12 team AL Only Auction. We have been a keeper league for about 17 years? This was day 2 of a 3 day auction marathon for a few of us. Today we do RJEL around noon est. Anyway, we have been standard 5x5 but this year moved to holds plus saves instead of straight saves. We are also using 2 catchers this year, but will move to 1 catcher in 2020. Let's see how that goes.
So let's get my keepers out of the way first. I am all in on win now with this crew. It is my last year with Mike Trout and while I have found my way into the money a few times I have not won a title. I am wasting away all the good years of Mike Trout, god I'm the Angels of fantasy baseball. Ok here is what I have..
C Gary Sanchez $10
2B Y Moncada $5
3B R Devers $5
OF Trout $25
OF Betts $20
OF G Springer $15
P T Glasnow $14
P C McHugh $6
P K Gibson $3
P C Green $2
I also choose to take a penalty on a $10 guaranteed contract on Greg Bird (not my best trade last year). So I lost $5 to throw him back. So with the penalty I had spent $110 dollars and had $150 for my normal roster but we also buy our rsvs so I had $155 total. Obviously I was in a really good spot with my offense and just needed to buy some counting stats. I was almost at my target for steals with just my keepers. Pitching, was where things would get interesting. There were 3 clear aces that were available at the auction and then a huge cliff. Since I had all that savings in hitting I was going to buy one of Verlander/Kluber/Carrasco. I also decided to not buy the closers because they would go for little more and I was going to chase the best K setup guys.
I wanted the most boring hitters in the world. Guys who are vets who have fairly predictable stats. So I knew I wasn't getting anyone elite and just looked at guys I calculated at $25 inflation value or lower. I took 4 years worth of standings and averaged out what it took to finish top 3 in every category and made that my target. With pitching that is harder for my auction software to get an accurate read because we are a daily moves league. We don't do faab daily, but after faab runs once a week you can move guys you have on your team in and out of your lineup daily. So pitching stats get boosted up from just your starting lineup since you can get a lot more starts or you can get relief pitchers in on days your starters aren't.
The Budget Plan
Hitting
20
15
10
9
6
5
4
1
Pitching
55
15
9
1
$5 for 5 rsvs
First player out was Altuve who went for $60. Next player out is Verlander. So I own Kluber in Pony and decided if I can diversify here and get Verlander I wanted to. I was willing to go to $55 the inflation calculator had him at $52. Rick (Big Tymers) and I were the last two bidding when he went to $52 I decided to stick to what I had planned and hit $53. He let me have him and I was now done with big buys for the day. I had the next toss and put Kluber right out there. Rick got Kluber for $52 so the market had been set. Not long after Carrasco went for $50, so overall I got my guy and at a price I was comfortable paying.
Now we just enter the time of the draft where I sit and watch. Pitchers weren't sneaking through near the $15 range I was hoping for. Porcello went for $32, Kikuchi for $24, E-Rod $29, and Osuna as the best closer type went for $21. I sat tight and watched that knowing I was going to pay full price for any pitcher I actually liked as a MR or my 5th SP.
On the hitting end of course prices were high. Some names that went early...
K Davis $50
Stanton $53
D Gordon $40
Castelanos $40
N Cruz $39
Jackie Bradley $37
EE $36
J Upton $36
J Abreu $36
D Santana $35
B Hamilton $34
E Andrus $33
J Schoop $32
Y Gurriel $31
C Santana $30 ( i hoped to get him for $25)
R Grichuk $30
Ok that covers all the hitters over $30. I wasn't in on any of them seriously. Some of those guys went a little under the inflation values I had (Stanton, Abreu, and Casty) and some went over (Hamilton, Gordon, Schoop). I knew going in I wouldn't be able to buy any of them and make my budget work so I had a whisky and watched the money go.
So in a holds leave I love Ryan Pressly. When I missed the closers I wanted I decided I want the awesome K's and ratios of Pressly and while my software had him worth $13 with holds plus saves I had said I'll go to $15 since I had a $15 slot in my budget. Well my league made me pay full price, but I got my guy Pressly for $15.
