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Hat tip to Judge Jude years ago for the idea.
My main league is a bit weird. For it to make sense, I have to go through some of the rules that are different. 16-team mixed, roto. Standard 5x5. $300 auction budget. 24 player rosters; 1 catcher, otherwise hitting positions are normal, for 13 hitters. Six SP slots, five RP slots; anyone who started 5 games last year is starter only. 10 man bench, no separate minor league roster. All keepers except for "free" keepers are locked in your lineup unless on the major-league DL until September when they can be benched (the rule for September was put in because teams don't use the 10-day (the 15-day) DL in September). You can keep as many as you want, but $5 increase in price per year and you have to sign for a specified period of years after the year you draft them, except for free keepers. Free keepers are players drafted in the reserve draft (cannot be FAAB pick-ups) who have rookie eligibility. They can be kept as your last reserve round selections for one year past the time they lose rookie eligibility (for example, Moncada was kept for free this year, but cannot be next year because he lost eligibility last year) so long as they have never been activated. Once activated, they are just normal $1 players. This makes them very valuable--they are not locked in your lineup and if they breakout, you can sign them on the cheap for a while--and the price only goes up $5 per year. Once a player's contract expires, you can use a contract renegotiation ("reup" for short) to resign them. Each team gets one free reup per year, the second reup costs five draft dollars, the third costs ten draft dollars, etc. A player can only be reupped once, and whether or not reupped, all players return to the draft seven years after they were last in it--no contract can go longer than that. To get rid of a keeper locked in your lineup, you have to buy them out---paying the full price of the final year of the contract in draft dollars at the next draft and in your in-season salary cap as well. Therefore, speculative (non-free) keepers are very dangerous.
This year, my keeper list was lopsided towards hitting; speed in particular, but was the best or second best keeper list in the league. This is what I had:
3B Justin Turner $16
SS Trea Turner $6
2B Dee Gordon $26
MI Amed Rosario $6
OF Kyle Schwarber $11
RP Hector Neris $11
Res: Ronald Acuna FREE
Res: Ozzie Albies FREE
Res: Andrew Toles FREE
$11 draft penalty for buyout of Joe Ross last year.
Generally, all elite players have historically gone for a premium---for example, Altuve was $64 and Goldschmidt was $65 last year.
Clearly, I had all the speed I needed and then some. No need to pay for it. Closers and good middle relievers usually go for a premium (probably because of the five RP slots), so I did not really want to spend for closers--I got one at a reasonable price and so long as I stay close, I can do a dump trade for closers later---that is a safer strategy given how many closers lose their jobs. I wanted one big hitter--Freddie Freeman (for non-old timers here, I am a Braves homer if that wasn't obvious enough already); everyone in the league except the one new guy (two expansion teams who start with $300 and no players, but one is a long time league member returning) knows I love him, so I figured I would be bid up and I'd go to the low 50's for him. That would give production and solidify batting average. Then I could fill in with 20-25 HR, .250 avg guys who are cheap, and spend the rest of starters. I did not want to spend on an elite starter--they go in the upper 40's to lower 50's, and banking my season on one pitcher who could get hurt did not seem smart. So, I wanted to get 3 pitchers in the 20-25 range, which would usually include guys like Carlos Martinez, Darvish, Quintana, etc. If I went for an ace, I would go for a discounted one like MadBum, who I expected to go from $30-$35.
One strategy I had to get starting pitching depth instead of one or two studs was a bit silly. It was to get Ohtani, then stick him at utility (since it is a weekly league, he is worthless as a hitter, but you can still stick him there because he is eligible), and get seven SP's at auction because reserve round guys are usually crap given that we take 96 SP's (6 x 16) at auction. Since I have Albies and Acuna on my bench, I figured I had the hitting depth to do it.
Shortly before the auction, two things changed my plans. The first was Justin Turner's injury. That led me to ditch the Ohtani at UT plan because that's another hitter I need to replace. Two hitters to replace at the start of the year was too tough, especially since Acuna's going to be down for a couple of weeks to manipulate his service time. I started looking at CI/OF multi-eligible guys so I could draft a replacement for Turner at OF/UT (with a 3B at CI) and then just move Albies in for him and then have extra flexibility once Dee Gordon gets OF eligibility in a week. The second change was MadBum's injury yesterday, right before the auction. So much for that plan. I then decided to just go with 3-4 $15-$25 guys. With these plans in place, I went into the draft this morning confident---I was in good shape going in, and had a good plan to follow. Alas, the best plans never survive first contact with the enemy, and my plans went to F-S very quickly.
