Talking About LABR League Auctions

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 9:02 am

Okay, this weekend I'm flying to Phoenix to compete in USA Today Sports Weekly's LABR League auctions. The League of Alternative Baseball Reality was started in 1994 by John Hunt and as of 2006 only John and myself are around from that original group of owners that included Peter Gammons, Bill James and Keith Olbermann. I finished second that first year in the AL Auction League (I dropped from first to second during the short week of the strike) and have never finished higher -- which means I have zero titles to Hunt's five!!!

But this is a new year and everyone who has been invited to participate has been asked to compete in the AL Auction League on Saturday night and the NL Auction League on Sunday night. We did both leagues in 1997, 98 and '99, and then John went to the Regular Guys format. This year he has 12 owners doing both auctions.

Because this will be my 11th and 12th leagues of the year, I've asked John Zaleski of Ultimate Fantasy Sports to be my co-manager for both auctions and double-team the competition. John was in the AL LABR League for many years and returns after about a five-year hiatus. We'll have some fun and see if we can win a title or two.

With that in mind, I'm up for any LABR League questions and/or suggestions. Push me in the right direction and we'll bring home a title for the NFBC. Tell me to punt saves and I'll ask why. Tell me to lay off all Yankees and I'll consider the strategy. Tell me not to drink during the draft and I'll......well, I can't do that.

Bring it on and let's have some fun with this before I depart for Phoenix on Friday!!!

JohnZ · Post by **JohnZ** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 9:16 am

Every year, there seems to be a new "buzz" theme. LIMA, RIMA, REMA, etc...

This year, it looks like "punting" saves is in vogue.

Jason Grey has done well with it and just published an article on rototimes.com

Last year, I won two private leagues by targeting $1 potential closers (Hermanson,Howry) and using FAAB (Timlin)to gain other save points due to the 40% turnover after Opening Day.

So.... the question is... Do you stick with this, or do you "zag" because maybe saves will go down in value enough on the "buzz factor" and you can pick up two cheapies for $25-28?

If two cheapies, which ones do you like best?

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 9:41 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

With that in mind, I'm up for any LABR League questions and/or suggestions. what are the prizes?

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

Push me in the right direction and we'll bring home a title for the NFBC. get king felix

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 9:44 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

With that in mind, I'm up for any LABR League questions and/or suggestions. 1) don't use john's laptop

2) drink lots of corona

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 9:45 am

Originally posted by Gordon Gekko:

quote:Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

With that in mind, I'm up for any LABR League questions and/or suggestions. what are the prizes?

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

Push me in the right direction and we'll bring home a title for the NFBC. get king felix [/QUOTE]The prizes are bragging rights. That's it.

Felix will go for $24. Not sure I can spend that on a 19-year-old. If he goes cheaper, maybe I'll make him my ace, but when you're only going to spend $80 on a pitching staff, you have to choose wisely.

JohnZ · Post by **JohnZ** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 10:25 am

Originally posted by Gordon Gekko:

quote:Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

With that in mind, I'm up for any LABR League questions and/or suggestions. 1) don't use john's laptop

2) drink lots of corona [/QUOTE]Plenty of Coronas.

Laptop used so that we don't choose players already taken. To prevent what you did in FB

JohnZ · Post by **JohnZ** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 10:31 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

Felix will go for $24. Not sure I can spend that on a 19-year-old. If he goes cheaper, maybe I'll make him my ace, but when you're only going to spend $80 on a pitching staff, you have to choose wisely. We go in with no one we have to have. Many players we like though

Captain Hook · Post by **Captain Hook** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 10:53 am

Originally posted by UFS:

quote:Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

Felix will go for $24. Not sure I can spend that on a 19-year-old. If he goes cheaper, maybe I'll make him my ace, but when you're only going to spend $80 on a pitching staff , you have to choose wisely. We go in with no one we have to have. Many players we like though

[/QUOTE]If you guys spend $80 on a pitching staff, there is no way you will beat Jason! WAY too much

JohnZ · Post by **JohnZ** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 11:24 am

Originally posted by Captain Hook:

If you guys spend $80 on a pitching staff, there is no way you will beat Jason! WAY too much [/quote]

He most certainly will pay more this year for the pitchers he is used to getting.

We still have a few days before we meet Friday and this issue has already been checked off.

KJ Duke · Post by **KJ Duke** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 1:01 pm

Originally posted by Captain Hook:

If you guys spend $80 on a pitching staff, there is no way you will beat Jason! WAY too much Is that the magic number Hook? I spent $76 last yr, $30 of which was a complete bust, and dominated him.

