Like Keith, we had our 3rd and final RJ auction this afternoon for our 12-team AL league completing the 18-team mixed, 12-team NL, 12-team AL trifecta. Many 2nd place finishes but no hardware for me so here's hoping we get to play this one out as my team is just entering what should be a strong contention window. Finished a distant 3rd LY but still in the money while acquiring some assets to help me this year.
THE LEAGUE SETTINGS:
5x5, AVG/R/RBI/HR/SB and W/ERA/WHIP/K/Saves+Holds, daily lineup changes, weekly FAAB
THE KEEPERS:
Xander Bogaerts ($20), Vlad Guerrero ($5), Bo Bichette ($5), Marcus Semien ($25), Aaron Judge ($15), Austin Meadows ($14), Gio Urshela ($2), Nomar Mazara ($10), Jordan Luplow ($1), Nick Anderson ($8)
THE FARM:
Jo Adell, Royce Lewis, Alex Kirilloff, Jorge Mateo, Brent Rooker, Matt Manning, Triston McKenzie, 2 #1 picks and a #2
THE PLAN:
With 9 hitters being kept (and Luplow isn't great but this is AL only and he crushes LHP and this is a daily lineup change league) along with Nick Anderson I knew I had a strong base of offense when you consider that Adell and likely a few other prospects will make their way up. But I was starting from zero with SP. So grabbing a few Aces was top priority. Verlander/Morton/Greinke were top options followed by other non-keepers like Kluber, Maeda, E. Rodriguez, Carrasco, Tanaka, Ryu & Minor (SP falls off fast in the AL). Wanted 3 from this group ideally and then fish from the $5-10 pond. For hitting, goal was to get a 1B for around $15 and $10 for a 2B and then just fill in the roster since I knew I'd have call-ups.
THE ROSTER: keepers in bold
C = Roberto Perez ($2)
1B = Ji-Man Choi ($11)
2B = Jonathan Schoop ($14)
SS = Xander Bogaerts ($20)
3B = Vlad Guerrero ($5)
MI = Marcus Semien ($25)
CI = Gio Urshela ($2)
OF = Aaron Judge ($15)
OF = Austin Meadows ($14)
OF = Nomar Mazara ($10)
OF = Jordan Luplow ($1)
OF = Leury Garcia ($4)
DH = Bo Bichette ($5)
DH = Chance Sisco ($1)
P = Justin Verlander ($36)
P = Charlie Morton ($33)
P = Yonny Chirinos ($14)
P = Yusei Kikuchi ($7)
P = Chase Anderson ($2)
P = Joakim Soria ($2)
P = Yusmeiro Petit ($5)
P = Aroldis Chapman ($18)
P = Nick Anderson ($8)
Bench = Michael Fulmer ($6), Gio Gonzalez ($1), Joe Smith ($2), Austin Pruitt ($1), Peter Fairbanks ($1)
THE VERDICT:
Pitching for me came together quickly as I was able to buy Verlander ($36) and Morton ($33) pretty early and feel good about those buys as Greinke went a bit later for $47. Yes, Verlander is hurt but if we don't start playing until mid-June or even July his quad and lat should be healed. Risk? Yes, but at $36 for potentially the #1 SP I felt it was worth the risk and felt even better when I was able to pair him with Morton. Chapman wasn't planned but LY I was scrambling for Holds all season as they are actually a bit harder to come by when every decent MR is rostered. So between Anderson and Chapman I felt I had a really safe foundation in that category along with Ks to pair with my 2 aces. A lot of the other top SPs went for higher than my estimates but wanted a 3rd SP that I liked so was willing to push Chirinos a bit higher. After these 3, who knows but reports out of spring on Kikuchi were strong and then I should be able to stream Anderson and Gio. Fulmer who knows and don't remember why I bid $6 but that happens in an auction. Was happy to pair both Petit and Soria as they should rack up a ton of holds in OAK.
Then, for hitting I like Schoop and Ji-Man is strong against RHP but I'll live and die by my keepers.
