BLB – Auction Post-Mortem Thread

Mike Jackson

So, how did everyone feel about their auctions? I’ll kick things off:

I went in needing a starting 1B, 2B, and either 3B or DH (if I got a 3B I was gonna move Jose Ramirez to DH). I also wanted an ace RH RP (jam or very good non-jam), defensive SS to spell off Bogaerts, and other ‘pen and bench pieces as needed.

Donaldson ($33) – I was surprised by this and feeling great about this price until Beltre went for $18 later. I had them both jotted down for $35/40 of my budget. I like Donaldson better for future value than Beltre but Buneta got the better value for this year for sure. Still elated with this pick.

Pedroia ($26) – I was prepared to go into the low 30’s for Pedroia so I’m thrilled with this price too. He fits my needs and park well with his good defense, even splits, and the hit and run rating.

Belt ($28) – After dropping out on Freeman I knew I needed to get Belt. I had him marked down for $30 so while this isn’t a bargain, it’s not an overpay either in my mind.

Thornburg ($19) – Paid a few more dollars than I wanted for Thornburg but I knew I had the room with the savings above. Great opposite jam RH RP card.

Phelps ($9) – Also paid a few more bucks for Phelps than I wanted; I actually wanted Devenski but we saw how that went. Phelps has 5 spot starts too so that took away my need to get a decent #6 SP in the auction as he can fill in for the occasional injury.

Martin ($4) – Needed a solid 4th OF/CF and dropped out on Gardner and Pillar. Would have prefered Martin in the 1-2 dollar range but $4 isn’t too bad.

Reyes ($1) – Surprised I got Jose for a buck. Kills lefties (limited) and plays a few positions, good speed so can be a pinch runner too.

Treinen ($2) – Solid power arm for 2 bucks.

Butera ($1) – Surprised I got him for a buck as well. Limited but good bat vs RHP. With Lucroy I won’t need him much but he could PH from time to time.

Goins ($1) – This was the one guy I wanted from the mid-point of the draft on, as I love his A range at SS and I’ll need that with Bogaerts and his C range. Glad to get him for a buck, would have went a few dollars higher.

Ryan Schimpf ($3) – Ran out of guys to nominate at the end so threw him out as a sleeper/ringer bench card. For some reason I thought he had the % limit so when I noticed he didn’t I threw him out there.

Overall I’m very happy with this draft. A few overpays on the RPs but glad I got slight bargains on elite infielders to fill out my team. Not sure what grade I give myself in the report card but I’m happy nonetheless.

Now it’s your guys’ turn: Grade/comment on your drafts in the comments!

Mike

17 thoughts on “BLB – Auction Post-Mortem Thread”

  1. dakota had no money to work with and the results showed.i got to pitchers(shoemaker and doolittle) that provide some depth until they join the rest of my staff on the DL.the good news is that my team didnt need very much and i always expected to fill out whatever needs i may have in the minors phase

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  3. As for the Draft…I only had 4 spots to fill. I wanted Griffin for $1 but alas the new guy screwed that up. 🙂 No hard feelings Archie, so I’ll settle for $7. His on rating was the key here, expect plenty of bases empty walks. Votto won’t take him deep once this year. After trading away Lindor and Russell at SS I needed something. Saladino fits the bill. Not a defensive stud but I like his card offensively. His multiple positions will come in handy late in the game with switches. Grichuk was not on my Radar at all. I really just wanted to steal him away from Buneta, whom is quickly becoming my Nemesis. In the game above, he did hit the game winner against the forementioned Devenski. So instant dividends. Lastly, I wanted 1 more Starter with ON rating for my big park in Seattle. Matt Boyd will do just fine after I missed out on Nolasco. I’m happy with my Draft. See you in the playoffs Jon!

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  4. Terrible draft for me… I was gun shy and left to much money on the table… draft went very fast at the end.
    I needed 3 sp and landed Nolasco for $9, T. Anderson for $3 and Suarez for $1 (20 endurance starter sucks) round out my rotation, all under 1.31 whip at least but deep drive prone.
    I’m ok with Castilla at $5 for a Jam closer, I like Wilson (used him in another league with good results) and Flynn both at $4 to round out the pen.
    I needed a Ca and shoulda went on Castillo but didn’t and got stuck with Joseph $3… no bat but solid D at least.
    I also coulda bid up Forsyth for 2b but landed Beckham at $1 for 2b. very meh.
    Jaso and Rua with platoon at DH for $1 each.
    At least I didn’t get smith… yet… Ill wait till the minor draft.

