H2H Points Mixed League Auction: Pitching In For Points

Another week, another CBS auction, not that I’m complaining. Love draft season and auctions are the best way to pick a team. If you have been putting off joining an auction, don’t. Fast auction, slow auction, live auction, they are all phenomenal and gives you more choice over team construction than waiting around to see who falls to you in a snake draft.

That being said, this one was all over the place. You can find the full draft results with the CBS write up here.

H2H points is a format that has less coverage than roto leagues, but there is a reason. Points leagues are dependent on the scoring format, so, unless you have a standard points setup (such as CBS who hosts this league), it’s tough to give blanket advice. It’s easy to say take pitchers early as a blanket statement, but in a format like RazzSlam, pitching scores less than the top bats (yes, I started my RazzSlam draft with Verlander and Scherzer).

In this particular auction, it was ALL about pitching. It became evident after about the 2nd or 3rd round of bidding that hitting was going to be undervalued and pitching would be overvalued. The top bats all went for $40+ as they should, but as the auction wore on, the money was being saved for arms. Early on, I felt good about my $31 Story, but then Jorge Polanco goes for $1 in the end game and maybe not.

Seeing as it is a points mixed league with shallow rosters, points leagues are typically 3 OF with no MI or CI. The plan was to go more stars and scrubs than in the AL or NL auctions. However, with the top players all going over $40+, I was in on the bidding for all of them, but just didn’t win them in the end. Hindsight being what it is, I should have pushed for one of the big arms and bats, then, figured out the back end of the roster later.

Projections

Here are the points for the starting members of the teams based on Rudy’s projections. (Don’t forget to sign up for Rudy’s tools for draft season and beyond!) As you can see, Heath Cummings is projected at the top followed by Razzball’s own malamoney. Heath spent all his money on pitching and filled in with bats, and even with some questionable bats in his lineup, his team is going to be tough.

Malamoney just stole all of my players in the auction, so, if mala wins, I expect a little credit for losing all those players to the roster. This roster was completely opposite of Heath’s and more toward something that Grey would build. Heavy spending on bats including Trout ($48), Acuna ($37), Rizzo ($24), and Blackmon ($25). More than one way to win any league. Seemed like malamoney was zigging while the rest of the league was zagging and it turned out well.

My Team

C   Willson Contreras ($6)
1B Freddie Freeman ($35)
2B Kevin Newman ($1)
3B Vlad Guerrero ($17)
SS Trevor Story ($31)
OF Luis Robert ($15)
OF Eloy Jimenez ($8)
OF Jo Adell ($2)
U Rhys Hoskins ($19)
SP Zac Gallen ($18)
SP Stephen Strasburg ($35)
SP Mike Foltynewicz ($9)
SP Brandon Woodruff ($20)
SP Ryan Yarbrough ($4)
RP Josh Hader ($16)
RP Liam Hendriks ($6)
RES Josh James ($5)
RES AJ Puk ($7)
RES Josh Lindblom ($1)
RES Yonny Chirinos ($2)
RES Jonathan Loaisiga ($1)

Now, B_Don, why are you 2nd to last in the projections? Well, it’s just projections. Second, I have Jo Adell in my starting lineup who isn’t likely to start the season in the majors, but for $2, sign me up all day.

Bats

The first bat that I bought was Freddie Freeman for $35. He was a $39 player in my values for points, and is right there with the other top producers in points, even more so than in roto. Trevor Story was at the time where you could see values where leaning heavy pitching, but couldn’t let Story go for $30.

Vlad popped up on the board and I had to have him for this format, so, I spent my $17 and added him to 3B. Even if Vlad doesn’t take the next stop in his power, he has excellent plate discipline and will rack up those hits and walks. Rhys lead the NL in walks last season even in a down season. He’s a perfect fit for this format and I expect a bounce back from him as well.

The OF is young and sexy, and actually pretty cheap. Robert at $15 is pretty much at value, maybe a tad high for the format, but playing for upside in a shallow league. Eloy was a steal at $8 and I expect him to double that return. There’s an argument to be made that he is a better player in this format than Robert. Adell, well, he was $2. Will have to see how the rotations and injuries shape up through spring training, but obviously I’ll need to pick up an OF from the wire to fill in for some time.

Contreras for $6 is fine. I don’t normally spend more than a few bucks on the C position, especially in a one catcher league, so, this was a bit out of character for me. Probably should’ve used the money elsewhere (may have been a homer pick). Kevin Newman is a personal favorite as a value late in drafts, and I’m happy to get him for $1 at 2B. In reality, hitting will be readily available during the season, so, the low dollar guys can be replaced. In which case, you might as well take the guys you like.

Arms

Strasburg as my #1 isn’t ideal, but he’s in my 2nd tier at pitching and a relative bargain at $35 considering Jose Berrios went for $29. The theme of my pitching in this format is strikeouts and innings. Each member of the starting rotation should be above a 25%, even 27% K rate, other than Yarbrough, with no question about their rotation spots. I got Hader at $16, and admittedly was trying to bid him up. He may not get as many saves as other closers, but the extra innings and strikeouts add up as well.

Gallen and Woodruff are the other anchors for my staff. Woodruff didn’t make the full 30+ starts last season, but for this format specifically, he’s a great piece. Gallen won’t likely be a sub 3 ERA guy again, but showed us his promise and the BB rate may be high, but it was never a problem for him in the minors. Foltyneywicz is somebody that can jump into this tier, but has been inconsistent. If I get 2nd half 2019 or 2018 Folty, this is a great buy. If it’s first half 2019 Folty, he’ll be cut from the roster by May.

Pairing Yarbrough and Yonny together late in the draft has been a favorite move of mine this season. The Rays are tricky to predict, but both are solid pitchers. In the 2nd half last year, when Yarby was mainly working out of the rotation, he had a 3.79 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and a 22.6% K rate. Yonny was having a strong start to the season before he fell to injury. In his first 15 starts (117.2 IP), he had a 3.29 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and a 22% K rate.

AJ Puk and Josh James both get the SPARP bump and felt they were worth a few more dollars, although, I did spend more on both than I would’ve preferred.

Loaisiga should have the inside track on a starting job with the Yankees to start the season. He’s a high variance pitcher, but 30% K rate pitchers don’t just grow on trees and that’s what he was in the 2nd half last year (granted, that was in the ‘pen).  Josh Lindblom is a complete shot in the dark on the recommendation from friend of the podcast, Tim McLeod. If it doesn’t work out or he doesn’t make the rotation, he’s an easy cut for my Adell fill in.

Regerts

As I mentioned, the hitting values far surpassed the pitching values in this one.

Laureano went for $2, I tried to bid more, but system froze on me. Could’ve used his bat in the OF, especially with Adell likely to start the year on the farm.

Jorge Soler went for $10 late in the draft when everyone was saving money for pitching.

$3 Edwin Encarnacion was a nice late buy in points, but I had my 1B and UTIL already locked up. Wanted to save some money for late pitching buys for my bench.

Matt Chapman for $5 was a steal.

Tim Anderson and Jorge Polanco were both amazing $1 buys in the end game.

Tons of late OFs went for a value: Canha ($4), Benintendi ($4), Conforto ($5), and Mercado ($1).

Dinelson Lamet for $10 was a nice buy.