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We just completed our first ever online auction - it's been a live auction for 25 years; definitely a different dynamic. This is an 11- team AL-only league, 23-man active roster, no bench, only up to four farm players, weekly transactions, $260 budget, standard 5x5 with the exception that Svs are replaced by 3xSv + 2xHld.
I had a competitive team last year, finishing in third place after a late season slide (I'd been in 1st or 2nd until the middle of September).
Plan - I knew there would be big money thrown at the likes of Rendon, Verlander, Morton, Merrifield, Altuve, JD Martinez, Berrios, T Anderson and G Sanchez. I wanted to wait out the big spending and then start making my moves.
I had E Rosario last year at $30, but decided to throw him back - he was the main hitter I was after. Last year SB was a weakness, so I wanted to address that later in the auction. I didn't want to spend money at the MI position because of an anticipated callup of Madrigal (another reason not to spend outlandish money on steals). My tendency is to stay away from the stars and scrubs rosters and have a more well-rounded roster (typically not flashy, but competitive) and pursue trades where there are perceived weaknesses. There weren't any "sexy" names in the hitter pool that I was targeting - Rosario was my focus.
Starting pitching, notably K's, was a weakness last year, so I decided to go with six starters this year (instead of the typical five that I tend to roster). Snell was a potential risky freeze at $25, but I thought it was a risk that I needed to take because the aces would command $30+. Maeda, Tanaka, Ryu, and Berrios (if at the right price) were on my list of pitchers to target. There was a group of set-up guys identified that I'd target toward the end of the auction. The potential callups of Pearson and Manning were kept in mind.
Roster (keepers in bold)
c - Garver $8
c- P Severino $8
1b - Y. Gurriel $20
3b - T. Frazier $7
ci - Choi $6
2b - Torres $15
ss - Adames $5
mi - J Peraza $1
of - Meadows $18
of - Kepler $19
of - E Rosario $27
of - Pillar $7
of - Maybin $3
ut - K Davis $16
p - Snell $25
p - Boyd $5
p - Minor $6
p - Tanaka $15
p - Keuchel $8
p - J Montgomery $7
rp - C Green $13
rp - N Anderson $5
rp - Hand $14
Farm
Franco, Madrigal, Pearson, & Manning I didn't have a farm pick this year after making an off-season trade for Manning (it would have been the 9th pick overall - I ended up dropping Jung at the time of the roster freeze).
Thoughts afterwards
Rendon was the first one sold at auction and for the highest bid ($52). The normal overspending happened at the beginning of the auction and I waited it out. A bidding war exploded with Grandal - mid to upper teens? Wrong - $31 to the same team that got G Sanchez for $23 (catching prices were inflated this year). E Rosario found his way back on my roster for $3 less than last year; the gamble paid off. K Davis wasn't someone that I really had targeted, but I felt the $16 price was decent because he seemed to be playing through injuries last year. Pillar, Maybin, and J Peraza were players identified that could help me with steals towards the late-middle to end of the auction and all found their way on my roster. I hated the P. Severino pick, but I had stubbed my toe earlier in the auction and made the decision to pay for a catcher later as opposed to having to sift through the MLB backup catchers at the end of the auction for $1.
Morton at $37 was a surprise. The bidding on Berrios started to slow down in the mid-teens. I looked away from the screen for maybe ten seconds and when I looked again the bidding jumped into the 30's - I was out. Ryu went for $21 and I thought that gave me a good idea where to price Maeda and Tanaka - sure enough Maeda went for $19 and Tanaka found himself on my roster. I like to think that Keuchel will have a decent year pitching in the AL-Central. Montgomery was a gamble I wanted to take (thinking he could be replaced with Pearson, if needed) and I pushed all my remaining money left at Green (a mini bidding war happened).
I spent all my money (one of only three teams to do so). It was an odd year, because a total of $62 was left unspent by the rest of the league (with three teams left with double digit budgets that didn't get spent).
