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Auction Time

So I’ve been invited to play in LABR this year. For those who don’t know, LABR, which stands for “League of Alternative Baseball Reality,” was formed in 1994 and featured Peter Gammons, Keith Olbermann and Bill James. Basically, it and Tout Wars are the “World Series” of fantasy baseball leagues. The auction is held in Arizona, and I’ll be in the NL-only league. Since I’m much more familiar with a draft format, it was a good thing I recently participated in a newly formed RotoWire Staff Keeper League. The following is my team, and bear in mind it’s a 15-team league.

C- Brian McCann $26
C- Ramon Hernandez $5
1B- James Loney $10
2B- B.J. Upton $32
3B- Hank Blalock $5
SS- Yunel Escobar $7
CI- Scott Rolen $1
MI- Mark Ellis $3
OF- Grady Sizemore $39
OF- Matt Kemp $15
OF- Johnny Damon $9
OF- Wily Mo Pena $3
OF- Austin Kearns $1
UTIL- Andy LaRoche $5

P- Scott Kazmir $19
P- Francisco Liriano $18
P- Tim Lincecum $17
P- Brett Myers $10
P- Dustin McGowan $9
P- Ted Lilly $9
P- Barry Zito $5
P- Homer Bailey $2
P- Scott Olsen $2

Comments: If this draft says anything, it’s that I put my money where my mouth is, as I came away with Upton, Pena, Kearns, Kazmir and Lincecum – all guys I’ve been advocating drafting. Not that this squad needs any excuses, but I got tired of reading the copious amount of e-mails flooding my inbox and misunderstood the rules, which resulted in me leaving $8 on the table. We’ll call that my handicap for the rest of the league. I would have changed my strategy some if I realized all of the bench players were going to be drafted at a later date in a reserve/minors snake draft format. Anyway, I digress.

In deep leagues (and NL/AL-only), I think the best strategy is to avoid the superstars and make sure you come out balanced and with depth. I think it worked pretty well here. I like my setup for this year and the future. McCann got a little expensive because he was the last of the elite catchers, but 2-3 years from now I’m going to regret choosing Hernandez over Matt Wieters ($3). No one can accuse me of being a Giants homer, as I ended up with three Dodgers (Kemp, Loney, LaRoche). I didn’t even really want Rolen, but after my $1 nomination, all I got was crickets. It’s pretty easy to fill out an outfield on the cheap.

My starting pitching is flat-out ridiculous. Still, I probably should have changed my strategy going in and taken a closer or two, since some came incredibly cheap (Brian Wilson $4). Then again, I wouldn’t have been able to select Bailey or that head-case Olsen. If I don’t win strikeouts, my staff will have to be devastated by injuries.

It was a good primer for LABR, although I imagine the prices will change pretty dramatically in an NL-only format.

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16 responses to “Auction Time”

  1. Dreamweapon Avatar
    Dreamweapon

    Rolen for a buck….wow, it seems like only yesterday that I got him in the 3rd round of an NL-only draft and thought I was getting away with a major heist. Now he’s perceived as scrap….how the mighty have fallen.

  2. Donald Trump Avatar
    Donald Trump

    No offense bro, but I dont think your pitching is that amazing.
    Kazmir is an injury risk who threw 3500 last year. Liriano is an injury risk. Lincecum is great, but might not get any wins. I am not sure who brett myers is anymore, but I know he is sketch. McGowan is hyped, but not great. Lilly is mediocre. Zito, Bailey, Olsen are crap.
    There is potential here, but I doubt you have a top 3 staff, especially since you have no closers.

  3. RotoScoop Avatar
    RotoScoop

    I’m worried about Rolen playing on that turf with his back, but maybe he’ll be extra motivated to stick it to LaRussa. We’ll see. I’d have rather gone with Conor Jackson.

  4. RotoScoop Avatar
    RotoScoop

    Donald – We’ll have to agree to disagree on my starting pitching. Although I do admit I’m also worried about Kazmir’s workload. Check out his 2nd half from last season tho.

    Liriano is an injury-risk, but for $18 in a keeper format, I don’t think it’s all that risky. He was baseball’s best pitcher (by far) before the injury, and that happened a while ago now.

    If I’m playing 9 SPs, Lincecum’s lack of run support won’t really hurt b/c I’m going to easily take the WINS cat anyway.

    I like Brett Myers. He won’t be as dominant as he was in the pen last year, but check out his 2nd half #s from the final year he was starting. He was really figuring it out. Although I’m not in love with the fact he keeps switching roles, and he better not go back to the pen if/when Lidge implodes.

    McGowan at $9 in a keeper is a steal. He’s the next big thing.

    I bet Lilly gets hurt this year – he’s due for an injury after not having one last year – but his component ERA and WHIP suggest he could be even better this season if he stays healthy.

    Zito and Olsen are probably crap, but I can’t go there with Bailey. Sure, his stock has fallen from a year ago, but for $2? There’s still quite a bit of upside there.

  5. RotoScoop Avatar
    RotoScoop

    I should have went with Andrew Miller instead of Olsen.

