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Mid-Spring Auction Mock Draft

The following auction took place on the night of March 13. The format was mixed league with 15 teams, 23 rounds and 5x5 scoring with a $260 budget for each team.

This auction wasn’t just a mock, it’s an actual real money league that will play out the season. It was done through the NFBC (National Fantasy Baseball Championship) with 14 other extremely strong competitors. This is a stand-alone league, it does not compete with any other leagues for overall prizes.

I’m going to leave out the names of the competitors in this league (aside from my own) out of respect for my fellow drafters and the fact that many of them still have other high-stakes auctions to do in the next couple of weeks and I don’t want to give away any information.

Rather than just breaking down the results of the draft (which I’ll still do, don’t worry), I wanted to provide insight into my personal plan heading into the auction and how it played out.

As I’ve alluded to many times over the years in this space, I think that the most important thing for any owner to do prior to an auction is to put a plan in place as to how you want to spend your auction budget. I like to preach rigid flexibility. I allocate all of my funds to the positions (and targeted players), then I adjust that budget as the auction plays out. If I snag a player under the budgeted amount for that position, I divvy those extra dollars up elsewhere. If I have to overspend for a player, relative to my initial estimate, that money needs to come from somewhere. Having a plan in place though will help the auction go much smooth and lead to higher chances of success

Traditionally, the split between hitting and pitching has been right around 68% Hitting / 32% Pitching. We have seen that start to sway more toward the pitching side in recent years. In 16 NFBC auctions that were run prior to this one, the average split was 63/37, meaning that the average team allocated $164 to offense and $96 to pitching.

So with that in mind, here was my plan heading into the auction:

C1 - $4 (Jorge Alfaro)
C2 - $1 (Alex Avila)
1B - $36 (Paul Goldschmidt)
2B - $8 (Marwin Gonzalez / Scooter Gennett / Jonathan Villar)
SS - $17 (Elvis Andrus)
3B - $8 (Jake Lamb / Mike Moustakas / Eduardo Nunez)
CI - $15 (Miguel Cabrera)
MI - $1 (Starlin Castro)
OF1 - $24 (Christian Yelich / Justin Upton)
OF2 - $16 (Ronald Acuna)
OF3 - $10 (Delino DeShields / Adam Eaton)
OF4 - $6 (Steven Souza Jr.)
OF5 - $3 (Aaron Hicks / Carlos Gomez)
UTIL - $1 (Victor Martinez)

SP1 - $41 (Max Scherzer)
SP2 - $29 (Carlos Carrasco / Jacob deGrom / Justin Verlander)
SP3 - $5 (Kenta Maeda)
SP4 - $5 (Mike Clevinger)
SP5 - $4 (Lance Lynn)
SP6 - $2 (Mike Minor)
SP7 - $1
RP1 - $17 (Aroldis Chapman)
RP2 - $6 (Shane Greene)

In the plan above, I wound up with $150 on the hitting side of the ledger and $110 for pitching.

Given the current state of the game, with there being fewer elite-level starting pitchers that can be reasonably counted on to work 200+ innings, and more MLB clubs devoting more innings to their bullpen, I expect this trend to continue and to even go beyond the 60/40 range soon. Because of this, one of my goals heading into the auction was to secure two very strong starting pitchers to anchor my staff. One of them was going to be Max Scherzer, provided I didn’t need a ridiculous overspend to get him.

For some of the names listed above (Scherzer, Goldschmidt, Cabrera, Acuna) these were players that were my top targets and players that I would have overpaid by a couple of dollars to get if possible. For others, the name is more of a placeholder, keeping me aware of what type of player or what tier I’m looking at for any particular position.

Team 1 (Offense $131 / Pitching $129)

PositionPlayerPrice
C1Gary Sanchez($30)
C2Mike Zunino($11)
1BJoe Mauer($1)
2BScott Kingery($6)
SSDidi Gregorius($8)
3BMiguel Sano($10)
CIJake Lamb($8)
MIDevon Travis($1)
OF1George Springer($25)
OF2Byron Buxton($21)
OF3Mitch Haniger($4)
OF4Josh Reddick($3)
OF5Carlos Gonzalez($2)
UTILLogan Forsythe($1)

PositionPlayerPrice
SP1Chris Sale($37)
SP2Chris Archer($28)
SP3Robbie Ray($26)
SP4Shohei Ohtani($19)
SP5David Price($13)
SP6Chase Anderson($3)
SP7Sal Romano($1)
RP1Zach Britton($1)
RP2Alex Claudio($1)

Best Buy: Even though it’s as an SP5 here, I think he scored a nice discount on David Price. Didi Gregorius also feels a couple of dollars too cheap.

