Welcome to this week’s LABR FAAB report, on it’s new home. The kinks are still being worked out with respect to the timing of the FAAB run, so we’re posting a little late today. Beginning next week, it will be available first thing 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 | |||
| Drew Robinson, TEX | Roto Lady 12 | Baseball Prospectus 4 | ESPN.com 4 | Rotowire 3 |
| Fangraphs 1 | ||||
| Daniel Vogelbach, SEA | ESPN.com 9 | Baseball Prospectus 8 | NFBC 7 | USA TODAY Sports 4 |
| Fangraphs 2 | Roto Lady 2 | |||
| Bartolo Colon, TEX | Creative Sports 5 | |||
| Niko Goodrum, DET | USA TODAY Sports 5 | Rotowire 2 | Fangraphs 2 | Roto Lady 1 |
| Fangraphs 1 | ||||
| Hector Velazquez, BOS | Creative Sports 5 | Baseball Prospectus 1 | ||
| Joe Kelly, BOS | Colton & The Wolfman 2 | Baseball Prospectus 1 | ||
| Daniel Robertson, TB | Colton & The Wolfman 2 | ESPN.com 1 | ||
| Juan Centeno, TEX | Roto Lady 2 | ESPN.com 1 | ||
| Jim Johnson, LAA | Baseball Prospectus 1 | |||
| Domingo German, NYY | Colton & The Wolfman 1 | |||
| Brandon Guyer, CLE | ESPN.com 1 | |||
| Chris Martin, TEX | Fangraphs 1 | |||
| Luke Maile, TOR | Creative Sports 1 | Roto Lady 1 |
UNAWARDED BIDS
| PLAYER | ||||
| Austin Pruitt, TB | Baseball Prospectus 1 | |||
| Brandon Maurer, KC | Baseball Prospectus 1 | |||
| Carson Smith, BOS | Baseball Prospectus 1 | |||
| Jake Diekman, TEX | Baseball Prospectus 1 | |||
| Nick Vincent, SEA | Baseball Prospectus 1 | |||
| Taylor Rogers, MIN | Baseball Prospectus 1 | |||
| Andrew Kittredge, TB | Colton & The Wolfman 1 | |||
| Dan Altavilla, SEA | Colton & The Wolfman 1 | |||
| Heath Hembree, BOS | Colton & The Wolfman 1 | |||
| Martin Perez, TEX | Colton & The Wolfman 1 | |||
| Jesus Sucre, TB | Creative Sports 1 | |||
| Mike Marjama, SEA | Creative Sports 1 | |||
| Trayce Thompson, OAK | Creative Sports 1 | |||
| Jefry Marte, LAA | ESPN.com 1 | |||
| Blake Wood, LAA | Fangraphs 1 | |||
| Ryan Buchter, OAK | Fangraphs 1 | |||
| David Freitas, SEA | Roto Lady 1 |
Lawr Michaels Commentary
Only seven teams tried to plug early season woes this AL LABR FAAB cycle, but even though just over half the owners were involved, spirited bidding for the bulk of players ensued before the free agents found a home for today’s roster set.
The top attraction was the Rangers Drew Robinson, who culled $12 from Andrea Lamont, fending off five bids ranging from a buck to $4, followed closely by Tristan Cockcroft, who went after Mariner’s first sacker Dan Vogelbach.
Cockcroft landed Vogelbach, like the RotoLady, best five bids from $2 to $8. Tristan made one other move adding Brandon Guyer for a buck, as did Andrea, staying within the Rangers, grabbing Juan Centeno for $2, ideally building out her backstop slot.
I actually gambled an unchallenged $5 on the legendary (and overweight) Bartolo Colon, for after seeing him manhandle the Athletics last week, I am pretty well convinced he is still effective. That was the first of a few moves I made, most importantly to “fix” my pitching, for I also grabbed Hector Valazquez for $5 beating out a pair of $1 tries. Like Rotolady, I also tried to plug backstop leakage, acquiring Luke Maile for a buck, jettisoning Drew Butera.
LABR driving force Steve Gardner was also willing to gamble $5 on the Tigers Niko Goodrum, who generated four additional bids of $1 and $2, and that second amount seemed to be the limit owners would go to try and grab a player without committing too many resources, understanding a lot more players will come and go.
Rick Wolf and Glenn Colton, who also made three moves like me, and in the same vein the dynamic roto duo also tried to bolster their pitching, with Joe Kelly ($2) and Domingo German ($1), and while their catching might be stable, Rick and Glenn selected Daniel Robertson to help up the middle.
The final gambles were by Eno Sarris, who copped Chris Martin (no, not the singer for Coldplay!) while Mike Gianella of Baseball Prospectus gambled that same magnanimous dollar, hoping that Jim Johnson emerges from within the chaos of the Angels pen to once again get the ball at the end of the day.
