Week 10 FAAB Recap

This is also know as Alek Manoah Week, alas I didn't get Manoah anywhere this weekend (though I did get him in AL Tout Wars two weeks ago). I'm going to regret this, I'm afraid, but I'm trying to exercise some discipline in my FAABing. This week will be quick because of all of the Memorial Day games.

AL Tout Wars

I missed out on potential closers Greg Holland (Liss - $161 - boot and rally!) and Keynan Middleton (Davitt - $99), but did land my top hitting target in Rob Refsnyder for $7, who is playing nearly every day, and will do so for a while with Byron Buxton hitting a bit of a snag in his recovery from his hip injury. Making it even better is that friend and colleague Mike Gianella of Baseball Prospectus bid $46 - Refsnyder might end up stinking, but at least I had an optimal bid on the stinking player!

I also pulled off a pretty painless deal with Larry Schechter this week. He reached out to me, needing a starting pitcher, but didn't have an offer. Sometimes a deal will die right there, but it's ok to make the first offer, as at least you get to shape the discussions. I gave Larry an offer with two options:

1. Eduardo Rodriguez ($9 at the auction) for Randal Grichuk (also $9). Or ...
2. Brad Keller ($5) for Niko Goodrum ($10).

Larry opted for Door No. 1, without any additional back-and-forth. I know I'm buying high with Grichuk and selling low with E-Rod as to performance so far, but in this case I think it's handy, as it's going to help Grichuk continue to earn playing time even when George Springer. I need help in most of the hitting categories, but I think gaining in the power categories is probably more viable, so I'm glad he went this route.

NFBC Main I

In two parts:

and

Tim Schuler and I resolved to make "keep 'em honest" bids in both of our leagues on Alek Manoah. I believe in the talent and that he'll be up with the big club to stay, but nonetheless our bids were modest. In this league, we entered the bidding weekend with only $443/$1,000 remaining, with more than half the season left. We're doing well enough to think that we'll be contending, so we have to budget to have enough in September to land two-start pitchers, injury replacements, etc ... Moreover, our starting pitching is pretty strong - we lead the league in Wins, and are top-three in K's and ERA. Finally, I fully expected the winning bid to be over $250. That it didn't get that high is disappointing, and I'm afraid that Gary Allen ("TRUNK MONKEY") got a bit of a windfall at $145.

We got Greg Holland in both of our ME's. In this league we have Kenley Jansen and have some saves from Cesar Valdez, but we could be reaching the end of the line with Valdez. In the other ME, our closer situation is even more tenuous, as we only have Jake McGee and Hansel Robles. I have some misgivings about Holland, but you have to break some eggs to make an omelet, lest you crack and make an entire article about egg puns.

NFBC Main Event II

and

Is it a good thing that two of the top five pickups in your league are from your drops the previous week? Dear Reader, no, no it is not. We dropped Griffin Canning and Brandon Nimmo last week, the former due to performance (and a need to fill injury vacancies) and the latter strictly due to his injury and the slow recovery in his rehab. In fact, there was a report out earlier today that he's not even swinging a bat (he has a thumb injury) - unfortunately, we didn't and still don't have the luxury to stash him. So even though I like his skills, we move on.

RotoWire Online Championship I

I got my fourth choice among starting pitcher bids in Johnny Cueto, who gets two starts this week, and I wasn't really close to getting Manoah. Marcell Ozuna was an easy decision to cut after his arrest this weekend - each successive detail that emerges from his case sounds worse. But I have a huge hole in my lineup with him gone. We'll see if Joc Pederson can help my sagging offense.

RotoWire Online Championship II

This was the one league where I thought I had a realistic chance of getting Alek Manoah. I thought wrong - my $201 bid on him was third place, at best, in a 12-team league. Instead, once again I got Johnny Cueto, and I also added Lucas Sims, because I like to be frustrated by managers while guessing at who will pick up saves for his team.

TGFBI

My $137 bid on Manoah actually came in second place here, much to my surprise, to Dan Strafford's $175. When I looked at how much FAAB was still available in the league, I didn't think I had much of a chance to get him - there were multiple teams with $700+ FAAB remaining, including Dan. I'm low-key annoyed that he got him cheaply - less-key than the winning $145 bid in one of my Main Event teams, but still a little pebble-in-the-shoe nagging annoyed.

Brandon Crawford was the first of my three top options among my hitter bids, along with Jo Adell and Trevor Larnach, so I'm pleased with that result at least.

LABR

When you have a fifth sixth-place juggernaut of a team, who needs big bids on free agents, right? I didn't get anyone this week, though I did have a $17 bid in on Manoah.

RotoWire Staff Keeper League

In parts:

and

Yeah, when you're in a keeper league with Clay Link, there's no chance that Manoah is going to be available in FAAB bidding. Holland was also already long gone, so instead I hedged against my Main Event teams by going with Kyle Zimmer. I'd prefer Holland to work out, honestly.