BullpenGuru
LEAGUE ACQUISITION SUMMARY
FAAB spending is continuing to pull back after some super crazy spending in Weeks 4 through 7. This was the lowest number of adds made since Week 2, and the least amount of money spent in any full week of FAAB, which excludes Week 1 since only about half of the contest was able to partake in FAAB that period given when draft dates were. I am assuming part of the reason for the inactivity is the Memorial Day holiday, coupled with some cautious spending given the players already to confirmed to be in next week’s FAAB run (Mike Soroka and Royce Lewis).
Following the theme of this season, a pitcher with the last name Miller was highly sought after. This time it was Bobby Miller’s turn to be the prize of this week’s FAAB run, added in the 48 leagues this week that he was available for an average price of $281.
After this past week, the average team has $347 in FAAB remaining. I’m going to scrap the weekly league breakdowns of most players added, most money spent, etc. by league, as I think it’s easy enough to review the leagues of interest in the chart below. The most amount of FAAB money spent remains in League 1419, which has spent $10,951 FAAB dollars, leaving each team in that league with $270 remaining on average. Conversely, the least amount of money spent remains in League 1520, which has spent less than half of the total FAAB dollars available at $7,278, leaving each team in that league with $515 remaining on average.
PLAYER ACQUISITION SUMMARY
Most Frequently Added
A dozen players were added in over 50% of Main Event leagues. Nolan Jones was the most frequently added player, going in 49 leagues. It seems like he has taken Mike Moustakas’ role as the Rockies preferred first base option while CJ Cron is out; however, it seems like Cron is about to begin ramping up his baseball activities soon. If I am a Jones owner, I am hoping that Cron is going to be out for at least two more weeks so I can take advantage of the Rockies’ homestand in Coors the week of June 5th. Bobby Miller was added in the 48 remaining leagues he was not already rostered in, going for $281 on average after his impressive debut in Atlanta early last week. I’m not surprised at all by the cost given the prices he went for in the 4 leagues he was available in and added last week ($191 average winning bid prior to even throwing a MLB pitch) and if you won the rights to Miller’s services, you are rewarded with a two-step of the Nats and Yankees at home. Luis Urias appears likely to return to the Brewers when first eligible this week, and his 2nd Base, 3rd Base and Shortstop eligibility and presumed every day at bats make him a useful player for many Main Event rosters. Jaime Barria and Willi Castro were both added in 36 leagues and went for an average price of $17 and $20, respectively, which I found interesting given the news impacting both players over the weekend. Barria threw an inning of relief on Saturday night and seems to indicate to me that his role is going to be fluid as the Angels’ sixth starter going forward. Castro seems likeliest to be impacted by the returns of both Royce Lewis and Max Kepler on Monday. He has been a great power/speed producer over the last two weeks with plenty of position flexibility, but I think there’s a good chance he moves to a 3-game per week depth piece for the Twins going forward. Ben Lively, Alex Faedo, and Ryne Nelson all get two starts this week, which may have increased the demand for their services. Jesus Sanchez and Drew Waters returned from the IL over the weekend and should be regulars in the Miami and Kansas City outfields. I am assuming many scorned Gavin Stone owners joined me in speculatively adding Michael Grove this week on the cheap, as there is simply no way the Dodgers can give Stone another start.
Most FAAB Dollars Spent
In looking at acquisitions that garnered the most money this week, many have already been touched on above in the Most Frequently added section. Jake McCarthy was one that was not. He was recalled by Arizona and should reclaim a strong-side platoon role in the D-Backs’ outfield, at a minimum. He promptly stole a base on Friday, so he is back to doing Jake McCarthy things. If you spent $100+ on him, I’m assuming the hope is that he discovers some of the second-half magic he had last year. Owen Miller was added in 23 leagues at an average cost of $27. He brings positional flexibility and a roto-friendly power/speed combination; however, he took a fastball off the forearm on Sunday and seems likeliest to lose playing time because of Luis Urias’ return. Akil Baddoo is a strong-side platoon bat for the Tigers; however, they are facing a bunch of right-handed starters over the next two weeks and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him running wild on the bases this week against the White Sox and Rangers, which have been two of the worst teams at allowing stolen bases this year.
Highest Average Cost Acquisitions
Only eight players had an average bid that exceeded $100 this week. Two have already been covered in Miller and McCarthy. The remainder are players that were only available in a handful of leagues. Three teams wanted to speculate on Max Fried where he was available. With how pitching has been this year, I think it makes sense to stash a quality starter like Fried if you can manage your roster for the next two months to keep him stashed. Edward Cabrera is so intriguing but will always be inconsistent from start to start given the walk issues and I think he can really break out if he can just find some control. Mitch Haniger had a big weekend, Marcell Ozuna is on about a month-long heater (why was he dropped?), and Miles Mikolas is doing his usual thing, pitching deep into games, getting wins, limiting damage, and striking out few. When players like these are available in leagues, you know they’re going to go for a decent bid. Michael Soroka is pitching in the Majors for the first time since throwing 13.2 IP in 2020, so it will be very interesting to see how he performs. Luckily for many Main Event managers, they will get to see how he pitches in two starts before deciding how much to bid on him as he gets a two-step this upcoming week.
ADD OF THE WEEK
This week’s Add of the Week comes from Week 1220, where Arthur Rastelli got Bobby Miller at a discount (over $100 lower than his average cost). To make it even sweeter, he bid the perfect amount to acquire his services, as the backup bid matched his $180 bid on Miller. Great job!
DROP SUMMARY
Only 13 players were dropped in over 20 leagues this week. As per usual, demotions (Fletcher, Pfaadt, Grayson), injuries (May, Larnach, Velasquez), and underperformance (Williamson, Estrada, Bleday, Matz, Cabrera) were the overriding themes behind this weeks popular drops. Interesting drops in fewer than 20 leagues included Jorge Lopez (15 leagues), Mark Vientos (15 leagues), Enmanuel Valdez (12 leagues), Kendall Graveman (10 leagues), DL Hall (10 leagues), Noah Syndergaard (8 leagues), Nick Fortes (7 leagues), Michael Massey (8 leagues), Alex Call (7 leagues), Joey Wiemer (6 leagues), Danny Jansen (6 leagues), Jose Alvarado (3 leagues), Triston Casas (3 leagues), Jose Abreu (3 leagues), Ryne Nelson (2 leagues), Taylor Ward (1 league), Patrick Sandoval (1 league), Jason Adam (1 league), Marcell Ozuna (1 league), Trevor Rogers (1 league), and Craig Kimbrel (1 league).
UNOPPOSED BIDDING
A lot of interesting names went unopposed this week. Those that speculated on Michael Grove taking Gavin Stone’s rotation spot look to be rewarded as news came out on Monday that he would get the start next time through the rotation, unfortunately he will have to face the Yankees. Drew Waters should get a lot of playing time in Kansas City so I would have thought he would have been in more demand than to go unopposed in about 20% of leagues. Tucupita Marcano emerging as an interesting power and speed threat getting big-side platoon at bats at shortstop for the Pirates and moving up in the order as well. Sean Manaea has flip-flopped between starting and pitching bulk relief, but he logged 11 strikeouts in 5 relief innings last week. Bo Naylor is an intriguing speculative add after getting called up to play one half of a double header on Sunday, May 21st and then promptly getting sent back down to AAA. This was the first FAAB period he was able to be added, and given the Guardians’ collective offensive struggles, especially at the catcher position, speculating on his eventual call-up does not seem to be a bad gamble.
