MLS Fantasy Advice: Ranking your top options at the surprisingly crucial goalkeeper spot

Two midweek games. Two penalty saves. Two clean sheets. Two rare double-digit fantasy scores from the goalkeeper position.

Halfway through this marquee Round 10 DGW, San Jose’s David Bingham and Real Salt Lake’s Nick Rimando put massive smiles on their manager’s faces with standout performances, recording 14 and 12 points respectively. Even Jaime Penedo, lining up for the LA Galaxy in their scoreless draw against Rimando’s RSL, notched a 10-spot – his second double-digit total of the season.

Fantasy goalkeepers are sometimes considered interchangeable, but as this week’s early results show they can really color your fortunes as a fantasy manager.

Goalkeepers perennially rank as the most valuable members in the fantasy realm as measured by ROI – 10 of the top 12 players in the Value (season) metric are between the posts, led by David Ousted’s 9.8.

Having a reliable netminder is a great way to pick up easy, stress-free points.

Figure 1: The current Value (season) standings

But how do you choose the best goalkeeper? My belief is that there are two things that make a ‘keeper successful: a stable back line and a weak slate of opponents. A run of DGWs never hurts, as goalkeepers rarely take a game off for reasons other than discipline and injury.

As of this moment, here are my thoughts on the best goalkeepers in MLS Fantasy:

Bill Hamid
: So much to like here. Monstrous reach and presence, a stable back line ahead of him, and three DGWs in the next four rounds. In my humble opinion, Bill Hamid is the No. 1 player to prioritize in the next transfer window at any position.

David Bingham
: The bargain of the bunch, Bingham’s listed at only $5.1 pending the outcome of this weekend’s matches. San Jose’s done a good job of trotting out a stable back four with Clarence Goodson, Marvelle Wynne, and Victor Bernardez. If you like having two starting goalkeepers, Bingham might be a great No. 2.