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  5. My Auction experience; Overview- Plenty of money for 9 positions.
    My Needs; 2+ Starting pitchers, 2+Starting OFers, Platoon for IF and lots of Pen needed.
    Results; I targeted 4 main players in this draft and pussed out during the bidding, just stupid. I wanted Lester, but I got Happ. I wanted Cueto, but I got Guerra. I wanted Eaton, but I got Granderson. I wanted Dyson, but I got Gardner. 4 failed targets, but the replacements are fine with me. Moving on to the rest of my pitching, I got Manaea for a good price and Devenski I overpaid for, but I will be damned if I was going to miss out on another long stud reliever with a bright future when I had plenty of money left! 🙂 I got Freese to platoon at 3B or 1B vs LHP and Hernan Perez will be my super sub IF/OF with some pop. I got Mallex Smith at the end for OF depth and a look to next year. I noted Bridgeport is predicting himself vs Cincy in the playoffs. That’s smart money, but I’ll take my chances and hope to be in position to be in contention by the trade deadline. Good luck to all!

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  6. 6 players $100+ bucks.. left too much $$$ on table but oh, well internet sucks in unincorporated (boondocks, sticks, BFE) Indiana

    Missed out on Kerhaw, Lester, Cueto.. one day I’ll make the start of the draft or fly/ drive to Mike’s house (or someone else’s in the league)

    really only needed another OF got Garcia (clutch) to pair with Rasmus (clutch) n Blackmon.. tried to get Belt as regular 1b, but I had a whole IF already

    Added some arms to the BP.. happy with it overall.. nothing sexy but it’ll do

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  7. The Cows needed a bunch of relief pitching and a couple of backup hitters. Overall, I’m pleased with how the draft turned out. The relief pitchers:
    Kelvim Herrera – $15
    Hunter Strickland – $6
    David Robinson – $6
    Neftali Perez – $2

    Going into the draft, I had 5 starters, and I didn’t like the prospect of putting Miley out there regularly, so Fiers is a big improvement there.

    Starting Pitcher
    Mike Fiers – $6

    Finally, I had my starting lineup pretty much set, so Pujols and Kendrick are good backups/DH possibilities.

    Hitters
    Albert Pujuls – $5
    Howie Kendrick – $1

    Pleased how the draft went. Looking forward to sleeping on a bed in 2018 spring training (Between Ron, Craig and I, the worst record in the previous season gets the sofa couch during our spring training trip).

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  8. Heading into the draft I felt my team was very much on the fence of being competitive and an also ran. With only $88 to spend on 9 players I felt I would hedge my bet and draft players that should be around for a couple seasons. I needed to spend more of my available salary at the draft on bats as I had 4 starters and a closer already.

    Players taken:

    Adrian Beltre – $18 – I as ecstatic when I landed him, let alone for the price he came to me. I would have paid in the 30’s to get him and fill a gaping hole on the team. His clutch bat is big and plays well on both sides to go along with a very good defensive card. I was in on Donaldson but glad I bowed out and nabbed Adrian.

    Andrew McCutchen – $14 – He is one guy I really wanted in the draft as I feel he is a man on a mission this year in MLB. His card is very pedestrian but it has some value and his upside for a 30 year old former MVP was too enticing for me.

    Chris Davis – $14 – He fit my draft motto perfectly, draft guys with big upside and usable cards. His 35+ HR’s and big lefty power works well to fit between EE and Beltre in the lineup and his B/70 Defense at enables me to move EE to DH and upgrade the glove work of the team. I was very happy to land him at this price.

    Juston Upton – $8 – Clutch power OF bat was what I needed. I feel he could be a nice bounce back guy as well. He gives the team four bats with 30+HR’s for the middle of the lineup.

    Jeurys Familia – $14 – A solid JAM closer with a good track record on the field worked well for me to pair up with AJ Ramos in the later innings for me. I don’t know how he went for $14 after looking at some of the non-JAM bullpen arms going for more. I was very glad to bring Familia back to the team, hopefully his off=fild issues come to a close.

    Danny Valencia – $5 – not much in the field but can play both corner INF and OF. He bat is good vs both sides and looks to be a solid contributor off the bench.

