If you manage teams in the NFBC Cutline, this strategy article is just for you. If you’ve never played, it’s something you may want to consider getting into next season. Cutlines are 10-team points leagues with an overall component that is set up in best-ball style. That means there’s very little maintenance during the season after the draft since your points are optimized daily for the 23 active roster slots among your 42-player roster. The only in-season maintenance is the two FAAB (free agent bidding) periods. One took place in mid-April and the second (and last) is right around the corner – bids/results run at 10pm EST on Tuesday, June 4. At that point, your roster is locked for the remainder of the season.
How one approaches this second FAAB bidding period depends on their current roster situation (depth per position, number of injuries) and most importantly, how many FAAB dollars they have left. With the seemingly countless number of studs promoted from Triple-A and surprise hitters and pitchers that we’ve seen develop over the last month, it may appear that those who blew the majority of their budgets made a big mistake. But that’s not exactly the case. It behooves us to save for the second FAAB period in June every single year and not just because we’ve had guys like Austin Riley, Griffin Canning and Michael Chavis pop up into the picture. During last year’s first FAAB period, anyone who blew their budget on Juan Soto received a valuable full-season asset. Earlier this April, there were a handful of valuable additions like Chris Paddack, Brad Peacock, Domingo German and Max Fried who have proved to be incredibly valuable. Personally, I spent $815 of my $1000 budget in the first deadline and reaped some decent rewards (Brandon Lowe – $283, Matt Strahm – $257, Dan Vogelbach – $136) expecting all three to be helpful for the rest of the season. If you spent a big chunk of your change on guys like Tim Beckham and Christian Walker you’ve been let down. If you ended up saving most of your FAAB dollars, then you can go shopping with comfort on Tuesday. But you’ve got to do so in the right way. I’m here to help you with that.
Team Review
I see countless mistakes with folks’ Cutline bidding every season so I wanted to be certain that you all are optimizing each and every bidding dollar and roster spot. The first thing we need to do is analyze and recognize the guys who we are dropping.
For example, in my league, I have a few obvious drops. Arodys Vizcaino is out for the season, Cody Allen and Mark Melancon aren’t closers and Luke Weaver is likely out for the next 6-8 weeks even though he isn’t having surgery. I then have a couple of middling guys who don’t play every day (Hernan Perez, Greg Allen) who are not 10-team caliber. Not to mention, I can identify at least 15 hitters available on FAAB that can be more productive for my team than those two. My last and final potential drop is on the bubble. It’s Dbacks’ SP Merrill Kelly, but I’ve decided that I’ll be dropping him as well since I’ve identified at least five starting pitchers I’d rather have contribute to my roster than Kelly.
So that’s the first step: identify the number of drops you have on your team and begin setting up your bids with them. You can do so directly on the FREE AGENTS page or can write them down on paper and set up columns of new adds for each drop.
Secondly, you’ll want to review the overall composition of your roster. Do you have enough depth (backups) at each offensive position? Do you have 17-21 total pitchers on your roster who are currently positive contributors? For example, if you feel like you have a plethora of viable pitchers but only two usable catchers, you may want to consider an entire bid column for catchers dropping a pitcher who you won’t be using. Even if those are borderline 10-team adds (guys like Elias Diaz, Jason Castro, Chance Sisco), you’ll still want to load up a single catcher bid column with only catchers to ensure you have depth at the position. Yes, most catchers are worthless, but this is a points league and every point counts. Particularly at a position where a team’s primary catcher can frequently be found on the bench a couple times per week, it’s important to have a rotation of usable resources to fill up the two catcher slots we start each day.
Once you’ve identified your drop candidates, you can proceed with figuring out who you will be bidding on.
