12 team keeper league - keep 7 players (1st 7 picks - can keep forever)

Trade proposal is as follows:

Kris Bryant and Noah Syndergaard

for

Mookie Betts, Nick Castellanos, Dallas Kuechel

Which group would you rather have?

Lots of variables (positional eligibility, other team members, scoring system, etc) not provided, but on the surface I'd say Bryant and Syndergaard.

Bryant has 3B and OF, Betts is OF, Castellanos is 3B. Kuechel and Syndergaard are SP.

Scoring is weekly head to head by category. There are 5 hitting (R, HR, RBI, AVG, SB) and 5 pitching (W, SV, K, ERA, WHIP). So you can anywhere from 10-0 or 0-10 each week.

Betts would replace Yasmany Tomas in the starting lineup and Jung Ho Kang would come in for Castellanos if the trade was completed.

Is Syndergaard's elbow ok? That would scare me.

Posted by bad_luck on 6/23/2016 11:39:00 AM (view original):
Is Syndergaard's elbow ok? That would scare me.

Seems to be. No structural damage, no surgery or anything. May miss a start, but seems to be it. This is the 2nd time this year it has flared up on him. Keuchel has been so bad this year though which makes it a close trade.

Posted by bad_luck on 6/23/2016 11:39:00 AM (view original):
Is Syndergaard's elbow ok? That would scare me.

Wouldn't bother me. Most guys come back strong from Tommy John surgery pretty well these days anyway. Sometimes it takes about 3 years for them to get effective again. But most guys who were aces before they went under the knife remain pretty good pitchers after surgery. Not 100%, but enough. There's such a huge talent gap in this trade. I don't see how it's even a question.

First of all, I don't trust Castellanos' breakout. He's gotten worse every month. I'm frankly not convinced that he's even a keeper in a 7-keeper league unless your league has like 20 teams. Keuchel is also pitching horribly this season. That puts him at 1 decent season in his career, one really good season last year, one very bad season, and now two halves of awful seasons. I also wouldn't feel confident that's he's a long-term keeper. So really, the meat of that side of the deal is Betts, who is very good and probably a keeper for at least the next 10 seasons.

On the other hand, I can't see many circumstances in which both Syndergaard and Bryant aren't likely to be keepers for that long.

I missed the keeper part. If it's unlimited keepers I'd much rather have Bryant and Syndergaard.

I have Bryant and Syndergaard. Most of my other keeper level players are very young guys (some are even in the minors) or injured (like Schwarber who I may not keep as a result), so while I was figuring Castellanos wasn't a keeper, he may work out as one for my team. The other 4 guys are clearly keepers.

Betts has been the best player in this trade this season, but obviously Bryant is very good. So the real questions are, is Keuchel in a slump or is this more his norm (his last start was pretty good) and just how much a concern is Syndergaard's elbow?

I was leaning towards rejecting the trade, but I could have seen it either way. I think you guys have convinced me to just keep Bryant and Syndergaard.