Another RJEL Team

[Big Tymer]

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.

[Hornsby]

Seriously, this is like the Alabama football team...your 2nd stringers could beat any other team in the league. We are all playing for 2nd here. Totally balanced without having one true spendy star. Rizzo was a great price, as was Chatwood, my darkhorse for 20 wins this season. Not a huge fan of Belt, as a matter of fact, I really don't like him, but as long as he's healthy, he'll do you just fine. I also think that you overrated Story, but inexplicably to me, just about everyone does, so I'm probably wrong on that. No matter, you'll kill it.

Pitching is very good, might need, as you stated, more starting, but with your assets, it's easy to come by. You should have very good ratios and K's, and kill it in saves since I'm not 100% sure that Britton comes back and slides right into the closer role. Reserves are fine, and you can slot the RP's in there with our split starting periods to help you.

All said, you are the one to beat, and far out ahead of the pack.

[Big Tymer]

Yeah - I don't know why but I have always liked Brandon Belt since he came out of Texas. SF is a terrible park for him but he was well on his way to 25+ HRs with a ~.360 OBA LY before the concussion sidelined him for 2 months. If I can even get 20 HRs and that OBA he'll work for the role he plays on my team. And I think he could push for 30 HRs if he can get 550 ABs.

[The Dane]

Yeah - I don't know why but I have always liked Brandon Belt since he came out of Texas. SF is a terrible park for him but he was well on his way to 25+ HRs with a ~.360 OBA LY before the concussion sidelined him for 2 months. If I can even get 20 HRs and that OBA he'll work for the role he plays on my team. And I think he could push for 30 HRs if he can get 550 ABs.

I'm with you. He was a perfect add to a wonderful team. He has elite-level OBP and great peripherals (even if he always seems to under-perform them). A good get for you.

Love your offense. I'm not as high on Brinson as you are, perhaps. I think he has craters in his swing that are going to get exposed within 60 games and he could be a OBP sink of Frazerian proportions, at least in the short term. I think Senzel (and of course, Acuna) is a much better bet to move the needle for your team, than Brinson.

Your pitching is also top-notch, maybe not as elite as your hitting, but still great. Two real aces at the top there. I'm not a believer in Chatwood, but he plays for a great team with a super offense, so $8 is way below the risk nexus for me. Three closers puts you at the top of that category.

Result: You're the top team for me, at this point. It's a long season and a lot can happen, but this team is in a great place here at the starting blocks.

[Big Tymer]

With you on risk with Brinson but throughout his ascension in the minors he would always seem to struggle at a level, then repeat and dominate so I think he just needs time to make the necessary adjustments. My "hope" is that that time was LY and he's had a very good spring and the 4-hit game could provide him the confidence he needs to perform well. Hitting leadoff for the Marlins is a double edge sword since if he does an OBA issues then that's a lot of ABs but he likely only stays at the top if he performs.

Of all of my top prospects, Brinson is absolutely the one with the highest variance but the ceiling is special if he can come close to it.

Chatwood wasn't a target per se but as you said at $8 the downside is low since he should get wins and if he struggles then in theory Montgomery would step in. If another Cub SP gets hurt, then all of a sudden I'll have 2 of their SP which would be nice.

[frae]

Your hitting is amazing and I can't really find any holes. Rizzo was a good buy in my view and was the one price where I thought I might have been better off spending there than at 3B for Donaldson. Belt fits your team well and those rookies are coming to fill all the little holes.

You locked up saves with Iglesias and Kimbrel so you are good there. The only real question will be how your SP's do. A healthy Thor/Tanaka are a great 1-2 and then you just need the Clev/Chatwood/Rodriguez combo to give you some stats without hurting your ratios. You have MR guys you can use if they fail and I am sure you will trade one of our pieces to get an SP if you need it.

You are my favorite and I will just be doing my best to stay close. Good luck!

[chancellor]

This team is stupid good in a league this deep. And they let you get Chatwood and Givens for a combined $9. How the heck did that happen? Did you wave your hands and say "These aren't the pitchers you're looking for"?

[Big Tymer]

Thanks Chancellor. I too was very surprised to get Givens for $1 especially considering I was the Brach owner so I thought they'd make me pay (plus I owned Givens LY too). I resisted the urge to throw him early and was able to toss him when most teams had a max of $1-2 and no one topped me. Won't surprise me at all if Givens leads the Orioles in saves accumulating them if the 2H as the Orioles sell off.

Chatwood was a later toss too if I remember correctly. I wanted 1 more SP for $8-10 and was able to get him along with Montgomery. I kind of wish the Cubs just let Montgomery take the 5th spot but suspect between multi-inning relief and spot starts he'll still accrue enough innings to be valuable.

[Grinch]

I went stars and scrubs and get got caught once on the +1 button, killing any chance at enforcing (Kiermeier $20) or I absolutely would have made you pay up for those two! I'm hoping history repeats as I had you as clearly the best team last year too!