Bidding Strategies
The number one rule of Cutline bidding is to make sure you’re spending every remaining FAAB dollar. One way to do that is to make sure your top bid amounts in each column equal the amount of FAAB you have left. Since there are no more FAAB periods in Cutline, you want to be sure that you are extracting value out of every last dollar you have. If you have $550 left and plan on dropping six guys, make sure the top bid in each column equals $550 (ie: $401 + $103 + $34 + $6 + $3 + $3). Perhaps you want to spend $401 on Riley and spread the remaining $149 out among your remaining five bids. Here’s one way you can set this up:
| Bid 1 (CI/MI bid) | Player | Amount | Bid 2 (2nd CI/MI) | Player | Amount | Bid 3 (pitcher) | Player | Amount |
| drop | (Hernan Perez) | drop | (Arodys Vizcaino) | drop | (Corey Knebel) | |||
| add (primary) | Austin Riley | $401 | add (primary) | Michael Chavis | $34 | add (primary) | Griffin Canning | $103 |
| add (conditional) | Michael Chavis | $401 | add (conditional) | Renato Nunez | $34 | add (conditional) | Martin Perez | $103 |
| add (conditional) | Renato Nunez | $401 | add (conditional) | Derek Dietrich | $34 | add (conditional) | Lance Lynn | $103 |
| add (conditional) | Derek Dietrich | $401 | add (conditional) | Cavan Biggio | $34 | add (conditional) | Wade Miley | $103 |
| add (conditional) | Cavan Biggio | $401 | add (conditional) | Nicky Lopez | $34 | add (conditional) | Danny Duffy | $103 |
| add (conditional) | Nicky Lopez | $401 | add (conditional) | Howie Kendrick | $34 | add (conditional) | Chris Bassitt | $103 |
| add (conditional) | Howie Kendrick | $401 | add (conditional) | Tommy La Stella | $34 | add (conditional) | Daniel Mengden | $103 |
Here we have $538 allocated to three bid spots where your balance ($12 of $550) can be allocated across your remaining bids. The obvious downside of this scenario is you give yourself pretty much a zero percent chance of getting Chavis as your second bid, and of course, you are clearly overpaying for the conditionals in your first bid (Nunez, Dietrich, etc). But it’s the ideal way to set it up to keep your bids focused and your offense and pitching optimized for the rest of the season.
An alternative way to do this is to essentially resign yourself to the fact that you won’t get Riley and flatten out your bids (bump Riley down by $200 – $300 and spread that surplus between Bids 2 and 3).
| Bid 1 (CI/MI bid) | Player | Amount | Bid 2 (2nd CI/MI) | Player | Amount | Bid 3 (pitcher) | Player | Amount |
| drop | (Hernan Perez) | drop | (Arodys Vizcaino) | drop | (Corey Knebel) | |||
| add (primary) | Austin Riley | $205 | add (primary) | Michael Chavis | $177 | add (primary) | Griffin Canning | $156 |
| add (conditional) | Michael Chavis | $205 | add (conditional) | Renato Nunez | $177 | add (conditional) | Martin Perez | $156 |
| add (conditional) | Renato Nunez | $205 | add (conditional) | Derek Dietrich | $177 | add (conditional) | Lance Lynn | $156 |
| add (conditional) | Derek Dietrich | $205 | add (conditional) | Cavan Biggio | $177 | add (conditional) | Wade Miley | $156 |
| add (conditional) | Cavan Biggio | $205 | add (conditional) | Nicky Lopez | $177 | add (conditional) | Danny Duffy | $156 |
| add (conditional) | Nicky Lopez | $205 | add (conditional) | Howie Kendrick | $177 | add (conditional) | Chris Bassitt | $156 |
| add (conditional) | Howie Kendrick | $205 | add (conditional) | Tommy La Stella | $177 | add (conditional) | Daniel Mengden | $156 |
When considering going big for a top priority, ask yourself: do you have a realistic shot?
If you only have $550 left and see several other teams in your league with $750-plus remaining you can pretty much assume that you won’t get Riley. Instead, consider spreading out your bid amounts more evenly ($100 and up) among four to six target sets.
If you have most of your FAAB left, go big on your top target. If you have say $800 left, you can go $700+ on a mixed bid (top hitters and pitchers).
If you have less than $300, it might be wiser to focus on secondary targets and just throw ‘keep’em-honest’ bids on the most coveted prizes.
Be sure to keep your team’s depth at positions in mind as you create your bids. If you happen to have a surplus of talent at CI and your pitching is weak, put more of your bidding dollars towards targeting pitchers in their team’s respective starting rotations who you think will provide value. Check your point splits in the standings (hitting vs. pitching) to help guide you.
