NFBC FAAB Advice

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southpaw · #1 Post by **southpaw** » March 22nd, 2011, 3:21 pm

Hmmm, trying to decide whether to bid on Rauch during the first available FAAB session which is 3/30. I have Axford and Storen as my closers so naturally Storen has me worried. I'm also hoping to pick up a cheap save here and there with Venters.
As this is my first experience with FAAB and budgeting throughout the entire season, is it worth spending $$ on a temporary (assuming) closer like this.

deansdaddy · #2 Post by **deansdaddy** » March 22nd, 2011, 3:55 pm

Okay - Jason,

I've moved your question over here. We can use this thread for any general NFBC FAAB questions you or anyone else has throughout the season.

deansdaddy · #3 Post by **deansdaddy** » March 22nd, 2011, 4:13 pm

Okay I wanted to start this thread off by reprinting a couple of useful tidbits from last year's Rookie League. They are buried within the RL thread - so I wanted to bring these out to help give you some strategies for approaching this.

Todd Z Wrote

FAAB --

1. The season will not be won or lost based on the first week of FAAB. If you have an opening, put in a TON of bids on the cheap to make sure you get someone useful to fill the spot while letting others set some precedent with respect to what it will take to get someone.

2. UNLESS there is a make or break type player available. Then go after him HARD. Hard being a few hundred (300-500). BUT ONLY IF THIS IS A GUY YOU WILL START EVERY WEEK.

3. If a player was picked during your original draft, he remains in your pool regardless if he is in the majors. So look at the previous week's drops for a guy in the minors someone else dropped. If you like him and can afford the reserve spot, get him. The reason this is important is you will find yourself sorting by AB or IP to see who is available and the dropped minor leaguers will not appear as they have no playing time.

4. If you have the extra reserve spot and think someone will be useful, it is better to be a week or two too early and end up dropping a player if he does not work out than thinking the player will be helpful, being right and then battling everyone else for the bid the week he is going to play.

5. Don't just replace injured or under-producing guys in your ACTIVE roster. Also look to replace guy in your reserve with better free agents. Early on is when the crop is most plush. If you wait until you HAVE TO replace someone, the quality of the available players is not as useful.

6. Don't break the bank on a closer

bjoak Wrote:

Here is my process, though. I read Childs somewhere and this is pretty similar to that and even Ryan's worksheet but I'll share anyway and then give some random thoughts.

1. Assess needs on my team.
A. Where do I absolutely need an upgrade (i.e. injuries)?
B. Where can I use an upgrade (i.e. poor performance)?
C. Which stats am I falling short in?

2. Assess weaknesses on my team.
A. Who can I drop with no negative effect on my team?
B. Who can I drop, albeit someone I'd rather keep?
C. Who can I drop if I absolutely have to, either because I have no choice or because I like a free agent *that* much.

3. Find Replacements.
A. Identify replacements at positions I absolutely have to fill.
B. Identify potential sources of stats I am short on.

4. Find good players
A. Search all starting pitchers (by games started).
a. Look at walks and strikeouts to see who has been throwing the ball well.
b. Look at team and recent/minor league record of those I identified in step a.
B. Search relief pitchers by saves. See if anyone has hope as a potential closer.
C. Search all hitters (by at bats).
a. Look at homers.
b. Look at steals.
c. Look for high batting average supported by a good strikeout rate.

5. Compile all the info to make bids.

deansdaddy · #4 Post by **deansdaddy** » March 22nd, 2011, 4:13 pm

more from bjoak:

More tips:

*Read something like Mastersball to see which players came up, have potential, etc. Keep in mind that everyone else is reading this too so the more a player is hyped by the big boys, the more he'll cost and vice versa.

*Don't take the analysis too seriously. Anyone can ride a hot streak for a while. So that when Juan Uribe hits the shi* out of the ball for the first two weeks of September and everyone says he'll regress, it is worth throwing a buck down to see if you can catch lightning in a bottle.

*Don't get too wrapped up thinking you have to get a guy. Every single week, there could be someone you'll get wrapped up thinking could be the savior for your team. If you overbid on all of them, you'll end up with no money in July.

*Don't spend all your money on one guy. Ryan Braun happened about 3 years ago. Since then there have been 10,000 $500 dollar bets on guys who have fallen short of expectations.

*You are better off hedging your bets. Last year, maybe in June, I found both Brett Anderson and Brett Cecil as free agents in my league. I loved both and spent $175 (a lot for me) on the two, thinking it was a good bet one would work out. Anderson was a huge help. Cecil, not so much. Way better idea than throwing down $500 on the hyped guy of the week.

