One of the few things we can actually control in a fantasy baseball season is the rate and pace at which we spend our free agent acquisition budget (FAAB). There are many theories and no one “right” answer for the use of our precious virtual cash in an American or National League-only format.
Some hoard their stash for the mid-season trade deadline and get the one best player crossing leagues. Sometimes they even have to acquire FAAB via trade to ensure they are top dog. Others spend from the start like drunken sailors on shore leave, putting themselves in a no or little-cash bind far too soon.
I prefer a spot in the middle – trying to get the best players I can all year long without going crazy. But, as always it seems, the devil is in the details.
In a week in which three key players moved from the AL to the NL, I needed to develop my strategies in both LABR and Tout Wars. For the record, the trio are Mike Moustakas, Eduardo Escobar and Cole Hamels.
In Tout, I had money, with my $443 the fifth-most. I am 20 points out of the lead, which is not insurmountable to make up in two months. Here, my problem was the very limited four-man bench, intended to stop hoarding and help supply the weekly reserve pool.
In my case, three of five players came off the disabled list just before the deadline. All three are players I want and need in my lineup – Carlos Martinez, Yasiel Puig and Evan Longoria. After all, I had spent $65 on the trio on draft day. (I guess I should have known Martinez would last just four innings before being injured again, but that is a different topic for a different day.)
Even though I had reserve space issues, I bid $328 for all three free agents, again just enough to win the tiebreaker with the team with the next-most cash. Not surprisingly, I got none of the three.
However, in Tout, my patience will pay off this coming weekend as I now have the second-most cash with Brian Dozier and Jonathan Schoop on the offensive side and pitcher Chris Archer to be among my choices.
In LABR, however, I was in a bad place. With my team pounded by injuries all year long and no $0 bids allowed in these leagues, I had already exhausted two-thirds of my full year pot, with my biggest in-season acquisition to date being Jon Jay. With the seventh-most FAAB, I had no shot at any of the three free agents, so I bid $16 on all of them, which is the most the next-lowest team could spend.
Needless to say, I just ended up with a fourth crossover free agent, Joaquim Soria, for a buck. Maybe the former Royals and White Sox closer will be thrown a bone once in a while as part of the very talented Milwaukee bullpen.
After last weekend, I am still in sixth in the FAAB totals, so will not get a good free agent this week either, but hey, I had Eric Thames coming off the disabled list (for the second time this season), so that is almost like a major FAAB acquisition, right? RIGHT? (Humor me here.)
Seriously, though, one LABR owner shot himself in the foot, in my opinion. Coming into the weekend with the fourth-most money, instead of sitting back and waiting to swing the FAAB hammer in deadline week, he instead dropped one-fourth of his full-year budget on a rookie call-up – who (with the benefit of hindsight, we now know that) no one else bid even $1 on.
Now, this owner is still fourth in FAAB, with another week ahead in which there are just three good free agents to acquire. Maybe he will get a plum non-waiver acquisition later, but maybe not.
As you hopefully have surmised by now, my message is to remain patient, but be reasonable. You don’t have to keep the most amount of money. Make careful player acquisitions along the way as needed and as long as you can remain close in FAAB, you can still compete for the best cross-league players.
Brian Walton was the 2009 National League Tout Wars champion, scoring the most points in the league’s history. He also holds the all-time NL Tout single-season records for wins and saves. His work can also be found daily at TheCardinalNation.com. Follow Brian on Twitter.
