Welcome to this week’s LABR FAAB report.
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 | |||
| Nicky Delmonico, CWS | Baseball HQ 6 | Baseball Prospectus 3 | Rotowire 2 | Colton & The Wolfman 1 |
| Fangraphs 1 | Winning Fantasy Baseball 1 | |||
| Billy McKinney, TOR | USA TODAY Sports 6 | Rotowire 6 | Baseball HQ 6 | Baseball Prospectus 3 |
| Fangraphs 3 | Colton & The Wolfman 1 | |||
| Luke Voit, NYY | Rotowire 5 | USA TODAY Sports 6 | Baseball HQ 1 | |
| Felix Hernandez, SEA | Baseball Prospectus 3 | |||
| Mikie Mahtook, DET | Fangraphs 2 | Baseball HQ 6 | Colton & The Wolfman 1 | Winning Fantasy Baseball 1 |
| Thomas Pannone, TOR | Winning Fantasy Baseball 2 | Baseball HQ 1 | ||
| Heath Fillmyer, KC | Baseball HQ 1 | |||
| Brandon Lowe, TB | Colton & The Wolfman 1 | |||
| Kevan Smith, CWS | Fangraphs 1 |
UNAWARDED BIDS
| PLAYER | ||||
| Framber Valdez, HOU | Baseball HQ 1 | |||
| John Andreoli, BAL | Baseball HQ 1 | |||
| Caleb Joseph, BAL | Fangraphs 1 | |||
| Victor Reyes, DET | Fangraphs 1 | |||
| Ryan Tepera, TOR | Winning Fantasy Baseball 1 |
Todd’s Take
All things considered, it was a bust week in AL Tout this week with several hitters with significant playing time finding new homes. Leading things off is Nicky Delmonico who burst onto the scene after the break last season. Injuries curtailed his chance to follow up this year. He had a modest eight-game hitting streak snapped Friday night. David Adler hopes Delmonico starts another, leading to a productive September.
The oft-traveled Billy McKinney has pushed Curtis Granderson to the bench, playing right field and leading off versus righty pitching. The 24-year old former Athletics/Cubs/Yankees farmhand may only project as a fourth outfielder, but for now the Jays are giving him an extended look. With three homers the past week, Steve Gardner hopes there’s more where that came from.
Luke Voit has been a big part of the Yankees recent surge, playing almost every day at first base as Greg Bird is a non-factor and Neil Walker is playing second while Gleyber Torres fills in for Didi Gregorius at shortstop. Clay Link hopes a 1.364 OPS the past week helps Voit lay claim to the position even after Gregorius returns, in theory freeing Walker for first base duty.
SUCCESSFUL BIDS
| PLAYER | WINNING BID | |||
| Austin Dean, MIA | Derek Carty 1 | |||
| Curt Casali, CIN | USA TODAY Sports 1 |
UNAWARDED BIDS
| PLAYER | ||||
| Matt Holliday, COL | Derek Carty 1 |
Brian Walton’s Commentary
With trade activity between the leagues falling, moves were few and far between in National League LABR – just two waiver additions at the minimum $1 each.
Derek Carty of Roto Grinders acquired outfielder Austin Dean of Miami. The rookie’s second week in the majors was a good one in which he batted .292 with a home run, four RBI and three runs scored. The contact hitter had a fast rise after opening 2018 in Double-A. Third-place Carty is continuing to fight, as he sits just 8.5 points out of a share of first place.
Steve Gardner of USA TODAY also rostered catcher Curt Casali of Cincinnati. The 29-year old seems to have discovered the fountain of youth, with a homer, six RBI and a .462 batting average last week and a .423 average in part-time duty this month. Of course, Steve does not receive those stats, so he has to hope the career back up keeps it up.
If my team was typical, I stayed out of the bidding because I had to activate a pair of players coming off the disabled list – infielder Yairo Munoz, playing for injured Kolten Wong at St. Louis, and Brewers reliever Joakim Soria. I also own Kelvin Herrera, who was off the DL for less than a week before suffering a new injury. It has been one of those years.
Todd’s Take
Even with FAAB money tight, it’s a little surprising no one else made a play for Holliday. The Rockies are on the road next week, but they finish with 17 of their last 26 contests at home.
SUCCESSFUL BIDS
| PLAYER | WINNING BID | |||
| Michael Kopech, CWS | Fangraphs 21 | USA TODAY Sports 9 | Scout Fantasy 1 | |
| Greg Allen, CLE | Razzball (Rudy Gamble) 17 | USA TODAY Sports 3 | Scout Fantasy 1 | Fangraphs – Sleeper & Bust 1 |
| Yahoo Sports 1 | ||||
| Jeremy Jeffress, MIL | Fangraphs – Sleeper & Bust 5 | |||
| Ramon Laureano, OAK | Fangraphs – Sleeper & Bust 3 | Fred Zinkie 1 | ||
| Matt Wieters, WSH | Razzball (Rudy Gamble) 2 | Fred Zinkie 1 | ||
| Pat Neshek, PHI | Yahoo Sports 1 | Fangraphs – Sleeper & Bust 1 | ||
| Freddy Galvis, SD | Fred Zinkie 1 |
UNAWARDED BIDS
| PLAYER | ||||
| Hunter Dozier, KC | Fangraphs – Sleeper & Bust 1 | |||
| Jalen Beeks, TB | Fangraphs – Sleeper & Bust 1 | |||
| Luke Voit, NYY | Fangraphs – Sleeper & Bust 1 | |||
| Melky Cabrera, CLE | Fangraphs – Sleeper & Bust 1 | |||
| Roman Quinn, PHI | Fangraphs – Sleeper & Bust 1 | |||
| Ryan O’Hearn, KC | Fangraphs – Sleeper & Bust 1 | |||
| Sonny Gray, NYY | Fangraphs – Sleeper & Bust 3 | |||
| Erik Kratz, MIL | Razzball (Rudy Gamble) 1 | |||
| Kevin Plawecki, NYM | Razzball (Rudy Gamble) 1 | |||
| Victor Caratini, CHC | Razzball (Rudy Gamble) 1 |
Todd Zola’s Commentary
Mixed leagues don’t get the benefit of crossover players, but they do get to take advantage of prospects. Mike Podhorzer may have been waiting for Michael Kopech. or perhaps he decided the phenom will be the best promotion and paid the freight. It’s unclear if Kopech will be shut down early, but with eight whiffs and no walks in his initial eight innings of MLB work, Kopech is giving a glimpse of his tremendous potential.
Defense isn’t scored in rotisserie, but flashing the leather can certainly solidify job security. Greg Allen is a good example as his play in center field has been outstanding. With 13 steals in 14 tries, Allen has the ability to give Rudy Gamble a late boost in the category. Actually, the founding fathers may be smiling as they said having steals as a category was in part a proxy for defense as faster players are often better defenders.
Please follow me on Twitter @ToddZola and visit me at Mastersball