Worst Buy: I think spending anything more than $1 or $2 for Scott Kingery is too much at this stage, but that may have been at the end of the auction where he had funds left over. Aside from that, it’s hard to find too much fault with any one specific player.

Analysis: Well, I thought that by allocating an estimated $110 toward pitching that I would be way ahead of the field, but Team 1 went well above and beyond that. It’s hard to argue with the strength of the starting pitching on this squad, but it’s curious to me that he spent $129 on pitching but didn’t invest in any closers. Seems like leaving points on the table to do that. Also, if limiting the funds to spread around on offense, I would have liked to see a more balanced approach there, rather than spending $41 on a pair of catchers.

Team 2 (Offense $151 / Pitching $109)

PositionPlayerPrice
C1Welington Castillo($11)
C2Tucker Barnhart($3)
1BAnthony Rizzo($33)
2BIan Kinsler($8)
SSCorey Seager($21)
3BKyle Seager($11)
CIJoey Votto($32)
MIAmed Rosario($4)
OF1Yasiel Puig($10)
OF2Manuel Margot($9)
OF3Stephen Piscotty($3)
OF4Michael Brantley($2)
OF5David Peralta($2)
UTILBrandon Belt($2)

PositionPlayerPrice
SP1Yu Darvish($27)
SP2Aaron Nola($25)
SP3Luke Weaver($12)
SP4Sean Newcomb($6)
SP5Eduardo Rodriguez($5)
SP6Matt Shoemaker($2)
RP1Sean Doolittle($12)
RP2Blake Treinen($11)
RP3Brandon Morrow($9)

Best Buy: According to my valuations, I had Manuel Margot as a $14 player, so landing him for only $9 looks like quite the bargain. He also scored small discounts on Joey Votto and Corey Seager.

Worst Buy: Maybe I’m missing something on this one, but I only had Sean Newcomb as a $1 player. I think the extra money invested in the Braves’ hurler could have been distributed much better. I also only have Eduardo Rodriguez as a $2 player, so a bit of an overspend there as well. Combined, he could have gotten a much stronger SP4 for $9 or so and still secured one of this pair as his SP5.

Analysis: Again, we have another team utilizing a split that is slanted toward pitching. Overall, this team looks pretty solid top to bottom. As I alluded to above, I would have liked to see a stronger SP4 rather than overpaying for Newcomb and Rodriguez. I like how the wealth was spread out in the bullpen, securing three mid-range closers. I also like the strong base at first base, not being afraid to grab both Anthony Rizzo and Joey Votto.

Team 3 (Offense $161 / Pitching $99)

PositionPlayerPrice
C1Yasmani Grandal($5)
C2James McCann($3)
1BWil Myers($22)
2BDJ LeMahieu($9)
SSAndrelton Simmons($3)
3BKris Bryant($34)
CIMaikel Franco($4)
MIJavier Baez($9)
OF1Mike Trout($47)
OF2Gregory Polanco($15)
OF3Aaron Altherr($3)
OF4Kole Calhoun($3)
OF5Hunter Renfroe($2)
UTILAlbert Pujols($2)

PositionPlayerPrice
SP1Gerrit Cole($22)
SP2James Paxton($20)
SP3Joe Musgrove($11)
SP4Jameson Taillon($10)
SP5Lance McCullers($9)
SP6Vince Velasquez($2)
RP1Jeurys Familia($10)
RP2Hector Neris($10)
RP3Mark Melancon($5)

Best Buy: Perhaps it’s the minor injury that he’s dealing with, or the fact that he had the medical designation next to his name, but he was able to grab Javier Baez at a discount of $2-$3. It’s also extremely difficult to land elite talent under the market value, but he was able to come away with Mike Trout and Kris Bryant each $1 under what their market had been. Say what you will about the skepticism surrounding the health of Mark Melancon, he’s still an $8-$9 closer who was secured at a nice discount.

Worst Buy: Gregory Polanco’s average auction price coming in was right around $12, so that looks like a bit of an overspend there. I believe it was a case of having too much money left over at the end of the draft, but he spilled his excess into snagging Joe Musgrove for $11 when he could have nabbed him for $1 or $2.

