With the trade deadline falling on a Monday, we ultimately had three FAAB periods with significant changes, instead of one big FAAB period that we've had in previous years. In addition to the players coming across leagues after the trade deadline, we also had three big prospects getting the call in Jackson Jobe, George Lombard Jr. and Kaelen Culpepper. Thus it was a very spirited FAAB period.
AL Tout Wars
After seeing player trades come across to the AL in a trickle the last two weeks, we saw an increase in inventory this week. Because I (over) spent on Freddy Peralta last week, I didn't have a big hammer to swing this week, and who I got was dependent on who the league prioritized, and how aggressive they were - I entered the bidding with the seventh-highest budget. There was a scenario too where I could have been shut out on the top eight players, depending on whether a couple of leaguemates split their bids efficiently.
After all that, I landed one of my priorities in Moises Ballesteros, following his trade to the Angels. He already is up to 10 games at catcher, though with Tout Wars having a lower threshhold for eligibility, I could already use him there. He replaces Drew Romo, who is hitting a paltry .126.
There were a number of lesser-priced pickups that were also interesting this week. I liked Jason Collette's purchase of Brett Bateman for $28. Bateman is at worst
With the trade deadline falling on a Monday, we ultimately had three FAAB periods with significant changes, instead of one big FAAB period that we've had in previous years. In addition to the players coming across leagues after the trade deadline, we also had three big prospects getting the call in Jackson Jobe, George Lombard Jr. and Kaelen Culpepper. Thus it was a very spirited FAAB period.
AL Tout Wars
After seeing player trades come across to the AL in a trickle the last two weeks, we saw an increase in inventory this week. Because I (over) spent on Freddy Peralta last week, I didn't have a big hammer to swing this week, and who I got was dependent on who the league prioritized, and how aggressive they were - I entered the bidding with the seventh-highest budget. There was a scenario too where I could have been shut out on the top eight players, depending on whether a couple of leaguemates split their bids efficiently.
After all that, I landed one of my priorities in Moises Ballesteros, following his trade to the Angels. He already is up to 10 games at catcher, though with Tout Wars having a lower threshhold for eligibility, I could already use him there. He replaces Drew Romo, who is hitting a paltry .126.
There were a number of lesser-priced pickups that were also interesting this week. I liked Jason Collette's purchase of Brett Bateman for $28. Bateman is at worst on the strong side of a platoon, and has been batting leadoff so far. There's almost no power, but Bateman has great OBP skills (Tout Wars uses OBP instead of AVG), and he also has stolen base upside on a team that likely won't be putting up any red lights in front of him. I also thought Ian Kahn did well to pick up Yennier Cano for $55. It's not guaranteed that Cano will exclusively close for the O's, but his skills are strong and Tyler Wells is gone.
I also picked up Jacob Lopez with a $0 bid, but because I'm a total sucker for strikeout upside, even coming in Sacramento. Lopez has 27 strikeouts over his last four starts, over 19.2 innings - the low innings scare me, but also illustrate the strikeout ability. He has two starts this week, albeit at home against the Rays and Rangers.
My Drops: Drew Romo, Kevin Kelly.
NFBC Main Event
We had mid-level bids in on Jackson Jobe, George Lombard Jr. and Kaelen Culpepper, and came within $4 of the winning bid (won by defending Main Event Champ Todd Hoppe in a perfectly efficient bid). We ended up winning Yennier Cano, the first of many leagues where I added him this week. We also took a flier on Agustin Ramirez, committing the Cardinal Sin of adding a third catcher. But hear me out - Ramirez is going to end up playing both first and catcher, so if we get a player that qualifies at catcher but isn't always playing there, it might unlock more of his hitting approach. At $3, I don't think it can be considered a bad bid.
Our Drops: Walker Buehler, Cooper Pratt. It's tough to cut Pratt, but he's on the IL with a hamstring injury, so I suspect it'll be longer than the 10-day minimum, and I think it might impact his stolen base ability, which is why he's on the roster in the first place.
NFBC Auction Championship
I bid $43 on four different players - the aforementioned three call-ups, and Luke Waver, who I'm presuming will be the Pirates' primary closer following his trade from the Mets. That was good enough to only win Weaver. I'm assuming Weaver will inherit the role due to the left-handed bias against Mason Montgomery, and due to the prospect cost (Sammy Stafura) it took to get him. The Pirates haven't had a save chance since the trade.
