Week 13 FAAB Results

Please forgive the absence of this article the last two weeks while I was on vacation. We're back at it again this week, albeit during a pretty tame bidding week.

AL Tout Wars

I keep playing whack-a-mole trying to fill empty hitting slots on this roster, but haven't found that difference-maker like I did with Dylan Moore last year, or as Chris Liss did with Adolis Garcia earlier in the season. I'm hoping that maybe Abraham Toro can fit that bill while Alex Bregman is out for the Astros. Toro has crushed at Triple-A before only to falter in the big leagues, but I think some of that can be credited to choppy playing time when he did get the call. Bregman's injury doesn't appear to be a short-term one, and the Astros are already down Aledmys Diaz, plus they play a full seven games both this week and next, against Baltimore (twice), Detroit, and Cleveland (minus Shane Bieber and Zach Plesac). Hence I was reasonably aggressive with this bid.

I didn't jump in aggressively on the Matt Manning sweepstakes, and I'm wondering a little bit whether that might be a mistake. I'm a little gun-shy due to his minor league results this season and because of the experiences had by Daniel Lynch, Alek Manoah and Jackson Kowar so far this season. At least it's better to get those young pitchers on the cheap, like Rick & Glenn did with Shane Baz. Jason Collette got an interesting player in Bailey Ober, who is coming off a strong start against Seattle - the only problem with him is that manager Rocco Baldelli suggested that Ober will be kept on a pretty short pitch-count for most of the season. If that holds true, I'd prefer to have him being used as a primary reliever behind an opener - not that I have any say in the matter. But that also cooled my enthusiasm for Ober.

NFBC Main Event I

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Shoe and I raised our bid on Fulmer about an hour before the deadline on Sunday from 31 to 59 - saves are pretty hard to come by, so even though it's a portion of a Tigers' closer, it was worth it. To wit, here are the saves standings in this league:

We have only one full-time closer in Kenley Jansen, and we've been trying to patch together a second closer - using Cesar Valdez, Greg Holland, Gregory Soto and Jose Cisnero in the role. Even getting 5-10 saves from Fulmer could be huge given how tightly packed this category is.

It's too bad Niko Goodrum wasn't suave this week, so we had to cut him and add another middle infielder on the cheap in Jed Lowrie.

NFBC Main Event II

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Part II:

We have a little more flexibility in this league position-wise, so we're able to replace Goodrum with Toro here and take advantage of his schedule. Jordan Lyles? I blame/credit Shoe for this one - not a fan (of Lyles that is - I'm a big fan of Shoe), but at least Lyles has two home starts this week. Hopefully his two-step doesn't go as poorly as Jake Arrieta's did last week.

Online Championship I

That's right, there were only five pickups in this league, all unopposed. Two of the teams in the league are either out or essentially out of FAAB, but even accounting for that this is an aberrant league. It's not a week with a ton of big-name free agents, so that partially explains it, but the real conclusion once again is that 12-team leagues can be weird. I got Toro again, and hope to mow down the competition with him.

Online Championship II

I've been carrying Mike Moustakas all throughout his various injuries, but with his setback on his heel injury and subsequent placement on the 60-day IL, it's time to bid adieu. I needed to get one outfielder this week, and while Andrew McCutchen was my first choice, I'm pretty happy with Chas McCormick if Kyle Tucker is out for any portion of this week. 

TGFBI

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Sure, I picked up a pitcher on a team that lost 17 in a row - but he has two starts! Seriously though, Merrill Kelly has a home start against the Brewers, a team that strikes out a lot and now has to adjust to not being in Coors, and then, well, a tough start at San Diego. Nonetheless, I really need more Ks in this league. 

NFBC Second Chance League

Liss and I added this league just before Memorial Day, but he handled the FAAB for us last week when I was on vacation. We missed out on Corbin's nice two-step last week, but he draws the Marlins this week and appears to be on the upswing.

LABR Mixed Draft League

The Mets play eight games with two doubleheaders in the mix - that seems like a good formula for Seth Lugo to sneak in a win or a save, plus he'll add good ratios most likely. I dropped Bradley Zimmer to add Lugo.

RotoWire Staff Keeper League

and

I'm bummed to miss out on Jesus Sanchez - I think I might have even originally bid $13 but then lowered my bid for ... reasons. I would have won the tiebreaker, too - lower in the standings (cue the sad trombone).

Instead I added Shed Long and Adam Ottavino - the latter in the hopes of stealing a save or five over the course of the season. Sadly I finally gave up on Amir Garrett to make it happen.