Todd’s Take
Drew Robinson was expected to play a little more than previous seasons, but with Delino Deshields on deshelf, Robinson will be on the strong side of a center field platoon with Carlos Tocci. Robinson should chip in with a little of everything, save average as he takes after teammate Joey Gallo when it comes to contact. Robinson’s walk rate is very good, so he’s a little more useful in OBP or points leagues.
Niko Goodrum is another name to track in deep leagues. He’s swiped a bag in three straight with only Dixon Machado in the way for more playing time.
SUCCESSFUL BIDS
| PLAYER | WINNING BID | |||
| Joey Lucchesi, SD | Baseball Prospectus 23 | Fantasy Alarm – Bender 22 | NFBC 5 | Baseball HQ 4 |
| USA TODAY Sports 1 | ||||
| Steven Brault, PIT | USA TODAY Sports 4 | |||
| Christian Villanueva, SD | NFBC 18 | Lenny Melnick 12 | Fantasy Alarm – Bender 8 | Baseball HQ 8 |
| CreativeSports 3 | ||||
| Braxton Lee, MIA | Fantasy Alarm – Bender 12 | Lenny Melnick 5 | ||
| Josh Fields, LAD | Baseball HQ 4 | Colton & The Wolfman 1 | ||
| Jeremy Jeffress, MIL | Colton & The Wolfman 2 | Fantasy Alarm – Bender 3 | ||
| Jarlin Garcia, MIA | CreativeSports 2 | USA TODAY Sports 1 | ||
| Adam Ottavino, COL | Baseball HQ 1 | USA TODAY Sports 1 | Baseball Prospectus 1 | |
| Miguel Montero, WSH | NFBC 1 | CreativeSports 1 | ESPN – Karabell 1 | |
| Greg Garcia, STL | Baseball HQ 1 | |||
| Pedro Severino, WSH | CreativeSports 1 | |||
| John Ryan Murphy, ARI | ESPN – Karabell 1 | |||
| Jordan Lyles, SD | NFBC 1 | |||
| Pat Valaika, COL | NFBC 1 | |||
| Hansel Robles, NYM | USA TODAY Sports 1 |
UNAWARDED BIDS
| PLAYER | ||||
| Craig Stammen, SD | Baseball HQ 1 | |||
| Justin Wilson, CHC | Baseball HQ 1 | |||
| Tayron Guerrero, MIA | Baseball HQ 1 | |||
| Tony Cingrani, LAD | Baseball HQ 1 | |||
| Anibal Sanchez, ATL | Baseball Prospectus 1 | |||
| Carlos Perez, ATL | ESPN – Karabell 1 |
Brian Walton’s Commentary
The pocket books were opened wide in NL LABR this week, with three free agents going for double-digit prices. Given the league’s $100 FAAB base, it is clear that multiple owners are not going to sit back and wait for late July interleague trading.
Needing offense over and above having toothless Chase Headley in my lineup (with his first hit this season on Sunday), I went $3 on Christian Villanueva. I closed my eyes and made my bid despite the reality that the San Diego third sacker is just 3-for-22 (.136) with no RBI since swatting three long balls and plating five last Tuesday. Here is the reality of –only league waiver wires – Villanueva had 25 at-bats last week; the next busiest hitter available had just 14. Well, my tepid bid was just fifth-best, with Villanueva going to Greg Ambrosius/Shawn Childs of NFBC for $18.
Speaking of Padres, while $23 for Joey Lucchesi feels high to me, Zach Steinhorn of Baseball Prospectus needed every dollar to edge out four other bidders and get his man. In a two-start week ahead, the 24-year old lefty has a tough Tuesday outing at Colorado before drawing the Giants at home on Sunday.
Bitten by injuries and with no margin for error, anyway, the Marlins recalled Braxton Lee on Thursday after having sent the outfielder down to Triple-A once already this season. Likely to serve in a reserve role, the 24-year old offers speed potential, but little power. Howard Bender from Fantasy Alarm went $12 to acquire Lee’s services, but in hindsight, half of that would have done the trick.
Steve Gardner of USA Today Fantasy Sports dished out $4 for another starting pitcher, Pittsburgh’s Steven Brault. Replacing injured Joe Musgrove, Brault threw five innings of three-hit ball at the Reds last week but has a tougher assignment next – the Cubs at Wrigley on Wednesday.
One of my DLed players, Matt Wieters, is being temporarily replaced as the Nationals starting backstop by the tandem of Pedro Severino and Miguel Montero. Despite Severino’s reputation as the better defender, he batted .571 in limited action this past week. Of course, we don’t get last week’s numbers. Not knowing which of the two will see the most action, I made minimum $1 bids on both and added the former. The NFBC team nabbed the latter.
I also dropped $2 on new Miami starter Jarlin Garcia. The lefty has been a successful reliever, and now will get a chance to start with a Wednesday home outing against the Mets. With LABR rules prohibiting moving players up and down, I may soon pay dearly for my winning bid. Garcia’s reward if he survives his first start will be a matchup next Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.