My call-up consolation prize is Abimelec Ortiz, who should get most of the starts at first base after the Nationals traded away Luis Garcia. Ortiz was one of five prospects acquired by the Nats in the MacKenzie Gore trade. He had 18 homers and an .845 OPS at Triple-A before getting the call for the second time this season, and now has two big league homers.
I also added his teammate Keibert Ruiz, who has the benefit of playing more than Victor Caratini and might have a little bit more power.
My Drops: Blaze Jordan, Cody Bellinger, Victor Caratini. Bellinger was a tough drop, but he's out 4-to-6 weeks with a hamstring injury. I think Roman Anthony is closer to returning now, but if you want to disagree, I wouldn't argue too vociferously with you.
Beat Jeff Erickson1
I had less FAAB to bid here, but luckily, 12-team leagues are weird, and I got both Jackson Jobe and Cam Smith pretty cheaply. I wanted to highlight Cam Smith for a second. Smith's overall numbers still aren't great - .220/.293/.388 with 15 homers, 10 stolen bases and a 24.8 K%. His recent numbers are stronger, however, and his under-the-hood numbers are showing some promise. His barrel percentage, hard hit rate and expected slugging percentage are all above average, and his average swing speed is elite. Add in that he has very favorable fielding and baserunning run values, and he's a player on the right path. This team needs power, so it was worth gambling that Smith would continue his recent good play.
My Drops: Caleb Killian, Kerry Carpenter. Carpenter is a pretty bitter drop - he's a hitter that I've rostered for more multiple years running, and he's regressed. In a 12-team league, he's a pretty easy cut and should have been cut a week ago.
Beat Jeff Erickson2
I would have preferred Jobe over Bubba Chandler, I think, but for some reason I overlooked Jobe here and probably would have been outbid. Instead, I became the latest to fall for Chandler's Siren song, after his good outing against the Mets. Surely it won't go as well against the Red Sox this week, but I couldn't help myself.
My Drops: Alex Lange, Curtis Mead.
TGFBI
I was happy to get into the Kaelen Culpepper business after getting outbid elsewhere, though once again I got shut out on George Lombard Jr. The only thing I'm unhappy about are the overspends on Yennier Cano and Griffin Conine, though given the number of uncontested bids in this league, I'm confident I can manage my remaining FAAB budget well enough over the next seven weeks.
I'm not sure if we're talking enough about Griffin Conine's breakout season. After Sunday's two-homer effort, Conine is up to a .265/.349/.544 slash line, once again supported by strong bat speed, exit velocity and other Statcast metrics. Add in that Conine could have more stabilized playing time with Kyle Stowers hurt, and he could be very nice down the stretch.
My Drops: Alex Lange (again), Matthew Liberatore, Max Kepler.
SCARF
Getting my top FAAB target in Jackson Jobe for an efficient price while simultaenously cutting one of my top-10 picks based on merit and not injury is the very definition of bittersweet. Emmet Sheehan has to be a sneaky healthy disappointment this season, and I'm not sure what to do with him next season. Sheehan's strikeout and swinging strike rates are down but still high, but he's been a gopher-ball serving machine lately, and I'm not sure what to attribute that to - perhaps a decline in his average fastball velocity. It merits a deeper dive this offseason, as I have a couple of keeper leagues where he'll be a tough decision.
My Drops: Emmet Sheehan, Spencer Steer.
LABR
Once again, I won Culpepper after losing out on Lombard. I also settled on my fourth pitcher choice in Carmen Mlodzinski, whom I previously rostered and cut - he's back in the rotation with Mitch Keller out for the season. I was outbid significantly on Jobe, by $1 on Cano, and lost a tiebreaker on Cody Bradford.
My Drops: None - lost two more players to the IL.
RotoWire Staff Keeper League
Here's yet another league where I overbid on Yennier Cano, though $5 to $1 isn't super devastating. Still, I suspect he'll now take the Jakob Junis path and not getting any saves or strikeouts now that I've rostered him in too many places.
I also added Connor Wong, after losing Dalton Rushing to an injury. Fun times.
My Drops: Matt Chapman, Aaron Ashby. Chapman is out for the season - sure is nice that I held on this long. It was regrettable to drop Ashby, but I just didn't have another reasonable drop.