It did not take long for my plans to change. I had $213 left at the start. My plan was to spend about $100 on pitching and the rest on hitting. Top hitters go for a major premium, and Trout was in the draft for the first time since he was a kid, so it was going to be crazy. First toss was Aroldis Chapman. He went for $29. Showed that closers were not as crazy as last year---he went for $39 then. Next toss was Stanton, another guy who was back in the auction for the first time in forever. (The seven-year rule is new and he was grandfathered.) My program showed him as a uninflated $56 value and $66 inflated. It is Rotolab (but with my settings), the same thing more than half the league uses. He gets to $49 and there is a pause. I figured he'll go for $60 or so, and I need power, so I say $50. Then crickets. So I get him for $50. Totally changes some plans, but he was a value, and I need what he provides, so I am happy. Scherzer then goes for $50 and I pass per my plan. I expected that. (3 of the big four were available, Sale was kept for $47). Then the injured MadBum goes to an expansion team (playing for next year?) for $21. That worried me a bit. Maybe the starting pitching I wanted would be high. I had no idea. Then Altuve for $69 and Trout for $70, making me feel much better about my $50 Stanton. Then Kershaw for $50. Then Freddie gets called by the guy next to me. Dammit. Usually, prices fall after the first couple of rounds of tosses, and I wanted him to go later. But I had a plan . . .
My plan was one of my sillier "stragedies" that I come up with from time to time. I was sitting next to a guy (not the guy who tossed Freddie, the guy on the other side) who I will call "Neil" (because his name is actually Neil and names are only changed to protect the innocent). He's very loud, tends to drink at the auction, and has a little toy with him called "Dirtie Bertie." When pressed, it gyrates and makes these ridiculous "oh, yeah" and sex type noises. It's obnoxious as s**t. His team name is "Dirtie Bertie Presented by Chimay." That name led me to come up with the plan. We agreed pre-auction (approved by the executive committee of the league as not collusion) that I give him a Chimay, and he lets me use the Dirtie Bertie when I want---making it truly Dirtie Bertie presented by Chimay. So, when the price on Freddie passes $40, I hit it. The idea is to distract everyone, make them forget how high they were going to go, and get Freddie for a discount. It almost worked. I bid $42. Then, the only guy who bids after that is the new guy who is the only one in the room who does not know about me and Freddie. I am wearing a Freeman jersey on top of a Freeman t-shirt (I gave up on hiding this a while back), but he (as he explained later) had only noticed that I was wearing a Braves jersey. Unfortunately, in his other league, Freddie was his star last year, and he wanted him. He bid me all the way up to $50--the only guy who didn't know I was going to keep going. Unreal. So much for my stragedy. Still, I was willing to pay that much on Freddie anyway. Yes, $100 of the $113 on hitting I was going to spend was already gone, but I wouldn't have to spend that much more on hitting. As a one catcher league, I was just going to spend $1 there. Then a cheapish corner, and three cheap OF---that's where the 20 HR, .250 guys congregate, and I am fine. Makes my idea of getting a good OF/CI guy to take over for Justin Turner difficult, but I figured I would deal with that anyway. I still intended to spread the risk on a nearly $100 pitching staff, and I would be fine.
Then, everything else happened . . . (don't worry, I won't go pick by pick from here on out).
I was quiet for a while then, waiting for prices, on starters to go down. Hitters kept going high--Goldy for $50, Arenado for $57, Yelich for $47 (that made me feel better about Freddie). Then more pitchers, Strasburg $39 (last year $29), Kluber (first time in auction as a star) $53, Carrasco $37--maybe I should have bid on him, but that's still higher than my price range, I wanted multiple good, if not great, starters. Lester went for $22, but I have owned him too many times not in good years, so I did not bid at all. At this point, I will just concentrate on starters. The relievers went for high, but much saner than last year, prices, and the hitters were going for about what I expected (for example, Donaldson $37). Castellanos came out--I wanted him as OF/3B for Turner, but he went for $32, and I couldn't spend that much on hitting at this point. Then Marte $45, Upton $43. This is the time when prices get sane, but it just never did.
