I’m gonna take a moment to go through the FAAB bidding in five experts leagues. There were some aggressive bids on players that I think were overspends, and plenty a player added on the cheap that could turn out to be a bargain. Did the spending in your leagues mirror what the pros did this past weekend? Read on to find out.
FAAB REVIEW
TOUT WARS (15-team mixed)
Kolten Wong $331 – To me, this seems like a massive overpay for a guy we’ve been disappointed by for four years (I spoke about him here). Sometimes you just gotta go for it though when you have a team weakness and a dream (I still think it was way too aggressive). Here are the other bids on Wong: 179, 89, 47, 42, 39. This bid would have greatly benefited from the Vickrey Method since it nearly doubled the next closest offering (the winner gets the player, but the cost is only $1 more than the next highest bid meaning Wong wouldn’t have cost $331 but only $180).
Marco Gonzales $147 – He was released last week, despite his solid start. Being that he was my Breakout Pitcher of the Year… you bet your ass I was gonna get him. I originally put in a bid of $137 before upping it to 147. Other bids were 103, 87 and 79. I too would have benefited from the Vickrey Method, but I got my man, a great get IMO after Justus Sheffield was sent to the minors and Jesus Luzardo was injured (my other two young SP arm options).
Jason Heyward $131 – Can you believe he’s just 29 years old? Back in 2012 he went 27/21 with 82 RBI and 93 runs. Yes, Jason Heyward did that. He still has the talent and athleticism to be a 15/15 type of performer, though he hasn’t done that since, ironically, 2012. This is a substantial bid for a guy who has started out on first with a .333-3-8-7-2 line in eight games. Failed bids (59, 52, 32, 19, 7).
Christian Walker – $129 – I spoke about him here in detail.
Blake Swihart $57 – I can envision him being a top-20 catcher this season, so in a league where 30 backstops start, he’s well worth investing in.
NFBC (15-team mixed) – $1,000
Clint Frazier $191 (Runner Up 126) – Power bat, but what happens when Hicks/Stanton return? Could be right back to the minors for Frazier.
Hector Neris $89 (42) – I get it. Robertson has been a mess, and Neris was as dominant as any hurler in baseball in the second half last season. Still, lots of cash to play for a guy who might struggle to reach double-digits in saves with Seranthony Dominguez likely ahead of him in the packing order in Philly.
Mitch Moreland $48 (32) – Moreland is what he is. He’s boring but stable. The team that added him let go an injured Ronald Guzman.
Spencer Turnbull $46 (41) – Tight bidding here (I went in at $27). For more on Turnbull see this Ray’s Ramblings piece.
Jordan Zimmermann $45 (35) – I spoke about him here.
Leury Garcia $43 (13) – Has some speed, but his bat offers no power and he’s always on the cusp of losing playing time. Boring.
Mike Leake $41 (17) – Boring, stable, consistently mediocre. When he’s in one of his patented runs, he can be quite effective, but there is league average stuff here if you roll him out there 30 times.
Raimel Tapia $40 (12) – This one could offer a big payoff. News broke that David Dahl was removed from the game with an injury about 30 minutes before FAAB ran. We don’t know how much time Dahl will miss, but he is dealing with something near his oblique, and injury that cost him time last year, or was it the year before? I can’t remember at this point as dude just can’t seem to stay healthy. Tapia can hit, but has never gotten a shot with the Rockies for full-time work. A Jeff Mans favorite, he’s a proven .300 hitter in the minors who sprays the ball all over the field, and he has the speed to swipe 20 bases as well. Think Howie Kendrick with a bit more speed as the upside if everything went right.
Mike Minor $36 – He was my bid as I’m waiting for Carlos Martinez/Alex Wood to return (I dropped Steve Cishek, so no loss at all really). I needed an SP, and there just didn’t seem to be any better options as I didn’t want to overspend for a Zimmerman or Turnbull. Runner up bid was $15 for the likely to be solid but not much more Minor.
SiriusXM Host League (12-team mixed) – $1,000
Hunter Renfroe $209 (19, 12) – Talk about the need for Vickery. Goodness gracious. Loved in spring, hated at the start of the season, now back in good graces is Renfroe. The Padres still have too many outfield options.
Trevor Richards $150 (17, 1) – The $17 bid was mine. Richards has a dynamic changeup and has the look of a guy who should be at least on par with Leake, with the potential to rise to Hendrick’s like levels.
D.J. LeMahieu $140 (107, 36, 11) – The injury to Andujar opens up a lot of playing time for DJL who will add third base to his second base eligibility.
Clint Frazier $138, Kole Calhoun $117, Alex Verdugo $114 – Not a single secondary bid on any of these three. Wow is right.
Ryon Healy $113 (87, 11, 2, 1) – Kinda like Moreland, Healy is what he is. He’s solid, productive but boring. He has three homers and 11 RBI in 11 games as seemingly everyone is having success in the early going with the Mariners, but he’s still hitting just .256 with a .313 OBP.
Jarrod Dyson $76 – With Walker at first, Lamb on the DL, and Souza done for the year, the 34 year old speedster could be well on his way to another 25-steal season, a total he has reached in 6-of-7 seasons. Not much other than the speed.
