Paul Swydan FanGraphs Chat – 8/23/11
Paul Swydan used to be the managing editor of The Hardball Times, a writer and editor for FanGraphs and a writer for Boston.com and The Boston Globe. Now, he owns The Silver Unicorn Bookstore, an independent bookstore in Acton, Mass. Follow him on Twitter @Swydan. Follow the store @SilUnicornActon.
Dustin Pedroia is a top __ player in the league.
10 PLAYER keeper league H2H: please tell me who to keep for dysnasty league: Joe Mauer, Eric Hosmer, Dustin Ackley, Jeter, Brett Lawrie, Jason Heyward, Chris Young (OF), Carlos Quentin, Jayson Werth, Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, Brandon Belt, Moustakas….Pitchers: King Felix, Jared Weaver, Matt Moore, Julio Teheran….
I can’t resist this one. First off, it is easy to cross off a few names: Jeter, Quentin, and Werth. These guys have all had their best years. Of the remaining fifteen, it gets a bit trickier. I’d cross off Young without losing a wink and then separate all players into these groups:
Definite Keepers: Mauer, Lawrie, Heyward, Trout, Harper, Felix, Weaver, Ackley
Maybes: Hosmer, Belt, Moustakas, Moore, Teheran
No: Jeter, Young, Quentin, Werth
Keeping the eight definites, of the five maybes, I could only keep two. I’d cross off Moustakas as I already picked Lawrie, pick one of Belt and Hosmer, and one of Moore and Teheran. I guess I’d take Hosmer and Moore, but I don’t think you can go wrong (it IS rather tempting to keep both of the pitchers, though, as it is easier to find a good first baseman than it is to find a young pitcher with #1 potential).
Jay Bruce is driving me nuts with his streakiness. Does he finally take a big step forward next year and have a consistently strong season or is this season pretty much what we can expect from him going forward?
Is there any news on whether or not Rendon plays in the AFL and where do you see the Nats starting him off in the minors? What is his ETA?