As referenced in Mike's post, LY I had a pretty stacked team when the season started but lost Thor early on and that was hard to offset especially with the team Mike put together. While I sold off some great assets (Devers especially) I held onto my best ones imo as I knew when Thor went down that putting all my chips into 2017 may not be the best idea.
KEEPERS FIRST:
1B Justin Smoak $1
2B Ozzie Albies $5
SS Trevor Story $5
3B Jose Ramirez $12
OF Mookie Betts $20
OF Andrew Benintendi $6
SP Noah Syndergaard $12
SP Mike Clevinger $1
CL Brad Brach $2
CL Craig Kimbrel $23
KEY FARM ASSETS: Ronald Acuna, Lewis Brinson, Nick Senzel, Kyle Tucker
Even before factoring in Acuna & Brinson, Rotolab had me with the best keepers relative to auction values so good place to start. 3 main goals for the auction were as follows:
(1) Buy A 2nd Ace = Masahiro Tanaka: Losing Thor early last year killed my team so I wanted a 2nd ace pitcher but didn't want to pay north of $35 so that took me out of Sale & Kershaw. Was in the bidding on Carlos Martinez, Dallas Keuchel & Yu Darvish but Tanaka went for $30 which was cheaper than all of those guys so I'll take it. Plus 1 win in the bank & just fingers crossed that his elbow remains in tact.
(2) Buy A 3rd Closer = Raisel Iglesias: I have no idea what will happen in Baltimore so didn't trust Saves with Brach as my #2. I also hate trading for saves so I wanted to secure them in the auction and landed Iglesias early on for $24 which was fair.
(3) Build An OBA Cushion = Rizzo, Belt, Fowler: Depending on auction dynamics I was either going to pay north of $50 for a true anchor (Votto or Goldschmidt) or acquire several players with strong OBA skills. When I landed Rizzo for $44 (a good $5 less than I was prepared to pay) the latter course was taken. Belt is a player I've never rostered but have wanted to in the past and Fowler was towards the late middle and the bidding stopped at $21.
FINAL ROSTER (WITH ACUNA & BRINSON PROMOTIONS):
C = Brian McCann $6
1B = Anthony Rizzo $44
2B = Ozzie Albies $5
SS = Trevor Story $5
3B = Jose Ramirez $12
CI = Justin Smoak $1
MI = Alcides Escobar $2 (can't want for Senzel)
OF = Mookie Betts $20
OF = Andrew Benintendi $6
OF = Dexter Fowler $21
OF = Lewis Brinson
OF = Ronald Acuna
UT = Brandon Belt $23
UT = Nick Markakis $3
SP = Noah Syndergaard $12
SP = Masahiro Tanaka $30
SP = Mike Clevinger $1
SP = Tyler Chatwood $8
SP = Eduardo Rodriguez $8
RP = Mychel Givens $1
CL = Brad Brach $2
CL = Raisel Iglesias $24
CL = Craig Kimbrel $23
BENCH: Jeremy Hellickson, Josh Fields, Ryan Madson, Mike Montgomery, Anthony DeSclafani, Francisco Cervelli, JaCoby Jones
I could use another SP and maybe 1 more power bat but all things considered this is a team I feel really good about coming out of the auction. Very happy to be able to pair Givens with Brach as well as handcuff Chatwood with Montgomery. I have bought Eduardo Rodriguez in this auction each of the past 3 years as I just feel a breakout is coming. He was excellent LY until his knee acted up again and I'm hoping that offseason surgery puts that issue to rest. I now have Saves & Speed for days so can focus in-season management on SP and play the MR game until trades start to happen.
KEEPERS FIRST:
1B Justin Smoak $1
2B Ozzie Albies $5
SS Trevor Story $5
3B Jose Ramirez $12
OF Mookie Betts $20
OF Andrew Benintendi $6
SP Noah Syndergaard $12
SP Mike Clevinger $1
CL Brad Brach $2
CL Craig Kimbrel $23
KEY FARM ASSETS: Ronald Acuna, Lewis Brinson, Nick Senzel, Kyle Tucker
Even before factoring in Acuna & Brinson, Rotolab had me with the best keepers relative to auction values so good place to start. 3 main goals for the auction were as follows:
(1) Buy A 2nd Ace = Masahiro Tanaka: Losing Thor early last year killed my team so I wanted a 2nd ace pitcher but didn't want to pay north of $35 so that took me out of Sale & Kershaw. Was in the bidding on Carlos Martinez, Dallas Keuchel & Yu Darvish but Tanaka went for $30 which was cheaper than all of those guys so I'll take it. Plus 1 win in the bank & just fingers crossed that his elbow remains in tact.
(2) Buy A 3rd Closer = Raisel Iglesias: I have no idea what will happen in Baltimore so didn't trust Saves with Brach as my #2. I also hate trading for saves so I wanted to secure them in the auction and landed Iglesias early on for $24 which was fair.
(3) Build An OBA Cushion = Rizzo, Belt, Fowler: Depending on auction dynamics I was either going to pay north of $50 for a true anchor (Votto or Goldschmidt) or acquire several players with strong OBA skills. When I landed Rizzo for $44 (a good $5 less than I was prepared to pay) the latter course was taken. Belt is a player I've never rostered but have wanted to in the past and Fowler was towards the late middle and the bidding stopped at $21.
FINAL ROSTER (WITH ACUNA & BRINSON PROMOTIONS):
C = Brian McCann $6
1B = Anthony Rizzo $44
2B = Ozzie Albies $5
SS = Trevor Story $5
3B = Jose Ramirez $12
CI = Justin Smoak $1
MI = Alcides Escobar $2 (can't want for Senzel)
OF = Mookie Betts $20
OF = Andrew Benintendi $6
OF = Dexter Fowler $21
OF = Lewis Brinson
OF = Ronald Acuna
UT = Brandon Belt $23
UT = Nick Markakis $3
SP = Noah Syndergaard $12
SP = Masahiro Tanaka $30
SP = Mike Clevinger $1
SP = Tyler Chatwood $8
SP = Eduardo Rodriguez $8
RP = Mychel Givens $1
CL = Brad Brach $2
CL = Raisel Iglesias $24
CL = Craig Kimbrel $23
BENCH: Jeremy Hellickson, Josh Fields, Ryan Madson, Mike Montgomery, Anthony DeSclafani, Francisco Cervelli, JaCoby Jones
I could use another SP and maybe 1 more power bat but all things considered this is a team I feel really good about coming out of the auction. Very happy to be able to pair Givens with Brach as well as handcuff Chatwood with Montgomery. I have bought Eduardo Rodriguez in this auction each of the past 3 years as I just feel a breakout is coming. He was excellent LY until his knee acted up again and I'm hoping that offseason surgery puts that issue to rest. I now have Saves & Speed for days so can focus in-season management on SP and play the MR game until trades start to happen.
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