BullpenGuru
LEAGUE ACQUISITION SUMMARY
It’s been three weeks since I’ve written this article with missing the week before the All Star Break, taking the All Star Break off and then having a family vacation last weekend. That messes up the cadence of looking at spending week-over-week; however, the trend the week or two before the All Star Break was to stash for the second half and try to save as much as possible. For anybody with any sort of money remaining, that money was likely spent or attempted to be spent this weekend, with Christian Encarnacion-Strand entering the player pool in most leagues. Spending this week averaged $14 per add and $22 per team, which is the most spent in the last 4 weeks.
We now have 9 FAAB periods remaining, and the average team has $124 remaining. The most FAAB spent resides in League 1574, which has spent $14,107 FAAB dollars, or 94% of total FAAB, leaving teams in that league with $60 remaining on average. Conversely, the least amount of money spent resides in League 1673. This league has spent $10,726 in total FAAB dollars, leaving each team in that league with $285 remaining on average.
PLAYER ACQUISITION SUMMARY
Most Frequently Added
Sixteen players were added in over 20 Main Event leagues. Kevin Ginkel was the only player added in all 53 leagues this past weekend, at an average price of $19 per add. One of my main concerns with Ginkel is that I think Arizona likely trades for a closer within the next 10 days, which could render the $19 spent on him useless in about a week’s time.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand was the next highest added player, added in 50 leagues at an average price of $129. Had he entered the pool a few weeks ago when there was more money on the table, I think he would have gone considerably higher. Still, $129 represents a significant chunk of budgets considering on average players have only $124 remaining. I wish I had the funds to make a competitive offer in my leagues, as he is likely the second-to-last impact bat entering the player pool, with Trevor Story set to enter the player pool for about 50 leagues when he comes off the IL. Thankfully I already have Story stashed away.
Sal Frelick also entered many league’s player pools this weekend and was grabbed in the 47 leagues he was not already rostered in for an average cost of $44. I personally am a huge fan of Frelick. I’ve held him already on both of my Main Event rosters – drafted in one Main and FAAB’d (and subsequently dropped) in the other. I love his plate skills, think he has more power than you will be lead to believe by looking at his minor league stats and also has some speed. It’s also encouraging to see where he’s already hitting, and succeeding, in this Brewers’ lineup.
11 was the magic number if you were looking for a pitcher this week. Chase Silseth was the most popular pitcher add this week, getting picked up in 48 leagues for an average price of $11. You can certainly chalk that up to his surprise call-up and 5.2 IP, 10 strikeout performance against the Yankees. Jose Quintana came off the IL and was added in 44 of 53 leagues for an average cost of, you guessed it, $11. I’m kind of surprised he wasn’t added universally, not sure if that was an oversight, but I am sure that will be rectified this upcoming week. Brandon Pfaadt was cruising through 5 innings this weekend against the Reds before giving up 3 homers in the 6th. He also went for $11 this week. I’m not sure anything changed with his profile, still isn’t getting fastball whiffs and is still giving up dingers. I’m also not sure he has a rotation spot with Merrill Kelly returning from the IL. For $11 it’s probably worth finding out though. Other popular pitcher adds included Johnny Cueto, Brandon Bielak, Brandon Williamson and Michael Grove, who has been added 186 times in FAAB in the 2023 Main Event.
Besides Ginkel, Tanner Scott was the only closer-spec added in over 20 leagues, which I am kind of surprised about. I am not sure if that is because we’ve already done a good job of gobbling up speculative closers in past weeks or if because we don’t know who to speculate on and are spreading pickups far-and-wide. I do think Scott gets the next shot at a save for Miami, but with how they’re playing, who knows when that will be.
Most FAAB Dollars Spent
These players were all mentioned above.
Highest Average Cost Acquisitions
As is the case when looking at the adds with the highest average price, it is a mix of exciting rookies (CES and Frelick) and players that are only available in a handful of leagues and thus are highly sought after in the leagues in which they become available.
I am kind of surprised to not see more drops of Ruiz. I would assume the teams that roster him are good on steals and he is actively hurting you in at least 3 other categories, if not 4. To be fully transparent, I roster Ruiz in one of my two mains and I have not cut him, but that is because I don’t feel safe about my save lead and will need to situationally play Ruiz when the matchups are right. He is no longer a set-and-forget for me.
DROP SUMMARY
Only six players were dropped in over 20 leagues this week. As per usual, injuries (Lynch, Moreno, Walls, Kelenic, and Noda), and underperformance (McGough) were the overriding themes behind this week’s popular drops.
UNOPPOSED BIDDING
I think Andruw Monasterio could be a sneaky useful add for teams. He’s getting pretty much full-time playing time at 3rd, hitting in the middle of the Brewers’ lineup, and can hit for average and steal a base. The third base position, outside of Elly, is kind of light in the steals category, so Monasterio could be a bit of a difference maker.