Not a sexy team, but I think I accomplished what I wanted - solid and competitive.
I'll post the list of players purchased at the auction next.
I had a competitive team last year, finishing in third place after a late season slide (I'd been in 1st or 2nd until the middle of September).
Plan - I knew there would be big money thrown at the likes of Rendon, Verlander, Morton, Merrifield, Altuve, JD Martinez, Berrios, T Anderson and G Sanchez. I wanted to wait out the big spending and then start making my moves.
I had E Rosario last year at $30, but decided to throw him back - he was the main hitter I was after. Last year SB was a weakness, so I wanted to address that later in the auction. I didn't want to spend money at the MI position because of an anticipated callup of Madrigal (another reason not to spend outlandish money on steals). My tendency is to stay away from the stars and scrubs rosters and have a more well-rounded roster (typically not flashy, but competitive) and pursue trades where there are perceived weaknesses. There weren't any "sexy" names in the hitter pool that I was targeting - Rosario was my focus.
Starting pitching, notably K's, was a weakness last year, so I decided to go with six starters this year (instead of the typical five that I tend to roster). Snell was a potential risky freeze at $25, but I thought it was a risk that I needed to take because the aces would command $30+. Maeda, Tanaka, Ryu, and Berrios (if at the right price) were on my list of pitchers to target. There was a group of set-up guys identified that I'd target toward the end of the auction. The potential callups of Pearson and Manning were kept in mind.
Roster (keepers in bold)
c - Garver $8
c- P Severino $8
1b - Y. Gurriel $20
3b - T. Frazier $7
ci - Choi $6
2b - Torres $15
ss - Adames $5
mi - J Peraza $1
of - Meadows $18
of - Kepler $19
of - E Rosario $27
of - Pillar $7
of - Maybin $3
ut - K Davis $16
p - Snell $25
p - Boyd $5
p - Minor $6
p - Tanaka $15
p - Keuchel $8
p - J Montgomery $7
rp - C Green $13
rp - N Anderson $5
rp - Hand $14
Farm
Franco, Madrigal, Pearson, & Manning I didn't have a farm pick this year after making an off-season trade for Manning (it would have been the 9th pick overall - I ended up dropping Jung at the time of the roster freeze).
Thoughts afterwards
Rendon was the first one sold at auction and for the highest bid ($52). The normal overspending happened at the beginning of the auction and I waited it out. A bidding war exploded with Grandal - mid to upper teens? Wrong - $31 to the same team that got G Sanchez for $23 (catching prices were inflated this year). E Rosario found his way back on my roster for $3 less than last year; the gamble paid off. K Davis wasn't someone that I really had targeted, but I felt the $16 price was decent because he seemed to be playing through injuries last year. Pillar, Maybin, and J Peraza were players identified that could help me with steals towards the late-middle to end of the auction and all found their way on my roster. I hated the P. Severino pick, but I had stubbed my toe earlier in the auction and made the decision to pay for a catcher later as opposed to having to sift through the MLB backup catchers at the end of the auction for $1.
Morton at $37 was a surprise. The bidding on Berrios started to slow down in the mid-teens. I looked away from the screen for maybe ten seconds and when I looked again the bidding jumped into the 30's - I was out. Ryu went for $21 and I thought that gave me a good idea where to price Maeda and Tanaka - sure enough Maeda went for $19 and Tanaka found himself on my roster. I like to think that Keuchel will have a decent year pitching in the AL-Central. Montgomery was a gamble I wanted to take (thinking he could be replaced with Pearson, if needed) and I pushed all my remaining money left at Green (a mini bidding war happened).
I spent all my money (one of only three teams to do so). It was an odd year, because a total of $62 was left unspent by the rest of the league (with three teams left with double digit budgets that didn't get spent).
Not a sexy team, but I think I accomplished what I wanted - solid and competitive.
I'll post the list of players purchased at the auction next.
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