So who was my first big hitter buy you might be asking? DJ LeMahieu! Ok so it isn't very exciting, but I got him for $13 and I had him closer to 19 with inflation. He filled a role as I was missing out on all my SS targets (Semien $25, A Cabrera $27) so I figured I'll get a guy I like at MI and SS will be a mess later. DJ can help my BA more and let me chase crappy BA guys later. He also slot in as my $15 hitter and saved me some money to move my $10 slot up to $12.
So this was the sweet spot of the auction for me. Kipnis came out not long after DJ and while I was full at MI I had a UT and getting undervalued guys was my goal. I had Kipnis worth $17 and I got him for $10. Nothing exciting but again when he is healthy he plays and AB's are gold in an AL Only. He slots in at my $10 slot for now. Move $2 to the $9 guy for now.
Kole Calhoun is my next buy. Again super dull, but plays when healthy. Had him around $17 and got him for $14. For me it was just about making sure I got value from my hitters. At this point I decided let's make Calhoun my $20 and add $6 more to the $11 slot so I have $17 for one more real solid hitter.
My next buy is another boring vet, Yonder Alonso for $15. I had him worth $20 and I needed a 1B. So bump that $2 extra dollars down and divide it among the bottom hitters or add it to my $10 pitcher.
So I have mentioned how crazy pitching prices were. I wanted another starter to go with my current crew and Matt Boyd was someone that I have been on this spring. I wound up paying $14 for him. It was more than the $12 I had left for that slot, but I didn't love my other options after him.
At this point I like or at the very least feel comfortable with what I have done. I sat for a while after the Boyd buy and was trying to find a holds guy I wanted next. I had decided Devenski was the guy I liked the most. I had him worth $8 and a $5 slot. I knew I wasn't getting him for $5 and when I threw him out I had said I'll go $7. I got caught up in the moment and went to $9 and got him. He is on a team that will win a lot and he can throw a lot of innings so I don't hate it but it did mess with my budget as I had to move things around and was now really out of money.
So let's fly through the $2 and $1 guys I finished with. Got my 2nd catcher in Maldanado for $2. Then another possible holds guy in Chaz Roe for $2. Finally got my SS in Alcides Escobar for a $1. If he is the UT guy he will get some counting stats, yuck. Nicky Delmonico is my 5th OF for $1, if he is ok from this concussion maybe he has a role. Matt Davidson is a $1 CI hopefully he makes the team in TX.
I used all 5 rsv slots to take $1 pitchers and hope a few are useful or I'll be shopping in FAAB.
Brett Anderson $1
Nate Karns $1
Addison Reed $1
Jorge Lopez $1
Roeins Elias $1
Target wise I hit all my hitting targets but RBI I came up 9 short. Pitching wise I hit my ERA and WHIP target. I'm down 177 K's but again that doesn't let me count how I can stream in pitchers so I think I am closer, I also think my WHIP and ERA goes up some using the same logic but I am well under both so I think I'll be ok. Wins I am short by 20 but maybe that is more like 10 with my bench. SV+H I guessed and made the number 100 and I have 93 so I am close I guess.
Final Roster...
C Sanchez $10
C Maldanado $2
1B Alonso $15
2b Moncada $5
3B Devers $5
SS A Escobar $1
CI M Davidson $1
MI LeMahiue $13
OF Trout $25
OF Betts $20
OF Springer $15
OF Calhoun $14
OF Delmonico $1
UT Kipnis $10
P Verlander $53
P T Glasnow $14
P M Boyd $14
P C McHugh $6
P K Gibson $3
P R Pressly $15
P C Devenski $9
P C Green $2
P C Roe $2
RSV
Brett Anderson $1
Nate Karns $1
Addison Reed $1
Jorge Lopez $1
Roeins Elias $1
Overall I got my ace, I got boring hitters and filled most of my slots without too many holes. This was not a sexy auction but I came in with a good keeper list and just tried not to screw it up.
