LABR FAAB Report: Week of July 30

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.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Lawr Michaels’ Commentary

It is tough being in last place, which I am happy to note I no longer am in AL LABR. In fact, I was not only able to climb over 50 points, but am just one point out of tenth place, which based upon the 34.5 points my team had a few weeks ago seems nothing short of a miracle.

That said I had a measly $6 going into this week’s FAAB-stravaganza making the $1 I gambled on outfielder Nick Martini a pipe dream (the Athletics outfielder went to Larry Schechter for $6) such that the best I could do was grab Eddie Butler for a dollar–hoping he will help keep a little life going on the team.

After all, tenth seems pretty good and ninth is just four points off as well.

What that means is any potential inter-league spoils are lost on me this coming Wednesday, while the likes of Brett Phillips ($11), Jace Fry, Jose LeClerc, Justin Anderson, and Francisco Arcia–all of whom went for $4–shows a bit of a spending splurge within the league that barely drew more than a one buck bid for anyone last week.

The questions are if anyone sat on enough bucks for big name to move to the AL from the NL, and more important if that player even switches leagues.

For, it doesn’t appear a blockbuster is imminent meaning some folks might wind up with a lot of FAAB and hope along with empty roster spots.

Todd’s Take

Can Brian Goodwin (now possibly injured) really be the prize crossover player? What an odd season, driven by the second wild card being the only AL playoff berth up for grabs while all five spots are in play in the NL. This means more teams are selling in the Junior Circuit while more are buying in the land of no designated hitter. There’s still a chance someone like Eloy Jimenez, Michael Kopech or Danny Jansen is called up or even Brandon Phillips, currently getting rid of rust for the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox

NATIONAL LEAGUE

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Brian Walton’s Commentary

There was less FAAB money remaining in National League LABR than in Tout Wars, which is reflected in the prices for the three top free agents who moved into the National League this week.

Leading the way is new Milwaukee third baseman Mike Moustakas, whose arrival has pushed incumbent Travis Shaw to second. The league’s FAAB leader, Steve Gardner of USA TODAY, bid exactly the same amount as the owner with the second-most FAAB, $69, knowing he would win the tie-breaker. Especially in a league with no $0 bids, every dollar matters. In Tout, on a $1000 base, Moose fetched $740.

That second-most wealthy owner is actually a pair – Glenn Colton and Rick Wolf. But in a bit of a surprise, perhaps, they eschewed Eduardo Escobar, instead spending $65 of their remaining $69 on new Cubs starter Cole Hamels.

Then again, all one has to do is review the standings to completely understand the duo’s motivation. Colton and the Wolfman are in fourth place, with their 71 points in a huge, and I mean huge imbalance, consisting of 53 hitting points and just 18 in the pitching column.

As it turned out, with perfect 20-20 hindsight, $53 would have done the trick, but they would have had no way to know that. $65 ensured they got their man. For reference, Hamels went for $581 in NL Tout.

That left new Arizona Diamondback Eduardo Escobar for a likely delighted-Zack Steinhorn of Baseball Prospectus, for $53 of his $65 remaining FAAB. Zack needed every dollar to win the spirited bidding for the infielder, who has the additional benefit of being eligible at both shortstop and third base. Escobar was a relative bargain in LABR compared to his $707 winning bid in NL Tout (interestingly paid by Gardner, whose strategy was clearly to hoard FAAB for the deadline).

With another week of MLB interleague deadline deals likely ahead, the owner with the fourth-largest budget remaining, Lenny Melnick, took an interesting tack. Instead of holding back until next period, Melnick spent $25 of his remaining $64 in an uncontested bid on Mets infielder Jeff McNeil, who was having a breakout year at Triple-A. As a result, instead of having the most cash, Melnick remains in fourth in the FAAB rankings for another week. (McNeil was preemptively bought in NL Tout 10 days ago for $5 – on that $1000 base, but LABR prohibits acquiring players until they are actually called up.)

I added the fourth free agent coming across from the American League, Joakim Soria, now just one of the members of the very talented Milwaukee bullpen, for a buck. The former Royals and White Sox closer was purchased for roughly the same price in NL Tout, $12. Too bad LABR won’t give me credit for holds!

Todd’s Take

The scary thing is, there may be some additional action as a few more big names could be dealt into the National League by Wednesday. The likes of Brian Dozier, Chris Archer and Adam Jones could be on the move.

Jeff McNeil looks to be getting a decent look by the Mets, driven by a season that’s best described as out of nowhere. The 26-year old slashed .327/.402/.626 at Double-A  Binghamton before being moved to Triple-A Las Vegas where he posted .368/.427/.600 decimals. Keep in mind he was old for both levels, especially Double-A while Las Vegas is one of the best places to hit in the minors.

Two under-the-radar pickups are David Bote and Jose Osuna. Neither are huge difference makers but every little bit helps. Bote is playing more with Kris Bryant out while Jose Osuna will help the Pirates make up for the loss of Josh Bell.

MIXED

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Todd Zola’s Commentary

Sunday marked the 11th consecutive multi-hit game for Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Yuli’s younger brother is a silly 25-for-50 over this span, including three homers. Unfortunately, he left the contest early with a bruised left knee and sprained left ankle. Gurriel is scheduled for an MRI to gauge the actual damage.

A bunch of speculative darts were thrown hoping to land on saves with Anthony Swarzak, Pedro Strop and Mychal Given the targets. If Jace Fry hadn’t blown his first save chance Sunday afternoon, he may have drawn more attention.

Todd’s Take

I’m kicking myself for not bidding on Derek Holland as he sets up for a decent two-start week, drawing the Padres and Diamondbacks. The veteran lefty has tossed 108 innings with 109 punch outs, it’s time to take notice.

My only move was replacing Max Stassi with Mitch Garver. Stassi could lose some squatting time with Martin Maldanado in town. Garver has been hot but even without the recent success, he’s still the best option as he’s playing the most of the available backstops.

Please follow me on Twitter @ToddZola and visit me at Mastersball.