    Brian McCann – $7 – I needed another catcher to go with Cervelli and McCann worked really well. I love having a LH hitting catcher. I think he will have a big season in Houston and be a bargain again next season for me.

    Alex Reyes – $5 – limited and out for 2017 but he has a really good 30% card (pen or starter) that will be valuable to a playoff team or mine if I can make it.

    Hisashi Iwakuma – $5 – The On rating mitigates the deeps he has on his card. He should work in nicely in the 5th starter role for me and have good conversations with Yi Darvish when he is not on the mound.

    Overall I was very happy with my draft as I was able to answer my team needs for this season and feel that the majority of these guys should out perform their 2016 seasons during the 2017 MLB year. My most expensive player taken was the $18 Beltre.

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  9. This was the hardest draft I’ve ever had to plan for. Heading into the offseason I’m thinking I’m set up. I have a lot of roster to fill in through the draft, but my team has a lot of stars (Fernandez, Scherzer, Archer, Rizzo, Machado, Harper, Yelich) so I’m pretty excited about ’17. And then Jose dies. And suddenly I’m left without my superstar. I started prepping a way to replace Jose, but I had the best pitching card for 9 bucks and then all of a sudden I had a huge hole and only 95 bucks to fill now 12 players, and a draft devoid of high end players to fill that void. After studying the draft list I adjusted my strategy to fit the list of bounceback & prospect players available. I also wanted to fix my pen that has been a sore spot for a couple years. I targeted a few starters (Cole, Gsellman, Foltenwicz, and Gray) and relievers (Herrera, Maurer, Kimbrell, Andriese, Bedrosian, Barraclough). I landed most of them – Gsellman, Feltenwicz, Gray, Maurer, Andriese, Bedrosian and Barraclough.

    I screwed up my outfield plan though. I got Pollock as a bonce back guy that I love. Next I wanted to get McCutchen, but hit +$1 too late to up the bid. Then after Foltenewicz went for more than I expected, I got a little shy about running Almora up for fear that I wouldn’t have enough money left to get Gsellman (who I had to have). I’m not an Almora fan at all, but got caught up in a bidding war because I assume the Cubs are smarter than me. After screwing up the McCutchen/Almora auctions, that left me with Quinn (who is likely starting in AAA), and Tapia (who I like way less than Almora). So I went into the drat thinking some combo of Pollock, McCutchen and Almora, and ended up with Pollock, Quinn and Tapia. Upside, but much riskier than I planned.

    Overall I feel good about the upside I got for the pitching staff. Ron & Dan will confirm that I spent the Brewer/Angel game regretting that I didn’t close out McCutchen. My franchise is reeling a bit after Jose died & I didn’t have money to replace that irreparable hole in my roster. So I look forward & will probably look to move some of my stars at the end of their contract (Scherzer, Rizzo, Machado, Archer, Odorizzi) this season to prep for an 18 or 19 run. On the positive side I executed most of my draft exactly how I planned, but missed out on a couple pieces that cost me & left me with a couple players I don’t feel great about (Quinn & Tapia).

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  10. Came into the auction with 11 spots to fill and $87 to spend. Needs were a stick or two, improve the pen and round out the rotation for this season.

    First selection was Yoenis Cespedes at $29. I had this spot pegged for one of 3 players Cespedes, Fowler and Eaton. Cespedes went out first and the action on him was what I expected. 29 might have been a stretch for me but I was happy with the addition.

    Michael Wacha $6 was my next selection. Sitting at $58 and 10 spots to fill I really had to find value. I had a plan to get 3 or 4 cheaper starting pitchers and go spend between $15-20 on one. After Cespedes that one big splash was kind of a memory.

    Craig Kimbrel at $13 next. He does not need to close for Woodbury in 2017 but with a suspect rotation he will get plenty of work this season.

    Alex Bregman $15. One of the oddest moments for me in an auction. Bidding went from $3 to $14 and I went to $15 thinking it was $5. Looking at what Swanson, Benintendi, and Dahl later on I am ok with this price tag after the fact. It was just an odd moment.

    Jason Heyward at $7. He has to bounce back. He will serve well as my 4th OF this season and that B + range in CF with a minus 3 arm might find the field more than I think.

    Garret Richards at $2. Rolling the dice here.