Other things to keep in mind:
- Make your lists of conditionals deep
Don’t mess around here. If you’re dropping a guy who is out for the season, make sure you’ve got 10 or more conditional bids per drop, in your order of preference. If it’s someone on your roster bubble, figure out the cut-off point. If you’re thinking about dropping Chad Pinder, make sure the last guy on your bid list for this Pinder drop projects better rest-of-season. If that’s your sixth MI or OF in the order, stop the bid there. If there are 12 guys you think are better than Pinder ROS, put all those guys in. Do this exercise for each of your drops.
- Grouping by position
I prefer to group them by position, but if you want, you can make one drop for a mixed bid of the best hitters and pitchers for all of the best resources available and then make the rest of your bids by position (one for catchers, one for outfielders, one for pitchers). You can mix multi-eligible guys in on all of your CI/MI/OF bids if you like.
- Determining your order
How do we determine our order for any specific bid group? Let’s start with the one from my example that included Nunez, Lopez, Kendrick, Dietrich, La Stella and Biggio. In addition to general stat projections, there are several things we should prioritize, with the first being likelihood of playing time. If we don’t think Nicky Lopez or Biggio are going to stick in the majors for long, perhaps we drop them down our lists. Maybe we think La Stella cools off or that Dietrich’s playing time is affected by the return of Scooter Gennett eventually. These are all things we need to keep in mind with 16 weeks remaining. I’d also consider how good the offense around them is and where they hit in the lineup. Guys in run-producing lineup spots (middle of the order), guys who steal bases who lead off and pure power hitters should be your priority.
- Prioritize Multi-eligible guys
Hitters like Dietrich, La Stella, Kendrick are all more valuable in this best ball format with their ability to crack your optimal lineup at different positions. Let’s say a scenario where Dietrich scored 15 fantasy points on the day. If he were MI eligible only and you had a 2B, MI and UT guy who produced 15+ points that day in those slots, Dietrich’s big 15-point day wouldn’t even crack your starting lineup nor provide you points on that day. You get the picture. The more position eligibility your hitter has, the better. It should be a tie-breaker in your conditional bid list if it comes down to two guys of equal value where one guy is eligible at two or more positions and the other isn’t. David Fletcher is a guy who is particularly valuable in this format where he’s eligible at four positions (2B/3B/SS/OF) and you know that he’ll usually get to lead off when a southpaw is on the mound against the Angels.
- Checking your work
Double-check all of your drops and make sure you don’t have duplicates in there by accident. Your second drop will be voided if you have a duplicate in there. Make sure the sum of the high bid totals don’t exceed your total budget (just in case you do get each of your top bids – unlikely, but possible). Finally, save your work along the way. I’m sure you know, but it’s that button in the top right corner.
Finally, here’s my order of guys you should bid on, per position, who are owned in less than 90% of Cutline leagues:
* (asterisk denotes risk of getting sent down to minor leagues)
* (prioritze guys bolded)
| Catchers | Team |
| Mitch Garver | MIN |
| Christian Vazquez | BOS |
| James McCann | CHW |
| Elias Diaz | PIT |
| Josh Phegley | OAK |
| *Chance Sisco | BAL |
| Roberto Perez | CLE |
| Tony Wolters | COL |
| Curt Casali | CIN |
| Carson Kelly | ARI |
| *Will Smith | LAD |
| Corner Infielders | Team | Pos | Notes |
| Austin Riley | ATL | 3B/OF | |
| Michael Chavis | BOS | 2B/3B | |
| Miguel Sano | MIN | 3B | |
| Derek Dietrich | CIN | 1B/2B/OF | Gennett coming back soon |
| Ryam McMahon | COL | 1B/2B | |
| David Fletcher | LAA | 2B/3B/SS/OF | |
| Renato Nunez | BAL | 3B | |
| Hunter Dozier | KCR | 1B/3B | Currently on IL |
| Howie Kendrick | WAS | 1B/2B/3B | |
| Tommy La Stella | LAA | 2B/3B | |
| Jose Martinez | STL | 1B/OF | |
| Kyle Seager | SEA | 3B | |
| Rowdy Tellez | TOR | 1B | |
| Jake Lamb | ARI | 3B | Back soon but hits RHP only |
| Albert Pujols | LAA | 1B | |
| Ji-Man Choi | TBR | 1B | |
| Colin Moran | PIT | 3B |
MIDDLE INFIELDERS: You could consider bidding on Keston Hiura and Luis Urias even though both are in the minors – sort of a sneaky play since both have more upside than most of the guys on the list below.