  6. Donald Trump Avatar
    Donald Trump

    I hadn’t taken into account the keeper aspect to your team. Kaz, Liriano, Lincecum, if all healthy, is a great group going forward. I think McGowan is way to hyped, and is a #3 SP at best. At the very least, you are well positioned for the future with all the youth on your team.

  7. Keith Avatar
    Keith

    For a keeper league, I think that’s a pretty damn good staff (though I’m a draft-guy rather than auction too). It’s tough to tell if Sizemore has hit his ceiling yet or not, but he and Upton make for a pretty good core, and Kemp will be a monster…I just have serious questions as to whether or not it will happen this year. I thought Olsen was going to make the leap last year instead of crashing like he did. Bailey can definitely get you your $2 worth. Zito @ $5 though? That’s an extra $13 you should have spent. I think Ramon Hernandez has a chance to do big things (value-wise) this year. I’m going to forgive him for burning me last year and try to get him on the cheap in several leagues this year, but Soto would have been an interesting gamble. I agree with you on McGowan…I’m just trying to figure out how early to take him, since he has been on so many sleeper lists, etc. $9 seems a lot lower than I would have expected.

    Congrats on making it to the big time.

  8. Dreamweapon Avatar
    Dreamweapon

    Are you going to do a league with readers/posters here? I’ll throw down a hundo or two….

  9. RotoScoop Avatar
    RotoScoop

    Donald – Ya the keeper aspect does make a difference with those guys. So what if Liriano takes half a season to get going, he could be worth $30 by next year, for example. I def. went with youth there.

  10. RotoScoop Avatar
    RotoScoop

    Keith – I liked my R. Hernandez pick too. Supposedly he showed up in much better shape this year. but then again, who didn’t?

    Dollar values can sometimes be misleading based on when that player’s name was thrown out. E.G., there were some real good $1 bargains simply b/c they were end-game and more than half the league either 1)had spent all their money or 2)had that position already filled and weren’t allowed to make a bid. Yunel Escobar, who I like, I didn’t expect to have to spend $7, but there were literally no SS after him, so I went the extra 2-4 bucks to secure him.

    My biggest mistake wasn’t underspending, but rather I was holding out $ for bench spots, which weren’t even drafted. Oh well. But ya, Zito wasn’t a great buy either, although he really was solid over the second half last year. He’ll be a solid innings eater who hopefully won’t kill my ERA/WHIP.

    Thanks. But I won’t consider it making it to the big time until I get paid more.

  11. RotoScoop Avatar
    RotoScoop

    Dreamweapon – Ya maybe we should do a RotoScoop league.

  12. Dreamweapon Avatar
    Dreamweapon

    “Supposedly he showed up in much better shape this year. but then again, who didn’t?”

    Well, FWIW, I saw a photo of Josh Beckett the other day that made it appear he was in his third trimester.

    Yes, I would do a league, for sure.

  13. RotoScoop Avatar
    RotoScoop

    Ha ha. You mean this one?

    http://www.bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view.bg?articleid=1073143&srvc=home&position=7

    Unreal!

  14. Poincare Avatar
    Poincare

    I play in the Rotowire Staff Keeper League with Dalton. Here is the team I drafted. Other than drafting four pitchers in their early 40’s, I really like my team. What do you all think? Any feedback would be appreciated.

    C – Carlos Ruiz 1
    C – John Buck 1
    1B – Derrek Lee 20
    2B – Kelly Johnson 9
    3B – Edwin Encarnacion 13
    SS – Miguel Tejada 12
    CI – Todd Helton 10
    MI – Rafael Furcal 16
    OF – Matt Holliday 41
    OF – Chris B. Young 16
    OF – Brad Hawpe 15
    OF – Shane Victorino 9
    OF – Milton Bradley 4
    U – Travis Hafner 19
    P – John Lackey 21
    P – John Smoltz 19
    P – Kevim Escobar 6
    P – Orlando Hernandez 2
    P – Greg Maddux 2
    P – Shawn Hill 2
    P – Trevor Hoffman 11
    P – Joakim Soria 9
    P – Heath Bell 2

  15. RotoScoop Avatar
    RotoScoop

    I really wanted Kelly Johnson and am kicking myself for not bidding up after leaving $ on the table. I also liked your Furcal pick – he’s going to be worth much more than $16. With the other “stars” going so high, Holliday at $41 looks pretty reasonable too. And so does E. Encarnacion.

  16. Keith Avatar
    Keith

    Furcal and KJ are two great MI targets this year. I like Victorino and Hafner at those prices too. I mean, Hafner has to bounce back from last year, right? Victorino could steal 50, but he’ll hit 10+ homers too, and will score runs and have a decent avg. I’m not sure about D.Lee this year, as you never know if the power will come back after a wrist injury…but there’s definite upside, especially if he steals 10-15 bags, and that lineup should help him. Tejada at $12 is probably a pretty good deal too, though I’m surprised he was cheaper than EE @ 3B. That pitching staff is pretty much the opposite of DDD’s…Lackey is solid but unexciting, same with Smoltz. Escobar at a discount is probably not a bad idea, but there’s not much keeper upside here, except for Chris Young and Holliday.

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