Jon Stadtmueller Wins NFBC Ultimate Auction & $40,000

[Greg Ambrosius]

Jon Stadtmueller of Little Rock, Arkansas won the Ultimate Auction league in 2012 with a $1 bid on Mike Trout and he returned to the winner's circle this year without Trout. Jon won the 2017 Las Vegas Ultimate Auction league with 113 points to win the title and the $40,000 league prize going away. He was 13.5 points ahead of Matt Shepherd, who won $20,000 here after finishing second in the Diamond Auction League. Tony Botzo finished third to claim the $7,500 prize.

Here's a look at the final standings:

NFBC Las Vegas Ultimate Auction League Final Standings:
Mudhens 113
ULTIMATE MORONS 99.5
Choo's Vegas Vacation 96
LEATHERNECK 2 94
John "Johnny Sausage" Barbato 89.5
Cue the Duckboats LV Ultimate 86.5
The Critical G's 85.5

Jon spent his money early on the top stars and then had to sit a long time before getting additional players, but the wait paid off. In fact, his bargains far outweighed his early top bids. He had mixed success early as he bid $36 on Max Scherzer, $39 on Noah Syndergaard, $32 on Corey Kluber, $25 on Billy Hamilton, $25 on George Springer, $22 on Kenley Jansen and $32 on Jonathan Villar. But it was the $1 bid on Aaron Judge that changed the tide, followed by $2 on Ervin Santana, $1 on Addison Reed and Reserve pickups of Zack Cozart and Joey Gallo. He picked up a couple of cheap Starting Pitchers in Kyle Freeland and Jason Hammel, but gambled on David Dahl for $372 in mid May. A $70 bid on Scooter Gennett in late June was helpful, as was the $96 bid on Tim Beckham on Aug. 6th.

It wasn't easy, but it got the job done. Great job all and we'll see you next season.