*Throw it against the wall and see what sticks. I am very active. Anyone useless will be dropped for someone with more potential. I genuinely believe the reason I've had success in faab is because of the sheer number of guys I've given a tryout.

*Save money for September. Everyone else (unless they take this as gospel) is going to figure an April free agent helps you way more and spend the most money early. True for those few who work out long term, but when you are the only one with $100 in September, you can pluck every good free agent off the pile in any category you need. I gain points this way every September.

deansdaddy · #5 Post by **deansdaddy** » March 22nd, 2011, 4:16 pm

and from yours truly:

10 observations on FAAB in no particular order.

1. Keep in mind other team’s needs when bidding. This seems pretty basic, but I always see guys bid against themselves and overpay for mediocre players. If you need a replacement catcher don’t go overboard when you will likely only be competing with a couple other owners for his services. The exception to this is with saves and steals. These stats are always highly sought and always overpriced. There will always be someone willing to pay for them and often it will be the guy who doesn’t need them. When it comes to speed and saves always assume that you are not alone in chasing these commodities.

2. Keep track of other owners FAAB budgets. Most league services will provide this info for you, but make sure you check it out before bidding. If you have an idea who you are going up against for a certain player, this can help you decide how high to go. This can be especially important late in the year as money dwindles. Say you are chasing down a money spot and the guy in front of you needs a certain player. He only has $20 left in his budget and you have $100. A bid of $21 will make sure a difference maker stays off his roster at the very least.

3. Trust your hunches and speculate with $1 bids. I mentioned this above, but it bears repeating. If you have a feeling about a guy who is available and you have a reserve spot to play with. Drop a $1 or $2 bid on him sooner than later. If he doesn’t pan out then just throw him back for your next experiment. One of the best times to implement this strategy comes right before the trade deadline. I always try to read the landscape and grab a guy or two who may or may not come into a chunk of playing time at the deadline.

4. Be wary of buying high priced rookies. In the NFBC there are no $0 bids. Once you are out of money, you are out of moves. Sure it can be nice to land the next big thing, but you will always end up paying more than they are are usually worth. If you are going to go after young players try to do it via speculation. Once the guy you had a hunch on isn’t a secret anymore, the value of that player in relation to FAAB quickly dries up. If you do want to try and make a splash of a signing – then realize that you likely will only get one or two of them a year.

5. Keep some money in reserve for September. This can be the difference between winning and losing often. Nothing worse than getting to Week 26, needing to replace multiple players and having nothing in the bank. I would suggest having no less than $10-20 left for the final two weeks of the season.

6. If you are out of the running, still spend your FAAB. This for me is all about being a good player. It can be especially frustrating in an overall competition like the NFBC to hear about owners leaving big piles of unspent FAAB on the table at the end of the season. You can’t win every year, but you can always help make your individual league worth winning. Never give up and never stop bidding on players. It keeps everyone honest and your fellow owners will respect that you stayed active until the bitter end. You paid the entry fee so you owe it to yourself to get your money’s worth. Every week you participate in the FAAB process will help make you more efficient and effective at it.

7. Vary your bidding habits. Don’t be predictable and keep them guessing. If your league engages in some friendly trash talk, don’t be afraid to bluff from time to time. Always assume that someone is tracking how you bid so they can exploit it down the road. If you keep spending $2 on 2 start pitching every week, eventually someone will start jumping the guys you want by going to $3.

8. Set a weekly budget for yourself. If you find that the Big Spender in you wants to take over then set up a budget for yourself for the season. This will help you meet the goal of having money available to you in the final weeks. You can work backwards from the last week or month of the season and try to stay within the boundaries to make sure you don’t come up short in crunch time.

9. Conditional bids are your friends. Don’t be afraid to back up your primary targets with conditional bids if necessary. If you absolutely need to come out of the FAAB period with a P, the conditional bid process can usually guarantee that you will come away will someone. I often will target a specific SP, and then back him up with as many as 10 other names that are more speculative. The worst thing you can do it come away empty handed when you need a body to plug in your lineup.