Analysis: While it’s not as extreme as the first two teams that we looked at, this owner still went over the market average by using a 62/38 split. It’s tough when you get painted into a corner and have money sitting on the table at the end of an auction, that that’s what happened here. Being able to get an actual $11 pitcher in place of Musgrove could make this team look a lot stronger overall. At a glance, it feels to me like the offense could be a bit short in the power department.

Team 4 (Offense $172 / Pitching $88)

PositionPlayerPrice
C1Austin Hedges($5)
C2Chris Iannetta($3)
1BJose Abreu($27)
2BDee Gordon($30)
SSAddison Russell($1)
3BManny Machado($33)
CITodd Frazier($2)
MIKolten Wong($3)
OF1Charlie Blackmon($37)
OF2Billy Hamilton($13)
OF3Steven Souza Jr.($9)
OF4Adam Duvall($6)
OF5Jackie Bradley Jr.($2)
UTILScott Schebler($1)

PositionPlayerPrice
SP1Jeff Samardzija($14)
SP2Jose Berrios($13)
SP3Alex Wood($10)
SP4Dylan Bundy($9)
SP5Marcus Stroman($8)
SP6Ervin Santana($1)
RP1Craig Kimbrel($21)
RP2Alex Colome($10)
RP3Dellin Betances($1)

Best Buy: Coming into this auction, Billy Hamilton’s average auction value had been $21. He had gone for less than $20 just four times in 16 auctions, with a low-water mark of $16. Personally, he’s a player that I despise and I don’t enjoy having to structure my team around his skillset. However, landing him for $13 looks like a massive bargain no matter how you slice it. He also scored a $2-$3 discount on Alex Wood.

Worst Buy: By the numbers, it looks like Samardzija may have been the biggest overspend relative to market values, as his average auction price coming in was just $11.5. Aside from that, there’s nothing glaring that jumps out to me as a poor purchase.

Analysis: This is the first team that we have looked at so far that has used closer to a traditional split, but he was still just 66/34. While he doesn’t have any upper-echelon starting pitchers, I like how he spread the wealth there and got five above-average hurlers to lead his staff. The offense looks very strong on paper, with the quartet of Blackmon, Machado, Gordon and Abreu leading the way. Throw in the massive discount on Hamilton and a guy like Steven Souza Jr. who was a target of mine that I was unable to land, and this could be one of the best units in the league.

Team 5 (Offense $177 / Pitching $83)

PositionPlayerPrice
C1Jonathan Lucroy($7)
C2Matt Wieters($5)
1BEdwin Encarnacion($22)
2BJonathan Villar($10)
SSTim Anderson($9)
3BRyon Healy($4)
CIC.J. Cron($2)
MIIan Happ($7)
OF1Christian Yelich($28)
OF2Andrew Benintendi($25)
OF3Marcell Ozuna($25)
OF4A.J. Pollock($22)
OF5Kyle Schwarber($7)
UTILMax Kepler($4)

PositionPlayerPrice
SP1Justin Verlander($29)
SP2Dallas Keuchel($20)
SP3Cole Hamels($5)
SP4Gio Gonzalez($4)
SP5Danny Salazar($4)
SP6Mike Leake($1)
RP1Raisel Iglesias($12)
RP2Kelvin Herrera($6)
RP3Joakim Soria($2)

Best Buy: Gio Gonzalez is the one that stands out as a nice value. His average auction value coming in checked in just under $8 and he went for half of that. I didn’t have the requisite funds remaining available to take advantage of that discount or at least drive the price up. Raisel Iglesias also looks like a very nice discount relative to his $15 AAV.

Worst Buy: Matt Wieters stands out as a bit of an overspend, as his average auction value coming in was only $2, but he may have been the best catcher remaining at the time, which would have inflated his price by a couple of dollars. I had been interested in Villar at his average value of around $7, but I bowed out here, allowing Team 5 to get him for $10. Yelich went a few dollars higher than his average value, but I can’t find any fault with that one.

Analysis: This is the first team that we have seen that went with the traditional 68/32 split. Even with the limited (by this auction’s valuation) funds devoted to the pitching side of the ledger, he still did a very nice job there, securing a couple of high-end arms to lead his staff and snagging three closers at relatively low rates. The middle of the rotation will need some management, but everyone has to have a hole somewhere. The offense is very strong, especially in the outfield where most of his money was invested.