[ February 27, 2006, 07:02 PM: Message edited by: KJ Duke ]

Captain Hook · Post by **Captain Hook** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 2:49 pm

Not in LABR or TOUT you didn't

KJ Duke · Post by **KJ Duke** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 4:12 pm

Originally posted by Captain Hook:

Not in LABR or TOUT you didn't Nope, right here in the NL / bigger prize, less bragging rights - I'm ok with that

Matt Berry TalentedMrRoto.com · Post by **Matt Berry TalentedMrRoto.com** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 8:32 am

Every year, there seems to be a new "buzz" theme. LIMA, RIMA, REMA, etc...

This year, it looks like "punting" saves is in vogue.

Jason Grey has done well with it and just published an article on rototimes.com

Uhhh... some of us have been using and promoting the "Never Pay for Saves" strategy for a long, long time now. Read my "ZIMA" article from three years ago, for example. Can't believe Grey is trying to a) claim this as a new strategy and b) claim it as his own.

Not saying I invented it either. But I have been public about it for a long, long time.

Walla Walla · Post by **Walla Walla** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 8:42 am

He didn't claim either. He used it to perfection.

Won the titles. Did you???

Matt Berry TalentedMrRoto.com · Post by **Matt Berry TalentedMrRoto.com** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 9:11 am

Wasn't in the leagues with Jason when he won the titles. I have used it to win titles, yes. Have beaten Jason with it, yes. (And he has beaten me, too) Have not won a Tout Wars, no.

And it's more about it coming up now as the "hot strategy" than anything else. That's all.

JohnZ · Post by **JohnZ** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 9:35 pm

Just back from the AL LABR draft and a great post-LABR party hosted by the Colton-Wolf team.

As expected, premium players went fast and expensive.

Figgins went first for $35.

A Rod went second for $42.

Both went to Colton/Wolf.

Our plan was to only go for saves if they were very cheap, and punt if necessary and build a solid hitting team and a solid staff where maybe we could trade for saves later.

We planned around Texiera-Figgins-Hafner. They all went $3-4 more than we wanted to pay.

We set lofty goals and we either hit them, or just missed.

-18 runs

+9 HR

-6 RBI

-11 SB

+.003 avg

-6 W

+1 SV

+18 K

-0.15 ERA (good)

-0.03 whip (good)

Here's the team, in the order we drafted them:

1)(5)OF V.Guerrero $37 (5th guy on the board, and we wanted a stud after ARod gone)

2)(9th on board)P J.Garland $9 Nominated at $8, Greg said $9, sold. Good buy at $9. Don't expect as good as last year.

3)(30th) 3B Cantu $21 many players, especially closers still going at 10-15% premiums here. We liked Cantu right at $21 w/ the flexibility.

4) (31) OF I.Suzuki $34 had to jump in here and get the avg, runs, SB's. Had to pay the premium 10% here.

5) (51) SP J.Beckett $18. Felix went for $23 at pick 20. We felt this was a solid buy. We were more thinking about 6 solid P's at $8-14 level, but the bidding not going to let this happen.

6)(76) SS O.Cabrera $18.. We targeted him at $16, but had to pay the 10% again. Those that didn't pay the 10% tonight wound up with Crede for $20 later. "OC" had a solid 2nd half for the Angels after moving to the 2 hole. He was by far the last decent SS left in the AL.

7) (78) 2B. T.Iguchi $19.. w/o Figgy, we had to spend for SB here. Really like this pick. Helped me win $8k in mid last year with great 2nd half HR total.

8) (97) C R.Barajas $11... other C's were all going $13-15. We targeted him for HR's.

9) (98) SP D.Haren $18... About 20 picks later, I loved this pick based on slightly lesser players going for $18-20. Solid 2nd half last year.

10) (120) SP E.Bedard $11... In Leo we trust.

11) (131) 1B J.Gibbons $22... We needed a 1B real bad, and we needed HR real bad at this time in the draft. Many thought we got him at nice price after draft.

12) (158) SP B.Chen $8... solid 2nd half. In Leo we trust, again.

13) (178) RP M.Timlin $5... Our goal now was to get 4 RP for out last $15 budgeted that might get some saves in set up roles. I like him at $5. Some think others might close when Foulke is down.

14) (203) C J.Molina $3... Hit 6 HR last year. Could hit 10 this year with more AB's as Mathis learns. Last C with "any" HR potential.

15) (205) RP S.Mori $3... Thought we'd have to pay more for him. Orvella owner with plenty of cash.

At this point of the draft, 3 owners had wayyyyyyy to much money left and hardly anyone decent to bid on. We were glad we spent early.

