The other night, 3/11, 3, 3, 11…sorry, 90s/early 2000s PTSD kicked in there for a second. I took part in the 2025 Memorial Magazine League over on CBS with many fine people you know.. We have draft coverage in the AL and NL only leagues from The Itch and Grey, but as the only Razzballer…BALLER, shot caller, 20 inch blades on the… my bad. Anyway, here’s my write up for the 12 team mixed league auction.
Plan? What plan? I’m Just a Dog Chasing Cars
In AL/NL only, I do more planning. I build out some possible rosters. I have lists of high, medium, and low options at each position, but I like to be looser with it in mixed leagues. Why not? This is supposed to be fun! So, here’s how I do my planning for mixed leagues.
I build out a few options to see how different spending options might look depending on the inflation in the draft room. This spreadsheet is arguably more important to me than actual player dollar values so I can plan my spending for the draft. What kind of pitcher/hitter split do I want pending inflation at hitter vs pitcher? How many $1 players will I be stuck with if I go stars and scrubs vs a more middle ground approach?
Well, my general plan after these layouts was based on how high the top 3 hitters were priced. If they’re under $50, I’m leaving the draft with them. If inflation pushes them into the mid 50s or 60s, then, I’ll scoop up delicious values later. In a Beautiful Disaster, I almost got all 3 for under $50, but Ohtani went for $52 (and yes I still considered going 53).
Now, you’ve spent $98 out of $260 on 2 players, don’t Freak Out! There are values in every auction if you have patience and look for them. You can’t be a Prisoner to exact players, well maybe a few more, but value options are going to have to be a little nameless.
From Chaos, I’ll Be Here A While
Ryan Mountcastle was the next player I bought. He was thrown out as the 16th nomination, which seemed early, but maybe somebody was trying to sneak him through. I like Mountcastle with the park adjustments in Baltimore and I got him for for less than both Rudy and I have him at. I’ve played in this league for a number of years and closers have generally hung in the $15 range for a middle closer, so I bought Suarez for $14. I don’t love him, but he went at cost, maybe a slight savings.
Jung Hoo Lee isn’t sexy, but for $4, yes please. Remember when I said I still had a few different get my guy picks left, well, I love C.J. Abrams and got him with savings, JACKPOT! After that, just keep looking for cheap players. One way I tend to do that is to toss out $1 or $2 catchers and some $5 and under players that I might get for less.
I like Ober, but after seeing some other late pitching prices, I should’ve waited and saved. Triston Casas isn’t my favorite, but at the amount I have to spend on each position, I do like him (and saved a couple bucks on him). I just wanted to save money on each player on out and I did that with Paredes. I love Robles and got him Rudy’s cost, and a savings by my values. I didn’t really want Crochet, but didn’t think I’d get him for $21.
I didn’t need Alexis Diaz, but for $6, it just seemed too cheap to let go. I saved a few bucks on Nico Suave, and I love him. Luis Castillo is not a favorite of mine, and got caught a little bit doing some price enforcing, but you could do worse than an $11 Luis Castillo. That being said, I knew there were better values coming and wish I would’ve just sat out that bidding. You Wouldn’t Believe some of the values that came late in this draft. The rest of the draft was mostly $1 players for me, and in hindsight, maybe should’ve spent a couple dollars here and there for other players, but I also like all the guys I ended up with.
I started the reserve rounds with 2 pitchers I was looking at in the draft. Willi Castro is cheap speed with position eligibility and I may need a 2B to fill in if Nico misses a little time or he can fill in for Parker Meadows and his TBD timeline. Coby Mayo hasn’t been great in spring and had the dreaded vote of confidence from management, but he’s worth a gamble in the reserves. Ryan Jeffers is higher in my rankings than either of my $1 catchers, so I scooped him up, and that makes an easy catcher cut for the first FAAB. Charlie Morton is old, but maybe? Idk. Jake Fraley is a $3-$4 player that was my last pick, Feels So Good.
That’s All Fine, But What Does Rudy Say?
Do Rudy and I agree on ranks across the board? No, we do not. As our running bit on the podcast goes, someday we’ll have Rudy on to defend himself.
So, Did I Crack The Code? Well, I’m light on homeruns, but I also expect Paredes and Mountcastle to outperform their HR projections. Low on RBI, and yes, Aaron Judge is going to carry a lot of this responsibility and as things currently stand, I’m more runs heavy. Saves are currently a place of strength and possibly somewhere I can trade from to address issues. Remember that $6 Alexis Diaz.
On the pitching side, I may struggle with WHIP. This is true. I have a couple too many guys that aren’t strong WHIP types, but I can find streamers and play matchups in a 12 team league. Anyone’s roster is going to be All Mixed Up and you’ll end the season with several players that nobody drafted.
TLDR
- Plan out and track your spending
- If you spend early, don’t be picky, take the values.
- Be more patient than me. The longer you wait, the better the values.
- Use Rudy’s War Room
- Listen to the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast
You can watch the auction or see the teams at these links.
You can check out my updated rankings HERE.
Which six players should I keep in a 12-team roto league (OPS, QS, Saves/Holds) based on their draft rounds?
(Players are kept for two more years unless starred * = final year)
Players:
•Wyatt Langford (8*)
•Brent Rooker (12)
•Michael King (13)
•C.J. Abrams (18*)
•Paul Skenes (19)
•Shane McClanahan (21)
•Jared Jones (25)
I’m a seasoned auction player, and defending champ in my 7×7 (OPS, 2B, QS, HLD) home keeper / auction league… but somehow I left $26 on the table this week. I still have a good team in the end, but I’m kicking myself. Somehow I passed on values while they were unfolding, later reaching for Bichette and Goldschmidt, when I could have had Olson, Jazz, Bregman, Chapman, O. Cruz, etc. Can only think it was the 630am start, where I was a little slow.
