Once I made the decision to join this league I had to formulate an auction strategy. The plan was to use the KISS method(keep it simple stupid)....lol.
Having read every column and article that I could find regarding this format (including some from the NFBC great Shawn Childs) I set about putting the plan together. As I said, this would be a simple plan,nothing too complicated. Using a 180/80 hitter to pitcher dollar split the plan slowly came together.The hitting budget was broken down from the $180 total this way: $20 on catcher,$30 for 2B/SS/MI,$50 for 1B/3B/CI and $80 for the OF.Pitching budget was $60 for 6 SP and $20 for 3 RP.Needless to say on the day of the auction the original budget was turned upside down in very short order.By the time I had rostered my first 5 players I had already spent $48 on 2B and SS.That money went to Starlin Castro(25) and Ben Zobrist(23). I had planned on getting either one of them and then going cheap to fill the remaining MI spots but I had them both pegged at $27 and couldn't resist grabbing them both. Since I had already bought Harper(35),Bruce(25),Napoli(15) and Nathan (11) more than half of my $260 had been spent($134).Realizing that I now had $126 for my next 17 roster spots it was time to sit back and wait for some bargains.Adjusting on the fly I made the decision to flip-flop my MI and CI roster budget plan and would now have to spend less than $30 on 1B/3B and CI.
It was really hard watching the top SP's fly off the board for more than I could or would spend on them so I dug in my heels and bided my time waiting for more reasonably priced SP's. The wait paid off as I was able to roster 3 SP's from my 2nd,3rd and 4th tier rankings... C.C. and Latos for 19 each and Peavy for 10. No real bargains here but at least I bought them all at my target prices which wasn't terrible considering the high 20's to low 30's range that elite SP's were going for. I now had a core of 3 solid SP's that could get me 550+ k's with good ratios too that kept me on budget. I no longer feared running out of money too soon and was determined to stay on budget for the rest of the auction.The SP staff was rounded out with Cahill(8),Hammel(5) and Myers(3) for a total of $63 for 6 SP's putting me just $3 over my target dollars for those 6 spots.Later I added Grilli(8) and K.Jansen(5) and had now filled out my staff for a tool of $87- $7 over budget.
So $7 had to be chopped somewhere and OF being the most plentiful spot it was decided to chop it from there. Having already rostered Harper and Bruce for $60 total that meant just $13 for the next 3 OF spots...ouch! I quickly learned that this auction stuff requires lots of flexibility in planning but also in execution as well.As Shawn Childs and others had said in their articles be ready to take what the auction table gives you.Anyway, those last 3 OF spots were filled with Markakis(7),Quentin(4) and Venable(2) for exactly the $13 that I had re-allocated to the remaining OF budget.This seems to be getting a little long so I'll cut to the chase here. I waited on 1B and rostered Ike Davis(17), a bargain I thought after having seen early 1B's go for way over target dollars,Youkilis(7), also a good price for 3B and Lind(3) for CI for a total of $27. This was $3 under budget as planned after lowering the 1B/3B/CI budget to $30 having overspent on Castro/Zobrist earlier. It was fun,challenging and exhausting all at once and can't wait to do this format again next year. I really love it much more than waiting anywhere from 15-29 picks for your next selection in a snake draft.If I really wanted to roster the top 3 OF's or top 3 elite SP's I could....that can't happen in a draft. Not sure how competitive this team will be but no matter what I will return to this format next year for sure. I'll post the entire roster here for anybody that would like to comment on it,whether positive, negative or neutral....all comments or thoughts are welcome.My special thanks to Ken Magner for going out of his way to provide some general tips as well.
C- Napoli(15); Avila(6)
!B/3B/CI- I.Davis(17); Youk(7); Lind(3)
2B/SS/MI- Zobrist(23); Castro(25); Keppinger(3)
OF- Harper(35); Bruce(25); Markakis(7); Quentin(4); Venable(2)
UT- Leonys Martin(3)
SP- C.C.(19); Latos(19); Peavy(10); Cahill(8); J.Hammel(4); B. Myers(3)--looking for nearly 875 k's plus good ratios here
RP- Nathan(11); Grilli(8); K.Jansen(5)--if/when league loses the job I could have 3 closers here
Reserves(in order of draft)- Blanton,Smyly,J. Gomes,Nolasco,Leake,Mastroianni and John Ely. Blanton could get me 150+ k's,Smyly needs a Porcello trade for a rotation spot, Gomes can get me 15+ HR with just 300 or so AB's and Mastroianni,although losing starter job to Hicks can fly and can get 20+ SB's even in part-time role.
Well, that's it. I spent $173 hitting/$87 pitching and had a blast doing it.
Rich McCormick
Astoria,NY
Andy, also enjoyed being with you too and finally getting a chance to compete against you instead of working together as facilitators.I couldn't wait to see how many Phillies players you rostered. 