Day: April 22, 2018

Welcome to the weekly Tout Wars FAAB report, on its new home right here on the Tout Wars site. Each week, we’ll review the free agent acquisitions from all five leagues, with commentary from a league member, as well as yours truly. We changed the timing of the weekly run to 1 PM ET every Sunday, with the report posted later that afternoon so you’ll have time to digest and apply to your own leagues. In addition, I’ll be joining Lawr Michaels and Justin Mason on the Tout Wars Hour on the FNTSY Network every Sunday at 3:20 PM ET to discuss the results.

You can find the complete list of Tout Warriors here. Everyone starts with 1000 FAAB units, less any penalty incurred by finishing below a designated point in the standings. This is a means of keeping everyone motivated to keep playing all season long. The minimum bid is $0. FAAB units can be traded as well as rebated for players released off the DL.

The report will list all winning bids along with unsuccessful tries and contingencies. This provides the maximum level of information to help gauge interest on the players.

The American and National League only formats are 12-team leagues, as is the new points-based head to head league, The Mixed Auction and Draft each have 15 clubs. All the leagues have four reserves with an unlimited DL, expect the head to head league, which allows six reserves.

The headings above each league are links to publicly accessible sites where you can see standings, roster and a complete review of transactions. The initial auctions and drafts can be found here.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Glenn Colton’s Commentary

Other hitters who went off the board were a selection of guys who were needed mostly to fill holes.  For example, our team, Colton & the Wolfman, found itself very short on OF, so we went fishing in the shallow end and reeled in Johnny Field and Robbie Grossman for $1 each.  Hopefully they will not be needed for very long.

The ageless wonder, Big Sexy himself, Bartolo Colon, was the big pitching fish going for $11 to pitching guru Doug Dennis.  As for us, team Colton & the Wolfman cut bait on some bad starting pitching choosing instead to roster high K relievers Heath Hembree and Chris Martin – both of whom have pitched pretty well thus far this year.

Bottom line: with 8 of the 12 Tout AL teams having 900+ of their 1,000 FAAB still in the bank, it seems owners are trying to position themselves for a run at the midsummer interleague trade talent.

Todd’s Take

I’ve been intrigued by Chris Martin since the spring. The Rangers bullpen is still a bit unsettled with Keone Kela currently copping closing duties. He’s getting by, but not without issued. Kela’s first pitch strike, and overall strike rates are well below league average, especially for a closer.

Martin spent the last couple seasons in Japan, refining his stuff. It seems to have worked as the lanky righty has fanned 10 with just two walked in 10.1 innings. Hit and homers have been an issue, but I’d rather have the solid K and BB skills and hope for regression than rely on a guy with a low BABIP and mediocre skills.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Todd’s Commentary and Take

I was the most active bidder, along with submitting the high bid, so I’ll pull double-duty this week. Anchored by Robbie Ray and Luis Castillo, my pitching isn’t off to a great start. Plus, I lost Taijuan Walker, though I get $110 FAAB units back for my $11 auction purchase.

I have faith things will get better, but the bleeding needs to be stopped by jettisoning Kyle Freeland and Brian Mitchell. I still like Mitchell, so he’ll be reserved, but Freeland is off the roster.  The replacements are Jeremy Jeffress and Adam Cimber.

Cimber is getting the job done, pitching a decent number of innings with strikeouts. With Petco Park at his back, I’ll take my chances.

This just in – Craig Counsell doesn’t care about your (or my) fantasy team. I’m at the point I suspect he asks his relievers to pick a number 1 to 100 and whichever is closest gets to close that night. I don’t need saves with three closers (Brad Boxberger, Brandon Morrow and Arodys Vizcaino but maybe another save or two from Jeffress will facilitate a trade down the line. My bigger concern is innings and whiffs, which he’s providing.

Needing someone to replace Walker, I opted for a stick since I was using an arm in the swing spot. I have no idea how much Tyler O’Neil will play, but there’s no reason to be miserly with FAAB since I’m playing with the short stack. As it turns out, I could have just activated David Dahl into swing, but I’m OK with using both Dahl and O’Neill while sending Juan Lagares to the bench.

On draft day, securing Stephen Vogt and Manny Pina on the cheap seemed genius. The best laid plans. Pina is due back, but I wanted a hedge. Nottingham is perfect since he’ll play even when Pina is back plus if Pina doesn’t make it back, Nottingham will play even more. Tout rules allow mid-week activation of players coming off the DL so long as you release the active player he replaces. With Jeff Mathis as my second catcher, I’m not concerned.

Enough about me…

Lenny Melnick is hoping Ty Blach takes advantage of a two-start week at home in AT&T and the Giants entertain a couple of last season’s NL playoff clubs with the Nationals and Dodgers coming to town. Both lineups are dangerous, but sluggish to open the season. Aiding Blach’s cause is Anthony Rendon finally hitting the DL over the weekend.

The Reds have been scuffling for s fill-in at the hot corner while Eugenio Suarez is on the shelf. Too bad they don’t have a can’t-miss third baseman prospect in the wings. Cliff Pennington got first shot, now it’s Alex Blandino’s turn. Brian Walton hopes Blandino can continue his modest three-game hitting streak.

MIXED LEAGUE AUCTION 

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Jeff Zimmerman’s Commentary

Todd’s Take

Could Mac Williamson be the next entry into the Launch Angle Club? I’d ask him, but the first rule of the…you know the rest.

Williamson spent time with Doug Latta in the off-season. Previously, Latta refined Justin Turner’s approach and stroke and so far, it appears Williamson’s time was well spent. He slashed an eye-popping .487/.600/.1.026 top open the season at Triple-A Sacramento, forcing the Giants hand. There’s an opening with Hunter Pence out, but it wouldn’t take much for Williamson to secure playing time when Pence returns.

MIXED LEAGUE DRAFT

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Ray Murphy’s Commentary

A lot of activity today in Mixed-Draft, with 12 of 15 teams working the free agent pool. But it’s mostly speculative plays or tweaking around the roster edges, as we had only one triple-digit bid (Christian Villanueva, won by Scott White with a bid of 103), and only one more over 50 (Josh Fields, won by Anthony Perri for 53). The other 17 players were all acquired for 36 units or less.

My acquisition was Joc Pederson. I was in the market for some OF depth, with Byron Buxton and Carlos Gonzalez banged up, and Wil Myers not yet OF-eligible. Pederson got some more playing time this week and showed some signs of life at the plate. Most noteworthy is that, so far, he is carrying over his late-2017 gains in contact rate. If that trend holds, he could work his way back into regular AB in the still-crowded Dodger OF.

Todd’s Take

If you don’t subscribe to The Athletic, think about it, if only to get Eno Sarris’ work (there’s other great stuff as well). It’s Eno’s story to tell, but this week, he featured six pitchers with a new weapon, one being Brandon McCarthy throwing what he calls a second slider, along with a curve and cutter. The differences in velocity, break and depth are working. With McCarthy’s injury history, get in while the getting’s good.

I’d be willing to bet half what’s left of my FAAB Wiseguy Gene McCaffrey bid on Freddy Galvis for his early week visit to Coors Field. As a challenge game player, Gene is wired to look for these sorts of things. You should too.

HEAD-TO-HEAD MIXED AUCTION

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Peter Kreutzer’s Commentary