deal! Any help or a point in the right direction is appreciated!!

Cheers!

Well if you can pull off that trade for Utley, that would be awesome just to get him (even though I really like his future).


I like all the players you have so this is a tough decision. All of them are keeper caliber. I would have to start with Jenks as the first cut. Closers always come out of no where during the season and Jenks isn't nearly an elite one with his low strikouts.

Lets see, then it would be between the struggling Tulo, Pena, Figgins, Iannetta and Milledge.

Iannetta you have to keep. He could get you 25 next year from the weakest position in the game. Still a risk, but you have to take it.

Pena still has big upside and with a stronger start, he is back near 40 homers this season.

Tulo plays a position just like Iannetta that you have to gamble on. When healthy, he could be huge again.

Then it comes down to Figgins and Milledge. I think Milledge has huge upside... far ahead of Figgins but Figgins is safer. Still, at 30, you never know when this one trick pony's speed will die. He has also had a tendency to get hurt. He can hit for a high average but is that enough?

As a risk taker, I'd keep Milledge.

So, I would cut Figgins myself.

So if it were me, I'd go with Jenks and Figgins as my cuts. When you throw in those costs in your signature as well, it seals the deal for me.

Still, make sure you try to move some guys in a trade first because they are all keeper caliber. Target teams with top heavy keepers of course who could use the quality quantity you can offer.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the info and a little different perspective! I like the input about Jenks and after the way Milledge played the last part of the season I am leaning towards him! I will see what or if I can move some players to strengthen my team a little!

Thanks once again J Status!

Now with Utley and his hip surgery would it be wise to offer Figgins, Jenks and a 4th rd pick for him! I am also wondering about Billingsley with the broken leg but I guess high risk high reward especially when his long term upside is so great!

Now is a great time to get both Billingsley and Utley. I wouldn't trade them if I already owned them however. Get these guys now right as their owners see the news or get them right when their owners' teams struggle because then they will be looking for an immediate shot early on before their season is lost. Huge upside guys and a great opportunity with the injuries. Just remember, Utley isn't as young as you may think. Both he and Howard were brought along slowly. Still great for several years to come though.

Utley is still a 2009 gamble until you hear the news after hip surgery. Hopefully 2010 will be fine. If you can get him now at a discount, then I agree to go get him but I would not want to pay full price.

Broadway, do you think Uggla ($10) and Figgins ($20) for Utley ($17) would be a bit to much to offer?

josofosky wrote:
Broadway, do you think Uggla ($10) and Figgins ($20) for Utley ($17) would be a bit to much to offer?

I like Uggla more than most people because he is very good at runs. Figgins power numbers have deteriated to next to nothing and his runs don't jump out either. His AVG is above average and he will get you 30 plus steals but at $20, he is expensive and if you can use the money elsewhere, I would make the deal. Utley came out of surgery well but don't expect him to be back to full strength until maybe May