Team 6 (Offense $163 / Pitching $97)

PositionPlayerPrice
C1Russell Martin($4)
C2Travis d’Arnaud($3)
1BMatt Carpenter($9)
2BBrian Dozier($25)
SSMarcus Semien($8)
3BJustin Turner($15)
CIEugenio Suarez($6)
MIJason Kipnis($5)
OF1Starling Marte($24)
OF2Lorenzo Cain($23)
OF3Khris Davis($21)
OF4Ryan Braun($13)
OF5Aaron Hicks($4)
UTILLogan Morrison($3)

PositionPlayerPrice
SP1Jon Lester($14)
SP2Sonny Gray($12)
SP3Patrick Corbin($9)
SP4Taijuan Walker($9)
SP5Kenta Maeda($7)
SP6Sean Manaea($7)
SP7Kevin Gausman($6)
RP1Ken Giles($17)
RP2Felipe Rivero($16)

Best Buy: There’s nothing that jumps off the page to me as major steal, but he was able to secure several top players at $1 or $2 discounts relative to their average prices, and that’s the name of the game.

Worst Buy: The one that stands out to me here is Lorenzo Cain. His AAV coming in was just $17.3 with a high of $21. His stock is trending upwards since signing in Milwaukee, but this feels a tad high. I’m unsure if it was at the end of the auction or not, but Patrick Corbin is only a $4-$5 pitcher and I’m having a hard time justifying a $9 price there. Matt Carpenter had an AAV of only $7 but has the track record to earn the extra couple of dollars. I have Marcus Semien as only a $5.5 player, so that might be a slight overpay.

Analysis: Another team going with the recent trend, utilizing a 62.5/37.5 split. Fascinating. For the most part, I think he did a really nice job staying flexible and taking what the auction gave him. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on Corbin, as I believe that was later in the auction and he had money on the table.

Team 7 (Offense $160 / Pitching $100)

PositionPlayerPrice
C1Willson Contreras($20)
C2Christian Vazquez($1)
1BMatt Olson($12)
2BOzzie Albies($16)
SSFrancisco Lindor($30)
3BRafael Devers($13)
CIMatt Chapman($5)
MITim Beckham($1)
OF1Mookie Betts($38)
OF2Jay Bruce($12)
OF3Chris Taylor($8)
OF4Curtis Granderson($1)
OF5Jose Pirela($1)
UTILYonder Alonso($2)

PositionPlayerPrice
SP1Clayton Kershaw($37)
SP2Blake Snell($7)
SP3Jordan Montgomery($6)
SP4Charlie Morton($6)
SP5Tyson Ross($2)
SP6Andrew Heaney($1)
SP7Brad Peacock($1)
RP1Kenley Jansen($24)
RP2Roberto Osuna($16)

Best Buy: Even if you’re an ardent Scherzer promoter, you have to like that price on Clayton Kershaw. He carried an average auction value of $42.5 heading into this one, so a price of only $37 was very surprising to see. Team 7 also got a nice discount on Chris Taylor, who was an $11.5 player on average coming in. I also like the $2-$3 discount on Willson Contreras.

Worst Buy: I like Ozzie Albies more than most and have a number of his shares already this year. He’s someone that I had interest in coming into this auction as well, at a price right around his average of $13.5. The upside is certainly there to justify it, but I couldn’t go up to $16 for him.

Analysis: I’m starting to sense a pattern on these splits here. Perhaps me planning to go closer to 60/40 isn’t all that outlandish. Team 7 checks in at 61.5/38.5 on his budget. You can see on the pitching side, what a staff looks like when paying up for one of the top starting pitchers, as his starting pitching is very weak behind Kershaw. I hope that the Scherzer owner doesn’t fall into a similar situation. The fact that I’m nit-picking the Albies purchase goes to show how strong and well-constructed this team is. This looks like a title contender.

Team 8 (Offense $117 / Pitching $141) - $2 left on table

PositionPlayerPrice
C1Salvador Perez($16)
C2Jorge Alfaro($5)
1BChris Davis($9)
2BYoan Moncada($8)
SSGleyber Torres($3)
3BTravis Shaw($17)
CIJosh Bell($6)
MIPaul DeJong($6)
OF1Ronald Acuna($21)
OF2Odubel Herrera($8)
OF3Dexter Fowler($6)
OF4Carlos Gomez($6)
OF5Willie Calhoun($3)
UTILHanley Ramirez($3)

PositionPlayerPrice
SP1Madison Bumgarner($33)
SP2Zack Greinke($24)
SP3Masahiro Tanaka($21)
SP4Jake Arrieta($18)
SP5Rich Hill($12)
SP6Drew Pomeranz($8)
SP7Michael Fulmer($6)
RP1Wade Davis($16)
RP2Greg Holland($3)

Best Buy: Perhaps Yoan Moncada? His AAV coming in was nearly $12, so landing him and his massive upside for only $8 seems like a nice bargain. Aside from that, Paul DeJong may be a dollar or two too cheap.

