Prospect News: NL Only Auction Recap: CBS Analysts League

Here’s a link to my write up of the American League version of this league: 

In that article, I discuss my approach to this league: specifically, that I try to get money spent in smart places early, sit through the middle, and battle it out for every dollar in the end game. That’s kind of my general approach in auctions but especially in this one because the money is twice as fake here. Once you’re full at 2B, SS, MI and U, you cannot nominate or bid on a middle infielder. Oh and something I forgot to mention last time is the reserve draft. The auction only covers the starting lineups, then we switch to a seven-round reserve draft to close out the night. This creates something of a false auction that leaves value pools commensurate to the depth at each position. 

I did some math on this one to try and illustrate the point. I wound up with eight $1 players. This $8 of money spent in the auction was worth $28 on my sheet: Pavin Smith $6, Jordan Lawlar $4, Tony Gonsolin $4, Jerar Encarnacion $4, Jake Irvin $4, Seth Halvorsen $3, Marco Luciano $3, and Gavin Sheets who I thought was a $0 value. Or maybe a negative dollar value. Certainly not somebody I wanted, but I forgot Matt Mervis wasn’t first-base eligible and had to scramble a bit. Got Mervis in the reserves. Will be quick to drop Sheets if I need a spot. 

‘Course some of this “value” is just me being in a different place on these players, but some of it is raw math. Jake Irivn and Tony Gonsolin especially. Not much speculation in those evaluations, and lots of room for upside. Similar story for Pavin Smith. If these players keep doing what they’ve done in their recent pasts, these numbers become conservative by midseason. In fact, Gonsolin went for $16 in this league in the 2023 auction. 

C Willson Contreras 24

C Ivan Herrera 10 

1B Michael Toglia 14 

2B Ketel Marte 28 

3B Matt Shaw 12 

SS Tyler Fitzgerald 15 

MI Marco Luciano 1

CI Gavin Sheets 1

OF Seiya Suzuki 21

OF Juickson Profar 15

OF Kris Bryant 5

OF Jerar Encarnacion 1

OF Pavin Smith 1

U Jordan Lawlar 1

P Shohei Ohtani 47

P Spencer Schwellenbach 20

P Sandy Alcantara 14

P Bubba Chandler 5

P Andrew Heaney 2

P Tony Gonsolin 1

P Jake Irvin 1

P Raisel Iglesias 20

P Seth Halvorsen 1

RES Rhett Lowder

RES Matt Mervis

RES Cade Cavalli 

RES Moises Ballesteros

RES David Robertson

RES Vidal Brujan 

RES Craig Yoho

My plan revolved around getting Elly De La Cruz or Shohei Ohtani, who I was having a hard time putting a number on as I prepared for this thing. I settled on $47 to try and encapsulate the value of a 50/50 player who “clogs” the utility spot all season. It was actually a 54/59 season, by the way, with a slash line of .310/.390/.646 with 134 runs and 130 RBI in 731 plate appearances. That last number matters a lot, and it might be a little lower this year, considering he’ll be working his way back on the mound and then taking the ball once a week. If Ohtani does get 700 plate appearances again and hit better than .300 like he has each of the past two seasons, he’s worth at least the $3 more he cost than Elly, even as Elly was my initial preference because it’s just tough to drop that kind of coin and feel no closer to filling a lineup. 

One quirk of landing Ohtani: he could be put into a pitcher spot despite not playing there last year. I’m not sure how Matt Mervis ends up at pitcher and not hitter while Ohtani ends up at both, but that’s fame for you, and I thought it was a nice bonus for getting baseball’s best player that I was allowed to buy an extra hitter in the endgame. Until I landed Tyler Fitzgerald, I was viewing Jordan Lawlar as a worthy place for about ten bucks in my quest for a shortstop, considering I’d been out of the room when my primarily shortstop targets (Matt McLain and Ezequiel Tovar) were brought up for bidding. I only missed a handful of nominations, and it only happened after an indefinite break had been requested by someone who was boarding a plane, but that’s life. I saved some money while I was missing the auction, and I know better than to go on tilt during an auction. It helped me cool down when Grey texted to say he should’ve texted. Michael Toglia was acquired at $14 while I was getting my bearings. I don’t hate it though. First base is light in the NL.  

This team looks like trouble to me. Wound up with a lot of pieces that could turn a profit. Matt Shaw at $12 was a quirk of timing. He was nominated late when most teams had very little money and a third baseman on the squad. I had Ketel Marte at $33 in the numbers (+5). Profar at $18 (+3). Herrera at $13 (+3). Alcantara at $17 (+3).

Need a lot of luck to win a league this, but it’s nice to think I’ve got a shot.

Thanks for reading!

Here’s a link to the full results: https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/2025-fantasy-baseball-mock-draft-nl-only-rotisserie-salary-cap-auction-results-along-with-recap/