2010 Keepers: 1B

With your season officially in the rear-view mirror and the MLB playoffs to look forward to, there's only one thing left to discuss:

How did this year's fantasy season go so bad...

No. It doesn't do any good to wallow in the past. Time to look forward. 

Time to take an early look at next year, specifically those in keeper leagues.

Let's start at 1B and work our way around the diamond.

Definite Keepers (10 team, 6 keeper league):

Albert Pujols

Prince Fielder

Ryan Howard

Mark Teixeira

Miguel Cabrera

Adrian Gonzalez

Kevin Youkilis

Victor Martinez

Kendry Morales

Borderline

Derek Lee

Carlos Pena

Adam Dunn

Pablo Sandoval

Joey Votto

Michael Cuddyer

Only in deep leagues

Lance Berkman

Billy Butler

Jose Lopez

Commentary: Morales a keeper?  Really, the only difference between him and Cabrera this year was 20 batting average points. Sure, Morales has only one full year of a track record, but he's still relatively young (26) and hits in a top 5 lineup. He'll be gone by the third round next year. Derek Lee not a lock? You have to look at his past 3 years and even with 35 HR this season, he's only averaging 25 a season. Plus he just turned 34. Adam Dunn's .267 average is a bonus, but he probably won't repeat that, knocking him down a notch. Same with Carlos Pena (.227), who tied for the AL home run lead (39)  despite missing the final month. Both those guys drag your average down too much to be considered locks.  And what happened to Lance Berkman? He'll be 34 this offseason and not only does the HRs trend downward, but he quit running (7 SB compared to 18 in 2008). This position will be way too deep in '10. Billy Butler, the man who hits everything, is showing real signs of life, but I'd like to see him take just one more step. And Mark Reynolds? Well, he won't qualify at 1B, or else the answer would be without hesitation, yes.

Thoughts?