Bonds is on my team...dump?

[zuluking]

My fantasy draft is this weekend and we protect up to 5 players. Barry Bonds has been on my team for 6 years now, should I protect him and waste an early round pick or dump him? If I do protect him, I have the option to put him on my DL (2 spots for that), but I still lose an early round pick.

[BWebb]

How early? I'd probably dump him for a 1-4, but I might keep him for anything higher than that.

[zuluking]

[ QUOTE ]
How early? I'd probably dump him for a 1-4, but I might keep him for anything higher than that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry, I should'a explained this league better. You can protect up to 5 players. I you protect all 5, you don't draft til the 6th round. If you protect 3, you start drafting in the 4th round. Protect nobody, and pick in the 1st round. Deos that help?

[ceyoung]

id keep him. youre likely not to find much value in the draft if everyone can protect 5 players. also, espn was saying that barry's trainer told them it's a 4-6 week rehab. Barry was just overblowing the injury so people would feel sorry and forget about the mistress, steroids, etc...

[2planka]

Who else are you protecting, who is likely to be available at your draft spot, what are your team needs, how big is the league, what is the scoring system......?????? More details please.

[Soul Daddy]

[ QUOTE ]
Who else are you protecting, who is likely to be available at your draft spot, what are your team needs, how big is the league, what is the scoring system......?????? More details please.

[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, this is needed. I'd be more inclined to keep him in a head-to-head league, as he could singlehandedly win some games for you down the stretch. But it's an awfully big risk to take in a 5x5 league, as his walks won't allow him to get enough AB's in half a season to really impact your average. Your other keepers/options as well as who you think might be available in early rounds are the other keys.

[zuluking]

Its a 5x5 league. I'm protecting 4 players, Randy Johnson, Vladimir Guerrero, Gary Sheffeld, and Curt Shilling, for sure and Bonds is slated as the 5th. Like I said, I could protect him and dump him to the DL and pick up an outfielder once the draft ends. It would be table scraps as we have 12 in our league.

[2planka]

[ QUOTE ]
It would be table scraps as we have 12 in our league.

[/ QUOTE ]

So if you protect BB then you don't pick until the 6th round, right? I assume others will be protecting 5 players as well, yes? If it's true that "table scraps" will be all that's left by the time your pick comes around in the 5th, then you should probably keep BB. Even if BB plays half a season, that half of the season would likely be far better than your typical 5th round (100th or so overall) player.

If you think there will be some quality there - a player coming off an injury year - or that everyone will be protecting players so that some quality is likely to be there by the time you pick, then maybe you should dump BB.

If you can, look back at the past two years' drafts. This will allow you to judge whether the talent is there.

FWIW, I don't give yesterday's roid rage much weight.

Edit: also, you have an excellent OF as it is even without Bonds. Pick up a Baldelli or Crawford - a sb guy - as insurance if Bonds can't contribute.

[2planka]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm protecting 4 players, Randy Johnson, Vladimir Guerrero, Gary Sheffeld, and Curt Shilling, for sure and Bonds is slated as the 5th

[/ QUOTE ]
Clearly you won your league last year.

[Soul Daddy]

I disagree. You already have a very old team, and that lends itself to a decent amount of injury risk. Keeping someone who is knowingly going to be out until at least May puts you in a position to play keep up all year.

At this point, it looks like a best case scenario is he plays 2/3 season. At last year's pace, that's 30 HR, 68 RBI, 86 R. Good stats for sure, but you could get the RBI and R from a lot of the decent OF that will be available, along with possible steals. Plus, like I said earlier, his walks keep his AB too low to really impact your avg.

[hutz]

I quickly skimmed the thread and didn't see this important question answered anywhere -- Who else on your team would be worth keeping if you didn't keep Bonds?

[Soul Daddy]

[ QUOTE ]
I quickly skimmed the thread and didn't see this important question answered anywhere -- Who else on your team would be worth keeping if you didn't keep Bonds?

[/ QUOTE ]
I got the impression if he didn't keep Bonds he'd just take the early draft pick. The question is who'd be available at that point, but it's basically top 50-60 types.

[hutz]

We'll never know what hidden gems he might have on his roster (Jason Bay, K-Rod, etc.) if he doesn't tell us what his other choices are.

[Soul Daddy]

[ QUOTE ]
We'll never know what hidden gems he might have on his roster (Jason Bay, K-Rod, etc.) if he doesn't tell us what his other choices are.

[/ QUOTE ]
Agreed.

[zuluking]

[ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm protecting 4 players, Randy Johnson, Vladimir Guerrero, Gary Sheffeld, and Curt Shilling, for sure and Bonds is slated as the 5th

[/ QUOTE ]
Clearly you won your league last year.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ya. And with the above 4 other players protected the question still remains, keep or dump Bonds? Most of the other teams will protect 4-5 players, so yes, there be alot of OF's gone by the 6th round. On the other hand, it is the deepest position.

[Dynasty]

Let Bonds go. You'll still have the option to draft him later.

[Rick Diesel]

[ QUOTE ]
I disagree. You already have a very old team, and that lends itself to a decent amount of injury risk. Keeping someone who is knowingly going to be out until at least May puts you in a position to play keep up all year.

At this point, it looks like a best case scenario is he plays 2/3 season. At last year's pace, that's 30 HR, 68 RBI, 86 R. Good stats for sure, but you could get the RBI and R from a lot of the decent OF that will be available, along with possible steals. Plus, like I said earlier, his walks keep his AB too low to really impact your avg.

[/ QUOTE ]

If Bonds plays 2/3 of the season and puts up the numbers above, you also have to add to that the jobber that you will get to take his place for the first 1/3 of a season. So even if said weak player can put up 5 Hr, 20 runs, and 20 RBI in 50 games, the total of 35HR, 88 RBI, and 106 runs is certainly better than anyone that you would get in the sixth round of the draft.

[Soul Daddy]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I disagree. You already have a very old team, and that lends itself to a decent amount of injury risk. Keeping someone who is knowingly going to be out until at least May puts you in a position to play keep up all year.

At this point, it looks like a best case scenario is he plays 2/3 season. At last year's pace, that's 30 HR, 68 RBI, 86 R. Good stats for sure, but you could get the RBI and R from a lot of the decent OF that will be available, along with possible steals. Plus, like I said earlier, his walks keep his AB too low to really impact your avg.

[/ QUOTE ]

If Bonds plays 2/3 of the season and puts up the numbers above, you also have to add to that the jobber that you will get to take his place for the first 1/3 of a season. So even if said weak player can put up 5 Hr, 20 runs, and 20 RBI in 50 games, the total of 35HR, 88 RBI, and 106 runs is certainly better than anyone that you would get in the sixth round of the draft.

[/ QUOTE ]
jobber... nice.

You make a good point, but that's still a best case scenario for Bonds. I don't expect him to come off two off season surgeries with no spring training and perform at peak level. I just feel like the upside is pretty limited in this case while the downside is huge.

[nolanfan34]

[ QUOTE ]
Let Bonds go. You'll still have the option to draft him later.

[/ QUOTE ]

Exactly. And a 5th round pick in a 12 team league is hardly "table scraps".