Author: Jake Ciely, Senior Writer
Join AccuScore now using the code SALE50 for $50 off an annual All-Sports premium membership. For all others this is $349, but as you are reading this article, it is only $299... Join Today
plenty to learn from the drafts. No, I won’t go on and on about my team, why I love some picks and find others I hate. You already know who I like and don’t. This is a breakdown of themes I noticed and information you can learn from the results. With just a few days left before the 2017 Fantasy Baseball season starts, here are some last minute tips taken from the Tout Wars results.
If you want to see all of the results yourself, here is a link to all of the drafts on the Tout Wars site.
Catchers aren’t Cheap – At least if you want any good one. Top top-end catchers of Buster Posey, Gary Sanchez and Jonathan Lucroy all averaged over $20. The next wave of options was in the mid-teens, and then there were several hovering around $10. Basically, trying to nab two solid, single-digit dollar options is tougher this year. Even Matt Wieters averaged nearly $7.
If you want to save money at the position this year, you’re going to sacrifice more than in years past. For example, my team consists of Derek Norris and Stephen Vogt for $2 each, and my On Target co-host, Joe Pisapia, has Norris and James McCann for $3 combined. Not that exciting, huh? Yadier Molina looks to be coming at a nice discount given his average and bounceback last year, but even Salvador Perez and his category-killing OBP averaged around $10. I still wouldn’t touch the $20 guys, but in hindsight, I would be more open to spending a combined $10-15 on two catchers than I ever have been.
Neither are the Relievers – Aroldis Chapman topped out the closer position at an average of $24, and Kenley Jansen wasn’t too far behind at $21. Those were the only two to average over $20, but there were 10 more closers that averaged between $15-20. The interesting part is that even with concerns surrounding the likes of Wade Davis (health), Kelvin Herrera ( closer experience) and Craig Kimbrel (downturn of career), owners were still willing to pay up for the options that should save at least 30 games and provide good strikeout totals.
If you want an elite catcher, be prepare to pay top dollar. Photo Credit: Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire
We saw the spending only decrease slightly as we move down the list, as even flawed closers Francisco Rodriguez and A.J. Ramos averaged near $10. Most owners spent at least $15 on two closers with some reaching $30. Even Andrew Miller and Dellin Bentances averaged $11 and $8, respectively. The “don’t pay for saves” cliché is old hat, as it’s a smart strategy to anchor your closers with one top option. There is an advantage in not scrambling through waivers with other owners throughout the year. In snake drafts, you can still “not pay for saves” and grab a top option or two in the middle rounds. In auctions though, you need to loosen the purse strings if you don’t want to end up with questionable options.
Unless You Want Some Free Saves – What I find surprising after breaking down the closer results is that Jeanmar Gomez and Brandon Kintzler both fell to the reserve rounds in the two mixed auctions. It won’t be pretty but 20-plus saves is 20-plus saves. If you choose to really go all in and “not pay for saves,” keep an eye out for the Gomez, Kintzler, Rasiel Iglesias and Jim Johnson types. Yes, it’s highly likely that one or more of these closers loses his job, but if you’re lucky, you might get the option or two that provides a cheap 20 saves.
Some Players are All Over the Map – It appears that the touts don’t have a consensus on some interesting names. While the majority of players have a small gap in price differentiation, a few, such as Tommy Joseph, Eric Thames, Albert Pujols, Maikel Franco, Marcell Ozuna and Aledmys Diaz, saw a large variance. We all know that it “only takes one” when it comes to a player price’s increasing. That “one” is the owner you need to watch for in case you like the same player.
For example, if you are a fan of Pujols still, the winning bids were $3, $12 and $21. Obviously, the high price is in the AL-only, but that is still a larger jump than normal from a Mixed 15-team league. In addition, that’s still a rather large difference between the Mixed H2H and Mixed Auction. In the Mixed H2H, there were no real fans of Pujols this year, but you can see that at least one person was on board in the other leagues. The same can be said for Joseph and Ozuna, two players that had me tilting as they went for $1 each in H2H.
The takeaway here is two-fold. First, there is a good chance that at least one person shares your opinion on the value players. With 12 and 15 teams in the league, it’s rare for that not to happen. When it does, control yourself. A good example is when I threw out Kendrys Morales early, expecting to get a value price because owners hate to “clog up the utility position” early in the draft. However, Vlad Sedler wasn’t fooled and bid him up to $12. I could have dug in and refused to let Morales go, but he was at his value-cost threshold for me, and I let Vlad have him. Don’t fall so far in love with a player that you overpay and buy all of the risk. Get your guys, but don’t do it at the cost of a good team.
Second, there will be an opportunity to find value on players that the league doesn’t seem to want. Again, Joseph and Ozuna went for $1 each in H2H. That shouldn’t happen, and if I had the roster space to prevent that, you can dang well bet I would have! Be ready for similar situations. You may find yourself grabbing amazing value in your draft with players you had planned to ignore. It’s rare, but sometimes an entire draft room can be disinterested with the same player or the flow of the draft left someone dangling. Be on the lookout for these.
Final Thought – Overall, each draft will always be different, even if you did two drafts back-to-back with the same owners and format. The keys are adaptability and understanding trends. This year, catchers and high-end relievers are seeing inflated values, while volatile closers and three-category corner infielders and outfielders are coming at a discount. Your league may not show any similarities in pricing, but there will be shared opinions driving up costs and discounted players slipping through the cracks. Be ready to adapt to all and every variance.
The Fantasy Radio Sports Network (FNTSY) is the premier FREE 24/7 Fantasy Sports radio channel on the planet! Listen live or on demand and get the app in the ITunes Store or on Google Play. It’s the new home of the RotoExperts in the Morning and brand new shows featuring your favorite hosts, such as Tony Cincotta, Scott Engel, Jake Ciely, Nando Di Fino, Corey Parson, Pat Mayo, Joe Pisapia and many more!
