Week 17 FAAB Results

This week was the calm before the trade deadline storm(s), with just one real life trade and one league affected by that trade. That trade was Saturday's swap between two putative contenders that might not have been considered contenders a month ago in the Red Sox and the Nationals. The Red Sox are going to get the more immediate contribution from Curtis Mead, but I suspect that the Nationals will get a decent contribution from Connelly Early over the last month of the season, maybe even a little bit sooner. 

This has been couched as a great "buy low, sell high" move by the Nats with Mead, and I agree with that. They traded a former sixth-round pick, catcher Boston Smith, to the White Sox for Mead this spring after the White Sox had designated Mead for assignment. Early had a much higher pedigree heading into this season, and while he's currently injured, he fits a lot more of what they need, and current Director of Player Operations Paul Toboni knows Early from Toboni's days in the Red Sox organization. I wouldn't be surprised if more trades happen between these two teams in future years.

AL Tout Wars

Let's start off with the league where Curtis Mead was available, AL Tout Wars. I have a middle of the pack team, and I have both hitting and pitching needs - my points are essentially split. I had (and still have) the hammer in this league, with one team within $50 in FAAB and just one other was within $180 of me. Three below me was Doug Dennis from BaseballHQ, who had $320 less than me and was a couple of points ahead of me in the standings.

I debated going big on Mead and get at least one extra week, perhaps two extra weeks over the top players that might be going over to the AL later on. I settled on the half-measure, hoping that the two teams directly below me in FAAB budget were holding out for someone better, which would then still allow me another big buy in the next two weeks. I bid $320, with the notion that if I got him, I'd still be at worst the third-highest budgeted team. It almost worked:

Unfortunately, "close" is a matter of perspective, and even then it only matters in horseshoes and hand grenades. Jason decided to go big, and that was that.

I went with a few small ball additions instead - be still my beating heart, again. Yohendrick Pinango got called back up by the Blue Jays, and should be on the strong side of a platoon with Jesus Sanchez, Jonatan Clase, Lenyn Sosa and Addison Barger all out. There's also a chance that the Jays could find a take for George Springer at the deadline, opening up another possibility for playing time. I also grabbed Drew Romo from the White Sox, with the hope that he runs into one or two while Samuel Basallo is out.

My Drops: Aaron Civale, Kirby Yates. I finally gave up on Yates, way too late. The start of the season would have been the best time to give up on Yates. Jordan Romano now leads two teams in saves, though he's merely tied for the Rockies' team lead.

NFBC Main Event

We're admittedly buying high after Cooper Pratt's best week, but the stolen base upside has been there for a while - he's had multiple stolen bases in three of six weeks. We also had an aggressive (for us, given our remaining budget) bid on Tatsuya Imai, but fortunately we were saved from ourselves and didn't come close! What a volatile pitcher.

Speaking of volatile pitchers ... Jacob Lopez and Hunter Dobbins, come on down! We're using Lopez this week, we are not using Dobbins.

Our Drops: Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, Mitch Bratt, Kirby Yates. What a horrible injury for Kuroda-Grauer, who ironically hurt himself hitting against Bratt.

NFBC Auction Championship

I got outbid on a former Red, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, by a significant margin. He subsequently did not play Monday night against the Tigers in a game where the Orioles scored eight runs. I picked up a current Red, Nathaniel Lowe, for the second time this season, to take advantage of the Reds' seven-game home schedule, with six starts against right-handers (hopefully). Of course, the Reds got rained out. In the process of adding Lowe and Blaze Jordan, I benched Coby Mayo, who didn't cash in on what appeared to be a promising week last week. So naturally, Mayo homered on my bench on Monday night.

I also just lost Cody Bellinger, and it now appears his hamstring injury will keep him out 4-to-6 weeks. Joy.

My Drops: Cal Quantrill, Jared Triolo.

Beat Jeff Erickson1

I picked up Adrian Morejon as a speculation play in case Mason Miller gets traded by the Padres. It's not a guarantee that Morejon is next in line, or won't even get traded in his own right, but he's good enough as a pitcher to take the chance.

My Drop: J.T. Ginn.

Beat Jeff Erickson2

I just lost Shea Langeliers, and it appears it might be for the rest of the season, pending the surgery to repair the torn meniscus in his knee. I did not replace him yet, because (a) I didn't foresee someone would bid more than $1 on Nick Fortes, and (b) I'm not smart enough to have a catcher waterfall. I also should have gone after Zac Thornton and Ian Seymour. I initially thought that this was the better of my two RotoWire Online Championship teams. I'm becoming disabused of this notion on a weekly basis.

TGFBI

Good news! Max Kepler was actually pretty good on Monday night. Bad news! Esmerlyn Valdez got plunked on the hand on Monday night, left the game, and will have more imaging on Tuesday. That never bodes well.

My Drop: Jack Flaherty.

SCARF

I'm annoyed. Finding a second closer has been a Sisyphian Task all season long, and not only did it elude my attention that someone dropped Daniel Palencia, but also Seth Klein was able to add him for only $3. But it's ok, I have Caleb Killian for the Giants' remaining saves, right? Nope! Erik Miller got the save on Monday night.

Isaac Collins is getting a lot of run at the top of the Royals' lineup and has had a couple of decent weeks. I'm hoping for a bomb and a bag each week. Rhett Lowder is back in the Reds' rotation, with Nick Lodolo on the IL with the Super Blister. Lowder could stick there if Brady Singer is dealt away by the Trade Deadline.

My Drops: Leody Taveras, Spencer Arrighetti.

LABR

I now have an outfield logjam, adding Isaac Collins in another league where I'm hoping to poach an extra stolen base or two. Twice per week I'm juggling between Collins, Mickey Moniak, Gavin Sheets, Garrett Mitchell and Tim Tawa for two spots. I have a big lead in homers and RBI, and have a lot of ground to make up in stolen bases. I really need to get off my perch and make a trade or two.

My Drop: Antonio Senzatela.

RotoWire Staff Keeper League

This was a Visine Week - I got the Reds out, benching (though I probably should have just cut him) Spencer Speer due to his wrist injury, and painfully cutting Noelvi Marte, who I've waited a year-and-a-half to try to see him catch fire. I picked up Tommy White from the A's. He's been hitting for average, but not for power yet. I'm not quite certain it'll happen soon, given his minor league production so far.

I can't win this league - Bret Cohen and Erik Siegrist are too far out to catch them. So why did I make two trades this week? There's some monetary value in moving up from fifth to third, and my two trades didn't cost me too much. Plus, I have one clear need in adding saves, and have a clear surplus in wins.

1. Erickson trades: Will Smith ($18A); Rufe trades Kenley Jansen ($14B).
2. Erickson trades: Emerson Hancock ($7A) and Jett Williams ($0M); Schuler trades Edwin Diaz ($37B) and Ethan Frey ($0M).

For those that don't play in keeper formats, the "A" stands for a player's first contract season, and the "M" represents a minor leaguer (we have 10 minor leaguers at the start of each season). Getting elite prospects are perhaps more key in our league than they are in real life at the trade deadline, because we only get a small number of them, and we have a defined cap. Promoted minor leaguers don't count against our in-season cap the year we activate them, and then the next season is their "A" season, at just $3. It's been a productive season for my minor league class - five have been promoted to my active roster: Joe Mack, TJ Rumfield, Carson Benge, Justin Crawford, and most importantly, Chase Burns.