    At this point we are at 5 open spots and $15 to spend. Plan is to get one more bullpen arm and keep collecting starting pitchers.

    Matt Bush at $9. There were about 3 relief pitchers available that I really liked. Let’s just say I am glad I did not wait around for Chris Devanenski. This was my last move of the auction as I am stuck at $6 left for 4 more players.

    3 more Starting Pitchers
    Anthony Desclafina $3
    Joe Musgrove $1
    Adam Conley $1

    Matt Duffy at $1 to finish. Good glove, Tampa looking to play him at SS in 2017 and we need a stop gap until Bregman is ready so here is our 25th player.

    In the end this auction worked fine. Got another solid stick in Cespedes. Hoping that the hype on Bregman comes thru and we have a guy to build this thing around in 2018. Love the additions of Kimbrel and Bush to the pen. Heyward at $7 could be nice and then 5 Starting Pitchers for $13, hoping a few of those guys figure it out this season.

    See you guys soon

    Bryan Richert
    Woodbury Governors

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  11. Newcastle came into the draft needing 15 players, so it was just a matter of where I was going to spend it. The only thing I knew for sure is that I wanted Buster Posey back; I like/need the security of having a solid catcher, so even though his offensive card is not as good as last season and $42 is in many respects an overpay, I’m happy to have my favorite active player back. I got him shortly after I got Freddie Freeman for $34, who feels like a nice upgrade from the $31 I’d have been paying A-Gon if I’d picked up his option. Excited to have him in the fold as well. That said, within the first 12 minutes of the draft I spent $76 of the $137 I had to spend and I still needed 13 more players.

    It was another 45 minutes before I even tried to get another player, and when I tried I got Kendrys Morales, who I had not considered taking in my draft prep. It wasn’t that I didn’t like his clutch card wth A power from both sides, I just hadn’t anticipated taking a full-time DH type of player. For $10 I was happy once he was mine. About a half-hour later I added Kevin Pillar and his A+ range for $11, which was a surprise to me considering the Canadian contingent of the BLB. I am a little wary of that C durability, but I’m fine with the light bat because with the re-signing of Posey and the offseason acquisition of Francisco Lindor suddenly I have A ranges right up the middle of the field. This will easily be the best defensive team I’ve ever trotted out there. A half hour later I added the first of the 3-4 bullpen guys I was going to need to take, getting Derek Law for $8. I like Law and he was high on my list, so I was okay that as part of a bridge to my closer Betances. I still needed two starting pitchers for my rotation so I added Ross Stripling for $9, who gives me an added excuse to watch some Dodgers games. Then I finally got my starting 2B in Josh Harrison, who is a player I kind of like, and $10 is a price I could live with. I took a $1 chance on Luis Severino figuring it out, which gives me a cheap (bad) starter but more importantly a potential log on the rivalry fire with New Glarus who paid $27 for him last near and bought him out. Then for another buck I got Alex Gordon, who has the C durability and had a down year but helps in the outfield for me and could be a bounce back guy I hadn’t really considered prior to draft day. Brought another former Newcastle guy, Jason Grilli, back for $3. Added Braden Shipley to the bottom of my rotation for $1, so I can leave Severino in the minors where he belongs. Then I finished up my bullpen build with Uehara for $1 as a solid “this year” card and Bruce Rondon for $2. At this point the draft is winding down and I’m one of only a few owners left. I added Jake Marisnick for a buck for outfield depth, particularly in CF, and finished up my draft by grabbing Chase Headley for a buck to be my defensive replacement at 3B.

    Overall I’m pretty happy considering the task at hand coming into the draft, but who the hell knows. I expect to hit more homers and I’ll play better defense, and I think my bullpen has improved. We shall see.

    I have the #8 pick in the minors draft. If you’re reading this and you have pick #1-6, and you see someone I drafted that you could use to plug a hole, let me know if you’d be interested in swapping picks. Thanks and good luck everyone!

