The 2016 BBL Keepers are set and the ratings are in.  The teams are rated on “net profit” which means the difference between the published “value” of a player against the actual dollar amount of the kept player.  The value is determined by the super-secret Quibbler rating formula.  There are also a few comments about the keepers under each team’s name.

14. Cocky Spainards – +1

Goldschmidt $49
Wong $18
Harper $36
Will Smith $2

The team with the lowest “net profit” score shows the shaky nature of evaluations based on “value”.  The only thing that really matters are counting stats.  The “value” of a player goes away the moment the gavel falls and the player is on your roster. That being said, tying up so much money in keepers removes flexibility on auction day.

The Spainards kept arguably the top two position players in the known BBL pool in Goldschmidt and Harper.  The counting stats from those two young studs will lay the foundation for another run at another a title for the elder statesman of the BBL.   Wong was a curious choice at $18 with Joe Ross at $3 on the roster.

13. Earl’s Squirrels – +4

Greinke $21
Liriano $3
Shelby Miller $3
Stephen Strasburg (topper)

Francisco Liriano at $3 is nails.  Many experts do not predict a repeat performance by Greinke with his move to Arizona, but if he is anywhere close that $21 expense should still return a nice profit.  Shelby Miller should be good for 170 K with 200 IP and he is just 25 years old and at $3 is a decent value.  Not sure he has Greinke “stuff” to survive Arizona, but we will see.  Injury risk is going to depress Strasburg’s price more than likely.  If you believe in contract year surgers, then that is a  nice play to top him.

12. LW – +12

Jason Heyward $28
Hunter Strickland $4
Joe Ross $3
Jeffress $1

The newest member of the league made a nice showing in his supplemental draft.  Jeffress at $1 was probably the #1 rated player for value on the board.  Joe Ross at $3 should return a really nice value.  We think Strickland could have been had on auction day for less than $4.  Jason Heyward seems to be more valuable as a real player than a fantasy player.  Will he ever live up to his fantasy hype?  We think not. Players the Quibbler would have taken in LW’s spot:  Jeffress $1, Joe Ross $3, Crawford $10, and Sale $25.

11. Streak – +13

Joey Votto $39
Kang $3
Granderson $13
Sano – Topper

Let’s get one thing straight.  Joey Votto will not swing the bat unless he wants to swing the bat.  Watching this dude bat is like watching paint dry. Man on second that you need to move over?  Votto is not your guy.  2015 was an amazing year for Votto and if he repeats or gets close, $39 has some serious value. Is it just us or does Granderson get better as he gets older? A very underrated player.  Nice value. The real question is whether or not Streak is going to top a bid of $35 on Sano……?

10. Champ – $14

Arenado $34
Blackmon $16
Arrieta $17
Cole $18

Wow.  Not only did the Champ hoist the BBL Trophy in 2015, he has a great core keeper list.  This is personally our favorite keeper list for BBL 2016 and is a great collection of young talent in key areas. The only potential negative comment is that we would have kept Sale over Cole.

9. HooDoo Cats – +22

Cory Seager $1
Justin Upton $35
Carlos Martinez $6
Arodys Vizcaino $1

Cory Seager is getting a ton of hype and apparently for good reason, especially at the shortstop position.  It will be interesting how he rates against the great rookie class of SS this year in Crawford, Arcia, Swanson, Addison Russell and Lindor?  Many believe he is the cream of the crop at least from a fantasy perspective. Martinez is a great breakout candidate. Vizcaino will eventually get saves, but we think only in the second half because the Braves will want to showcase Grille for trade bait.  Upton at $35 (after his move to a dangerous Tiger’s lineup) should be a great base for offensive counting stats.

8. Al’s Pals – +24

Adam Eaton $10
Michael Taylor $3
Jose Fernandez $12
Jose Quintana $3

Huge fan of Quintana at $3 and Fernandez at $12, although Fernandez could be boom or bust with his recent injury record.  Adam Eaton just doesn’t do it for us, although he is projected for about 10/50/15/.344…he just seems like a boring white guy that should steal tons of bases but doesn’t.  We guess most people forget that Taylor hit 14 HR and had 16 SB and is just 25? Of course he has the worst swinging strike rate of any player in baseball.  Ouch.  Not to mention this is a really crowded outfield and Dusty Baker hates young guys. Al’s pals are praying to Jinx for injuries to the National’s outfield.

