I don't know if reading these is helpful for anyone or just cathartic for me but either way, I will write some.
So unlike PONY, my investment wasn't as one-sided going into the auction so when I went to make a budget plan I had to have make probably 5 sketches. The main two variations hinged on do I get a top 15 hitter or do i get one of the two top closers. So basically it was do I get a $40 hitter or a $30 closer or do I get both?
12TO has a long history, I think this is our 19th year and hitting inflation is always high and Max was the lone elite ace out there so we all knew that would be high too. I knew I couldn't get one of the top 5 hitters or Max but I was hoping to get Votto, Rizzo, E Diaz, or Jansen. Scherzer, Yelich, Goldy, Machado, Blackmon, Baez and Marte were locks to go too high. Cain, Cano, Segura, and Turner were probably the next group. Then Cutch, Pollock, Myers, Donaldson and maybe Inciarte for speed.
So those were some of the top names out there. Let's get to what I had going in and really nail down what I saw as my budget.
5x5 NL Only 12 teams keep 10 majors and we have deep farms. 1 C 2 UT
C Yadi Molina $10
2b Albies $5
SS Story $15
OF Harper $25
OF Ozuna $29
P J Flaherty $4
P Greinkie $25
P S Lugo $1
P Mikolas $7
P A Vizcaino $3
So I had spent 124 going in and had 136 to build a team. I have a good balance of speed and power on offense going in and I have a nice pitching base. I didn't have any specific targets except if I didn't get a closer I would move money around and get AJ Minter and accept that I have 1 closer most likely (Don't screw me Kimbrel).
Hitting budget
40
20
10
10
5
4
3
2
1
Pitching budget
25
10
5
1
So I am looking for one good bat, and maybe an elite closer and an ok SP or a solid SP and minter. Basically, I had $40 to buy 3 pitchers of some kind and I wanted some saves and a starting pitcher I don't hate. One thing I haven't mentioned is I have Touki T on my farm so I will be adding him on day one so I really am going in with 4 SP's Lugo and Viz.
I watched the big money go initially. With long term keeper leagues you have all sorts of roster construction going into these. Teams with all cheap guys, teams with some at value studs, teams that have almost no money and teams that have over $200. So the money pours out early. I don't have the toss order now but in the first 2 -3 rounds these are the big names
Scherzer $64
Yelich $56
Goldy $59
Machado $56
Baez $50
Marte $47
Rizzo $46
I didn't get close to buying any of those players. So there wasn't a lot of strategy there for me. I finally got in on Votto just like I did in PONY. The bidding started to slow down in the mid $30's and I do like him to bounce back. I went to my high bid of $39 for him and got him. Is it an awesome use of money? I don't know to be honest but it helps my BA and his lineup really should be good this year so hopefully he sees more pitches to hit.
The next interesting part of the auction for me was the closers. I had Daez and Jansen valued at $35 and 31 respectively, but I knew I wasn't going to pay $35. I also knew $25 was a pipe dream so in my head I said I'll pay $30 and make the money work. I was never close to get Diaz but came real close on Jansen. I had the $30 bid, but someone came in late and went $31. I just didn't want to move money around all over the place and figured in a keeper league 1/3 of the league will dump at some point and I can trade assets for saves or if Kimbrel signs we will have a chance at FAAB.
A bit of a lull for me here, but I'll give you some more prices on the top available guys...
Lo Cain $33 (I think i tried to get this for $30)
J Turner $38
Kershaw $32 ( I bid into the low 20's but didn't like the risk for my teams setup this year)
Pollock $34 (hoped he'd stay in the low 20's)
J Segura $49 (that isn't a typo just wound up with two guys with money at that point and he was the last big name there)
Cano $32
J Donaldson $36
Moustakas $31
W Myers $33
Stras $34
Cutch $30
I think that covers all the $30 plus players. I know I held money for a while, pretty sure the next guy I got in on was Iglesias and Robertson. I bid Iglesias up to 23, but someone bid 24 and I just wasn't sure I wanted to blow my money on a closer who might not get all the saves. Robertson I only bid into the high teens. He has great stuff, but Kimbrel and he hasn't done it for long periods of time let me back off. So now my $20ish pitcher will be a starter. Rich Hill came out and the bidding slowed in the high teens. I got in as I like him a lot and while I know I won't be getting 180 innings I will get very good innings when I do and I'll replace him when they rest him. So Hill fits in for $20. I sat again for a while until it was getting to the point where you had to push your money in and get someone. Some more buys that happened again more the 20's glob not in a specific order
Dozier $28 ( i was in to 26 i think)
Inciarte $28 (same in on it till 25 or 26)
Desmond $26
Braun $26
E Escobar $25
Maeda $25
Darvish $25
Robbie Ray $25
Hendricks $24
Mad Bum $24
Archer $24
A Eaton $23
Quintana $21
So I was in on the first 3 because I needed some speed at this point with this last big hitter buy. When I missed on all 3 Ceasar Hernandez was the next guy up on my list. While his batting order position is unclear I had to get my money in and it cost me $26. If I look at it now and you told me the bidding for Inciarte would stop at 28 I would go back and bid 28 there and move money around. I don't love Desmond this year and he would have knocked my BA down a lot so I think I prefer ceasar for my team at this point.