Frankie Montas $75 – A fastball/slider hurler, he’s long struggled with the lefties, and despite the velocity, his career swinging strike rate of 10.3 percent is decidedly league average.
Chad Pinder $73 – Multi position eligible, but he’s really just a lefty masher and could stand to lose playing time once Matt Olson returns from the DL causing a shift in playing time.
Yonny Chirinos $57 (3) – A bit expensive, but a solid addition.
Christian Walker $17 – My add of the week as I had an open spot on the roster. He should get six weeks of daily work at the least, as that is the amount of time that Jake Lamb is expected to be sidelined.
FSTA (14-team mixed) – $1,000
Yandy Diaz $227 (144, 53, 33, 23) – He can hit. The question is – will he lift the baseball? With a 50+ percent ground ball rate, he’s just not lifting the ball enough to take advantage of his latent power. He’s got the talent to put up a season like Eduardo Rodriguez last year (just a random name, but solid numbers), IF he can lift the ball more.
Anthony Swarzak $156 (82, 39, 35, 33, 27, 26) – Who knows. Nice arm, and has a chance to roll with the 9th inning gig in Seattle. At the same time, he was awful last season, has been just average in his career, and has been in an out of the lineup with injuries. I would have felt much better adding him at the failed bid levels.
Christian Walker $127 (88, 58, 47, 39, 35, 33) – Amazing how diff leagues can consider players differently. There are 14 teams in this league, but he went for less in the 15-team Tout Wars League ($129). In the 12-team SiriusXM League, the cost was a mere $17. Clearly the experts are greatly divided on his outlook.
Jason Heyward $103 (47, 22) – See above.
Hector Neris $91 – See above.
Alex Verdugo $88 (27, 23, 20, 12) – Playing time is the issue, not the bat. The Dodgers look like they will spreadsheet baseball the crap out of it this season, meaning Verdugo will be in and out of the lineup barring an injury to another outfielder with the club.
Mark Reynolds $56 (48, 4) – With the injury to Ryan McMahon, he figures to get a lot of run in the short-term at first base. He can hit, but playing time will catch up to him, one would think, as the team is obviously better off using McMahon at first and Garrett Hampson at second base.
Clint Frazier $56 – A much better price than the one paid above.
Sonny Gray $53 – No other bids, but I have no problem with his addition. He’s struggling to find it, but with a bit of patience, but Gray could return value in mixed leagues. I’ve always liked the skills, but trust is not a word to use anymore as the results continue to be middling.
Mitch Moreland $44 (38, 27) – Three similar bids for the consistently average first sacker.
Ryan Yarbrough $21 – My weekly addition on the bump. He’s no great shakes, but we all know how he will be used, how that helps a bit in the win’s column, and how the Rays keep turning out successful seasons on the bump from their arms.
AL LABR (12-team only) – $100
*There is a rule that any player that you paid for in the auction, or any player you pay for off waivers, must be active in your lineup. That means you cannot bench a struggling player in this format, he must remain in your lineup. That further means when you add a player off waivers, unless one of your guys was placed on the DL or sent to the minors, that you have to drop someone you paid money on to add players off waivers.
Trent Thornton $17 (7, 5, 4, 4) – He wasn’t supposed to make the rotation. With Clay Buchholz coming, he wasn’t expected to hold on to the rotation spot (I bid $4 by the way). Thornton looks impressive through two outings with 15 punchouts and two walks, and with each outing his hold on the starting gig is strengthened. He’s famous for a massive curveball spin rate, like top-5 in baseball kinda stuff, but his changeup grades out poorly while his slider is just average. This isn’t a skill set that scream out a strikeout per inning or dominance of any kind. Well worth speculating on, but understand that league averaged ratios are way more likely to occur than what we’ve seen to this point.
Socrates Brito $4 (2, 1, 1) – I had a decision to make. Being that I couldn’t bench my $2 Chris Davis in this league, I could continue to wait out his horrific struggles and hope he hit 25 homers this season. I just couldn’t do it though, so I made the pivot to Brito (I put Brito in the OF and shifted Joey Gallo to the corner infield spot). The Jays seem enamored with Brito, choosing to add him off waivers while sending Anthony Alford back to the minors. Brito has already been with three organizations this season, and he’s 26 years old. He’s appeared in three games with the Jays hitting first or second each time, and the hope is that he will do enough to steal 15 bases the rest of the season. He will seemingly battle Teoscar Hernandez and Billy McKinney for two spots in the daily Jays’ lineup. If he can just hit a little bit, he could see 400+ plate appearances making him a solid addition at this price.
Alec Hanson $4 (3, 2, 1, 1) – He has speed and should be used around the field. Just how much playing time he’s awarded is anyone’s guess. He played about half the time last year in SF and rewarded owners with eight homers and seven steals.
Christian Arroyo $4 – He’s already been sent back to the minors.
Logan Forsythe $3
Tyler Wade $2
Richard Bleier $1
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday-Friday, 8-10 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). Follow Ray’s work on Twitter (@baseballguys) and be sure to listen to his podcast work too.