Then Ohtani was tossed for $10. I bid $11, and the guy auctioneering was the guy next to me---great guy, but he (and his co-owner) for whatever reason were my auction frenemies this year, they tossed Freddie early for example) and he sort of slow counted down, and a time out was called before sold was said, by the team that tossed him, and they ended up bidding $12. I went $13 and got Ohtani. (I did some auctioning as well, and returned the favor, exaggeratedly as possible when they were the high bidder.) Given the starter prices, even though his spring has scared the crap out of me, it at least gave me the option of going back to the seven starters at the auction plan. I still felt okay--there were enough middle-tier pitchers, and Ohtani can be boom or bust--$13 was a price I was willing to pay to find out. And silly auction stragedies are fun anyway, and that gave me the option. I still didn't think I would do it at this point because I thought I could get a decent staff for $75-85 and just get the hitters I could use, even if they were ugly-ish.
Tanaka was the next player of interest who went. I bid, but let him go elsewhere for $27, which was high, but in context, not so bad. The guy who got him had a cheap Severino kept, and he more or less went with those guys to lead his staff. He was in the tier I wanted, but he scared me; I worry that his HR problem won't go away in that park and division, and I saw Acuna hit a massive opposite field HR off him this spring. The guy I was keying on as my "ace" at this point was Carlos Martinez, and he came out a few picks later. But he got bid up, too. I wasted one of my four time-outs on this, but eventually let him go to my auction frenemy for $30. That was just too much, and I figured the prices had to break soon. And Price, Darvish, and Quintana were still left at that tier. Not as many of those guys as I wanted, but I still had the seven SP strategy in my back pocket. Still, I decided I would get Darvish so long as he wasn't ridiculous; I needed someone to top my staff. We are now 4-5 rounds in, the prices for anything have not abated, and I still only have Stanton, Freddie, and Ohtani. Slight panic setting in.
Darvish went shortly thereafter. I kept bidding, but he went elsewhere for $37 (!!). I just couldn't go $38 there, no reason to blow the wad on a second tier guy for a first tier price. Price and Quintana for me. I just hoped they weren't called soon and more money went off the board. One of the expansion teams still had the most money and no pitchers at all, and he scared the crap out of me. Four picks later, Price came up. I bid again, but he went for $30. This is nuts. At this point, I figured I would get Quintana and then 3-4 of the next tier---the guys I expected to go for $10-$15. I should have known at this point I was being silly.
Charlie Morton was the next SP up, and he went for $8. Not to me, he wasn't really in my plans. Then Keuchel was up, and I was in, but he went for $30, too. People had to run out of money soon, I figured, but there was still the expansion team sitting there with no pitchers and the hammer. I should not have worried about him, lol. Paxton was next up; I had him as a $15 guy, so I would go to $25 out of desperation. He went for $27. Arrieta was next. He went for $19, but I wasn't involved. I just don't trust him, especially in Philly.
Two picks later, Quintana came up. Show time. My last shot for a second tier "ace." Wanted him for $25 originally, but would go more. However, my auction frenemy still only had C-Mart, and they were in. When it got to $31, I called my second time out. Then I went to $32. Desperate times call for desperate measures. They bid $33 and he said one more and you have him. Countdown on, and time out #3 from me. I desperately searched for other pitchers, but I found nothing to top my rotation. So, I went $34. Despite the earlier comment, they went $35. I just couldn't go $36, I would have nothing for anything else, and I let him go. My draft strategy was now in shambles, and my discarded strategy of seven SP's was now a must--if I don't have quality, I can go for high-upside quantity. This was now officially a mess.
Bauer came out a few picks later. He was one of my $10 or so targets. I got him for $19. Still no relief from the pitching prices. But, hey, I have a breakout candidate, and a second pitcher. That was something, I guess. Four or five picks later, Jon Gray was tossed. Another $10 or so target of mine. I needed quantity of upside now, so I kept going and got him at $20. Not exactly what I wanted, but three high-upside guys, for way too much. Did not imagine that Ohtani, Bauer, and Gray would be $52. I was regretting not getting a $50 ace at this point.
At this point, there was a break, and I developed an A,B,C strategy of upside guys given that proven commodities were gone for ridiculous prices. Godley was target A, Tallion was target B, Giolito was target C. Since prices had not gone down, I wasn't tossing any of them. The problem was that the expansion team with the hammer (at this point a huge money lead; he had $111, but had only gotten five players, all hitters, for $189) had no pitchers. Nobody else was over $100. I had $81, I think, and tons of holes to fill. I figured I was going to get screwed early an often here.
