Welcome to this week’s LABR FAAB report, on it’s new home. Look for the report to be posted early Monday morning,
The American League only and National League only formats are 12-team contests using standard 5×5 scoring rules. There’s an old-school flavor as players purchased in the auction cannot be freely bounced from the active to reserve roster. A player purchased in the auction can be placed on the disabled list if he’s on the MLB DL. However, he can’t be reserved then replaced by a player won with FAAB; he must be released. A auction-purchased player may also moved to reserves if subsequently sent down to the minors.
The 15-team Mixed LABR league allows free movement between active and six-man reserve.
In all three leagues, a player acquired via FAAB must be immediately inserted into the team’s active lineup.
Each LABR squad starts with 100 FAAB units, with a minimum bid of $1. Owners can ask for a FAAB rebate upon releasing a player on the DL.
Each week’s report will display the winning bids along with listing all contingency and failed bids so you get a feel for the level of interest in each player.
After the tables showing the successful and unsuccessful bids, Lawr Michaels, Brian Walton and yours truly will offer commentary for our respective leagues. I’ll share additional thoughts for each league.
The heading for each league doubles as a publicly accessible link so you can check the standings, roster and complete list of transactions.
SUCCESSFUL BIDS
| PLAYER | WINNING BID | |||
| Mark Canha, OAK | Roto Lady 23 | Rotowire 6 | USA TODAY Sports 1 | Colton & The Wolfman 1 |
| Fangraphs 1 | NFBC 1 | |||
| Lourdes Gurriel, TOR | Fangraphs 22 | Baseball Prospectus 9 | Rotowire 4 | Colton & The Wolfman 1 |
| NFBC 1 | ||||
| Jaime Barria, LAA | SiriusXM 7 | |||
| Renato Nunez, TEX | Creative Sports 7 | Fangraphs 1 | ||
| Trayce Thompson, OAK | Rotowire 2 | Colton & The Wolfman 1 | ||
| Hector Santiago, CWS | Creative Sports 1 | |||
| Tyler Clippard, TOR | Creative Sports 1 |
UNAWARDED BIDS
| PLAYER | ||||
| Omar Narvaez, CWS | Roto Lady 2 | |||
| Isiah Kiner-Falefa, TEX | Fangraphs 2 | |||
| Johnny Field, TB | Fangraphs 1 | |||
| Rob Refsnyder, TB | Fangraphs 1 | |||
| Tzu-Wei Lin, BOS | Fangraphs 1 | |||
| Danny Barnes, TOR | Creative Sports 1 |
Lawr Michaels’ Commentary
It was an odd week of FAAB purchases in AL LABR, as just six players found new teams. Just four squads landed players, though there were a few spirited battles of the bid in determining said home.
The prize of the week–current Oakland starting center fielder Mark Canha–went to RotoLady Andrea Lamont for a hefty $23, a fair price if Canha continues to participate in the robust Oakland offense for the bulk of the season. Andrea’s bid bested four $1 attempts, and then one of $6, making the perceived value a bit fuzzy.
Eno Sarris bagged Lourdes Gurriel for $22, with four attempts–two at a buck, one at $4, and one for $9–falling short of the mark.
Then there was my team, now with nine on the DL, scrambling for at-bats and innings, picking up Renato Nunez for $7 unchallenged, along with Tyler Clippard ($1) and Hector Santiago ($10–both of whom I have rostered for a lot more than a buck. But, all three of my bids went unchallenged.
Ray Flowers landed the Angels Jamie Barria for $7, and journeyman Trayce Thompson, on his fourth Major League team since the end of March. Thompson found a home on his second LABR team this year, costing $2, beating a $1 bid, suggesting there is still some faith in Trayce out there.
Todd’s Take
I’m less optimistic Canha will be anything more than he’s always been, a platoon player with some pop against southpaws. The Oakland centerfielder is still Dustin Fowler, shaking off the rust with Triple-A Nashville.
I’m a little less pessimistic on Loudes Gurriel, primarily due to a clearer path to playing time with Devon Travis off to a slow start and his injury history. That said, Josh Donaldson will be back, freeing up Yangervis Solarte and Aledmys Diaz to man the middle, if necessary.
