Preseason Blog Series, part 1: Keepers Trading 2022

Michael, Amina, George, and Ruth trekked down to Disney this February. Michael melted his baseball blues away to the sights and sounds of George giggles on the tea cups.

It’s been a weird offseason where I haven’t really had the time to write nor was it all the appealing sounding to do so. I haven’t listened to many podcasts or paid much attention other than doom scrolling twitter way too much hoping for positive labor news….BUT NOOOOWW, let’s go.

Keeper trading season is going to be fast and furious this year. 

Manager	Player (from end of season roster)	Yahoo Rank 2022	Yahoo Round 2022	Drafted 2021	Drafted Round 2021	Keeper Round Available 2022	Rounds of Value
Arthur	Juan Soto	3	1	83	9	7	6
Arthur	Lucas Giolito	39	4	102	11	9	5
Arthur	Logan Webb	76	8	#N/A	13	11	3
Arthur	Dylan Cease	84	9	#N/A	13	11	2
Arthur	Jorge Polanco	82	9	#N/A	13	11	2
Arthur	Aaron Judge	33	4	63	7	5	1
Arthur	Shohei Ohtani	91	10	194	20	11	1
BJ	Brandon Woodruff	21	3	101	11	9	6
BJ	Ronald Acuna Jr.	8	1	71	8	6	5
BJ	Matt Olson	36	4	100	10	8	4
BJ	Javier Baez	64	7	120	12	10	3
BJ	Carlos Rodon	94	10	#N/A	13	11	1
Carl	Shane Bieber	26	3	114	12	10	7
Carl	Trevor Story	29	3	86	9	7	4
Carl	Jazz Chisholm Jr.	65	7	#N/A	13	11	4
Carl	Shohei Ohtani	91	10	194	20	11	1
Cory	Bo Bichette	5	1	109	11	9	8
Cory	Austin Riley	43	5	#N/A	13	11	6
Cory	Gerrit Cole	7	1	89	9	7	6
Cory	Tyler O'Neill	63	7	#N/A	13	11	4
Dave	Luis Robert	18	2	119	12	10	8
Dave	Marcus Semien	35	4	159	16	11	7
Dave	Robbie Ray	48	5	#N/A	13	11	6
Dave	Chris Sale	45	5	182	19	11	6
Dave	Byron Buxton	59	6	133	14	11	5
Dave	Eloy Jimenez	53	6	132	14	11	5
Dave	Freddy Peralta	68	7	#N/A	13	11	4
Dave	Mitch Haniger	89	9	162	17	11	2
Dean	Zack Wheeler	24	3	117	12	10	7
Dean	Alek Manoah	90	9	#N/A	13	11	2
Dean	Adalberto Mondesi	56	6	84	9	7	1
Dean	Jesse Winker	96	10	139	14	11	1
Keith	Cedric Mullins II	34	4	#N/A	13	11	7
Keith	Julio Urias	32	4	148	15	11	7
Keith	Jonathan India	75	8	#N/A	13	11	3
Keith	Bryan Reynolds	83	9	#N/A	13	11	2
Keith	Ryan Mountcastle	98	10	161	17	11	1
Max	Yordan Alvarez	25	3	110	11	9	6
Max	Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	6	1	90	9	7	6
Max	Jared Walsh	99	10	#N/A	13	11	1
Max	Emmanuel Clase	100	10	#N/A	13	11	1
Michael	Fernando Tatis Jr.	2	1	107	11	9	8
Michael	Wander Franco	46	5	#N/A	13	11	6
Michael	Sandy Alcantara	41	5	123	13	11	6
Michael	Yu Darvish	85	9	127	13	11	2
Michael	Trevor Rogers	87	9	#N/A	13	11	2
Michael	Corbin Burnes	9	1	40	4	2	1
Paul	Tim Anderson	27	3	105	11	9	6
Paul	Walker Buehler	14	2	85	9	7	5
Paul	Teoscar Hernandez	30	3	76	8	6	3
Paul	Luis Castillo	77	8	106	11	9	1

*note that this is how Yahoo is showing Ohtani ranked, as a pitcher. Carl has the Hitter Ohtani which is largely ranked as a top 15 player on other sites.

Manager	Rounds of Value from Top 4 Keepers - 2022	Rounds of Value from Top 3 Keepers - 2022
Arthur	16	14
BJ	18	15
Carl	16*	15*
Cory	24	20
Dave	27	21
Dean	11	10
Keith	19	17
Max	14	13
Michael	22	20
Paul	15	14

 

What I see here is really only one team being a notable step behind the pack starting this year, Dean. He is likely able to name his price for any trade acquisition because 6 teams have a 4^th keeper with at least 2 rounds of value that turn into a pumpkin after keepers lock. This is likely to bump Dean back in step with everyone else heading into the draft.

Dave, Cory, and Michael (and Carl with Ohtani) all have a slight edge on the pack, but not much.

What will be interesting to see is what challenge trades happen? How much does Michael believe in Wander Franco? Does Dave really want to sign up for the Robbie Ray Rollercoaster? Does Max want to keep Carlos Correa just to spite everyone after last year’s trade fiascos.