LABR FAAB Report: Week of September 3

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

Todd’s Take

With Justin Verlander moved at the waiver deadline last season, there was a reason to hold onto some FAAB for after August, Obviously, Verlander stayed in the AL last year, but the point is there’s a chance of a crossover better than the leftovers at the July 31 deadline. Granted, you only get the player for a month. Andrew McCutchen was the only significant crossover player this season with Mike Gianella taking advantage. Cutch should see a lot of time while Aaron Judge is out. Once Judge is back in court, we’ll see how Aaron Boone distributes time. McCutchen could also play some center in place of Aaron Hicks.

The rest of the moves were basically filler, with Blake Swihart being the most interesting. Christian Vazquez is back but Alex Cora has expressed the desire to get playing time for all the backstops, which means playing Swihart behind the pitcher, not just in front of him.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Brian Walton’s Commentary

With three of the 12 National League LABR owners down to $0 FAAB, they are prohibited for further bidding for free agents. Only four of the nine remaining decided to bid on what appears to be the final group of waiver trades into the NL.

This week’s moves were highlighted by new Milwaukee outfielder Curtis Granderson, coming back over to the NL from Toronto. However, with the healthy return of Ryan Braun, incumbent Eric Thames has already been getting squeezed out of playing time for the Brew Crew, so it is unclear how much action the Grandyman will receive. USATODAY’s Steve Gardner laid down $7 to ensure he got his man.

A move out of the league, in this case, by Andrew McCutchen to the Yankees, has opened up left field in San Francisco for Chris Shaw. I bid $2 of my final $3 in an attempt to acquire the new Giants outfielder, but could have gotten by with just a buck.

New/old Colorado Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday fetched a winning $2 offer from Eric Karabell of ESPN. Starts may be rare, especially with David Dahl back, but the 37-year old Holliday is batting .412 when called upon.

The fourth and final FAAB acquisition this week is Miami second baseman Isaac Galloway. With Martin Prado off the DL and rejoining the Marlins infield, at-bats may be even scarcer for Galloway during the final month than the nine he accrued last week. Howard Bender of Fantasy Alarm was not daunted, paying $1 to roster the rookie.

Two of the other top minor call-ups in the league this period, San Diego second sacker Luis Urias and Atlanta pitcher Touki Toussaint, were already owned in NL LABR.

Todd’s Take

Hmm, I think Brian may have landed on the best of the our fly chasers acquired this week, at least in terms of playing time. Granted, Shaw will be saddled with dealing with AT&T Park, in a lineup now devoid of Buster Posey and Andrew McCutchen, but he appears to be in line for more at bats than the others.

MIXED

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Todd Zola’s Commentary

A .362 average with six steals in August propelled Roman Quinn to the top of the Mixed League heap. Rudy Gamble hopes he comes close to repeating, at least in terms of running.

With Lucas Giolito pitching better and Michael Kopech coming as advertised (albeit with two rain shortened games), White Sox closer Jace Fry could be a little busier this month, at least that’s what Ray Murphy is hoping for.

I spent my last two FAAB units on a couple of starting arms. My premonition of a couple weeks ago came true. I admonished myself for acquiring Brett Anderson, knowing he’d get hurt…and Voila! I grabbed a couple of two-start guys in Cody Reed and Sam Gaviglio. Reed was pitching well for Triple-A Louisville before being called up while Gaviglio has improved as the season progressed. At this point, I’m trying to sneak into third, which really doesn’t mean anything but it still feels good to be top-three in such a competitive and solid group.

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