My AL only Auction from today

[viper]

No one cares about anyone else's team. I understand that. However, most want to see what player's cost in an auction.

My league is 10-team, no bench, IP replaces Ks. All the owners are long time. At four years, I think I am the one with the least service time.

I will give some highlights and my team here but I will send I copy of the spreadsheet with all the teams and their $dollar amounts to anyone who want to see it. PM me or email me at mikeladd123@hotmail.com for a copy.

I went in planning to not do a stars and scrubs draft like I have in the past. That plan lasted all the way through the first two nominated players.

As the defending champ, I nominated AROD off the top. Bare in mind I use MB projections and dollars values using CVRC. I also had the BBHQ 12-team values figuring they would be close and I wanted something to give me a different pint of view. I did run CVRC with scarcity and in a OF/CA mode.

AROD projected at $30 to $34 and I ended up with him at $36. The next team nominated Eric Aybar. Now I always wondered how a middle of the road player would be evaluated if nominated at the front of a draft. I showed him at $11 to $15. After I bid $9, there were no more bids. I now felt that I made up the money I overspent on AROD and my mind said - STAR & SCRUBS. The next 8 nominated players wee studs and all went for $5 to $8 over my numbers. This was normal for this group. Also normal were the three teams which probably never said a word. They always hoard money for 3-4 rounds of nominees.

My next nominee was Youkilis, a $24-$28 player. I really like is 1B3B for this no-bench format. I overbid and won him at $32.

Shortening this a bit [unless people demand a more detailed narrative], I spent $19 for Beckham [soon to be 2B3B as we have a 1-game requirement] and $19 on As.Cabrera [2BSS] Beckham was a good price and Cabrera was over.

I seldom grab studs but bidding got the best of me. I went $27 for Greinke and $28 for Lester. My closer was Jenks at $11 but i got Thornton for $3 at the end. Frasor ay $3 should get a few saves - he went real late and his saves chances were deemed more iffy than I thought.

I ran START figuring I would be competitive but not a leader. I'm at 75 with the next highest at 60. I use MB for bidding and MB for projected standing but at least I have a solid team based on my numbers. Of course START and $4 will only buy me a Grande Mocha at Starbucks. A dime buys nothing anymore.

Off the dinner with my bride of 41+ years. And the complete team is

C1 14 Pierzynski,A.
C2 3 Buck,J.
1B 32 Youkilis,K.
2B 19 Cabrera,A.
SS 9 Aybar,E.
3B 36 Rodriguez,A.
MI 2 Valbuena,L.
CN 19 Beckham,G.
OF 24 Hunter,T.
OF 16 Swisher,N.
OF 3 Podsednik,S.
OF 1 Crisp,C.
OF 1 Sweeney,R.
UT 1 Cust,J.
SP 27 Greinke,Z.
SP 28 Lester,J.
CL 11 Jenks,B.
CL 3 Frasor,J.
SP 3 Masterson,J.
SP 2 Rzepczynski,M.
SP 2 Meche,G.
SP 1 Bedard,E.
MR 3 Thornton,M.

[Macca11]

Looks like you got yourself a nice team!
Just wondering why you were intending not to do stars and scrubs in the first place, and of course why you couldn't help yourself!
Interested in auction psychology as I'm doing my first on Monday.

[Tampa Bob]

Hey Mike, I'm also in a 10 team AL league so I'll send you that email request. I love the fact that after all these years you (and all of us) can't stop ourselves from overbidding from time to time. Such is the lure of the auction.

You clearly have some upside to your pitching staff (is that damning with faint praise). If Meche, Bedard, and Reptillian Man (Rzepczynski) come even close to their projected numbers you should be pretty solid.

One thing I've noted after years of calculating standings with MB projections is that I always kick ass coming out of the auction and the season never goes that way. Using one source as one's auction amounts and team projections leads to an incestious calculation.

God, there's nothing like an auction though. Did you do a happy dance when you got Podsednik for threebucks?

~TB

[viper]

our league uses OnRoto and they have projected standings based on some other set of projections.

In MB, I was 41-34 = 75 and in 1st
There, I was 34-34 = 68 and in 2nd

[Guest]

Things I really like -

The back end of your OF - those 3 for $5 is great.

Jenks/Thornton for $14 is theft.

Things I don't love...Asdubral for 19, Swisher for 16. Not even sure what our values are for them but Im not sure how much in counting stats you get for that 35.