For those that play in Only-leagues, no team is ever perfect coming out of an auction but thankfully I have a lot of Farm assets to plug holes with either thru call-ups or trade. Here's hoping we get at least 100 games in.
THE LEAGUE SETTINGS:
5x5, AVG/R/RBI/HR/SB and W/ERA/WHIP/K/Saves+Holds, daily lineup changes, weekly FAAB
THE KEEPERS:
Xander Bogaerts ($20), Vlad Guerrero ($5), Bo Bichette ($5), Marcus Semien ($25), Aaron Judge ($15), Austin Meadows ($14), Gio Urshela ($2), Nomar Mazara ($10), Jordan Luplow ($1), Nick Anderson ($8)
THE FARM:
Jo Adell, Royce Lewis, Alex Kirilloff, Jorge Mateo, Brent Rooker, Matt Manning, Triston McKenzie, 2 #1 picks and a #2
THE PLAN:
With 9 hitters being kept (and Luplow isn't great but this is AL only and he crushes LHP and this is a daily lineup change league) along with Nick Anderson I knew I had a strong base of offense when you consider that Adell and likely a few other prospects will make their way up. But I was starting from zero with SP. So grabbing a few Aces was top priority. Verlander/Morton/Greinke were top options followed by other non-keepers like Kluber, Maeda, E. Rodriguez, Carrasco, Tanaka, Ryu & Minor (SP falls off fast in the AL). Wanted 3 from this group ideally and then fish from the $5-10 pond. For hitting, goal was to get a 1B for around $15 and $10 for a 2B and then just fill in the roster since I knew I'd have call-ups.
THE ROSTER: keepers in bold
C = Roberto Perez ($2)
1B = Ji-Man Choi ($11)
2B = Jonathan Schoop ($14)
SS = Xander Bogaerts ($20)
3B = Vlad Guerrero ($5)
MI = Marcus Semien ($25)
CI = Gio Urshela ($2)
OF = Aaron Judge ($15)
OF = Austin Meadows ($14)
OF = Nomar Mazara ($10)
OF = Jordan Luplow ($1)
OF = Leury Garcia ($4)
DH = Bo Bichette ($5)
DH = Chance Sisco ($1)
P = Justin Verlander ($36)
P = Charlie Morton ($33)
P = Yonny Chirinos ($14)
P = Yusei Kikuchi ($7)
P = Chase Anderson ($2)
P = Joakim Soria ($2)
P = Yusmeiro Petit ($5)
P = Aroldis Chapman ($18)
P = Nick Anderson ($8)
Bench = Michael Fulmer ($6), Gio Gonzalez ($1), Joe Smith ($2), Austin Pruitt ($1), Peter Fairbanks ($1)
THE VERDICT:
Pitching for me came together quickly as I was able to buy Verlander ($36) and Morton ($33) pretty early and feel good about those buys as Greinke went a bit later for $47. Yes, Verlander is hurt but if we don't start playing until mid-June or even July his quad and lat should be healed. Risk? Yes, but at $36 for potentially the #1 SP I felt it was worth the risk and felt even better when I was able to pair him with Morton. Chapman wasn't planned but LY I was scrambling for Holds all season as they are actually a bit harder to come by when every decent MR is rostered. So between Anderson and Chapman I felt I had a really safe foundation in that category along with Ks to pair with my 2 aces. A lot of the other top SPs went for higher than my estimates but wanted a 3rd SP that I liked so was willing to push Chirinos a bit higher. After these 3, who knows but reports out of spring on Kikuchi were strong and then I should be able to stream Anderson and Gio. Fulmer who knows and don't remember why I bid $6 but that happens in an auction. Was happy to pair both Petit and Soria as they should rack up a ton of holds in OAK.
Then, for hitting I like Schoop and Ji-Man is strong against RHP but I'll live and die by my keepers.
For those that play in Only-leagues, no team is ever perfect coming out of an auction but thankfully I have a lot of Farm assets to plug holes with either thru call-ups or trade. Here's hoping we get at least 100 games in.
Comment