Thanks for reading another novel, hope these are fun for you guys.
So let's get my keepers out of the way first. I am all in on win now with this crew. It is my last year with Mike Trout and while I have found my way into the money a few times I have not won a title. I am wasting away all the good years of Mike Trout, god I'm the Angels of fantasy baseball. Ok here is what I have..
C Gary Sanchez $10
2B Y Moncada $5
3B R Devers $5
OF Trout $25
OF Betts $20
OF G Springer $15
P T Glasnow $14
P C McHugh $6
P K Gibson $3
P C Green $2
I also choose to take a penalty on a $10 guaranteed contract on Greg Bird (not my best trade last year). So I lost $5 to throw him back. So with the penalty I had spent $110 dollars and had $150 for my normal roster but we also buy our rsvs so I had $155 total. Obviously I was in a really good spot with my offense and just needed to buy some counting stats. I was almost at my target for steals with just my keepers. Pitching, was where things would get interesting. There were 3 clear aces that were available at the auction and then a huge cliff. Since I had all that savings in hitting I was going to buy one of Verlander/Kluber/Carrasco. I also decided to not buy the closers because they would go for little more and I was going to chase the best K setup guys.
I wanted the most boring hitters in the world. Guys who are vets who have fairly predictable stats. So I knew I wasn't getting anyone elite and just looked at guys I calculated at $25 inflation value or lower. I took 4 years worth of standings and averaged out what it took to finish top 3 in every category and made that my target. With pitching that is harder for my auction software to get an accurate read because we are a daily moves league. We don't do faab daily, but after faab runs once a week you can move guys you have on your team in and out of your lineup daily. So pitching stats get boosted up from just your starting lineup since you can get a lot more starts or you can get relief pitchers in on days your starters aren't.
The Budget Plan
Hitting
20
15
10
9
6
5
4
1
Pitching
55
15
9
1
$5 for 5 rsvs
First player out was Altuve who went for $60. Next player out is Verlander. So I own Kluber in Pony and decided if I can diversify here and get Verlander I wanted to. I was willing to go to $55 the inflation calculator had him at $52. Rick (Big Tymers) and I were the last two bidding when he went to $52 I decided to stick to what I had planned and hit $53. He let me have him and I was now done with big buys for the day. I had the next toss and put Kluber right out there. Rick got Kluber for $52 so the market had been set. Not long after Carrasco went for $50, so overall I got my guy and at a price I was comfortable paying.
Now we just enter the time of the draft where I sit and watch. Pitchers weren't sneaking through near the $15 range I was hoping for. Porcello went for $32, Kikuchi for $24, E-Rod $29, and Osuna as the best closer type went for $21. I sat tight and watched that knowing I was going to pay full price for any pitcher I actually liked as a MR or my 5th SP.
On the hitting end of course prices were high. Some names that went early...
K Davis $50
Stanton $53
D Gordon $40
Castelanos $40
N Cruz $39
Jackie Bradley $37
EE $36
J Upton $36
J Abreu $36
D Santana $35
B Hamilton $34
E Andrus $33
J Schoop $32
Y Gurriel $31
C Santana $30 ( i hoped to get him for $25)
R Grichuk $30
Ok that covers all the hitters over $30. I wasn't in on any of them seriously. Some of those guys went a little under the inflation values I had (Stanton, Abreu, and Casty) and some went over (Hamilton, Gordon, Schoop). I knew going in I wouldn't be able to buy any of them and make my budget work so I had a whisky and watched the money go.
So in a holds leave I love Ryan Pressly. When I missed the closers I wanted I decided I want the awesome K's and ratios of Pressly and while my software had him worth $13 with holds plus saves I had said I'll go to $15 since I had a $15 slot in my budget. Well my league made me pay full price, but I got my guy Pressly for $15.