10. Enjoy the process. FAAB is fun if you let it be. Don’t let it get to you. After the dust settles relish your victories and be good natured about your defeats. Feel free to rub some salt in the wounds of others, but don’t be a jerk. FAAB can really add some life to leagues, but the fun will evaporate if people get to amped up over it. As the season goes along you will begin to get into the flow of FAAB. Good luck and happy bidding!

southpaw · #6 Post by **southpaw** » March 22nd, 2011, 4:54 pm

Wow, thanks for this. I'm going to have to read this a few times to digest it all.
Sorry to take your thread off on a tangent...

deansdaddy · #7 Post by **deansdaddy** » March 22nd, 2011, 6:34 pm

No problem - this is a subject worth it's own thread, especially if we are going to be talking about it all season. Besides your draft and roster management it is the. Biggest part of the game. It is also the only way to improve your team during the season.

I realize I didn't answer your specific question per se - but I wanted to give you some things to read and think about. The first key thing you need to do is break down your roster and find the areas where you think you need help. Then you need to decide if there are any players out there that can help.

The quick answer to your question is yes, of course it is fine to spend $$ on a closer. Rauch is a player that is likely drafted at this point. The art is in deciding how much you think you need to bid to get him AND how much you are willing to bid.

SteveB · #8 Post by **SteveB** » March 22nd, 2011, 11:02 pm

See i disagree a tiny bit......if there is a player that you need don't be afraid to spend. A player bought in April affects your team much much more than one in Sept. I also have been in leagues were everyone saves faab and then bids get higher at the end cause people have money to burn.

deansdaddy · #9 Post by **deansdaddy** » March 22nd, 2011, 11:39 pm

Well I agree with your statement - the art is of course determining how much you spend.

Which part of what was above are you disagreeing with?

I personally know going into the season that I like to give myself the flexibility to be active on the WW, especially with the back end of my roster. On average I would say I might make between 40-50 pickups for the year, so I do kind of mentally budget for this. Of those 40-50, i would say roughly half will be for $10 or less and about half of those will be for $2 or less. So, yes I agree with Steve (and Todd) that if you see a difference maker for your team out there - go for it. Just know that at most you have two maybe three of these big buys for the season. I also know that I want to have a certain amount left in the tank for the endgame. I agree that there is very little advantage to hoarding FAAB, especially in a very deep league like an NFBC league. To be honest, many of your best pickups for the season will likely be players that other owners drop.

viper · #10 Post by **viper** » March 23rd, 2011, 5:45 am

Last year I posted quite a bit on this subject. Three of my four local leagues use FAAB but it just seems totally different than NFBC leagues.

A couple of things I have found.

1. Never have bids ending with a "5" or "0". I preferred "8" and "3". If nothing else, this reduces the chance of a tie.
2. If you really really want a player, overbid. I don't mean bid $100 for a player that should be obtained for $25 but going $50 is worth it. For me, I would rather get the player by overspending by $30 than losing him by underbidding by $3. This is only when you really, really want the guy.

An example last year was Jose Batista. In the NFBC league I won, I bid $50 more than the Mastersball league. Sack, the eventual winner, outbid me by a small amount. I won Bautista in my winning league. I would have won him in both if I bid the same in both leagues. I would have lost him in my winning league if I bid the same as I did in Mastersball. The increase was made about one hour before the deadline but I only made it in one league.

deansdaddy · #11 Post by **deansdaddy** » March 23rd, 2011, 9:33 am

Mike makes good points that fall right into the category of varying your bidding process from week to week.

Jason - I will also point you again to the conditional bid process. For me this can be the key to being successful at FAAB.

Take your example - say you have Rauch pegged as the guy you want to acquire most. But you also see other speculative closers out there like Fuentes, Benoit, Massett and Sean Burnett out there. You have the ability to structure your bides in a way that can usually ensure you come away with someone even if you miss your primary target. You can even list these players you are bidding on in multiple bids.

Example:

BID 1
1. Acquire Jon Rauch, $50, cut Oliver Perez
2. Acquire Brian Fuentes, $26, cut Oliver Perez
3. Acquire J Benoit, $2, cut Oliver Perez
4. Acquire S Burnett $1 cut Oliver Perez
5. ?
6. ?

BID 2
1. Acquire Brian Fuentes, $25, cut Luis Castillo
2. Acquire M Ellis $1 cut Luis Castillo
3. Acquire M Izturis $1 cut Luis Castillo
4. Acquire Brenden Ryan $1 cut Luis Castillo
5. Acquire Jack Wilson $1 cut Luis Castillo

So here I go after Rauch as my primary target in Bid 1 and back him up with three other bodies while dropping a useless player who just got cut in Perez. I back him up with Fuentes and then a bunch of lesser players. There is no limit to how many conditional bids you can make - so if you have to get a body - list as many names as you want.

