Crazy Keeper Idea...It Came To Me In A Dream

[Lucky]

I play with long time sharks. I have done it both ways. Having the UT spot open is much preferred. I do not use it to get people to pay for $3 players. I use it to take dollars out of the game. This year I am going in with Abreu, Seager, and Beltre as keepers. You can bet I will be using my UT spot to throw out Fielder, LaRoche, Sandoval, Pearce as early and often as I can. If one goes too cheap I will be happy to roster them. It is not that I think they will slip through, but I want to make sure that they go for more than book value. That means the earlier the better.

Given your situation without seeing the other rosters and money left to spend, I probably keep Norris and trade Posey or drop him and spend the money elsewhere.

Just for the sake of discussion, how do you do that? Obviously, everybody wants to grab a player to keep them from going too cheap. But how to you make sure that veteran, disciplined owners pay more than book value? I think this is one of these strategies that people started peddling about a dozen years ago when everyone was writing "Win Your League" books, but if you are playing with owners who understand that value is value, they are not going to overpay by $10 just because they get excited at the start of the auction.

Here's my point...unless guys are overspending (and I know of no reliable way to make sure they do unless you are playing with patsies) when you take dollars out of the auction you are also taking value out of the auction.

[Lucky]

Agree across the board. I think I'd toss Posey back but check for some bites first.

Starting to lean this way pretty strongly.

[DMT]

Just for the sake of discussion, how do you do that? Obviously, everybody wants to grab a player to keep them from going too cheap. But how to you make sure that veteran, disciplined owners pay more than book value? I think this is one of these strategies that people started peddling about a dozen years ago when everyone was writing "Win Your League" books, but if you are playing with owners who understand that value is value, they are not going to overpay by $10 just because they get excited at the start of the auction.

Here's my point...unless guys are overspending (and I know of no reliable way to make sure they do unless you are playing with patsies) when you take dollars out of the auction you are also taking value out of the auction.

One strategy is to figure out areas of value where demand is greater than supply. For example, in my league there are only 2 bona fide aces that weren't kept (Price and Scherzer) but at least four teams that will need an ace to compete (this is of course my opinion). As defending champion, I plan to toss one of them first, hoping that their prices will be inflated. It's always that obvious but there are going to be gaps in any player pool that should in theory create inefficiencies, so one critical pre-auction task is to identify those gaps and then exploit them during the auction.

[Lucky]

One strategy is to figure out areas of value where demand is greater than supply. For example, in my league there are only 2 bona fide aces that weren't kept (Price and Scherzer) but at least four teams that will need an ace to compete (this is of course my opinion). As defending champion, I plan to toss one of them first, hoping that their prices will be inflated. It's always that obvious but there are going to be gaps in any player pool that should in theory create inefficiencies, so one critical pre-auction task is to identify those gaps and then exploit them during the auction.

I understand that, and I agree, especially depending upon what your auction pool looks like. When there are a limited number of studs, strategy plays a big part. But in those auctions where you have $2300-$2500 to be spent and 200 players to be purchased, I still maintain the story is different.

[Judge Jude]

it's only a game. if you like the idea, go for it.
it's debatable but not ridiculous.

[Lucky]

Yeah, there are a bunch of "strategies" that don't really work with a savvy group of experienced owners. You cannot make other owners pay more than book value. You can price enforce, but I wouldn't recommend it - get stuck with guys you don't want too often. I think that Gregg is talking about sort of a modified price enforcer strategy --- enforce prices on the guys that you wouldn't mind rostering but would prefer that other teams blow their wads on. You can, however, try and throw out guys that you don't need early in the auction when everyone still has money. That should help with the price. Another "strategy" I often hear is to throw out a stud that you want as the very first throw of the auction, since, as the theory goes, folks are reluctant to spend big right off the bat. Maybe that works with newbies but not in a competitive group.

I have seen that work with more veteran groups. I also have seen a little lag near the end of the first round of nominations. Sometimes you can get a little bit of a bargain just as people come back from a break. I wouldn't call these strategies so much as tendencies I've observed. I think throwing out guys you don't want sometimes works, not so much for drawing out money, but for narrowing down the potential bidders.. The down side is that if that position starts getting scarce, the competition might get stiffer. Sometimes if I have the closer(s) I want, I'll nominate closers for a while, but it doesn't seem to change their price. Mostly it gives me time to figure out what I want to do next.

The most strategy I use is figuring out what positions I'll have open and how much money I'll have left relative to the other guys in the end game. If it is close, I'll keep up with the nominating order, so I'll know that if I throw for a buck, nobody can go $2.

[GwynnInTheHall]

I think I'll target Posey in the first round................

[Gregg]

Keeping your UT slot open can also insure that you never leave more than a buck on the table and get the best player available in the end game. It allows to bid the extra buck somewhere in the auction.

[overkill94]

As long as you have the flexibility to move Posey around, it's not a bad strategy although I agree with others that he probably won't go for more than a few dollars more at auction.

Auction drafts are fascinating to me - the strategy, the timing, trying to read other owners. In my NL-only league it seemed that too often the high-priced players would go for too little at the beginning of the auction so one year I decided to load up on studs at the beginning. After the first round I had spent something like $110 on Kershaw, Kemp, and AGon which would've worked out okay last year, but in this case it was one of Kemp's injury-plagued years so I ended up in 9th place or something. It may not bite you in the butt to have your utility spot filled early, but you might be kicking yourself when that sleeper you wanted ends up going for $1 at the end of the auction when your flexibility is limited.

[Lucky]

Yeah, I haven't decided whether to keep Posey or not, but I am going to keep my UT open. I'm still interested in the three cheap catchers ploy, though, should the opportunity arise. I've got Salty for a buck, too, but he doesn't really work in my business.