In a recent column, I took a long, hard look in the mirror and chastised myself for not being aggressive enough in my bidding in the early action in either of my industry-showcase single-season leagues – National League Tout Wars and NL LABR.
Last week, I started down my path, spending $70 on two boring players, as there were not really any standouts to buy. I have to admit that I was ticked off, though, when I noticed that competitor and friend Mike Gianella of Baseball Prospectus recalled that Atlanta had signed Jose Bautista and assigned him to the minors to work into shape and play third base.
A $22 investment and a week of zero stats could be a bargain basement price to play for an incremental power bat later. The fact that 10 other owners did not try to acquire Joey Bats did not make me feel better. In my opinion, these kinds of under-the-radar moves win leagues.
My next opportunity to address my early-season shortcomings in earnest was in Tout Wars this past weekend, with its 1:00 p.m. ET Sunday transaction deadline. I felt the need to add one player on offense and one pitcher.
As I looked at available hitters, as usual, there were few options. The non-catchers with more than 10 at-bats for the week are mostly injury fill-ins with what appear to be short shelf lives – outfielders Andrew Stevenson of Washington (Adam Eaton) and Austin Slater of San Francisco (Hunter Pence) plus Stevenson’s teammate, infielder Adrian Sanchez (Anthony Rendon).
Being honest, I was not satisfied with any of them, when a thought came to me. A few days earlier, I was watching the Pirates game when it was noted that Jung-ho Kang had finally been granted a work visa to enter the United States. Further, the embattled third baseman will report to Pittsburgh’s minor league camp with the time it would take him to play back into shape after a year away unknown.
I felt the immediate opportunity to compensate for my Bautista miss with a winning bid on Kang. On one hand, I was optimistic that most of my NL Tout peers would pass, but on the other, I knew that Gianella would not be sleeping.
As it turned out, I was the only bidder, so my $56 more than did the job. Gianella chased a pitcher instead.
Only time will tell if my move was wise or simply doubling down on my unfortunate $15 spent on Kang in March 2017 in the LABR draft, just before his visa was pulled.
My other Sunday target acquisition was a veteran pitcher ignored on draft day likely due to a combination of injury and uninteresting strikeout totals – Wei-Yin Chen. Unfortunately for my stealth purchase attempt, the Marlins hurler had a highly visible start Saturday night and performed well – one earned run in 5 1/3 innings. While my $88 offer topped five of the six other bids, I was blown away by a $115 offer.
The consolation prize was not all bad, my contingent bid, Nick Kingham of the Pirates. Well, actually, the right-hander was still a member of the Indianapolis Indians, to be called up to make his MLB debut in a game that started a half hour after our bids were due. Only one other owner took a shot, at $5. Perhaps the lack of interest was due to Kingham’s age (26) or the fact he relies on a wipeout slider, not 100 mph gas.
However, I wasn’t angry that I spent $33 to win.
That is because Kingham retired his first 20 batters faced on the way to a seven-inning one-hitter with nine strikeouts and no walks thrown at the Cardinals on Sunday afternoon. According to High Heat Stats, his 86 is the highest Game Score in a MLB debut in 20 years.
On the other hand, because Tout’s roster-setting deadline is not until Monday, I did not receive the benefit of Kingham’s debut. I have to hope he is not a one-game wonder.
Until that becomes clear, at best I am king of the premature hill!
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.
