2009 CPL Keeper Selections

At last! We have the first semblance of our 2009 rosters, and thank goodness there is plenty of stuff for Blog to pick on. Let's break it down team by team:

Snot on the Ball: Utley, Wright, Reyes, Hamilton (to be Holliday), Lincecum. No complaints here. 5 top notch performers at their position, but most are putting Hamilton ahead of Holliday for OF. Snot hopes Holliday gets traded to a bandbox like Philly. Regs hopes Holliday signs an 8 year extension to hit in Oakland.

Legends: A-Fraud, Manny, Rollins, Bay, Ramirez... oh wait... they didn't keep Bay and Ramirez? They kept 2 pitchers? Beckett and Haren? oh... ok... um... sure... Legends is now really REALLY hoping A-Roid's back in May, and not out until the all-star break.

Regulators: Kinsler, Holliday (to be Hamilton), Soriano, Teixeira, Upton, Crawford. I like it. I better too, since I don't get to pick until the 4th round.

Ryan Howitzers: Howard, Cabrera, Uggla, Victorino, Hamels. Let's go Phillies!! Let's go Phillies! 2 locks, 3 reaches. Too bad one of these keeper slots couldn't have been moved for a first or 2nd round pick. Would Uggla or Victorino been avaiable in the 2nd or 3rd round? Quite possibly...

Papi's Space Cadets: Youk, Longoria, Ordonez, Markakis, Halladay. Blog agrees with this set, leaving Ortiz and Vlad to the draft. Of course, as Snot referenced, this group necessitates a name change: preferably something shorter.

Total Recallers: Prince, Pedroia, Hunter, Webb, Lee: Going into Sunday, Cliff Lee's Spring Training ERA was 18.90. Is Torii Hunter a keeper level player? Maybe... I guess... but is he more valuable than Nate McLouth? Blog says nope.

Bounty Hunters: Ichiro, Atkins, Peavy, Volquez, Papelbon. Look at all this power! Ouch. Here's hoping Peavy doesn't get bored playing for the worst offense this decade and shut it down by June.

Jobu's Hats for Bats: Pujols, Braun, Beltran, Roberts, Kemp, Sabathia (to be Kazmir). Very solid group. Power, speed, average... Blog thinks that Kazmir may be a touch over-valued here, but would Kazmir have been around in the 5th round? Unlikely...

Swine Nine: Hanley, Sizemore, Phillips, Lee, Santana. Does this look better than: Wright, Reyes, Phillips, Sizemore, Santana? I don't think so, but Swiney does. It's still an elite group that covers the MI nicely.

Bobz Boyz: Berkman, Quentin, Kazmir (to be Sabathia). CC and Berkman are automatics, and if Quentin can duplicate 2008 without any bone-breaking temper tantrums, than this is a nice trio... but it certainly is not Wright, Beltran, Phillips-esque... Lets hope (or not depending on your point of view) BB learned from that rough rookie campaign.