| Middle Infielders | Team | Pos | Notes |
| Brandon Lowe | TBR | 2B | |
| Michael Chavis | BOS | 2B/3B | |
| Brendan Rodgers | COL | SS | Soon to be 2B eligible |
| Derek Dietrich | CIN | 1B/2B/OF | |
| Ryan McMahon | COL | 1B/2B | |
| David Fletcher | LAA | 2B/3B/SS/OF | |
| Scott Kingery | PHI | SS/OF | Second half looks promising |
| Howie Kendrick | WAS | 1B/2B/3B | |
| Tommy La Stella | LAA | 2B/3B | |
| Nicky Lopez | KCR | 2B/SS | No HR/SB yet |
| Kevin Newman | PIT | SS | Big prospect, high upside |
| Orlando Arcia | MLW | SS | |
| Danny Santana | TEX | 2B/OF | More playing time while Gallo sidelined |
| Nick Ahmed | ARI | SS | |
| Addison Russell | CHC | 2B/SS | |
| David Bote | CHC | 2B/3B | |
| Freddy Galvis | TOR | SS | |
| Luis Rengifo | LAA | 2B/SS |
| Outfield | Team | Pos | Notes |
| Austin Riley | ATL | 3B/OF | |
| Raimel Tapia | COL | OF | |
| Alex Verdugo | LAD | OF | BIG 2nd half coming |
| Alex Gordon | KCR | OF | Boring but still the 3-hole hitter |
| Oscar Mercado | CLE | OF | |
| Derek Dietrich | CIN | 1B/2B/OF | |
| Dwight Smith Jr. | BAL | OF | |
| David Fletcher | LAA | 2B/3B/SS/OF | |
| Scott Kingery | PHI | SS/OF | |
| Corey Dickerson | PIT | OF | Back soon from IL |
| Jarrod Dyson | ARI | OF | |
| DJ Stewart | BAL | OF | Sneaky bid this week |
| Leury Garcia | CHW | OF | |
| Albert Almora | CHC | OF | |
| Garrett Cooper | MIA | 1B/OF | |
| Harold Ramirez | MIA | OF | |
| Josh Reddick | HOU | OF | Playing time will dip when Tucker arrives |
| Myles Straw | HOU | OF | Arguably fastest guy in MLB |
| Brian Goodwin | LAA | OF | |
| Willie Calhoun | TEX | OF | Worth a stab if he’s back soon |
| Jordan Luplow | CLE | OF | Lefty crusher but PT not consistent |
| Franchy Cordero | SDP | OF | Back from IL soon but crowded OF |
| Pitchers | Team | Notes |
| Mike Soroka | ATL | |
| Lucas Giolito | CHW | |
| Mike Clevinger | CLE | Could be back before end of month |
| Frankie Montas | OAK | |
| Griffin Canning | LAA | |
| Andrew Heaney | LAA | |
| Hector Neris – RP | PHI | Locked in as closer |
| Martin Perez | MIN | |
| Felix Pena | LAA | |
| Spencer Turnbull | DET | |
| Alex Reyes | STL | Worth a shot |
| Devin Smeltzer | MIN | Risk of being demoted |
| Danny Duffy | KCR | |
| Sergio Romo – RP | MIA | closer |
| Hansel Robles – RP | LAA | closer |
| Lance Lynn | TEX | Strikeout upside |
| Wade Miley | HOU | |
| Jimmy Nelson | MLW | |
| Jon Duplantier | ARI | |
| Luke Jackson – RP | ATL | closer |
| Corbin Martin | HOU | Will he stick in rotation? |
| Jalen Beeks | TBR | |
| Daniel Mengden | OAK | |
| Zach Davies | MLW | |
| Zach Plesac | CLE | Dicey bid with Clevinger back soon |
| Cishek/Strop – RPs | CHC | Tough to bid not knowing who will close |