C – W. Contreras (STL) – $10
1B – T. Casas (K) – $6
2B – O. Albies – $18
3B – A. Riley – $27
SS – F. Lindor – $41
MI – B. Bichette – $15
CI – P. Goldschmidt – $3
OF – M. Harris II – $23
OF – R. Greene – $10
OF – D. Crews (K) – $4
OF – T. Ward – $5
OF – J.H. Lee – $2
UTY – Y. Diaz (TB) – $1
Bench: C. Morel ($2) & W. Castro ($1)
SP – T. Skubal (K) – $18
SP – C. Sale (K) – $9
SP – B. Ober (K) – $7
SP – J. Ryan – $12
SP – C. Rodon – $7
SP – N. Pivetta – $3
SP – B. Woodruff (IL) – $1
RP – F. Bautista (K) – $3
RP – K. Jansen – $6
RP – O. Kerkering – $1
RP – C. Martin – $1
I am monitoring the RP market, and will add a reliever when Woodruff is moved to the IL. For early in the season, I like accumulating decent SV + HLD, and then when the other parts of my roster are more settled, I attend to what’s necessary, who is pitching well, clearer closer roles, etc. Holds, I find, are the easiest category to quickly start stacking up, with no shortage of good K/9 and ratios. And Saves, will usually uncover at least a few new stud closers.
Still a solid team and plan for how to approach the season. Those extra dollars definitely could’ve helped sure up a few spots. Give yourself a little break though, keeper auctions can be very unpredictable.
Thanks, agreed. Just means I have to work harder during the season. Was a very unpredictable auction, and the league gets better each year.
I’m worried about leaving money on the table in my big keeper auction this weekend. I’m used to having pricey keepers (kept Acuna last year for $40) but this year, I’m only keeping $13. I’ve never had so much to spend. I have guys that I’m willing to overpay on, but worried that if I wait on those guys to get nominated, and get them cheaper than I think, I’ll be boned. I normally never nominate players that I want, but I’m thinking this year, I’ll start nominating my guys that i think will be values but am willing to overpay for (examples, Burger and JH Lee), so that if I get them cheaper, there will still be nice options to bid on later. Another thought is, sometimes I wait forever on a guy, and then he’s the last option at his position, and someone else who’s been waiting on him gets into a bid war with me and it’s either a MASSIVE overpay, or I lose out.
What round would you guys recommend starting to nominate “my guys” – if you agree with that strategy. I definitely am planning on the BDon strategy of paying big for top guys (however, ONE TEAM has Witt, Elly and Ohtani as keepers – for half his money, though) instead of having a bunch of $20 dudes. Studs and Sleepers strategy.
This is a 14-team league where we only draft starting lineup at auction. There’s a 10-round snake reserve draft afterward. We start 5 OF, Ci/MI and 2 Utils. Fairly normal scoring except we have a 2B+3B category, OBP league. We keep 4.
Keepers are Doyle (5), Westburg (5), Merrill (2), Skenes (1). So I invite any thoughts on the types of studs I should seek, as well.
I think it’s worth approaching a keeper auction in a different manner, especially if you’re the high stack in the room. I wouldn’t be afraid to go ahead and start throwing those guys you want out right form the start. I’d probably start on the expensive end since those players are going to go for big money anyway. Try and save the under $10 guys for the value rounds.
Thanks, BDon, for affirming that strategy. When you say right from the start, do you mean that literally? Should I nominate guys like Burger and X Edwards right away? I feel like they could be popular sleepers and fetch a lot if i nominate them when everyone has money to burn. I was thinking about starting with My Guys around the 4th nomination – first nominating high value guys that I want other teams to spend on… lots of 2B are being kept, so thought I would try to drain funds by nomming Albies/Altuve at the start. Or a pricey SP
Personally I would get bigger $ off the board first. One thing I noticed is to grab players we want in a tier, before that tier comes to an end.
For instance, somebody threw out Riley – first non-J-Ram 3B of the night – who I would have paid up to $35 for. The price stalled at $27, and I won him. Machado came a little later, and was $30. The final player in that tier, Devers, went on an auction run and went for $41. So in this instance, if the players you want are part of lots of other comparable options available, the price should be reasonable. But if you wait until they are the final option, the price will likely skyrocket (you can also use this to nominate players you don’t want, and push up the $$).
JH Lee, I think you’ll be able to get for fairly cheap towards the end. Burger – was popular, but mostly because he was the final good 1B available, and that run pushed his price up to $16.
3, 3, 11… embrace it, don’t apologize!
Go for the Hive!
Jung Hoo for $4 is gonna be a steal. 20/20 season incoming. but at that price, even 15-15 is nice.
Absolutely! Love stealing these supposedly ‘unsexy’ players.
We need to kidnap Scott White and force him to tell us how he hasn’t aged in 15 years.
Dude I look way younger than him
Everyone attacking your age this year, Grey. Won’t help your case having a Korean co-host though. I’m going to look the same until my hair turns or leaves me.
I need a 98-year-old podcast host
Lol! Scott’s still looking forward to buying his first shaving kit.
But I’m like fresh faced!
He sucked the life out of his Grandmothers living room to stay young same place he broadcasts his show from.
That is 100% a grandmother’s living room from the early 80s. Ranch-style house I’d wager.