So I think the next guy out is AJ Minter. Since I saved $5 on my top pitching line, but I was $6 over on my 2nd hitter I was at about a push at this point. In my head I was like I'll get him for $10 no problem I'm the guy with the other closer in ATL who wants the dinged up guy on the bad side of committee. Well I would be wrong lol. Andrew Miller had gone for $14 earlier so I should have known something was in the water. I got bid up over $10 and probably had the toughest plus one call of the night when they had $12 and I was the only one bidding. I decided I'd go $13 and justify it as $16 for the Braves closer isn't bad (don't screw me there Kimbrel). So overall I was under $1 on Votto, over $6 on ceasar, under $5 on hill and over $3 on Minter which makes me over $3 total.
At this point I don't dislike anything I did, I am buying stats. I think the biggest gamble I took was after all the 3b's I wanted were gone.
Lamb $17
Longo $11 ( i probably should have bid 12 here)
Franco $14
So Kang came up and I let some local reporting bias kick in. He has been awesome with the glove so far and everyone can see the power regardless of being local. So I got run up and bid $11 and got him. If there was really one thing I'd do I'd switch him and Longo because I am playing for this year and Longo is so much safer. Kang could be awesome, but the Pirates are annoying and who knows who they play.
So with that out of the way here are a few things I did that I liked.
Markakis for $12 - with some of the prices on other regulars I needed to finally get a 3rd OF'er and this guy is solid.
A Barnes for $2 - yes we are one catcher but we have 2 UT and you do often wind up with a C there and I like Barnes to at least help some
S Castro $6 - I really like this he isn't old, he will hit in a good spot in the lineup and will just be solid. Perfect NL Only type
D Freese $1 - Will be in the bad side of the platoon but will help my BA and the Dodgers like to use everyone
N Kingham $2 - He is out of options and the pirates will keep him around. He might be long relief but when one of the guys gets hurt he could get his shot. I like taking upside here.
J Ross $2 - Won't start up but I'll replace him with Touki and if he gets the call he could help.
Yuck
B Gamel $1 - OF got ugly on me and I couldn't top anyone
P Ervin $1 - Did I mention of got ugly?
RSVS
C Ferguson $1 - Should start in the Dodgers pen and could be Lugo like this year
J Vargas $1 - He has a job it is an NL Only, whatever
R Erlin - $1 he is on an improving team and should still pitch, what the heck
R Martin $1 - wow I forgot how bad it gets in NL Only rsvs when farm guys are owned. I panicked and just took him.
M Pina $1 - yeah ran out of queue guys and couldn't find anyone. Seriously when all the farm guys are owned it is hard to find guys with jobs at this point
Using projections and targets I hit what I wanted in 4/5 on offense. I came up 20 SB's short.
Pitching wise I came up 5 W's short and 59 K's short which means I am close in my mind and managing Touki/Ross/Kingham when they are really starting could help get those two. I am short in saves and if I want top 1/2 I'll probably need to trade for one. Here's
C Yadi $10
1B Votto $39
2b Albies $5
ss Story $15
3b Kang $11
CI Freese $1
MI C Hernandez $26
OF Harper $25
OF Ozuna $29
OF Markakis $12
OF Gamel $1
OF P ervin $1
UT S Castro $6
UT A Barnes $2
P Greinke $25
P Hill $20
P Flaherty $4
P Mikolas $7
P Lugo $1
P Kingham $2
P Ross $2 / Touki farm
P Viz $3
P Minter $13
RSV
Erlin $1
C Ferguson $1
J Vargas $1
R Martin $1
M Pina $1
I hope that helps anyone who still has an NL Only auction and as always I enjoy getting feedback even if you hate it. Thanks.