Bid 2 shows that while Rauch is my main target - I also like Fuentes - so I head off this bid list with him and back him up with a bunch of other players - mostly MI. So the way my bids are structured - Rauch is the primary target, with Fuentes being #2. Ideally I will win both players and be happy. You may notice that I have Fuentes for a dollar more in Bid 1 than Bid 2. Why? Because the system will process bids in the order of dollar value assigned. So say I miss out on Rauch in bid one - but win the bidding on Fuentes -by placing an extra dollar on the conditional bid I then will drop Perez. If multiple bids on the same player have the same dollar amount- the system will drop Castillo here since Fuentes is listed first in that Bid. So the way I have it - if I miss on Rauch - I ensure that if I get Fuentes - Perez will be the guy dropped for him. Then my Castillo bid will go down to the MI I have listed.

As far as how much to bid and how to structure your bids - really that is up for you to decide. The nature of FAAB in the NFBC is that it can be hard to predict what the spending habits of your fellow owners will be. That said if you think the saves that Rauch will get you are worth it - than don't be afraid to go the extra dollar.

southpaw · #12 Post by **southpaw** » March 23rd, 2011, 2:45 pm

Thanks for all the information, Ryan. It's a huge help.
As for Rauch, he did go undrafted in this particular league but I'm going to pass for now with the news that Dotel pitched fine in a minor league game and may be good to go by opening day.

But the information and tips on bidding is immensely valuable and will most definitely help me out.

SteveB · #13 Post by **SteveB** » March 23rd, 2011, 6:56 pm

deansdaddy wrote:Well I agree with your statement - the art is of course determining how much you spend.

Which part of what was above are you disagreeing with?

.

Well I did say "tiny" . it was more of the overall cautious feel. Things like keep a weekly budget, don't overspend on rookies, don't spend too much on one player, save for September.

All those are not wrong per se but you cant handcuff yourself in a set of rules. Simply because there is players EVERY year that can make your year. just last year Posey literally won me a league and it cost me 705 to get him....next highest bid was 590 so i overbid a bit but i had no worries. In another league i bid 375 and didn't get him.

I know perfectly well players come around with his impact only every few years. I know if you did this on every player you read a hyped rookie report on, you would get burned a lot of times.

It does happen though, don't be afraid to jump in with what is needed it can be a huge game changer.

deansdaddy · #14 Post by **deansdaddy** » March 23rd, 2011, 7:47 pm

I agree with that 100%

I re-posted these comments in the same order they were posted last year. I think Todd hit that point well in his post (in ALL CAPS to boot)-so I know I didn't feel the need to repeat it in mine at the time.

But - I will say I don't consider them rules - just observations. I don't think there are any rules when it comes to FAAB. It's a feel thing. Sometimes caution is warranted and sometimes you just have to go for it.

But it comes down to style - and I know that I like to make moves, almost every week - so I like to have money to do that every week - even Sept.

SteveB · #15 Post by **SteveB** » March 23rd, 2011, 10:13 pm

Yeah rules is not the best word....more like casual guidances. I don't remember Todd's post but i am sure i read it. You will see my bids this year, I am not afraid to spend it like I stole it.

deansdaddy · #16 Post by **deansdaddy** » March 23rd, 2011, 10:50 pm

I will admit - I am sometimes more cautious than I should be - but often that means I won't always chase the most obvious choice on the list.

I am definitely one of those guys where that hot prospect gets called up, you go to look at the FA list and realize I grabbed him two weeks earlier for $2

I am a lot like bjoak - I throw a lot of stuff against the wall. Sometimes this backfires and you end up cutting someone a week too early.

I am definitely making more of an attempt to not roster too many part-time players or rookies. Gotta have hitters who play.

southpaw · #17 Post by **southpaw** » March 25th, 2011, 10:00 pm

Here is my current squad:

C B. Pena
C J. Posada
1b J. Votto
2b B. Phillips
SS I. Desmond
3b M. Reynolds
MI D. Espinosa
CI C. Pena
U P. Polanco
OF J. Hamilton
OF J. Upton
OF C. Young
OF A. Torres
OF L. Morrison

SP D. Haren
SP S. Marcum
SP T. Cahill
SP I. Kennedy
SP G. Floyd
SP B. Norris
RP D. Storen
RP J. Axford
FP J. Bard
FP J. Venters

