Fantasy Baseball 2019 running thread

I was analyzing whether it's worth keeping all three spots because, in this league, the keepers become the first three picks of your draft. If you choose not to keep three players, you get to make an actual selection in that round, while everyone else is automatically getting their keepers. So, if you're keeping guys who aren't going to get drafted in the first three rounds, you're actually costing yourself a chance at top player.

After looking at some mock draft results and ADP numbers, it looks like Acuna is solidly a first-rounder, Bregman a second rounder and Cole and Snell are both going in the third round, so I feel pretty good about all three. Turner is actually going off the board earlier than all of my other guys (ADP of 8), but I feel better about Acuna.

Last year, I didn't have a pitcher worth a top three pick, so I kept only Turner and Bellinger and snagged Rizzo in the third round.

 

OK, I need help. I just noticed that a league I joined is auction. I've been playing for a long time, but have only done drafts. It's on Yahoo. Advice?

 

Leave the league. I'm actually serious.

Unless you can GUARANTEE every single person will be participating, your auction will suck and you will hate it and your team.

 

What happens if someone isn't there?

 

The computer will autobid for players at Yahoo's suggested price. No bargains will be had, pretty much ever.

 

What if 2 people aren't there? Yahoo autobids against itself?

 

I don't recall whether that's the case. And there were multiple people missing from the draft I went through.

 

Then the computer has the resources of two teams to ensure that nobody gets any bargains. It destroys the strategy involved in an auction. I've participated in mock auctions on Yahoo. If even one person isn't really there, it sucks.

Regan is right. Auctions rely on engaged, active owners to work. If everybody can't bother to be there, the league should just draft.

I love auctions, but they are time consuming. No way I would put in the extra time if they are going to just let autodrafts screw it up.

If you do say, there is a lot to the strategy of an auction. Decide ahead of time how much money you want to spend on various parts of your team. Try to avoid targeting specific players. Target groups of players so you don't end up overpaying for that one guy you have to have.

When it is your turn to nominate a player for bidding early in the draft, choose players you don't want, but are likely to get other owners to spend. If you think Joey Votto is too old to bounce back, nominate him early because somebody in your league is likely to spend based on his past value. Save your sleepers as long as possible. The less money people have left, the more likely you are to get your guy.

 

Your auction will take at least 3.5 hours. That's what mine was for a 10 teamer with engaged players.

 

This is all really good advice. I absolutely love an auction draft, but it is only viable if all the owners can be there. I've not had a problem getting the people in my leagues to all attend the draft, but people do need to be flexible. There was a year that we started it at 10 p.m.

I've only done auctions in a dynasty league and the first draft took us four hours. Subsequent years, when many teams are keeping half their rosters or more, have taken less time than most redraft leagues. I'd say the average time for auction drafts besides the first year was around 100 minutes. Definitely under two hours. We had one finish in 65 minutes or so.

 

Someone dropped Cano in my dynasty league. I really like pretty much everyone on my squad, and I have Albies as my starting 2B, so Cano doesn't fill a need, but it seems crazy to leave him for someone else to pick up. He's a 400-point player who can probably be gotten for $1. The dilemma becomes who I should drop, if anyone.

Among my hitters, the only players I could consider dropping are Profar (who is my starting 3B until Guerrero gets called up), Ohtani ($7) or Gregorius ($1). Among my pitchers, Ottavino ($3), German ($1) and Keuchel ($14) are the only players I can consider dropping. Ottavino is projected for 315 points, but he'll be in my lineup every day and I'll get basically every point he scores, whereas Cano will be in and out of the lineup as a 2B or UTIL, depending on days off and matchups. So while he may score 400+ points, I may not benefit from all of those points.

One idea I'm tinkering with is dropping Keuchel, since he's probably a minimum of three weeks from starting a game if he signs with someone tomorrow (which he won't), and then trying to resign him at a lower cost and dropping German, or someone else mentioned above. I overpaid for Keuchel on draft day in the first place, so I'd love to lower his salary, but I do risk losing him. Wondering if it's worth the risk.

 

I think you have to grab Cano. I would drop German or Gregorius. German's value won't last past the rotation getting healthy and Gregorius is out a big chunk of the season. Keuchel is going to sign and he will be useful.

If I had to pick the exact move, I'd drop German for Cano.