SUCCESSFUL BIDS
| PLAYER | WINNING BID | |||
| Mac Williamson, SF | Fantasy Alarm – Bender 18 | NFBC 10 | Colton & The Wolfman 6 | CreativeSports 4 |
| USA TODAY Sports 4 | ||||
| Jeremy Hellickson, WSH | Lenny Melnick 6 | NFBC 3 | ||
| Tyler O’Neill, STL | NFBC 4 | Fantasy Alarm – Bender 18 | CreativeSports 3 | Rotowire 3 |
| Colton & The Wolfman 2 | ||||
| Moises Sierra, WSH | CreativeSports 4 | Colton & The Wolfman 1 | Rotowire 1 | |
| Matt Wisler, ATL | NFBC 3 | Rotowire 1 | ||
| Alex Blandino, CIN | CreativeSports 3 | Fantasy Alarm – Bender 3 | ||
| Jordan Hicks, STL | Rotowire 2 | |||
| Gorkys Hernandez, SF | Rotowire 1 |
UNAWARDED BIDS
| PLAYER | ||||
| Kyle Farmer, LAD | CreativeSports 2 | |||
| Dan Jennings, MIL | Rotowire 1 | |||
| Josh Fields, LAD | Rotowire 1 | |||
| Robbie Erlin, SD | NFBC 1 | |||
| Tayron Guerrero, MIA | NFBC 1 | |||
| David Bote, CHC | CreativeSports 1 |
Brian Walton’s Commentary
No one is going to confuse Giants outfielder Mac Williamson with Mark McGwire, but for this week in National League Tout Wars, Williamson was Big Mac. To be specific, he drew bids from more owners than any other free agent, five, and the winning offer of $18 was three times that paid for any other player.
The recent call up from Triple-A is now on the roster of the league’s first-place club, managed by Fantasy Alarm’s Howard Bender. It is clear that Bender is not going to sit on top of his 19-point lead and become complacent. As an analyst, I admire his drive. As a competitor, I both respect and hate it at the same time, as it blew away my paltry $4 offer. Sure, Williamson’s playing time may evaporate upon Hunter Pence’s return, but the 35-year old is clearly on the downside of his career and just maybe he gets Pipped by the new Big Mac.
Jeremy Hellickson is back and in the rotation of the Washington Nationals. Some, myself included, were spooked by the reality that the 31-year old has posted just one season with an ERA under 4.50 since the heyday of his early years of 2010-2012 and is with his fifth team in five years. Lenny Melnick saw two earned runs in 4 2/3 innings in his initial outing with the Nats and paid $6 for the right-hander.
Two recently-arrived outfielders drew matching winning $4 bids – Moises Sierra of Washington and Tyler O’Neill of St. Louis. The former has been sharing time with Matt Adams while Adam Eaton is on the disabled list. Given that Eaton’s arrival may occur this coming week, I may have overpaid for Sierra, but at least I also own Eaton.
With great power potential, O’Neill made his MLB debut over the weekend. However, unless one of the Cardinals starters goes down with an injury, there seems no route for the 22-year old to earn regular playing time. And even if there was an opening in St. Louis’ outfield, Harrison Bader is still ahead in line. For that reason, I bid a dollar less and lost out to winners Greg Ambrosius and Shawn Childs of the NFBC. A p oint to remember is that if a player owned in LABR is sent to the minors, he can be reserved. That makes a player with legitimate upside like O’Neill a better long-term investment than a journeyman like Sierra.
I also dropped $3 on Alex Blandino, the hapless Reds’ third baseman du jour. Though a managerial change in the Queen City did nothing to hasten the arrival of top prospect Nick Senzel from the minors, at least it got Cliff Pennington back on the bench. In the bigger picture, incumbent third sacker Eugenio Suarez is nearing a rehab assignment. Suarez currently resides with Eaton and seven other players on my NL Tout club’s disabled list.
Todd’s Take
To embellish Williamson a little more, he spent some of the off-season retooling his swing with noted hitting coach Doug Latta. Latta is credited with helping Justin Turner, among others. Will launch angle be the special sauce for Big Mac? It’s worth the shot.