Bench
T. Wigginton
L. Cain
D. Murphy (TEX)
R. Ludwick

S. Burnett
J.A. Happ
J. McDonald
M. Rzepczynski

In looking over the ww, there is hardly nothing in the hitting department available to bid on. Kearns and Andruw Jones are examples.
Pitching has a few options in the saves area. I've mentioned before Rauch is there, Contreras, and Casilla. All three look viable for opening week saves. I just don't know if I should be attacking this line this early in the game.
I have Axford who should be solid but Storen looks shaky by all indications. That's the main reason I drafted Burnett although I missed out on Clippard.
Is it worth it to spend $ on the possibility of couple first week saves?
I imagine this will get a little easier once we get started. I'm finding these first moves to be the toughest because I'm not really sure where my deficiencies lie yet.

southpaw · #18 Post by **southpaw** » April 2nd, 2011, 8:55 pm

What is the thinking on trying to acquire 2 start SP's each week?
Is this common in this particular format? I would think you want to try and maximize starts in order to acquire K's and W's.
Say for example a guy like Barry Enright. Looks like he will start Monday's game against the Cubs and Sunday against the Reds.
I have a guy to drop that I no longer need/want. Probably a good idea, right?
I'm sure you wouldn't want to spend too much on these type of transactions though.
Just trying to get a feel for this type of strategy the merits/negatives.

deansdaddy · #19 Post by **deansdaddy** » April 2nd, 2011, 10:21 pm

32 man roster? Is this a WCOFB team?

southpaw · #20 Post by **southpaw** » April 3rd, 2011, 8:04 am

Yes on both your questions, Ryan.

southpaw · #21 Post by **southpaw** » April 4th, 2011, 7:58 am

Well, I ended up picking up Enright for $13. I had two other "two starters" ahead of him in Leake and Lohse but they went for more $$. So I got my 3rd choice. Not sure I should have taken a chance on Andrew Cashner. Would have been betting on a little more upside.
So I've got 4 guys with two starts this week. (Floyd, McDonald, Happ, Enright)

Here are the rest of my stats for Period 1: 3/31 - 4/3
AB R H HR RBI SB AVG WINS ERA SV IP K WHIP
149 25 40 6 23 1 .26846 0 4.247 1 29.2 27 1.348

11th out of 14.
Axford blew the big save on opening day. Only one quality start in Haren although Cahill got me 8 k's in less than 5 innings which was a pleasant surprise.
Hitting was okay. Desmond 0 for 13 was the lowlight. And Texas hit a bajillion homers this weekend but Hamilton had none.

deansdaddy · #22 Post by **deansdaddy** » April 4th, 2011, 10:15 am

Hey Jason - sorry was drafting in Ron Shandler's NY Roto 500 league all day yesterday and didn't get back to you on this. I have no experience with the WCOFB format, but from what I have read about it seems you want to have more quality SP on hand then you might in the NFBC. I'm seen some suggest that targeting about 12-14 starts a week is a good number to shoot for.

Is this a Sat team or a team in the overall? In any case it would seem like you could keep that last spot for "streaming" in two-start SP's until you find one that claims the spot for himself.

I am assuming you made a run at Contreras and came up short. He and Burnett were the two hot "closers" out there this week. You did well in grabbing Burnett at your draft - you saved yourself a ton of FAAB right there. I made passive bids on Contreras, knowing that there were others who would likely outbid me. In one league I owned Madson, so I decided to gamble that Contreras doesn't get the job outright and Madson gets some chances. The real key this week is to not forget to take a good look at who other teams cut. I know a lot of people advocate spending big early - but for me that often means Week 2 rather than Week 1. Especially in a SAT league. Often, you find yourself with owners playing with FAAB for the first time and not so adept at placing bis. Week 1 always has a built in inflation due to the excitment of the new season. In my NFBC SAT league and owner just paid $456 for Melky Cabrera

In the same week I paid $9 for Allen Craig. I am always happy to see my competitors blow half their FAAB on mediocre players.

southpaw · #23 Post by **southpaw** » April 4th, 2011, 10:40 am

Thanks Ryan. No worries about yesterday. Just getting my feet wet here and some of this is trial and error for me.

Well, my Enright plan just went up in smoke. Just read that because of yesterday's postponement, Saunders has been moved to today and Enright to tomorrow. With an off day on Thursday, Saunders will be the 2 start pitcher for Arizona and not Enright. Oh well. Didn't cost me too much to make this error. And it was definitely an error not to take into account the cancellation yesterday. So wish I had gotten Cashner now.