Sonny Gray was next. I was not in on him, but he went for $17 anyway. My next buy was Givens at $6. I figured high K relievers (and he now has a shot at some saves) could help. Then, a few picks later, Giolito came up. I got him for $7---more than I wanted to pay, but at this point I was thrilled at that price. The guy with the money was not particularly involved. No idea why. Then again, he had 19 spots left to fill, and maybe he was keying on someone else. Given the money I had left, I figured my options A and B would never happen. Four picks later was Godley, tossed by the guy with the money, IIRC. I bid valliantly, but $25 for Godley was something I just couldn't do--I had only drafted two hitters, lol. The guy with the money had his "ace" in Godley. I knew he was keying on at least one of my guys---and he wasn't the only one--I wasn't the one who bid $24. Then Porcello went for $7. I had no interest whatsoever in him, I just mention it because that's what pitching prices still were. Blake Snell then went for $11. Blake Snell? Not a target, just mentioned to show prices.
A little relief at that point. I got Jay Bruce for $14. I needed some more hitters, and he was the 30 HR, .250 guy at a reasonable price I wanted. Still, not a huge discount. No prices were discounted still. Money was running out everywhere. I had no experience at this--it start high, stays high, then continues to stay high. Something had to break eventually. More hitting was next, Belt for $10 because I needed a corner. Wanted a 3B, so I could do a 1B/OF and get my Justin Turner replacement in auction, but corners were getting thin and since I figured I had to do the seven pitcher strategy, my 3B for the first month would be a reserve pick. Sucks, but my hitting was fine.
It was a long while before anyone else of my interest came up, then Tallion was called. I brought him home for $8. More than I wanted to pay, but far less than I expected at that point. I was down to $9 bids at that point (after Tallion) but he was my last pitching target, so I was okay with that. Not much left in hitting (with Ohtani going to UT)--a $1 catcher (one catcher league, it was what I had to do) and a couple of OF left. Also three RP, figured I would go for the best I could there with K's and ratios. I made a run at Devenski, but he went for $8. I overpaid for Minter at $6, but I needed upside everywhere at that point, and well, I am a hopeless Braves homer. Maybe he'll have a healthy season this year for the first time since high school. Stuff is sick.
I was down to a $4 max bid at this point. I got Grandal at $1 for catcher. I wanted Clevinger, but he went for $10. For more upside, I picked up Luiz Gohara for $3 (despite the injury--I was drafting seven SP's for six spots anyway, and well, the uniform). At this point, I was down to a $2 max bid, and shockingly got Nick Williams for $2. That kind of upside with a kind-of, sort-of job was great for me there. Then I was down to dollar days. I rounded out the roster with AJ Ramos, Jim Johnson, Lonnie Chisenhall, and Folty.
The reserve draft was not particularly mentionable. I got Austin Hays in round 1, and still got Dietrick in round 2 to fill in for Justin Turner (the first round is mostly kids who are free keepers). I went for upside gambles in SP's in Tyler Mahle and Kyle Gibson.
That leaves my roster as follows:
C: Yasmani Grandal $1
1B: Freddie Freeman $50
CI: Brandon Belt $10
3B: Justin Turner $16 (keeper)
2B: Dee Gordon $26 (keeper)
SS: Trea Turner $6 (keeper)
MI: Amed Rosario $6 (keeper)
OF: Kyle Schwarber $11 (keeper)
OF: Giancarlo Stanton $50
OF: Jay Bruce $14
OF: Nick Williams $2
OF: Lonnie Chisenhall $1
UT: Shohei Ohtani $13 (will be used as SP)
SP: Trevor Bauer $19
SP: Jon Gray $20
SP: Lucas Giolito $7
SP: Jameson Tallion $8
SP: Luiz Gohara $3
RP: Hector Neris $11 (keeper)
RP: Mychal Givens $6
RP: A.J. Minter $6
RP: A.J. Ramos $1
RP: Jim Johnson $1
Res.: Ronald Acuna
Res.: Ozzie Albies
Res.: Andrew Toles
Res.: Andrew Hays
Res.: Derrick Deitrich
Res.: Tyler Mahle
Res.: Kyle Gibson
Res.: Kyle Wright
Res.: Austin Riley
Res.: Curtis Granderson
$95 out of $300 on pitching, and that's all I got. That was just crazy. I need to get more SP and a closer or two. I have speed and keepers to trade. Should be an interesting year. Sort of like my Braves, it depends on how the unproven, high-upside arms can do.