Youks at 32 is ballsy -I like the fact you reviewed the tiers and made the call and just went and got what you needed. Thats what puts good rosters together.

[viper]

I can live with Asdubral especially with the 2BSS status. I have found that multiple eligibility is bigger than normal in a no-bnech league. When injuries happen, you can often adjust you lineup to make every FA a possibility and not be limited to a specific position.

The Swisher thingie was a mistake by me and I knew it about 1 seconds after I heard the word "sold". Because I had Beckham who will be 2B eligible in week one, I wanted a 1BOF for flexibility. Since he was one of my $1 steals last year and I won the league, I think I switched to my rose-colored glasses for a minute. At least he has power.

I saved a couple of bucks in case Thornton was brought up. He was my last pick when very little money was left.The $3 bid guaranteed him. I highlighted him immediately after I got Jenks.

[Trav The Ump]

Hi Mike,

My league mirrors yours closely minus the K for ip swap and we are keepers. (Draft this Sunday). Couple of things jumped out at me I was wondering if you could answer...

Pods, Crisp and Sweeney for $5? We had Pods kept at $13! I can't see Crisp going for $1 in my league either although I personally was hoping to sneak Sweeney onto my team end game for a buck or two. Was he an end of the line throw out or what happened there? More to get a read on what others thought when you got him. I was thinking I might have to go about $4 on him.

I like Czep, Bedard and Masterson and had all 3 of them listed/ highlighted in my tiers as "wants". What point did you pick up Bedard? I'm pretty stunned you got him for a $1.

Grabbing Beckham with the intention of swapping him to 2B dropping Valbuena and grabbing a 1B FA is probably a nice ploy. I did something similar last year and grabbed Sexson week one waivers. Wondering how much the SS and 3B tiers dried up after the first tier went? I see SS as a bit dry this year and 3B two good guys and the rest. Just an overview of your thoughts on how they went?

Thanks and best of luck!

[viper]

I did not take Beckham with that intention but did realize I could take a $1 MI at the end with the knowledge he could be dropped if ineffective. I immediately put a circled "1" next to that slot on my sheet. I'm OK with Valbuena at MI but I am no longer married to him.

Masterson, Rzepczynski, Meche and Bedard were all late in the auction when teams had little money and several players to take.

One team had $19 with 13 players to go. That is extreme Stars & Scrubs - maybe to an excess. He had several overpays so now watch him win.

[Trav The Ump]

Looking over the other teams, any buys thats surprised you high or low? We've got Miguel Cabrera going back in and I'm thinking $50ish.

[viper]

Top costing $$$ players were:
36 - AROD, Tex
34 - Crawford, Miggy
33 - Elsbury
32 - Youkilis, Sizemore [early bidding war here]
30 - Kinsler
29 - Lind
28 - Cano [another bidding war]

32 - Felix
31 - CC
28 - Lester
27 - Greinke
26 - Verlander
25 - Lee, Beckett

[Trav The Ump]

For anybody interested, my AL Only ten team results are now posted in my signature.

We had a team with $23, $28 and $74 left over! Colossal screw ups.

[ssmarsh]

We had a team with $23, $28 and $74 left over! Colossal screw ups.

I've done AL auctions for 10 years and at most someone leaves $7 or $8 on the table. How on Earth did someone leave $74 on the table? Who's on his roster?

[Trav The Ump]

We had a team with $23, $28 and $74 left over! Colossal screw ups.

How on Earth did someone leave $74 on the table? Who's on his roster?

Teixeira and Burnett. $61 on pitching and $135 batting. Bad bad preparation, his sheets were like font 6 and he had no clue who had what or anything. By the time he settled everything down most of the big guys were gone and there was just no place left to spend the money.

I had a $1 left a couple of others had 1-4. No biggie. But for some reason everyone decided the deals would come in the middle and it turns out the prices just fell through the floor and all that saved value couldn't be spent.

I ended up drawing the ace and throwing first, in an earlier strategy thread I had mentioned I have a reputation of only throwing guys out I don't want. So I started Miguel Cabrera at $25 and went quiet. I had him on my sheet up to $50 as paired with Arod I had some batting covered. I came back in at $41 stunned everyone and bought him for $43. At this point I made a note to myself that inflation was not being covered for as last year Miggy went for $46. That's how I knew I could add Granderson and Hernandez and not worry about money. Still ended up with the batting I wanted with the exclusion of Harris and I'll manage my pitching as the season goes.

This is a very competitive league, year fourteen. Something just went awry this year. I'll take advantage though.