So who was my first big hitter buy you might be asking? DJ LeMahieu! Ok so it isn't very exciting, but I got him for $13 and I had him closer to 19 with inflation. He filled a role as I was missing out on all my SS targets (Semien $25, A Cabrera $27) so I figured I'll get a guy I like at MI and SS will be a mess later. DJ can help my BA more and let me chase crappy BA guys later. He also slot in as my $15 hitter and saved me some money to move my $10 slot up to $12.
So this was the sweet spot of the auction for me. Kipnis came out not long after DJ and while I was full at MI I had a UT and getting undervalued guys was my goal. I had Kipnis worth $17 and I got him for $10. Nothing exciting but again when he is healthy he plays and AB's are gold in an AL Only. He slots in at my $10 slot for now. Move $2 to the $9 guy for now.
Kole Calhoun is my next buy. Again super dull, but plays when healthy. Had him around $17 and got him for $14. For me it was just about making sure I got value from my hitters. At this point I decided let's make Calhoun my $20 and add $6 more to the $11 slot so I have $17 for one more real solid hitter.
My next buy is another boring vet, Yonder Alonso for $15. I had him worth $20 and I needed a 1B. So bump that $2 extra dollars down and divide it among the bottom hitters or add it to my $10 pitcher.
So I have mentioned how crazy pitching prices were. I wanted another starter to go with my current crew and Matt Boyd was someone that I have been on this spring. I wound up paying $14 for him. It was more than the $12 I had left for that slot, but I didn't love my other options after him.
At this point I like or at the very least feel comfortable with what I have done. I sat for a while after the Boyd buy and was trying to find a holds guy I wanted next. I had decided Devenski was the guy I liked the most. I had him worth $8 and a $5 slot. I knew I wasn't getting him for $5 and when I threw him out I had said I'll go $7. I got caught up in the moment and went to $9 and got him. He is on a team that will win a lot and he can throw a lot of innings so I don't hate it but it did mess with my budget as I had to move things around and was now really out of money.
So let's fly through the $2 and $1 guys I finished with. Got my 2nd catcher in Maldanado for $2. Then another possible holds guy in Chaz Roe for $2. Finally got my SS in Alcides Escobar for a $1. If he is the UT guy he will get some counting stats, yuck. Nicky Delmonico is my 5th OF for $1, if he is ok from this concussion maybe he has a role. Matt Davidson is a $1 CI hopefully he makes the team in TX.
I used all 5 rsv slots to take $1 pitchers and hope a few are useful or I'll be shopping in FAAB.
Brett Anderson $1
Nate Karns $1
Addison Reed $1
Jorge Lopez $1
Roeins Elias $1
Target wise I hit all my hitting targets but RBI I came up 9 short. Pitching wise I hit my ERA and WHIP target. I'm down 177 K's but again that doesn't let me count how I can stream in pitchers so I think I am closer, I also think my WHIP and ERA goes up some using the same logic but I am well under both so I think I'll be ok. Wins I am short by 20 but maybe that is more like 10 with my bench. SV+H I guessed and made the number 100 and I have 93 so I am close I guess.
Final Roster...
C Sanchez $10
C Maldanado $2
1B Alonso $15
2b Moncada $5
3B Devers $5
SS A Escobar $1
CI M Davidson $1
MI LeMahiue $13
OF Trout $25
OF Betts $20
OF Springer $15
OF Calhoun $14
OF Delmonico $1
UT Kipnis $10
P Verlander $53
P T Glasnow $14
P M Boyd $14
P C McHugh $6
P K Gibson $3
P R Pressly $15
P C Devenski $9
P C Green $2
P C Roe $2
RSV
Brett Anderson $1
Nate Karns $1
Addison Reed $1
Jorge Lopez $1
Roeins Elias $1
Overall I got my ace, I got boring hitters and filled most of my slots without too many holes. This was not a sexy auction but I came in with a good keeper list and just tried not to screw it up.
Thanks for reading another novel, hope these are fun for you guys.
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