My main league is a bit weird. For it to make sense, I have to go through some of the rules that are different. 16-team mixed, roto. Standard 5x5. $300 auction budget. 24 player rosters; 1 catcher, otherwise hitting positions are normal, for 13 hitters. Six SP slots, five RP slots; anyone who started 5 games last year is starter only. 10 man bench, no separate minor league roster. All keepers except for "free" keepers are locked in your lineup unless on the major-league DL until September when they can be benched (the rule for September was put in because teams don't use the 10-day (the 15-day) DL in September). You can keep as many as you want, but $5 increase in price per year and you have to sign for a specified period of years after the year you draft them, except for free keepers. Free keepers are players drafted in the reserve draft (cannot be FAAB pick-ups) who have rookie eligibility. They can be kept as your last reserve round selections for one year past the time they lose rookie eligibility (for example, Moncada was kept for free this year, but cannot be next year because he lost eligibility last year) so long as they have never been activated. Once activated, they are just normal $1 players. This makes them very valuable--they are not locked in your lineup and if they breakout, you can sign them on the cheap for a while--and the price only goes up $5 per year. Once a player's contract expires, you can use a contract renegotiation ("reup" for short) to resign them. Each team gets one free reup per year, the second reup costs five draft dollars, the third costs ten draft dollars, etc. A player can only be reupped once, and whether or not reupped, all players return to the draft seven years after they were last in it--no contract can go longer than that. To get rid of a keeper locked in your lineup, you have to buy them out---paying the full price of the final year of the contract in draft dollars at the next draft and in your in-season salary cap as well. Therefore, speculative (non-free) keepers are very dangerous.
This year, my keeper list was lopsided towards hitting; speed in particular, but was the best or second best keeper list in the league. This is what I had:
3B Justin Turner $16
SS Trea Turner $6
2B Dee Gordon $26
MI Amed Rosario $6
OF Kyle Schwarber $11
RP Hector Neris $11
Res: Ronald Acuna FREE
Res: Ozzie Albies FREE
Res: Andrew Toles FREE
$11 draft penalty for buyout of Joe Ross last year.
Generally, all elite players have historically gone for a premium---for example, Altuve was $64 and Goldschmidt was $65 last year.
Clearly, I had all the speed I needed and then some. No need to pay for it. Closers and good middle relievers usually go for a premium (probably because of the five RP slots), so I did not really want to spend for closers--I got one at a reasonable price and so long as I stay close, I can do a dump trade for closers later---that is a safer strategy given how many closers lose their jobs. I wanted one big hitter--Freddie Freeman (for non-old timers here, I am a Braves homer if that wasn't obvious enough already); everyone in the league except the one new guy (two expansion teams who start with $300 and no players, but one is a long time league member returning) knows I love him, so I figured I would be bid up and I'd go to the low 50's for him. That would give production and solidify batting average. Then I could fill in with 20-25 HR, .250 avg guys who are cheap, and spend the rest of starters. I did not want to spend on an elite starter--they go in the upper 40's to lower 50's, and banking my season on one pitcher who could get hurt did not seem smart. So, I wanted to get 3 pitchers in the 20-25 range, which would usually include guys like Carlos Martinez, Darvish, Quintana, etc. If I went for an ace, I would go for a discounted one like MadBum, who I expected to go from $30-$35.
One strategy I had to get starting pitching depth instead of one or two studs was a bit silly. It was to get Ohtani, then stick him at utility (since it is a weekly league, he is worthless as a hitter, but you can still stick him there because he is eligible), and get seven SP's at auction because reserve round guys are usually crap given that we take 96 SP's (6 x 16) at auction. Since I have Albies and Acuna on my bench, I figured I had the hitting depth to do it.
Shortly before the auction, two things changed my plans. The first was Justin Turner's injury. That led me to ditch the Ohtani at UT plan because that's another hitter I need to replace. Two hitters to replace at the start of the year was too tough, especially since Acuna's going to be down for a couple of weeks to manipulate his service time. I started looking at CI/OF multi-eligible guys so I could draft a replacement for Turner at OF/UT (with a 3B at CI) and then just move Albies in for him and then have extra flexibility once Dee Gordon gets OF eligibility in a week. The second change was MadBum's injury yesterday, right before the auction. So much for that plan. I then decided to just go with 3-4 $15-$25 guys. With these plans in place, I went into the draft this morning confident---I was in good shape going in, and had a good plan to follow. Alas, the best plans never survive first contact with the enemy, and my plans went to F-S very quickly.