Worst Buy: I have a hard time seeing how Chris Davis pays off that $9 price tag. His AAV coming in was under $6, perhaps this team just needed the additional power and didn’t care about the potential batting average hit. Looking at his roster, it’s clear that average will be a battlefield.

Analysis: No, that’s not a misprint, we’re looking at a 45.5/54.5 split toward pitching with this team. I can’t wait to see what the final total was for this auction. This team actually became my nemesis in several intense bidding wars. One guy who was a must of mine heading into the auction was Ronald Acuna. In the previous 16 auctions, his AAV was $13.9. He had gone for more than $15 just twice, with prices of $16 and $19. I had hoped to get him for a price of $16. I went above and beyond that, and any sane measure, going $20 for the stud prospect, yet it still wasn’t enough as Team 8 landed him for $21. I also had significant interest in Masahiro Tanaka around $16 and had to bow out early there. My plan also included Carlos Gomez, who I thought I could steal for $2 since he had only been selected in 8 of the 16 auctions that had run with a high price of $4, but my $5 wasn’t even enough there.

MY TEAM (Offense $152 / Pitching $108)

PositionPlayerPrice
C1J.T. Realmuto($15)
C2Jason Castro($1)
1BPaul Goldschmidt($37)
2BScooter Gennett($8)
SSChris Owings($5)
3BAlex Bregman($24)
CIMiguel Cabrera($15)
MIStarlin Castro($1)
OF1Justin Upton($22)
OF2Delino DeShields($10)
OF3Marwin Gonzalez($8)
OF4Cameron Maybin($2)
OF5Matt Kemp($1)
UTILVictor Martinez($1)

PositionPlayerPrice
SP1Max Scherzer($41)
SP2Jacob deGrom($30)
SP3Mike Clevinger($8)
SP4Lance Lynn($5)
SP5Luiz Gohara($1)
SP6Alex Reyes($1)
RP1Aroldis Chapman($15)
RP2Shane Greene($6)
RP3Cam Bedrosian($1)

Best Buy: Hmm… all of them? No seriously, I think that I landed several considerable bargains that made my auction a success as a whole. I had $18 budgeted for Aroldis Chapman, who came in with an AAV of $18.2. Closers had been going at a premium at this stage of the auction, so for the bidding to stop at $15 was fantastic. I think for all that he does and the production that I expect that Marwin Gonzalez was a steal at $8, I was probably willing to go as high as $10. I actually landed Scherzer right at the price that I had anticipated, but probably would have gone to $43 if necessary. I love the Cam Bedrosian pick for $1 at the end, and think that Matt Kemp at $1 could wind up being a steal as well.

Worst Buy: Chris Owings. Here’s what happened. It was getting late in the auction and I had around $8 left to fill 4 spots, leaving me with a maximum bid of $5. Owings, in my estimation, was the best offensive player remaining on the board. The team that nominated him did so at $1. He had two spots left to fill, also with a maximum bid of $5. Without really thinking about it, I jumped to $5 to shut him out, not thinking of the ramifications on my remaining picks. While I have no issue with Owings and love the flexibility that he and Marwin Gonzalez bring to my roster, my last few picks suffered because of this play, especially my final two starting pitchers. Had I had the extra dollar or two, Gohara would be Mike Minor and I would feel a lot better about the backend of my staff.

It’s hard to list a $1 catcher in the worst buy section, but I could have and should have done a lot better than Castro for my $1 C2.

Analysis: So I ended up right about where I wanted to be, with a split of 58.5/41.5. So, looking at the outline above, you can see that some things went according to plan. I was able to secure Scherzer/deGrom to lead my rotation. I hit right on the closers that I wanted to get, even snagging Chapman at a discount. I had to go over what I had budgeted for Clevinger, and for Lynn, which really hurt the quality of my SP5 and SP6. Being able to grab Bedrosian for $1 felt like a nice bargain at the end.