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  12. I had huge holes in my roster going into the draft. I had plenty of $ to spend. I felt like I could go $30-35 range for a few pitchers but those guys I targeted went up too much for me….So I ended up getting King Felix $29. I couldn’t pull the trigger on Kershaw at $40. Lester and Cueto were both pretty close for me bidding one more time, but just couldn’t pull the trigger. I ended up filling my rotation out with Tomlin, Leake, Cole, Zimmerman, Not great, but not awful either. In the bullpen I was able to get: Brach, Ottavino, Cishek, O’Day, and Wood. Some pretty decent cards here, but nothing amazing either. Position wise I tried to go young and ended up getting Swanson and Benintendi, both of whom I very excited about for the future. Grabbed Aaron Judge as well who has a huge upside! Was able to pick up Hermann who is limited, but a decent catcher to fill in with Flowers. Both have excellent .OBP.
    So to say the least…I will be depending on the minor league draft to grab a few more guys who will have to play a lot for me this season. Hopefully we will be able to hold our own and get the young guys cards maxed out for next season!
    Archie
    Rome Hilltoppers

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  13. Well, after joining the league last year and “enjoying” a 51-111 first season I knew I had a better team going into the draft (but not good enough). I had 5 spots to fill with $85 to spend with needs at b/u catcher, CF and pitching. I had done plenty of pre-draft prep but it seemed like it just never worked out as it unfolded. I am still a relative newbie at auction drafting and I guess it showed. Picked Adam Jones to fill CF need at $15 even though I had targeted others. Picked Sandy Leon at catcher for $8 to platoon with rookie Gary Sanchez. Wanted Posey but over $40 priced me out. Also got priced out on Cueto and Greinke. Bid like crazy on Devenski and Foltynewicz but couple other managers wanted them more. Settled for Hector Neris RP Philly at $7 and Tyler Chatwood SP Colorado at $9. Finally picked up Albert Amora OF Cubs at $7. So, looking back I only spent $46 out of the $85 I had going in. Hindsight being what it is I probably could have spent more early on but at least this way I will be competitive this season and not have any new big contracts on the books. Thanks again to Mike for the great job with the auction. Walt/Vermont Cats

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  14. Overall I’m happy with my draft results. I picked up a few guys I was targeting and avoided repeating some of the mistakes I made in last year’s draft. I was much better prepared and familiar with the field so wasn’t caught having to lookup stats after player nominations.

    My shopping list was long, I needed SS, 2B, C, corner OF, and a DH, as well as a 5th starter and middle relief. 15 guys and $98 to spend.

    With so much total money in the draft I knew prices were going to be going above my valuations.

    Infield:
    • Troy Tulowitzki @ $17 – I was happy to get him as I had expected I’d end up with a lesser SS. Factoring in his clutch I think $17 was fair value.
    • Logan Forsythe @ $8 – I think this was a pretty good bargain at 2B
    • Adam Rosales @ $4 – No issues here with this pick. While not good defensively, he has positional versatility and a good bat.
    • Steve Pearce @ $2 – I didn’t get Freeman or Belt at 1B so Pearce will compliment Maurer on the right side of the plate.
    • Yuli Gurriel @ $1 – 2017+ 3B/1B prospect pick

    Catching:
    • Tony Wolters @ $4 – Would have loved to have gotten Posey but that would have handicapped the rest of my draft. Wolters was my budget pick at this position
    • Austin Hedges @ $1 – 2017+ catching prospect pick

    Outfield:
    • Hunter Pence @ $19 – He went slightly above my valuation but with Eaton and Fowler gone he was next on my list for corner outfield
    • Travis Jankowski @ $3 – Also on my outfield list. Good speed and defense. He’ll end up pushing Pence to the DH roll vs RHP.
    • Michael Saunders @ $3 – Didn’t specifically target him but I picked him up to platoon at DH. He’s probably redundant with the pickup of Werth
    • Jayson Werth @ $1 – Big bat vs LHP. He’ll primarily be the RH DH platoon.

    Pitching:
    • Dan Otero @ $10 – One piece of the bridge from my starters to Osuna. @ $10 I got him slightly below my valuation.
    • Brad Ziegler @ $6 – Can’t complain about Jam/on reliever for this price. It’ll be nice to have a second option on days Osuna is tired.
    • Kyle Ryan @ $5 – Good LH reliever at a fair price.
    • Christian Friedrich @ $1 – He’ll slot into the #5 starter role. His long will give him the versatility to relieve on the weeks he gets skipped in the rotation.

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  15. 2 guys with $47 to spend

    Got #1 pitcher for next 3 years in Kershaw at $39
    and one of top prospects in Yoan Moncada at $8

    no complaints, very satisfied
    (drops the mic )

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