It did not take long for my plans to change. I had $213 left at the start. My plan was to spend about $100 on pitching and the rest on hitting. Top hitters go for a major premium, and Trout was in the draft for the first time since he was a kid, so it was going to be crazy. First toss was Aroldis Chapman. He went for $29. Showed that closers were not as crazy as last year---he went for $39 then. Next toss was Stanton, another guy who was back in the auction for the first time in forever. (The seven-year rule is new and he was grandfathered.) My program showed him as a uninflated $56 value and $66 inflated. It is Rotolab (but with my settings), the same thing more than half the league uses. He gets to $49 and there is a pause. I figured he'll go for $60 or so, and I need power, so I say $50. Then crickets. So I get him for $50. Totally changes some plans, but he was a value, and I need what he provides, so I am happy. Scherzer then goes for $50 and I pass per my plan. I expected that. (3 of the big four were available, Sale was kept for $47). Then the injured MadBum goes to an expansion team (playing for next year?) for $21. That worried me a bit. Maybe the starting pitching I wanted would be high. I had no idea. Then Altuve for $69 and Trout for $70, making me feel much better about my $50 Stanton. Then Kershaw for $50. Then Freddie gets called by the guy next to me. Dammit. Usually, prices fall after the first couple of rounds of tosses, and I wanted him to go later. But I had a plan . . .
My plan was one of my sillier "stragedies" that I come up with from time to time. I was sitting next to a guy (not the guy who tossed Freddie, the guy on the other side) who I will call "Neil" (because his name is actually Neil and names are only changed to protect the innocent). He's very loud, tends to drink at the auction, and has a little toy with him called "Dirtie Bertie." When pressed, it gyrates and makes these ridiculous "oh, yeah" and sex type noises. It's obnoxious as s**t. His team name is "Dirtie Bertie Presented by Chimay." That name led me to come up with the plan. We agreed pre-auction (approved by the executive committee of the league as not collusion) that I give him a Chimay, and he lets me use the Dirtie Bertie when I want---making it truly Dirtie Bertie presented by Chimay. So, when the price on Freddie passes $40, I hit it. The idea is to distract everyone, make them forget how high they were going to go, and get Freddie for a discount. It almost worked. I bid $42. Then, the only guy who bids after that is the new guy who is the only one in the room who does not know about me and Freddie. I am wearing a Freeman jersey on top of a Freeman t-shirt (I gave up on hiding this a while back), but he (as he explained later) had only noticed that I was wearing a Braves jersey. Unfortunately, in his other league, Freddie was his star last year, and he wanted him. He bid me all the way up to $50--the only guy who didn't know I was going to keep going. Unreal. So much for my stragedy. Still, I was willing to pay that much on Freddie anyway. Yes, $100 of the $113 on hitting I was going to spend was already gone, but I wouldn't have to spend that much more on hitting. As a one catcher league, I was just going to spend $1 there. Then a cheapish corner, and three cheap OF---that's where the 20 HR, .250 guys congregate, and I am fine. Makes my idea of getting a good OF/CI guy to take over for Justin Turner difficult, but I figured I would deal with that anyway. I still intended to spread the risk on a nearly $100 pitching staff, and I would be fine.
Then, everything else happened . . . (don't worry, I won't go pick by pick from here on out).
I was quiet for a while then, waiting for prices, on starters to go down. Hitters kept going high--Goldy for $50, Arenado for $57, Yelich for $47 (that made me feel better about Freddie). Then more pitchers, Strasburg $39 (last year $29), Kluber (first time in auction as a star) $53, Carrasco $37--maybe I should have bid on him, but that's still higher than my price range, I wanted multiple good, if not great, starters. Lester went for $22, but I have owned him too many times not in good years, so I did not bid at all. At this point, I will just concentrate on starters. The relievers went for high, but much saner than last year, prices, and the hitters were going for about what I expected (for example, Donaldson $37). Castellanos came out--I wanted him as OF/3B for Turner, but he went for $32, and I couldn't spend that much on hitting at this point. Then Marte $45, Upton $43. This is the time when prices get sane, but it just never did.