On the offensive side of the ledger, I didn’t get as much from my outfield as I wanted to. I got Upton a couple of dollars cheaper than I had anticipated, but I passed over a few other options thinking that I was going to wind up with Acuna as my OF2. When that fell through, there wasn’t much left on the board in that tier or the tier below and I had to improvise. That’s when Realmuto came on the block. I had absolutely no intention going into the auction of spending up at the catcher position, but I have him as a $16 player and was really going $15 just to price enforce. I’m more than happy to end up with him at a discount, but it hurt the build of my outfield a bit, as I had to move the funds around.

As I had said, the plan coming into the draft was to start with a base on offense that included Goldschmidt, Cabrera, Acuna, Upton/Yelich and Elvis Andrus. I was able to get Goldschmidt, Cabrera and Upton at around what I had budgeted, but missed big on Acuna. I also missed on Andrus. Coming into the auction his AAV was $18.7, but his price got pushed up here all the way to $24. I bowed out at $22. When that happened, I scrambled as to what I wanted to do at the shortstop position, and also with my other main building block on offense. Eventually I settled on Alex Bregman. Again, this was a case of me price enforcing a bit, as his AAV was $26.8 coming into the auction, and I was quite surprised when I was awarded him for only $24.

Team 10 (Offense $165 / Pitching $93) - $2 left on table

PositionPlayerPrice
C1Manny Pina($3)
C2Kurt Suzuki($1)
1BRyan Zimmerman($6)
2BRobinson Cano($13)
SSJean Segura($17)
3BMike Moustakas($9)
CIYuli Gurriel($1)
MICesar Hernandez($3)
OF1J.D. Martinez($34)
OF2Cody Bellinger($28)
OF3Aaron Judge($27)
OF4Ender Inciarte($13)
OF5Avisail Garcia($6)
UTILRandal Grichuk($4)

PositionPlayerPrice
SP1Corey Kluber($37)
SP2Stephen Strasburg($30)
SP3JA Happ($5)
SP4Tanner Roark($4)
SP5Josh Hader($3)
SP6Matt Harvey($3)
RP1Addison Reed($4)
RP2Fernando Rodney($4)
RP3Brad Brach($3)

Best Buy: Aaron Judge is the one that jumps out to me as a player that went too cheaply here. On average, he had gone for $31.1, so definitely seeing him at only $27 was surprising. It was also a bit of a shock, given the overall prices on starting pitching, that both Corey Kluber and Stephen Strasburg were had at $1-$2 discounts. Robinson Cano looks like a nice little discount, as a $15.5 player on average. Moustakas looks like he was acquired at a $2 discount as well.

Worst Buy: J.D. Martinez looks like a bit of an overpay, if we base it on his average auction value ($31), but his stock has been trending upward since signing with the Red Sox. Ender Inciarte had been an $11.5 player who went slightly over, but it’s hard to find any serious fault there.

Analysis: Another team checking in around 63.5/36.5 on the split. The offense looks legit at a glance, though I don’t see enough speed here to finish above league average in that category. Obviously, there’s a lot to like in the top two starting pitchers, but after that the starting rotation is a train-wreck. I like that he was able to secure two closers for under $10 total, but it doesn’t salvage the pitching staff given the poor SP3-SP7.

Team 11 (Offense $177 / Pitching $83)

PositionPlayerPrice
C1Buster Posey($18)
C2Brian McCann($3)
1BCarlos Santana($8)
2BBrandon Drury($5)
SSTrea Turner($41)
3BEvan Longoria($7)
CIJoey Gallo($16)
MIJorge Polanco($5)
OF1Bryce Harper($35)
OF2Nomar Mazara($13)
OF3Adam Jones($11)
OF4David Dahl($6)
OF5Michael Conforto($5)
UTILJose Martinez($4)

PositionPlayerPrice
SP1Carlos Martinez($26)
SP2Jose Quintana($20)
SP3Johnny Cueto($11)
SP4Garrett Richards($10)
SP5Jon Gray($8)
SP6Jake Faria($3)
SP7Felix Hernandez($3)
RP1Blake Parker($1)
RP2Brad Ziegler($1)

Best Buy: I’m not the biggest supporter of Bryce Harper and don’t own him on any teams et this year, but getting a $38 player at a $3 discount is a terrific way to start a team. Had I not already locked in Scherzer and Goldschmidt on my roster, I may have gone $36 on Harper. Jon Gray also looks like a nice discount with an AAV of $10.5. I had the bid at $7 but couldn’t pull the trigger to go one more and kind of wish that I had.