So unlike PONY, my investment wasn't as one-sided going into the auction so when I went to make a budget plan I had to have make probably 5 sketches. The main two variations hinged on do I get a top 15 hitter or do i get one of the two top closers. So basically it was do I get a $40 hitter or a $30 closer or do I get both?
12TO has a long history, I think this is our 19th year and hitting inflation is always high and Max was the lone elite ace out there so we all knew that would be high too. I knew I couldn't get one of the top 5 hitters or Max but I was hoping to get Votto, Rizzo, E Diaz, or Jansen. Scherzer, Yelich, Goldy, Machado, Blackmon, Baez and Marte were locks to go too high. Cain, Cano, Segura, and Turner were probably the next group. Then Cutch, Pollock, Myers, Donaldson and maybe Inciarte for speed.
So those were some of the top names out there. Let's get to what I had going in and really nail down what I saw as my budget.
5x5 NL Only 12 teams keep 10 majors and we have deep farms. 1 C 2 UT
C Yadi Molina $10
2b Albies $5
SS Story $15
OF Harper $25
OF Ozuna $29
P J Flaherty $4
P Greinkie $25
P S Lugo $1
P Mikolas $7
P A Vizcaino $3
So I had spent 124 going in and had 136 to build a team. I have a good balance of speed and power on offense going in and I have a nice pitching base. I didn't have any specific targets except if I didn't get a closer I would move money around and get AJ Minter and accept that I have 1 closer most likely (Don't screw me Kimbrel).
Hitting budget
40
20
10
10
5
4
3
2
1
Pitching budget
25
10
5
1
So I am looking for one good bat, and maybe an elite closer and an ok SP or a solid SP and minter. Basically, I had $40 to buy 3 pitchers of some kind and I wanted some saves and a starting pitcher I don't hate. One thing I haven't mentioned is I have Touki T on my farm so I will be adding him on day one so I really am going in with 4 SP's Lugo and Viz.
I watched the big money go initially. With long term keeper leagues you have all sorts of roster construction going into these. Teams with all cheap guys, teams with some at value studs, teams that have almost no money and teams that have over $200. So the money pours out early. I don't have the toss order now but in the first 2 -3 rounds these are the big names
Scherzer $64
Yelich $56
Goldy $59
Machado $56
Baez $50
Marte $47
Rizzo $46
I didn't get close to buying any of those players. So there wasn't a lot of strategy there for me. I finally got in on Votto just like I did in PONY. The bidding started to slow down in the mid $30's and I do like him to bounce back. I went to my high bid of $39 for him and got him. Is it an awesome use of money? I don't know to be honest but it helps my BA and his lineup really should be good this year so hopefully he sees more pitches to hit.
The next interesting part of the auction for me was the closers. I had Daez and Jansen valued at $35 and 31 respectively, but I knew I wasn't going to pay $35. I also knew $25 was a pipe dream so in my head I said I'll pay $30 and make the money work. I was never close to get Diaz but came real close on Jansen. I had the $30 bid, but someone came in late and went $31. I just didn't want to move money around all over the place and figured in a keeper league 1/3 of the league will dump at some point and I can trade assets for saves or if Kimbrel signs we will have a chance at FAAB.
A bit of a lull for me here, but I'll give you some more prices on the top available guys...
Lo Cain $33 (I think i tried to get this for $30)
J Turner $38
Kershaw $32 ( I bid into the low 20's but didn't like the risk for my teams setup this year)
Pollock $34 (hoped he'd stay in the low 20's)
J Segura $49 (that isn't a typo just wound up with two guys with money at that point and he was the last big name there)
Cano $32
J Donaldson $36
Moustakas $31
W Myers $33
Stras $34
Cutch $30
I think that covers all the $30 plus players. I know I held money for a while, pretty sure the next guy I got in on was Iglesias and Robertson. I bid Iglesias up to 23, but someone bid 24 and I just wasn't sure I wanted to blow my money on a closer who might not get all the saves. Robertson I only bid into the high teens. He has great stuff, but Kimbrel and he hasn't done it for long periods of time let me back off. So now my $20ish pitcher will be a starter. Rich Hill came out and the bidding slowed in the high teens. I got in as I like him a lot and while I know I won't be getting 180 innings I will get very good innings when I do and I'll replace him when they rest him. So Hill fits in for $20. I sat again for a while until it was getting to the point where you had to push your money in and get someone. Some more buys that happened again more the 20's glob not in a specific order
Dozier $28 ( i was in to 26 i think)
Inciarte $28 (same in on it till 25 or 26)
Desmond $26
Braun $26
E Escobar $25
Maeda $25
Darvish $25
Robbie Ray $25
Hendricks $24
Mad Bum $24
Archer $24
A Eaton $23
Quintana $21
So I was in on the first 3 because I needed some speed at this point with this last big hitter buy. When I missed on all 3 Ceasar Hernandez was the next guy up on my list. While his batting order position is unclear I had to get my money in and it cost me $26. If I look at it now and you told me the bidding for Inciarte would stop at 28 I would go back and bid 28 there and move money around. I don't love Desmond this year and he would have knocked my BA down a lot so I think I prefer ceasar for my team at this point.
