BullpenGuru
LEAGUE ACQUISITION SUMMARY
This has been said quite a few times throughout the year as various waves of prospects are called up, but now that Trevor Story has entered the NFBC player pool, it feels like we have reached the end of the major FAAB targets in the Main Event. That is good because the contest is pretty much collectively out of money. The average money spent per team this week was $14 and $8 per add, which is in-line with where the spending has been for about the last 5 weeks except for the week Christian Encarnacion-Strand entered the pool.
We now have 6 FAAB periods left in the season and the average team has $83 remaining to use over that time span. The most FAAB spent resides in League 1646, which has spent $14,478 FAAB dollars, or 97% of total FAAB, leaving teams in that league with $35 remaining on average. Conversely, the least amount of money spent remains in League 1673. This league has spent $11,520 in total FAAB dollars, leaving each team in that league with $232 remaining on average. They do have one team that has not spent any of their FAAB budget, but even if that team had spent all $1,000 of their budget, this league would still have the least spent in the contest. Maybe they know something that the rest of us don’t about players still to come?
PLAYER ACQUISITION SUMMARY
Most Frequently Added
A baker’s dozen players were added in over 20 Main Event leagues. It seems like teams are pivoting from speculating on closers and are instead acquiring starting pitching for the remainder of the year, as seven of those thirteen players were starting pitchers and none were closer specs, as the Closer Carousel continues to be inoperable this 2023 MLB season.
Emerson Hancock was the most added player this week, being acquired in 52 leagues at an average price of $20. I would have expected him to be universally added given his prospect pedigree, team context, and the fact that he gets a two-start week in his first week after entering the player pool, with one of those starts being against the Royals. With the injuries to Bryan Woo and Marco Gonzales, it seems like Hancock will have a bit of runway in the rotation and has a favorable schedule the next few weeks with matchups against Kansas City again next week followed by a matchup against Oakland the following week, making him a serviceable stream for at least the next three weeks.
Trevor Story was the next most popular add, going in the 51 leagues he was not already rostered in for an average price of $83. There is not much to say here, he’s a proven power and speed contributor hitting in a prime lineup in one of the best teams in baseball. I stashed him for over two months in one of the Main Event leagues he was already in the player pool and hope he pays off greatly these final seven weeks of the regular season.
Matthew Liberatore was added in 43 leagues for an average cost of $7. This appears to be more than a fair price given the 8 shutout inning, 2 hit performance he had against the Rays this past week which included a season-high 7 strikeouts. He is lined up to face Oakland this week at home, with a two start matchup at Pittsburgh and at Philadelphia next week, followed by a matchup at home against the Pirates the week after. If he is able to replicate his performance against the Rays, I think Main Event managers will look back and view Liberatore as a key add for the homestretch.
Jonah Heim was surprisingly activated over the weekend without any sort of rehab outing after landing on the IL with a wrist tendon injury that was reported to be potentially season-ending at the end of July. Understandably that made him a popular add where he was available, going for an average price of $20 in all 13 leagues he was on the wire. Given the seriousness of his injury, one has to worry that he may struggle to match the offensive production he was able to provide fantasy managers in the first half of the year.
Ramon Laureano was grabbed by the Guardians after being DFA’d by the A’s and was in the lineup 6 straight days (hitting between 3rd and 6th in the order) heading into the FAAB run, making him a popular add where available. He’s doing what Ramon Laureano does, as Rob says. He’s striking out, stealing bases, and playing a ton likely because of his defense. Of course as I write this on Tuesday, he is not in Cleveland’s lineup. If he’s going to platoon with Brennan and Gonzalez, he’s likely going to end up back on the wire in many leagues.
Javier Assad was added in 31 leagues for an average price of $4. After his 7 inning, 1 earned start against Toronto, it looks like he’s taken the spot in the rotation that Drew Smyly previously occupied. I am not sure how repeatable that performance is, as he generated just two strikeouts and seemed to benefit from some BABIP-luck; however, with Tuesday’s news that Marcus Stroman is not going to be activated this week, it looks like Assad will garner a juicy “two-step” in Detroit and in Pittsburgh next week after getting to face the White Sox this week. Given the matchups, maybe those that invested in Assad will benefit despite the lack of apparent skills?
Alex Faedo, Dakota Hudson, and Allan Winans were all added in 25 leagues each, going for $4, $4, and $5 respectively on average. Faedo and Hudson have two-start weeks this week, and Winans appeared to be a speculative add for managers hoping he will step into the rotation spot currently occupied by Yonny Chirinos. Unfortunately, the news of Winans getting optioned to AAA on Sunday night came after FAAB ran. I anticipate he will be dropped en masse next weekend.
Most FAAB Dollars Spent
Most of these players were already touched on. The few exceptions include Royce Lewis, Jason Foley, Johan Rojas, Cole Ragans, Tommy Pham, and Hunter Harvey. Lewis is set to be activated on Tuesday, fantasy owners just have to hope he is able to avoid getting “Rocco’d” like the majority of Twins FAAB targets have been this year. Jason Foley and Hunter Harvey were this weeks closer specs, added in 17 and 19 leagues respectively for $7 and $6 each on average. I have both of them across my Main Event rosters so I get it, but it’s attempting to chase saves on bad teams with murky bullpen situations, which has been maddening to do this year. Rojas appears to be the Phillies’ everyday centerfielder while Pham appears to be hitting third every day for the D-Backs.
Highest Average Cost Acquisitions
As is the case when looking at the adds with the highest average price at this point in the year, it is typically comprised 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 think the notable price here is seeing what Estevez went for in the one league he was available. I anticipate that as we go down the stretch, teams will start cutting closers when trying to chase pitching volume in certain league contexts. Seeing that he went for $31 gives managers at least a comparative price point to go off of when and if closers begin hitting the wire in their leagues for teams that determine they no longer need saves.
DROP SUMMARY
Only nine players were dropped in over 20 leagues this week, which to me shows that either teams are checked out and focused on football, are out of money and can’t make moves, or there were very few consensus drops. The fact that McClanahan is still rostered in 25% of leagues gives me some indication that at least a portion of teams are completely checked out, as he’s done for the year and should not be even that highly owned. As per usual, injuries (McClanahan, Cortes, Jung), job change (Smyly, Swanson) and demotions (Baty) were the overriding themes behind this week’s popular drops.
UNOPPOSED BIDDING
I like to look at the unopposed bids to sometimes get a view of adds that sharp players are on before the rest of the crowd, but the popular unopposed adds this week didn’t really speak to me. I think Moreno could be interesting given the D-Backs decision to DFA Carson Kelly which seemingly gives him runway to be Arizona’s primary catcher the rest of the way. There have been no shortage of quality catchers hitting the wire this year, so add Moreno’s return to the list.
