Auction Strategies

[chancellor]

Guesstimate other teams' keepers
Preliminary estimate of inflation
Calculate inflation
Create tiers
Note which players I prefer within each tier
Go into the auction with a clear idea of who and how much
"No battle plan survives contact with the enemy"
"WTF did I just do?"

I like this, though if you do the first few, the last two happen less often. Since I've come into auctions with pricing and plans, I've avoided using my favorite line from the movie Real Genius "in the immortal words of Socrates, I drank WHAT?"

[Hornsby]

I tend to go very free form in an auction...I try to make people react to what I do, and then try to anticipate what they'll do in return. People are also pretty predictable...one will refuse to go past dollar "X", another will covet players from a certain team, and overpay for them. Others try to save all of their money for "bargains" late in the draft, only to find themselves with a ton of money left on the table, or overpaying for middling players.

Bottom line for me is to know the bidding habits of your leaguemates as well as possible...it'll be interesting this season since I'm in a new (for me) NL only league. Who'll blink first?

[Pogues]

I agree but in an auction everyone has a price the players don't necessarily fit into particular sub-groups. Even if they did fit your groups they really wouldn't matter. If all of the players are properly priced and your money properly spent in the auction it doesn't matter what tier a particular player falls. What matters is whether you have maximized your value for the team as a whole.

I knew when you said you didn't believe in tiers, there was a reason I agreed with you, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Now I remember...exactly what you said.

[Big Tymer]

PREWORK:
Step 1: Buy Rotolab and enter leagues with proper settings
Step 2: Enter expected keepers and refine with actual keepers when they lock down
Step 3: Create a rough budget of what I want to spend per position (directional only) based on available talent

AT AUCTION:
Step 4: Mix up tosses based on who I want, who I don't want, expensive players, inexpensive players (don't try to always do 1 thing)
Step 5: Spend early to lock up key assets (don't want to be buying the last guy at a given value since you tend to overpay)
Step 6: Try to save more than most for dollar days to make a few more targeted acquisitions

[Vecmizer]

[QUOTE=

Bottom line for me is to know the bidding habits of your leaguemates as well as possible... [/QUOTE]

This is one that can really help. As you said everyone in every league has tendencies. Some do not buy for the first few rounds, some buy early, some never throw out who they want, some only through who they want. How hoards saves, speed, rookies, stars scrubs. We have a guy who is notorious for waiting and hoarding his money and then it screw everyone halfway through the auction. His team is usually shit but but most other teams are sent scrambling because player X goes for 20 to a guy when he should have gone for 12. I started seeing who is always on his team and threw them out in rounds one and two. I myself have a horrible tendency. Until a few years ago I never threw anyone out I wanted until at least halfway through the draft. Guys are not stupid so the stopped bidding and I never rarely if ever got stuck with someone I truly could not stomach but many players went for less because I was less likely to price enforce on those guys knowing the league was catching on to me.

Best story ever of knowing your league mates. One owner NEVER bought starters he always played the RP, saves and whip angle. He made the mistake of throwing out Hideo Nomo (a Tiger at the time and I we are based in Detroit) for $1. He heard crickets and was stunned. Nomo wasn't a horrible purchase but he threw his draft off and he didn't know how to fix it and was out of whack for a few rounds.

[Mithrandir]

I like to figure inflation just as information, to get an idea of how much I'll likely need to add to my valuations in order to get the players I want. It's not a hard-and-fast thing for me.

Guesstimate other teams' keepers
Preliminary estimate of inflation
Calculate inflation
Create tiers
Note which players I prefer within each tier
Go into the auction with a clear idea of who and how much
"No battle plan survives contact with the enemy"
"WTF did I just do?"

Does doing these things really make a difference? I ask because i do none of those things pre-auction. I go to the auction with a magazine that lists the players and go from there. I decide who i want based on the flow of the auction.

I have often wondered if doing the things you mention would help me have a better auction, but like a few others have said, i always felt the most important part was knowing your league-mates tendencies.

[chancellor]

Does doing these things really make a difference? I ask because i do none of those things pre-auction. I go to the auction with a magazine that lists the players and go from there. I decide who i want based on the flow of the auction.

I have often wondered if doing the things you mention would help me have a better auction, but like a few others have said, i always felt the most important part was knowing your league-mates tendencies.

It did for me. As DQ says, your mileage may vary. Knowing tendencies in your league is important, too. But I do much better with a general plan based on who has what and what players are available than not. Plus, if I've done all the prep work, I find it easier to change to a new plan if strange things start to happen in the auction.

[Fresno Bob]

my general auction plan is to "buy value", tiers help me do that, if I have 6 SS in my "tier 3" for SS, they should be basically interchangable. Sure, there might be one I like better, but I just use tiers to create "blocks of interchangable value"

[Don Quixote]

The only problem with tiers is that if you have three guys essentially equal, you can see the bidding get excessive on the first and say, "No, I'll get one of the other two". Then bidding gets high on the second and you say, "No, I'll get the third". Then you find out that two other guys are playing it the same way and the bidding gets crazy on that player.

Sometimes you just have to say, "I'm buying the first or second of this tier, period."

[Hornsby]

I think that Tiers can work great in a draft, not so much in an auction.

[DMT]

The only problem with tiers is that if you have three guys essentially equal, you can see the bidding get excessive on the first and say, "No, I'll get one of the other two". Then bidding gets high on the second and you say, "No, I'll get the third". Then you find out that two other guys are playing it the same way and the bidding gets crazy on that player.

Sometimes you just have to say, "I'm buying the first or second of this tier, period."

This is not a good way to use tiers IMO. If there are only 3 players in a tier, then it's not one I'm going to be targeting. That's why I never end up with guys like Posey, Cano or Tulo. There are very few elite players at those positions and so they generally go for much more than I'm willing to pay.

I can see people saying 'tiers don't work for me' but to claim they aren't an effective strategy is nonsense...and I got the hardware to prove it

[gcstomp]

20 years ago I would have piles of books, mags, 2 notebooks with highlighted lists. 10 years ago a book, a mag, a notebook, and deep lists with highlights, red marks, notes. 5 years ago, the BB Forecaster, and 3 sheets of lists with about 600 names with my own hieroglyphics next to them indicating like/meh/no like. 2 years ago, 1 sheet with tiers. This year, no mags, no books, no sheets. I do bring a bucket of iced beer, an everything pizza, and clothing optional.

[Hornsby]

20 years ago I would have piles of books, mags, 2 notebooks with highlighted lists. 10 years ago a book, a mag, a notebook, and deep lists with highlights, red marks, notes. 5 years ago, the BB Forecaster, and 3 sheets of lists with about 600 names with my own hieroglyphics next to them indicating like/meh/no like. 2 years ago, 1 sheet with tiers. This year, no mags, no books, no sheets. I do bring a bucket of iced beer, an everything pizza, and clothing optional.

Ewwww, you're not going to be naked at the RJEL draft, are you? That could cause another 3 days of caustic emails and drama. I don't care if it's an online draft...it's the principal of the thing man!

[Moonlight J]

I've left a few Playboys out on the table when I've hosted drafts. One year, it completely threw 2 owners off their game as they couldn't stop looking at them and talking about them. Both finished in the bottom 3rd of the league that year.

[DMT]

I've left a few Playboys out on the table when I've hosted drafts. One year, it completely threw 2 owners off their game as they couldn't stop looking at them and talking about them. Both finished in the bottom 3rd of the league that year.

I loaded a video up on my computer one year and turned it around to face my opponents, but only got a few comments. Maybe retro print mags would have a greater effect