7.  Sundance Kids – +24

Wellington Castillo $1
Nick Hundley $3
Adonis Garcia $1
Domingo Santana $1

Santana might actually hit 30 HR’s.  He is very similar to many young mashing players in that he has 3 true outcomes:  HR, K or Walk.  For fantasy purposes, 2 of those 3 outcomes count. Not a fan of Adonis Garcia, but not sure who else we would have kept from the roster…maybe Justin Turner $10? Locking up two catchers for $5 works all day long. Overall, solid keeper list.

6. Meat – +32

A.J. Ramos $1
Ervin Santana $1
D.J. LeMahieu $4

Well…all of the value here is with A.J. Ramos.  With the injury to Capps, it looks like the closer job is Ramos for sure.  We think LeMahieu is a nice solid steals contributor and he plays at Coor’s Field.  Although he will regress more than likely, he should return 20-25 steals if he hits enough to keep the job. We would have kept Papelbon at $17 and Grandal at $16.

5. Nitros – +33

Hector Olivera $1
Yasmany Tomas $3
David Peralta $2
Raisel Iglesias $4

#NitrosSoCuban.  This fascination with Cuban’s might be the Nitro’s downfall.  Tomas might not even be a starter for the Diamondacks. Ethier seems a better selection at $1.  Iglesias has tons of hype, but can he actually breakout the way his underlying skill suggest?

4. Darcy Jay’s Crew – +45

Addison Russell $1
Maikel Franco $1
Odubel Herrera $1
Byron Buxton $1

Franco has elite contact skills, which is rather rare in light of the prototypical prospect in today’s game.  In fact, his combination of contact and power is similar to Pujols and Rizzo…and that is rare company indeed.  Addison Russell came up at 21 years old and hit 13 bombs. Really? That is freaking amazing. We are not sure he is going to be the next big thing, but anytime a 21-year-old can come up and hold his own with the bat…that makes for a nice keeper. Herrera is a Rule 5 pickup that the Phillys will keep trotting into the outfield. We would have probably kept one of the established outfielders on the roster over Herrera. How do you not keep Buxton? He is annually (it seems) the #1 prospect in baseball. He has all the tools, but will he be Corey Patterson or Starling Marte?

3. Peep Rub – +46

Kyle Schwarber $6
Joe Panik $1
Matt Duffy $4
Brad Ziegler $1

The values love the Peep keeper squad but the names do not just pop like the Crew keepers.  If you look under the hood, there is some really interesting talent here.  Panik has elite contact skills that produced .378 OBP in 2015.  Duffy hit 12 HR and stole 12 bases and seems to produce above average counting stats in all offensive categories, which is a very useful asset for a BBL team.  We are guessing that Capps would have been kept in place of Duffy, but Duffy is not a bad consolidation prize.  Ziegler is very valuable as long as he can keep the ball on the ground.  If not, he will get lit up very quickly. The Quibbler is still curious if there will be an investigation over the “late night” acquisition of Schwarber by the Spainards.  On a serious note, Schwarber is going to put up some serious power numbers and looks to play the OF.

2. BMO – +50

Danny Salazar $2
Noah Syndergaard $1
Wade Davis $12
J.J. Hoover $2

Thor! The combination of Wade Davis (arguably the most talented closer in the BBL pool) with the strikeout capabilities of Salazar and Syndergaard really sets up the BMO’s for nice pitching stats right out of the gate. Word of caution…it seems that every year we wait on Salazar to break out and he always lets us down. Hoover will probably not end the year as the closer for the Reds, but if he can rack up at least a hand-full of saves, he will be worth the $1.

1st Pastries – $53

Francisco Lindor $1
Randal Grichuk $1
Jeurys Familia $9
Kenley Jansen $19

Our very own Commissioner leads the race into auction day at least according to our valuations. Lindor is arguably the best shortstop in the BBL pool this year and in such a shallow position an amazing asset at $1.  Grichuk can mash and plays for probably the best development team in the MLB, the Cardinals. Add in an estimated almost 90 saves with elite ERA/WHIP stats…you have the making of a championship run. Congrats Pastries.

Picture by Keith Allison.