Then Ohtani was tossed for $10. I bid $11, and the guy auctioneering was the guy next to me---great guy, but he (and his co-owner) for whatever reason were my auction frenemies this year, they tossed Freddie early for example) and he sort of slow counted down, and a time out was called before sold was said, by the team that tossed him, and they ended up bidding $12. I went $13 and got Ohtani. (I did some auctioning as well, and returned the favor, exaggeratedly as possible when they were the high bidder.) Given the starter prices, even though his spring has scared the crap out of me, it at least gave me the option of going back to the seven starters at the auction plan. I still felt okay--there were enough middle-tier pitchers, and Ohtani can be boom or bust--$13 was a price I was willing to pay to find out. And silly auction stragedies are fun anyway, and that gave me the option. I still didn't think I would do it at this point because I thought I could get a decent staff for $75-85 and just get the hitters I could use, even if they were ugly-ish.
Tanaka was the next player of interest who went. I bid, but let him go elsewhere for $27, which was high, but in context, not so bad. The guy who got him had a cheap Severino kept, and he more or less went with those guys to lead his staff. He was in the tier I wanted, but he scared me; I worry that his HR problem won't go away in that park and division, and I saw Acuna hit a massive opposite field HR off him this spring. The guy I was keying on as my "ace" at this point was Carlos Martinez, and he came out a few picks later. But he got bid up, too. I wasted one of my four time-outs on this, but eventually let him go to my auction frenemy for $30. That was just too much, and I figured the prices had to break soon. And Price, Darvish, and Quintana were still left at that tier. Not as many of those guys as I wanted, but I still had the seven SP strategy in my back pocket. Still, I decided I would get Darvish so long as he wasn't ridiculous; I needed someone to top my staff. We are now 4-5 rounds in, the prices for anything have not abated, and I still only have Stanton, Freddie, and Ohtani. Slight panic setting in.
Darvish went shortly thereafter. I kept bidding, but he went elsewhere for $37 (!!). I just couldn't go $38 there, no reason to blow the wad on a second tier guy for a first tier price. Price and Quintana for me. I just hoped they weren't called soon and more money went off the board. One of the expansion teams still had the most money and no pitchers at all, and he scared the crap out of me. Four picks later, Price came up. I bid again, but he went for $30. This is nuts. At this point, I figured I would get Quintana and then 3-4 of the next tier---the guys I expected to go for $10-$15. I should have known at this point I was being silly.
Charlie Morton was the next SP up, and he went for $8. Not to me, he wasn't really in my plans. Then Keuchel was up, and I was in, but he went for $30, too. People had to run out of money soon, I figured, but there was still the expansion team sitting there with no pitchers and the hammer. I should not have worried about him, lol. Paxton was next up; I had him as a $15 guy, so I would go to $25 out of desperation. He went for $27. Arrieta was next. He went for $19, but I wasn't involved. I just don't trust him, especially in Philly.
Two picks later, Quintana came up. Show time. My last shot for a second tier "ace." Wanted him for $25 originally, but would go more. However, my auction frenemy still only had C-Mart, and they were in. When it got to $31, I called my second time out. Then I went to $32. Desperate times call for desperate measures. They bid $33 and he said one more and you have him. Countdown on, and time out #3 from me. I desperately searched for other pitchers, but I found nothing to top my rotation. So, I went $34. Despite the earlier comment, they went $35. I just couldn't go $36, I would have nothing for anything else, and I let him go. My draft strategy was now in shambles, and my discarded strategy of seven SP's was now a must--if I don't have quality, I can go for high-upside quantity. This was now officially a mess.
Bauer came out a few picks later. He was one of my $10 or so targets. I got him for $19. Still no relief from the pitching prices. But, hey, I have a breakout candidate, and a second pitcher. That was something, I guess. Four or five picks later, Jon Gray was tossed. Another $10 or so target of mine. I needed quantity of upside now, so I kept going and got him at $20. Not exactly what I wanted, but three high-upside guys, for way too much. Did not imagine that Ohtani, Bauer, and Gray would be $52. I was regretting not getting a $50 ace at this point.
At this point, there was a break, and I developed an A,B,C strategy of upside guys given that proven commodities were gone for ridiculous prices. Godley was target A, Tallion was target B, Giolito was target C. Since prices had not gone down, I wasn't tossing any of them. The problem was that the expansion team with the hammer (at this point a huge money lead; he had $111, but had only gotten five players, all hitters, for $189) had no pitchers. Nobody else was over $100. I had $81, I think, and tons of holes to fill. I figured I was going to get screwed early an often here.