So I think the next guy out is AJ Minter. Since I saved $5 on my top pitching line, but I was $6 over on my 2nd hitter I was at about a push at this point. In my head I was like I'll get him for $10 no problem I'm the guy with the other closer in ATL who wants the dinged up guy on the bad side of committee. Well I would be wrong lol. Andrew Miller had gone for $14 earlier so I should have known something was in the water. I got bid up over $10 and probably had the toughest plus one call of the night when they had $12 and I was the only one bidding. I decided I'd go $13 and justify it as $16 for the Braves closer isn't bad (don't screw me there Kimbrel). So overall I was under $1 on Votto, over $6 on ceasar, under $5 on hill and over $3 on Minter which makes me over $3 total.
At this point I don't dislike anything I did, I am buying stats. I think the biggest gamble I took was after all the 3b's I wanted were gone.
Lamb $17
Longo $11 ( i probably should have bid 12 here)
Franco $14
So Kang came up and I let some local reporting bias kick in. He has been awesome with the glove so far and everyone can see the power regardless of being local. So I got run up and bid $11 and got him. If there was really one thing I'd do I'd switch him and Longo because I am playing for this year and Longo is so much safer. Kang could be awesome, but the Pirates are annoying and who knows who they play.
So with that out of the way here are a few things I did that I liked.
Markakis for $12 - with some of the prices on other regulars I needed to finally get a 3rd OF'er and this guy is solid.
A Barnes for $2 - yes we are one catcher but we have 2 UT and you do often wind up with a C there and I like Barnes to at least help some
S Castro $6 - I really like this he isn't old, he will hit in a good spot in the lineup and will just be solid. Perfect NL Only type
D Freese $1 - Will be in the bad side of the platoon but will help my BA and the Dodgers like to use everyone
N Kingham $2 - He is out of options and the pirates will keep him around. He might be long relief but when one of the guys gets hurt he could get his shot. I like taking upside here.
J Ross $2 - Won't start up but I'll replace him with Touki and if he gets the call he could help.
Yuck
B Gamel $1 - OF got ugly on me and I couldn't top anyone
P Ervin $1 - Did I mention of got ugly?
RSVS
C Ferguson $1 - Should start in the Dodgers pen and could be Lugo like this year
J Vargas $1 - He has a job it is an NL Only, whatever
R Erlin - $1 he is on an improving team and should still pitch, what the heck
R Martin $1 - wow I forgot how bad it gets in NL Only rsvs when farm guys are owned. I panicked and just took him.
M Pina $1 - yeah ran out of queue guys and couldn't find anyone. Seriously when all the farm guys are owned it is hard to find guys with jobs at this point
Using projections and targets I hit what I wanted in 4/5 on offense. I came up 20 SB's short.
Pitching wise I came up 5 W's short and 59 K's short which means I am close in my mind and managing Touki/Ross/Kingham when they are really starting could help get those two. I am short in saves and if I want top 1/2 I'll probably need to trade for one. Here's
C Yadi $10
1B Votto $39
2b Albies $5
ss Story $15
3b Kang $11
CI Freese $1
MI C Hernandez $26
OF Harper $25
OF Ozuna $29
OF Markakis $12
OF Gamel $1
OF P ervin $1
UT S Castro $6
UT A Barnes $2
P Greinke $25
P Hill $20
P Flaherty $4
P Mikolas $7
P Lugo $1
P Kingham $2
P Ross $2 / Touki farm
P Viz $3
P Minter $13
RSV
Erlin $1
C Ferguson $1
J Vargas $1
R Martin $1
M Pina $1
I hope that helps anyone who still has an NL Only auction and as always I enjoy getting feedback even if you hate it. Thanks.
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