Yes, got somewhat lucky on drafting Burnett. Wanted a handcuff for Storen and grabbed him late in the draft.
My passive bid on Contreras was also shot down. He went for 3 hundred and something in my league.

Looks like I'm only going to get 11 starts this week because of the Enright error. I'll have to be a little more diligent about that in the future.

deansdaddy · #24 Post by **deansdaddy** » April 4th, 2011, 10:52 am

Can't you starts Enright - then swap him out for someone else on Friday? Even if it's one of your MR's you can maybe get some extra innings that way.

I really have to do a WCOFB team next year - I need to play to more practically understand the different approach needed to be successful. I know Perry and bjoak are playing there - so perhaps they can give you some advice here.

southpaw · #25 Post by **southpaw** » April 4th, 2011, 11:06 am

deansdaddy wrote:Can't you starts Enright - then swap him out for someone else on Friday? Even if it's one of your MR's you can maybe get some extra innings that way.

I really have to do a WCOFB team next year - I need to play to more practically understand the different approach needed to be successful. I know Perry and bjoak are playing there - so perhaps they can give you some advice here.

Yes, I plan to do that. Just won't get any extra starts out of it. But hopefully some K's and whatever else....

RobDMay · #26 Post by **RobDMay** » April 4th, 2011, 7:37 pm

I won the Jose C sweepstakes in the sat Rayn. I was desperate for another closer so I threw out the 307 bid I just hope he is decent and Lidge's arm stays dead for awhile. What was crazier the Melky bid, the guy who also bid like ~$350 something, or the guy that got Crow for ~$250 with no other bids.

deansdaddy · #27 Post by **deansdaddy** » April 5th, 2011, 12:09 am

I think you did well to get him. I actually had a bid at $101 - I knew I wouldn't get him - but I wasn't going to let anyone steal him.

I also bid on Burnett - but he went for big bucks as well.

The real shock was that the same guy bought Cabrera and Crow - and spent $700 + dollars to do it. I actually really like Crow - so who knows there. But $254 on a player no one else was going to bid on was a miscalculation. At least with Melky - someone else bid $256.

RobDMay · #28 Post by **RobDMay** » April 7th, 2011, 7:13 am

This week will be all about Zach Britton I can only imagine what he goes for.

viper · #29 Post by **viper** » April 7th, 2011, 8:04 am

FWIW, I play in an AL-only league with a Wednesday FAAB day. The league has a $100 FAAB budget but does allow $0 bids. Britton went for $44 with a $20 runner-up bid.

My big bid was for Hafner at $21. He was there because during the draft, the UT slot was filled such that Hafner, Thome & Johnson were leftovers. We have 1-day eligibility so most team with DH-only players at the draft now find those players with positional eligibility. My player was Scott who is now OF eligible. I also spent way too much on pitching and need power. The Nix-Hafner power debate was very short and one-sided.

deansdaddy · #30 Post by **deansdaddy** » April 7th, 2011, 9:11 am

RobDMay wrote:This week will be all about Zach Britton I can only imagine what he goes for.

Will be real interesting. We get to see him again against the red hot Rangers on Friday. If he shuts them down - it will be insane. If he gets spanked , he could be a relative bargain.

Glenneration X · #31 Post by **Glenneration X** » April 7th, 2011, 11:02 pm

Interesting topic......

My recommendation, if in a mixed league don't break the bank on Britton. He's got talent, but is still a rookie pitcher, pitches in a hitter's park, pitches in a division filled with hitter's parks, pitches in a division with the Yanks, Bosox, & Jays, and Matusz will be back in a month. Remember, Matusz is just as talented and took plenty of lumps before he started putting it together.

For the poster playing in the WCOFB, I had some success in that contest last year. Streaming pitchers is a necessity there to compete in the counting stats. Still, be wary of who you stream. Throwing whip & era killers out there for double starts a few times will doom you in those categories. Use the FP spots wisely. Good luck, maybe we'll be battling at the end of the year there.

