Welcome to this week’s report, summarizing the top free agent bids in each of the five Tout Wars leagues, with links to the detailed bidding action following our 8 p.m. ET deadline each Sunday evening. All prices are on a $1000 base.
After you scan the detail below, please join our live chat, starting at 9 p.m. ET Sunday evening, to discuss these results with Andrea Lamont, aka @rotolady of Lenny Melnick Fantasy Sports, along with other Touts.
American League
A whopping count of 23 free agents were acquired in free agent bidding this week.
The top dollar player is Hansel Robles of the Angels at $370 to Rob Leibowitz of RotoHeaven. With an uncertain closing situation, some thought Robles may be behind Ty Buttrey, but on Sunday, Buttrey pitched the eighth and Robles the ninth. Still it was a non-save situation and Robles has just one on the season. This is a situation to keep watching.
The next-highest winning offer was also for an emerging closer, as $199 landed Tampa Bay’s Emilio Pagan onto the roster of Patrick Davitt of BaseballHQ. Pagan is the fifth Rays reliever to secure a save this season, but has collected three straight.
$103 was the top bid for Luis Rengifo of the Angels, acquired by Jeff Erickson of RotoWire. The second baseman is getting regular playing time while batting ninth for the Halos. Rengifo hasn’t stolen a base yet but had 40 last season in the minors.
National League
Though the number of players taken in NL Tout this week was low, just eight, two players fetched big money.
The Padres promoted third baseman Ty France, who was batting .423 with nine home runs in Triple-A. With Greg Garcia his primary competition, France could put pressure on struggling Ian Kinsler for playing time at second. Fernando Tatis’ Sunday injury could add to the opportunity, with Manny Machado moving from third to short. All of this together led to a $261 winning bid from Andy Behrens of Yahoo, with the next closest at $119. (As a point of reference, NL Tout had just 11 other eligible free agent hitters in the entire pool.)
Gio Gonzalez opted out of his minor league contract with the Yankees and re-signed with Milwaukee, where the veteran lefty was quickly inserted into the rotation, where he also made five effective starts to close 2018 after his acquisition from Washington. On Sunday, Gonzalez took a no-decision after allowing two runs in five innings in New York. A proven starter of this quality rarely comes available this early in the season, so bidding was brisk. I won with my $256 offer over the closest competing bid of $217.
Mixed Auction
23 was also the total of free agents to be acquired this week in Mixed Auction.
New Nationals middle infielder Carter Kieboom, with two home runs in his first weekend in the majors, was snapped up for $228 by Derek Van Riper of The Athletic. Playing time looks wide open for at least the next three weeks due to Trea Turner’s injury.
Griffin Canning of the Angels went for $131 to Ray Flowers of Fantasy Guru. The 22-year old is the club’s top pitching prospect and was off to a strong start at Triple-A, with a 0.56 ERA through three starts. The right-hander is slated to make his MLB debut on Tuesday against Toronto.
The money was spread around as no other free agent fetched more than $77 (for Brandon Belt by Tim Heaney).
Review all 4/28 Mixed Auction bids here.
Mixed Draft
Over in Mixed Draft, 16 players found new roster homes this week.
Kieboom caused the biggest blast, drawing a $235 winning bid from Greg Ambrosius of the NFBC. Other top dollar players were taken in other leagues as well, with Pagan and Canning each drawing top offers of $87 (from Tom Kessenich and Tim McLeod, respectively). Next up was Buttrey at $79, also to Ambrosius.
The first new name in the bidding hierarchy is Angels infielder Tommy LaStella, who went to Ray Murphy of BaseballHQ for $66. The 30-year old swatted three home runs last week and is a regular at third.
Review all 4/28 Mixed Draft bids here.
Head to Head
H2H action this week was moderate, with 17 free agents acquired.
Leading the way was Kieboom at $287 to Jake Ciely, followed by a round $150 for
Pagan, paid by AJ Mass.
From there, prices dropped hard to the $34 winning offer for Luke Jackson of Atlanta, paid by Clay Link and $33 spent by Ciely on Phillies starter Jerad Eickhoff. With Braves closer AJ Minter in a tailspin, Jackson was called upon to pick up the save on Sunday and converted the three-out opportunity against the heart of the Rockies’ lineup. As evidenced by his sharp 2.12 ERA through three outings, Eickhoff is doing his best to make demoted Nick Pivetta a distant memory.