Well, it seemed like a good idea. When I decided to bid $103 for Ken Giles in Mixed Auction Tout Wars last weekend, I did so with the understanding that Giles was a risk. A few weeks before getting traded to the Blue Jays in the deal that sent Roberto Osuna to Houston, the Astros optioned the former high-end stopper to the minors due to a combination of poor performance and poor behavior. But on the day of the trade, Toronto skipper John Gibbons was quoted as saying that Giles would definitely get a chance to close for the Jays.
My thinking in placing the aggressive bid, other than expecting the runner-up bid to be significantly higher than $38, was that Giles still boasted an exceptional K/BB ratio and had been a bit unlucky in the BABIP department (.378). But most of all, maybe a fresh start in a more low-key environment in Toronto would prove to be just what he needed. Oh, and there were several attainable points in saves and my two drafted closers happened to be Roberto Osuna and Kelvin Herrera, and the one big-name closer who I traded for back in May happened to be the maddeningly inconsistent Corey Knebel. Giles could provide the saves boost I so desperately needed.
Less than a week into my Ken Giles experience, I’ve been treated to a combined six earned runs over 1 2/3 innings. So let’s see, I had to pay 103 bucks for the privilege of seeing my ERA skyrocket. Something just doesn’t sound right about that.
The strategy of punting saves has become more popular in recent years, and it’s a strategy that I’ve always resisted. I hate the idea of simply giving up on a category, as it puts pressure on your team to dominate in almost all of the other categories. Plus, even if you don’t place a high importance on closers on draft day, it’s not too hard to buy a couple of cheap closers and if they don’t pan out, there are always saves to be had on the waiver wire throughout the season. Why not at least try to be competitive?
Then last season happened. It wasn’t planned, but in mid-May, when Francisco Rodriguez lost his closer job and Aroldis Chapman landed on the DL for what would be an extended period of time, I punted saves in Tout Wars. I waited for Chapman to come off the DL and prove that he was healthy before trading him in exchange for a hitting upgrade. The decision to punt saves was made partly out of necessity but partly as an experiment. I figured I’d use the opportunity presented by this sequence of unfortunate events to try something different.
Let me say that there was a certain enjoyable element to the final four-plus months of the season that I had never experienced before. While most of my league mates were depleting their FAAB budget in hopes of finding stable saves sources or trading for closers, I calmly focused on other positions and categories. I finished the season in third place and truly felt that I had matured as a fantasy owner in that I was able to successfully change course in-season and make the most out of an unexpected situation.
Still, I wasn’t ready to punt saves at the auction table this season. Too risky, and it’s so tough to win a league while accepting 1.0 points in any category. But as of Saturday morning, my roto point total for saves stands at 4.5, and I’m sitting here all upset about Ken Giles. And then there’s this:
MIXED AUCTION TOUT WARS FAAB PURCHASES (2018)
| Kyle Barraclough |
$273 |
| Jose Alvarado |
$260 |
| Nate Jones |
$222 |
| Keynan Middleton |
$215 |
| Tyler Clippard |
$83 |
| Cam Bedrosian |
$57 |
Look, there have been some great closer buys as well. That list includes Bud Norris ($126), Hector Rondon ($66), Will Smith ($36), Pedro Strop ($28) and Sergio Romo ($11). Also, Kyle Barraclough, despite a 4.59 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP for Tim McLeod’s team heading into Saturday and his recent bullpen demotion, did provide Tim with nine saves. But there’s just so much luck involved in the waiver wire saves game, from either a performance standpoint, a health standpoint, or a combination of both, and the above table serves as a cautionary tale.
Maybe Ken Giles will get his act together and reward me with a meaningful number of saves down the stretch. Or maybe he’s destined to become another name on the above table. Either way, when it comes to 2019, I’m seriously thinking about making the full conversion to a punter.
Zach Steinhorn is the 2016 Mixed Auction Tout Wars champion. Follow him on Twitter @zachsteinhorn