RobDMay · #32 Post by **RobDMay** » April 8th, 2011, 7:26 am

Given whats available in our particular NFBC league and what some players went for last week I think it will be a feeding frenzy on Britton even more so if he goes off tonight.

southpaw · #33 Post by **southpaw** » April 8th, 2011, 7:41 am

Thoughts on Esmil Rogers?

deansdaddy · #34 Post by **deansdaddy** » April 9th, 2011, 8:39 am

Hey Glenn,

Nice to see you over here at MB! We have a couple guys new to the FAAB process - glad to have you drop in to give some WCOFB advice.

viper · #35 Post by **viper** » April 9th, 2011, 8:52 pm

I guess it's safe to say that Britton will be the highest bid on player this week in the NFBC. My guess is that $500 will not be enough. It will be fun to check it out tomorrow evening around 9pm.

deansdaddy · #36 Post by **deansdaddy** » April 10th, 2011, 1:31 am

Well - I know that I plunked down some serious cash on Jordan Walden tonight in both of Perry's 15 team leagues.

We play with NFBC rules - and I needed help at closer on both teams. One I have Farnsworth and A Bailey and I cut HC Kuo to get Walden - I think I spent $333 here. I'm hanging onto Motte awhile longer here as well.

In the other league I have F Cordero, B League, McGee and Storen - But I still felt that getting Walden was the right move for my team.

I think I went even higher here - $378

Hope I'm right here - 40 saves or bust.

southpaw · #37 Post by **southpaw** » April 10th, 2011, 7:46 am

I've actually had a decent week and have climbed to 4th out of 14 overall.

Here are my overall numbers:

AB R HR RBI SB AVG W ERA SV IP K WHIP
387 67 14 65 6 .28682 5 3.750 4 96.0 81 1.188

I see Torres went down with some sort of Achilles injury so that can't be good. I'll most likely have to insert Ludwick this week from my bench.
I'm going to take Glenn's advice and not look to just stream for the sake of streaming. I have a stable ERA/WHIP going right now and I don't want to blow it. I did end up with 12 starts this week so my K's look good; now if I could only pick up a few W's....

Any idea how much $ it will take to grab Esmil Rogers from the WW this week?
Britton was drafted in my league so he won't be out there to fight over. Just scrubs like Chen, Livan, Maholm, Saunders and Arrieta.

viper · #38 Post by **viper** » April 10th, 2011, 8:02 am

My AL only league has the Britton sweepstakes tonight. He was not eligible for the draft because he had already been sent down. He was not eligible last week because he was not brought up prior to Sunday morning when OnRoto created its list of available players. I will make a token bid but I am expecting really, really high bids. Our $200 budget may very well see a $100+ bid as the winner.

I think there should be a Britton thread as soon as the NFBC bids are posted with winning bid noted. Runner-up bids would be neat to see also.

Glenneration X · #39 Post by **Glenneration X** » April 10th, 2011, 9:34 am

deansdaddy wrote:Hey Glenn,

Nice to see you over here at MB! We have a couple guys new to the FAAB process - glad to have you drop in to give some WCOFB advice.

No problem Ryan. I've been a Mastersball subscriber for a couple years now, but just recently started checking out the boards.

Britton should be interesting tonight. Curious how high the overbidding goes.

#40 Post by **Todd Zola** » April 10th, 2011, 10:34 am

I will keep the name(s) under wraps because the owner(s) may (or may not) play in the NFBC, but in the two NFBC style leagues that Perry runs that draft in December and January, Britton went for 165 and 210.

I would consider these leagues akin to an NFBC satellite in terms of competitiveness.

viper · #41 Post by **viper** » April 11th, 2011, 7:39 am

In my one AL only league that did FAAB last night with a $200 budget and $0 bids allowed, Britton went for $108 with a $101 bid missing out. Two owners choose not to bid. I understand that because why bid at all if your bid was going to be very low. My $1 bid failed.

southpaw · #42 Post by **southpaw** » April 11th, 2011, 8:05 am

My Esmil Rogers bid of $29 failed as he went for $36 in my WCOFB league.

RobDMay · #43 Post by **RobDMay** » April 11th, 2011, 11:55 am

Britton went for 485 with a runner bid of 371 in my NCBC sat league. Desmond Jennings went for 301 with the next bid being 44 OUCH.

I took a flyer on Santos for 7

deansdaddy · #44 Post by **deansdaddy** » April 11th, 2011, 1:28 pm

I was the $44 bid - and I dropped there from $77 earlier in the day. Still I wasn't even in the same ballpark. We have had some free spenders early in this league that is for sure.

I underbid on all my targets ( Britton, Harrison, C Getz) but one - where I got C Snyder for $19 un-contested.

I did get Harrison for $77 in my DP league and was pretty happy about that. I got outbid on Jordan Walden there - but I bid less here than in the other leagues (where I won him) since I have Bell and Street. Would like to add a third closer - but would rather get one cheaper here.

