Who To Keep?

[SomeDude]

I'm new to fantasy baseball, and taking over a spot in a league. 10 teams, here are the categories:

Batters: Runs (R), Home Runs (HR), Runs Batted In (RBI), Stolen Bases (SB), Walks (BB), Strikeouts (K), Assists (A), Errors (E), Batting Average (AVG), On-base + Slugging Percentage (OPS)

Pitchers: Wins (W), Losses (L), Complete Games (CG), Saves (SV), Walks (BB), Strikeouts (K), Earned Run Average (ERA), Blown Saves (BSV)

I can keep 3 players, and here's the roster

AJ Pierzynski C
Adrian Gonzalez 1B, OF
Paul Konerko 1B
Allen Craig 1B, OF
Hanley Ramirez 3B, SS
Todd Frazier 1B, 3B, OF
Jose Bautista OF
Jason Heyward OF
Adam Jones OF
Nelson Cruz OF
Torii Hunter OF
Starling Marte OF
Angel Pagan OF
Justin Verlander SP
Cole Hamels SP
Matt Moore SP
Brandon Morrow SP
Hiroki Kuroda SP
Shawn Marcum SP
Huston Street RP
Ryan Cook RP
Santiago Casilla RP

Obviously, Verlander is a slam dunk. For the other 2, I'm guessing 2 of Bautista, Heyward, and Jones, but not sure as I'm new to this.

Also, we can only keep players for 2 years, and Verlander and Bautista were kept last year, so this will be the last year I can keep them. Any advice for guys to target in the draft with that in mind?

[gfhyde]

I personally like Verlander, Heyward and....ehhhh Hanley Ramirez? I know he'll be out for a while. That's the tough part. So I guess you could go Bautista.

Sucks having to drop Hamels :|

Can you make trades? If you can only keep Bautista for this year would you be able to deal him + another guy for an upgrade??

[dmvincent]

Hanley is tempting, but ultimately I would go with Heyward and Bautista along with Verlander.

[SomeDude]

I personally like Verlander, Heyward and....ehhhh Hanley Ramirez? I know he'll be out for a while. That's the tough part. So I guess you could go Bautista.

Sucks having to drop Hamels :|

Can you make trades? If you can only keep Bautista for this year would you be able to deal him + another guy for an upgrade??

Yea, once the draft is over we're free to trade. If you trade a keeper player, they gain an extra year of keeper eligibility, IE if I keep Bautista and trade him, the new owner can keep him next year. No player can be kept for more than 3 consecutive years, though.

I still need to do a lot of homework since I haven't watched much baseball outside of the hometown Pirates (lol)

What positions should I target early? It seems that OF and 1B are deep and positions like C and 3B are pretty thin on top end talent?

[spitball]

actually 2B is thin this season. kind of falls off a cliff after walker. draft two top end 2B and you will have a clear edge over the rest of your league.

you can't go wrong after verlander with those many great options. keep the two players you like most, as in most enjoy watching play.

[djkiang]

Agree, Keep Heyward, Bautista, Verlander.