Worst Buy: From an AAV perspective, Brandon Drury hadn’t gone for more than $1 in any auction to date, so the $5 here looks like a bit of an overspend, but again could have been a case of having money left on the table near the end of the auction. I’m not a staunch Joey Gallo supporter and he entered with an AAV of $11.6, so that looks to me like an overpay as well.

Analysis: Team 11 is one of the few that utilized the traditional 68/32 split with his budget, and you can see in the pitching staff what that means in today’s day and age. If going that route, you need to sacrifice somewhere on the pitching end, and he did it by punting the closer position. It’s pretty remarkable actually that he received as many potential save opportunities as he did for just $2 at the end of the auction, however he’ll have to work his FAAB throughout the year to correct that issue.

Team 12 (Offense $176 / Pitching $84)

PositionPlayerPrice
C1Evan Gattis($13)
C2Yadier Molina($11)
1BIan Desmond($10)
2BRougned Odor($13)
SSXander Bogaerts($17)
3BJosh Donaldson($26)
CIAdrian Beltre($9)
MIEduardo Nunez($14)
OF1Andrew McCutchen($19)
OF2Yoenis Cespedes($18)
OF3Kevin Kiermaier($12)
OF4Bradley Zimmer($6)
OF5Shin-Soo Choo($3)
UTILMark Trumbo($5)

PositionPlayerPrice
SP1Zack Godley($15)
SP2Trevor Bauer($13)
SP3Kyle Hendricks($13)
SP4Jake Odorizzi($5)
SP5Rick Porcello($4)
SP6Alex Cobb($3)
SP7Jaime Garcia($1)
RP1Edwin Diaz($16)
RP2Brad Hand($14)

Best Buy: Ian Desmond jumps off the page to me as a terrific value. His AAV coming in was nearly $15, so getting him for $10 seems like a tremendous get. Perhaps some owners were scared off by the Rockies’ resigning Carlos Gonzalez. Josh Donaldson and Rougned Odor,

Worst Buy: If I’m looking at it from an AAV perspective, he spent $3 over the average on Evan Gattis and almost $4 over the average on Eduardo Nunez. He also went $4 over the AAV to land Andrew McCutchen. On the pitching side he went $3 over the average on his “ace” Zack Godley and $2 over on Trevor Bauer and Jake Odorizzi.

Analysis: A couple of traditional splits right next to each other near the end of the auction, with Team 12 utilizing a 67.5/32.5 split. Rather than punting the bullpen like Team 11, Team 12 locked in two upper-echelon closers for a combined $30, making that a strength of his team. In turn, the rotation suffers with a trio of Zack Godley, Trevor Bauer and Kyle Hendricks leading the way. The offense looks extremely strong from top to bottom as he utilized a spread-the-wealth strategy with Josh Donaldson representing his only player above $20.

Team 13 (Offense $220 / Pitching $37) - $3 left on table

PositionPlayerPrice
C1Robinson Chirinos($2)
C2Tyler Flowers($1)
1BRhys Hoskins($24)
2BJose Altuve($40)
SSTrevor Story($14)
3BNolan Arenado($41)
CIRyan McMahon($1)
MIWhit Merrifield($21)
OF1Giancarlo Stanton($40)
OF2Domingo Santana($15)
OF3Nicholas Castellanos($15)
OF4Victor Robles($3)
OF5Lewis Brinson($2)
UTILKendrys Morales($1)

PositionPlayerPrice
SP1Dinelson Lamet($8)
SP2Lucas Giolito($4)
SP3Michael Wacha($3)
SP4Nathan Eovaldi($2)
SP5Mike Foltynewicz($2)
SP6Mike Minor($2)
RP1Archie Bradley($7)
RP2Andrew Miller($7)
RP3Dominic Leone($2)

Best Buy: Hands down, the manager’s best buy has to be Jose Altuve in my estimation. He’s a $43-$44 player and a consensus top two selection in all drafts, yet somehow the bidding stalled here at only $40. That’s a tremendous discount to begin building your offense with. While he didn’t devote much money to the pitching staff, I do believe he got a $2 discount on Michael Wacha.

Worst Buy: I can’t single out one in particular, but by AAV he paid $2.5 - $3 too much for Rhys Hoskins, Whit Merrifield and Domingo Santana. I don’t think any of the three are bad purchases in a vacuum, but a few of those extra dollars could have gone a long way toward improving the pitching staff.