RobDMay · #45 Post by **RobDMay** » April 13th, 2011, 6:10 pm

Looking like Santos for $7 could be a steal for me.

Captain Hook · #46 Post by **Captain Hook** » April 14th, 2011, 12:47 pm

RobDMay wrote:Looking like Santos for $7 could be a steal for me.

Why? He will have to get some opportunities first and let's remember it IS Ozzie Guillen we are talking about
(btw I agree that Santos may have value IF he gets a shot and can perform very well right away....but that is certainly not a given)

RobDMay · #47 Post by **RobDMay** » April 14th, 2011, 1:54 pm

Captain Hook wrote:
RobDMay wrote:Looking like Santos for $7 could be a steal for me.
Why? He will have to get some opportunities first and let's remember it IS Ozzie Guillen we are talking about
(btw I agree that Santos may have value IF he gets a shot and can perform very well right away....but that is certainly not a given)

Your absolutely right but I would rather gamble $7 a week early then have to pay threw the nose if he happens to get a save chance or two this week. At this point I don't event think Ozzie knows who is getting the next save chance. Maybe the flop comes and I hit the flush maybe I miss for $7 I willing to take a look in NFBC.

southpaw · #48 Post by **southpaw** » May 9th, 2011, 7:53 am

Well, went all in on Hosmer in my WCOFB league last night.
My winning bid of $482 was $60 over the runner up bid of $422. I was leery to go that high but I really needed some stability at my CI spot and with guys like Reynolds, Desmond, Espinosa, and Posada draining my BA, I needed help in that area. I'm sitting second in the league, just a couple points behind the Desperados.
I also put a substantial bid on Melancon but was way off. I thought my $190 would be in contention and would have loved to acquire a 3rd closer behind Axford and Storen/Burnett. I also have Venters for a some vulture saves. But he went for $400+ with some runner up bids in the 200/300 range so my bid was on the lower end.
So I was real aggressive this week and got my main target. I'll hopefully be able to target some saves later on but with Melancon going so high, I think this will only inflate bids on speculative closers and step in closers in the future.

#49 Post by **Todd Zola** » May 9th, 2011, 9:58 am

southpaw wrote: I think this will only inflate bids on speculative closers and step in closers in the future.

This gets filed under "easier said than done", but the idea here is, assuming you have a reserve spot to sacrifice, to speculate on someone that costs the minimum bid that is not at the forefront of speculative closers. Someone like Jake McGee may be available or Scott Downs. You can even rotate guys into this spot so long as you only spend a buck or two per pickup.

It is hard to answer the question "who do you suggest I acquire", because if there was an answer, they would likely be owned.

It is not a part of the hobby I like, pure speculation, but that is where the game has evolved.

RobDMay · #50 Post by **RobDMay** » May 9th, 2011, 1:22 pm

Hosmer went for 500 in my NFBC Sat league, Melacon for 228, Padilla for 89.

Captain Hook · #51 Post by **Captain Hook** » May 9th, 2011, 2:34 pm

Hosmer winning bids (with highest underbid) in three WCOFB leagues

337 (243)

580 (355)

388 (I was one of Four teams who bid 333)

bids for Melancon if unowned was all over - there was a $300+ bid by one of the best players who is short on saves

RobDMay · #52 Post by **RobDMay** » May 16th, 2011, 8:43 pm

Ryan that Nathan bid had to hurt.

deansdaddy · #53 Post by **deansdaddy** » May 17th, 2011, 10:18 am

Yeah - it's never fun to overbid on a guy by over $200

And whats worse is I upped the bid twice during the day

But - he went for big bucks in a bunch of other leagues and I decided I wanted him. I have missed out on a a lot of guys in this league by underbidding - and sometimes this will be the result. I came into the week with over $800 - so I'm fine with it. I don't really worry about spending big on a player I want and I think Nathan will pay dividends on that investment.

What I am not so okay with is how your are running away with this league - 140 points!!! That's just crazy good.

I will keep battling and hopefully I can stay in your rear view with Rob Giese. Funny - the three guys from this league who checked in here on the boards regarding this league are running 1-2-3 right now. Keep up the good work - and don't get too comfortable

RobDMay · #54 Post by **RobDMay** » May 17th, 2011, 10:42 am

Yea its the most uncomfortable lead I have ever had, I just keep waiting for it to come crashing down. My SP still scares me there is no way my staff can maintain that ERA and WHIP all season. I still feel strongly about my offense and Hanely hasn't really done too much for me yet.