Sonny Gray was next. I was not in on him, but he went for $17 anyway. My next buy was Givens at $6. I figured high K relievers (and he now has a shot at some saves) could help. Then, a few picks later, Giolito came up. I got him for $7---more than I wanted to pay, but at this point I was thrilled at that price. The guy with the money was not particularly involved. No idea why. Then again, he had 19 spots left to fill, and maybe he was keying on someone else. Given the money I had left, I figured my options A and B would never happen. Four picks later was Godley, tossed by the guy with the money, IIRC. I bid valliantly, but $25 for Godley was something I just couldn't do--I had only drafted two hitters, lol. The guy with the money had his "ace" in Godley. I knew he was keying on at least one of my guys---and he wasn't the only one--I wasn't the one who bid $24. Then Porcello went for $7. I had no interest whatsoever in him, I just mention it because that's what pitching prices still were. Blake Snell then went for $11. Blake Snell? Not a target, just mentioned to show prices.
A little relief at that point. I got Jay Bruce for $14. I needed some more hitters, and he was the 30 HR, .250 guy at a reasonable price I wanted. Still, not a huge discount. No prices were discounted still. Money was running out everywhere. I had no experience at this--it start high, stays high, then continues to stay high. Something had to break eventually. More hitting was next, Belt for $10 because I needed a corner. Wanted a 3B, so I could do a 1B/OF and get my Justin Turner replacement in auction, but corners were getting thin and since I figured I had to do the seven pitcher strategy, my 3B for the first month would be a reserve pick. Sucks, but my hitting was fine.
It was a long while before anyone else of my interest came up, then Tallion was called. I brought him home for $8. More than I wanted to pay, but far less than I expected at that point. I was down to $9 bids at that point (after Tallion) but he was my last pitching target, so I was okay with that. Not much left in hitting (with Ohtani going to UT)--a $1 catcher (one catcher league, it was what I had to do) and a couple of OF left. Also three RP, figured I would go for the best I could there with K's and ratios. I made a run at Devenski, but he went for $8. I overpaid for Minter at $6, but I needed upside everywhere at that point, and well, I am a hopeless Braves homer. Maybe he'll have a healthy season this year for the first time since high school. Stuff is sick.
I was down to a $4 max bid at this point. I got Grandal at $1 for catcher. I wanted Clevinger, but he went for $10. For more upside, I picked up Luiz Gohara for $3 (despite the injury--I was drafting seven SP's for six spots anyway, and well, the uniform). At this point, I was down to a $2 max bid, and shockingly got Nick Williams for $2. That kind of upside with a kind-of, sort-of job was great for me there. Then I was down to dollar days. I rounded out the roster with AJ Ramos, Jim Johnson, Lonnie Chisenhall, and Folty.
The reserve draft was not particularly mentionable. I got Austin Hays in round 1, and still got Dietrick in round 2 to fill in for Justin Turner (the first round is mostly kids who are free keepers). I went for upside gambles in SP's in Tyler Mahle and Kyle Gibson.
That leaves my roster as follows:
C: Yasmani Grandal $1
1B: Freddie Freeman $50
CI: Brandon Belt $10
3B: Justin Turner $16 (keeper)
2B: Dee Gordon $26 (keeper)
SS: Trea Turner $6 (keeper)
MI: Amed Rosario $6 (keeper)
OF: Kyle Schwarber $11 (keeper)
OF: Giancarlo Stanton $50
OF: Jay Bruce $14
OF: Nick Williams $2
OF: Lonnie Chisenhall $1
UT: Shohei Ohtani $13 (will be used as SP)
SP: Trevor Bauer $19
SP: Jon Gray $20
SP: Lucas Giolito $7
SP: Jameson Tallion $8
SP: Luiz Gohara $3
RP: Hector Neris $11 (keeper)
RP: Mychal Givens $6
RP: A.J. Minter $6
RP: A.J. Ramos $1
RP: Jim Johnson $1
Res.: Ronald Acuna
Res.: Ozzie Albies
Res.: Andrew Toles
Res.: Andrew Hays
Res.: Derrick Deitrich
Res.: Tyler Mahle
Res.: Kyle Gibson
Res.: Kyle Wright
Res.: Austin Riley
Res.: Curtis Granderson
$95 out of $300 on pitching, and that's all I got. That was just crazy. I need to get more SP and a closer or two. I have speed and keepers to trade. Should be an interesting year. Sort of like my Braves, it depends on how the unproven, high-upside arms can do.
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