SUCCESSFUL BIDS
| PLAYER | WINNING BID | |||
| Ryan Flaherty, ATL | @TheFantasyFix 8 | |||
| Lourdes Gurriel, TOR | @TheFantasyFix 6 | RotoExperts/ FNTSY 1 | ||
| Mac Williamson, SF | ESPN.com 5 | Fangraphs – Sleeper & Bust 5 | Razzball (Rudy Gamble) 2 | @TheFantasyFix 2 |
| Scout Fantasy 1 | ||||
| Junior Guerra, MIL | @TheFantasyFix 3 | |||
| Trevor Cahill, OAK | Fangraphs – Sleeper & Bust 3 | |||
| Mark Canha, OAK | Yahoo Sports 3 | Fangraphs – Sleeper & Bust 1 | Fangraphs 1 | |
| Daniel Mengden, OAK | Yahoo Sports 3 | Yahoo Sports 4 | ||
| Tommy Hunter, PHI | Prospect 361 3 | |||
| Matthew Boyd, DET | ESPN.com 2 | |||
| Adam Frazier, PIT | Razzball (Rudy Gamble) 2 | Fangraphs 1 | @TheFantasyFix 1 | Yahoo Sports 1 |
| Chad Bettis, COL | Scout Fantasy 2 | Prospect 361 4 | RotoExperts/ FNTSY 1 | Fred Zinkie 1 |
| Fangraphs – Sleeper & Bust 1 | ||||
| Pedro Severino, WSH | USA TODAY Sports 1 | |||
| Matt Wisler, ATL | Fred Zinkie 1 | |||
| Robert Gsellman, NYM | RotoExperts/ FNTSY 1 | Yahoo Sports 3 |
UNAWARDED BIDS
| PLAYER | ||||
| Isiah Kiner-Falefa, TEX | Mastersball 3 | |||
| Carlos Asuaje, SD | Mastersball 3 | Razzball (Rudy Gamble) 1 | ||
| Daniel Robertson, TB | Yahoo Sports 2 | Mastersball 1 | ||
| Tyler Austin, NYY | Razzball (Rudy Gamble) 2 | |||
| Leury Garcia, CWS | Razzball (Rudy Gamble) 2 | |||
| Brandon Nimmo, NYM | Fangraphs – Sleeper & Bust 2 | |||
| Miguel Rojas, MIA | @TheFantasyFix 2 | Yahoo Sports 1 | Mastersball 1 | |
| Jesus Aguilar, MIL | Scout Fantasy 1 | |||
| Harrison Bader, STL | Razzball (Rudy Gamble) 1 | Fangraphs – Sleeper & Bust 1 | ||
| Abraham Almonte, KC | Fangraphs 1 | |||
| Tyler Anderson, COL | Fangraphs – Sleeper & Bust 1 | |||
| Hernan Perez, MIL | @TheFantasyFix 1 |
Todd Zola’s Commentary
Ryan Flaherty is currently the Braves third baseman. He’s sporting one of the top averages in the Senior Circuit. So why did Atlanta ask Jose Bautista if he wanted to play third base? Other than because Chipper Jones is likely enjoying his retirement, they must not have much faith Flaherty keeps up this pace. Alan Harrison does, or at least he wants to ride the wave until it crests.
A couple of Oakland pitchers were picked up this week. Daniel Mengden followed up Sean Manaea’s no-hit effort against Boston with a solid effort, his second consecutive good outing. This was enough for Scott Pianowski to add him to his squad. Cahill has always been a fantasy tease, exhibiting the ability to miss bats, but also missing the strike zone — a lot. The Coliseum reduces walks (albeit along with strikeouts) so like the tag team of Jason Collette and Paul Sporer, I’m intrigued by the veteran righty.
Todd’s Take
I’ll bet some of you are wondering how I can bid on four players, and not get any, without being outbid on two of them. Grab some popcorn, here goes.
Truth be told, this sort of thing happens more than any of us care to admit. I usually omit it from the report since the culprit isn’t always able, or willing to explain. Well, doing what I do for a living, I’m happy to explain. I’m not happy about my goof, but fine with sharing what happened.
Earlier in the day, when putting together the Tout Wars FAAB report, I noted Gene McCaffrey bid on a few Padres. Knowing Gene, I had a feeling why. Sure enough, the Friars are in Colorado to open the week. As such, I popped over to the LABR site to check the availability of San Diego hitters. I was hoping for Freddy Galvis or Jose Pirela, but the best I could do was Carlos Asuaje, so I set up some bids, lead by Asuaje, releasing Neil Walker. Later that night, I came back to do more roster maintenance, activating Manny Margot and Ben Gamel from the DL, dropping Brandon Phillips and, you guessed it, Walker.
So, when the bids were run, I no longer had Walker and my reserve was full, so the bids were rejected. LABR requires a legal roster after the FAAB run, unlike Tout Wars which gives until first pitch on Monday to get legal. That’s irrelevant, I know the LABR rules. I messed up.
The takeaway is pick up Asuaje as he’s now guaranteed to take advantage of the thin air.