Analysis: This is the first team we have seen that really hammered the offensive side of their budget, going as high as $220 and utilizing an 85/15 split. The offense, as it should, looks outstanding. It’s anchored by three absolute studs in Jose Altuve, Giancarlo Stanton and Nolan Arenado, and surrounded by excellent complementary pieces. The pitching side is going to be a work in progress throughout the year, but that’s what happens when you spend only $37 on that side.

Team 14 (Offense $168 / Pitching $92)

PositionPlayerPrice
C1Wilson Ramos($12)
C2Alex Avila($3)
1BFreddie Freeman($35)
2BDaniel Murphy($15)
SSCarlos Correa($33)
3BAnthony Rendon($15)
CIGreg Bird($8)
MIJose Peraza($4)
OF1Tommy Pham($25)
OF2Trey Mancini($8)
OF3Michael Taylor($3)
OF4Brett Gardner($3)
OF5Jacoby Ellsbury($1)
UTILJustin Bour($3)

PositionPlayerPrice
SP1Noah Syndergaard($32)
SP2Luis Severino($29)
SP3Danny Duffy($8)
SP4Aaron Sanchez($7)
SP5Tyler Chatwood($4)
SP6Miles Mikolas($3)
SP7Steven Matz($1)
RP1Arodys Vizcaino($7)
RP2David Robertson($1)

Best Buy: Anthony Rendon. I’m not quite sure what happened here, as I don’t even recall Rendon coming up on the block. Perhaps it happened in such a flash that I just missed it. He wasn’t a player that I was interested in purchasing, but with an AAV of $21.9 I surely would have gone $16 and price enforced a bit had I noticed this thievery happening. He also did a nice job snagging Arodys Vizcaino at a $3 discount.

Worst Buy: It’s hard to find too much fault with anything on this team. Maybe Wilson Ramos, who had an AAV a tick under $10 but was bid up to $12 in this one. Or how about Jacoby Ellsbury who never should have been rostered at all; that’s just a waste of a good $1 in my opinion.

Analysis: Not quite the traditional split, but not as extreme as some of the teams in this draft toward the new age, with Team 14 going 64.5/35.5.

Team 15 (Offense $164 / Pitching $96)

PositionPlayerPrice
C1Austin Barnes($5)
C2Stephen Vogt($1)
1BEric Hosmer($21)
2BJonathan Schoop($19)
SSElvis Andrus($24)
3BJose Ramirez($30)
CIJustin Smoak($5)
MIOrlando Arcia($8)
OF1Adam Eaton($12)
OF2Eddie Rosario($10)
OF3Corey Dickerson($6)
OF4Eric Thames($3)
OF5Mallex Smith($2)
UTILNelson Cruz($18)

PositionPlayerPrice
SP1Carlos Carrasco($29)
SP2Luis Castillo($17)
SP3Julio Teheran($7)
SP4Marco Estrada($6)
SP5Chad Green($2)
SP6Dan Straily($1)
RP1Cody Allen($17)
RP2Corey Knebel($15)
RP3Chris Devenski($2)

Best Buy: It’s always nice when you get a discount on your highest priced player, and that’s exactly what Team 15 did, landing a $2 discount on Jose Ramirez. He also scored nearly a $3 discount on Corey Knebel, giving him a terrific pair of closers for just $32 combined.

Worst Buy: If I’m judging my AAV, then Eric Hosmer should be on this list. Entering this auction, he had an AAV of $16.9, so $21 seems a little high. Elvis Andrus entered with an AAV of $18.7 and the bidding war on him escalated all the way to $24. I was involved in that bidding process, even going higher than I had wanted to, and came away empty-handed.

Analysis: We finish up with another new-age 63/37 split. I was in on the bidding against him on Carlos Carrasco, but as I had $28 budgeted for that spot and other options in mind, I bowed out without going to $30 (though I wound up going $30 the next time around on deGrom). This feels like a very well-constructed team and one that I’ll have to lookout for throughout the season.

Overall, this auction wound up playing out exactly at the new-age split of 63/37. Keep that in mind when preparing for your own auction, as which split you decide to use will greatly impact your auction values. I came away pleased for the most part with the team that I was able to assemble, but I do regret the Chris Owings play. I would rather have saved the money and put Tim Beckham in that spot, then secured Mike Minor as a part of my rotation. If that’s my biggest gripe though, I guess I did alright.

Thanks for reading and best of luck as you attack your own auctions in the coming weeks!