Todd’s Take
Lots of love for Joey Lucchesi, is it warranted? As Brian points out, there’s more risk in LABR than leagues with more roster freedom as he’s not only in the lineup (by rule) this week, but he can’t be freely reserved. The young lefty lines up for a double-dip this week, the opener in Coors Field, but then he faces the Giants at home. The hope he avoids disaster early, then pitches well late. Lucchesi was expected to make his debut this season, though perhaps not so soon. Craft lefty is usually a term reserved for veterans though it applies here. Don’t expect many punch outs, but especially at home, Lucchesi will be a fantasy asset.
SUCCESSFUL BIDS
| PLAYER | WINNING BID | |||
| Matt Albers, MIL | Yahoo Sports 14 | RotoExperts/ FNTSY 9 | Rotowire 2 | Razzball (Rudy Gamble) 1 |
| Fred Zinkie 1 | ||||
| Yonny Chirinos, TB | RotoExperts/ FNTSY 7 | Prospect 361 5 | Scout Fantasy 4 | Baseball HQ 3 |
| Fangraphs 2 | Razzball (Rudy Gamble) 2 | Fred Zinkie 1 | ||
| Rotowire 1 | ||||
| Christian Villanueva, SD | Rotowire 6 | |||
| Jacob Barnes, MIL | USA TODAY Sports 6 | RotoExperts/ FNTSY 6 | Rotowire 5 | Fangraphs 4 |
| Yahoo Sports 3 | Fred Zinkie 1 | Razzball (Rudy Gamble) 1 | ||
| Yolmer Sanchez, CWS | Yahoo Sports 3 | @TheFantasyFix 1 | ||
| Daniel Vogelbach, SEA | Scout Fantasy 3 | |||
| Joey Lucchesi, SD | Prospect 361 3 | Yahoo Sports 1 | ||
| Zack Wheeler, NYM | Fangraphs 2 | |||
| Josh Tomlin, CLE | Razzball (Rudy Gamble) 2 | |||
| Jose Alvarado, TB | Scout Fantasy 2 | |||
| Luis Valbuena, LAA | Baseball Prospectus 2 | @TheFantasyFix 1 | Baseball HQ 1 | |
| Rajai Davis, CLE | Fred Zinkie 1 | |||
| Tony Watson, SF | Fred Zinkie 1 | |||
| Ben Lively, PHI | Fred Zinkie 1 | |||
| Wilmer Font, LAD | Razzball (Rudy Gamble) 1 | |||
| Logan Forsythe, LAD | Baseball HQ 1 | |||
| Matt Duffy, TB | @TheFantasyFix 1 | Yahoo Sports 3 | Baseball HQ 1 |
UNAWARDED BIDS
| PLAYER | ||||
| Preston Tucker, ATL | Scout Fantasy 1 | RotoExperts/ FNTSY 1 | Baseball Prospectus 1 | |
| Tyler Austin, NYY | Rotowire 1 | Baseball Prospectus 1 | ||
| Ryan Flaherty, ATL | @TheFantasyFix 1 | |||
| Denard Span, TB | Fred Zinkie 1 | |||
| Howie Kendrick, WSH | Fred Zinkie 1 | |||
| Jarlin Garcia, MIA | Fred Zinkie 1 | |||
| Jose Urena, MIA | Fred Zinkie 1 | |||
| Steven Brault, PIT | Fred Zinkie 1 | |||
| Tommy Kahnle, NYY | Fred Zinkie 1 | |||
| Caleb Smith, MIA | Razzball (Rudy Gamble) 1 | |||
| Niko Goodrum, DET | Rotowire 1 | |||
| Robert Gsellman, NYM | Rotowire 1 | |||
| Tyler Glasnow, PIT | Rotowire 1 |
Todd Zola’s Commentary
It appears my Mixed Tout brethren trust Mall Albers more than Jacob Barnes in Corey Knebel’s absence. I think the jury is still out. Barnes defense let him down, though he failed to pick them up. Albers had a great 2017 campaign, but has along career of mediocrity. Perhaps the best way to sum up my approach is I’m not chasing either one, but not dropping Barnes, at least not yet, anyway. I woudn’t drop Albers either, but more fantasy managers had Barnes than Albers before Knebel went down.
With Yonny Chirinos promoted from bullpen day participant to fourth starter, he drew deserved attention. That said, keep in mind he’s not dominant in a climate where you need every punch out you can muster. Plus, the Rays are allegedly limiting starters to two times through. I view Chirinos more like a middle reliever than a starter, but relievers are useful when not getting saves. Just deploy judiciously in mixed leagues.
Todd’s Take
All quiet on the home front as my squad has avoided injury, sitting mid=pack. I sort of like this. The big weeks will come, so will the poorer ones. Early on, the leaders likely have a couple outlying performances. Over time, sure and steady rises to the top.