16) (207) 2B Mark Grudzielanek $6... decent MI pickup right here. no real harm done.

17) (209) OF Casey Blake $8... only pick not real thrilled with, but could turn out ok. We had a little "OF" panic attack right here.

18) (217) RP. J.Duchscherer $2... we were stunned. We wanted Shields, but we bid him up to $10 earlier. Many thought this was the best buy of the draft. Funny thing is was 4-5 teams could have stll had him for $5.

19) (250) 3B M.Teahan $3... 33 picks later, Greg panics.. LOL... We wanted A.Gordon later anyways. We are down to 4 $1 players.

20) (265) RP C.Politte $1... more vulture wins

21) (268) OF B.Kielty $1... not bad for a buck.

22) (270) 3B A.Gordon $1... many were pissed that he didn't fall into reserve round.

23) (272) OF D.Hollins $1... not much left...

Reserve... we picked yukky 9th.

Kendrick went 1st.

Clemens went 4th.

We took E.Perez, ex-TB, now CLE. Hit 10 HR last year. Then J.Benoit, P.Ozuna, D.Barton , A.Sisco, J.Hummel.

Fun draft, tough draft. No clear cut fave at all. We have a solid shot with FAAB and trades to follow.

We planned 180-80, spent 185-75. Draft went 68-32. We wound up with only 5 players we targeted, but we hit our targets.

Comments welcome.

Another great day... We saw Sheets vs Zito before the draft.

[ March 05, 2006, 04:11 AM: Message edited by: UFS ]

eddiejag · Post by **eddiejag** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 12:35 am

Not a lot of power , with gibbons being your 2nd power hitter. Can CANTU do it again, and BECKETT scares me a little , just rumors he's not right.Dont likr the 18 on CABRERA , would rather have alex gonzalez for 2 to 5 dollars or someone like that and put the extra 12 to 15 into a better power hitter . Not big on the 8 on blake, he is in decline , with some bad bavg.

Like HAREN a lot , and BEDARD at 11 , lot of upside.You do have 2 superstars VLAD and ICHIRO.

Team could be around if some of the lower priced players come thru.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 3:39 am

Wow, what a great time last night at the AL LABR draft. We even convinced Hunt to come out and have some Corona's afterwards. Great, great time and we get to do it again tonight.

Damn those auctions are tough with 11 other industry guys. You never feel great about your team when you leave the draft room and there's no doubt that every team was solid after this auction, but we finished with a good mix of production in every category except saves, which we kind of punted. We hope to either pick up saves via FAAB or trade for saves later as a couple of teams have two closers.

Getting Vlad and Suzuki gave us a solid batting average and a good start on stolen bases and allowed us to do some things later on. Those two guys should hit over .310 combined at 1,150 at-bats, which is a solid base. Iguchi, Cantu, Gibbons should help with power and Cabrera's 20 steals get us closer to our target goal of 100 stolen bases.

Pitching is a crap shoot in the AL. Some guys bid high for Rich Harden and Randy Johnson. Eddie, you're right, Beckett is iffy but all of these guys are iffy. At $18, it seemed right at the time. Getting Duchscherer at $2, Timlin at $5 and Mori at $3 could lead to our best production, but we'll have to see.

No time to dwell on this one as it's off to another ballgame and then the NL-only Auction League tonight. It's another tough work day in Phoenix!

Potter · Post by **Potter** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 3:54 am

Greg Since you cornered the kc 3b market, what about Butler? I think they are moving him off of 3b, but he seems at least as likely to splash if called upon as Gordon.

Captain Hook · Post by **Captain Hook** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 3:55 am

Well you better be nice to the NL Auctioneer or you won't get any players

KJ Duke · Post by **KJ Duke** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 5:05 am

Originally posted by UFS:

Here's the team, in the order we drafted them:

Comments welcome.

Thanks for posting John, I can taste the auctions already. On my projections, here's how you did ...

Undervalued players acquired ... 8

Overvalued players acquired .... 3

Best values ... Duch, Teahan, Chen, Grudz, Blake

Worst ......... Suzuki, Gibbons, Molina

Value of top 23 players .........$292

Jason Grey · Post by **Jason Grey** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 6:43 am

Originally posted by Matt Berry TalentedMrRoto.com:

Every year, there seems to be a new "buzz" theme. LIMA, RIMA, REMA, etc...

This year, it looks like "punting" saves is in vogue.

Jason Grey has done well with it and just published an article on rototimes.com

Uhhh... some of us have been using and promoting the "Never Pay for Saves" strategy for a long, long time now. Read my "ZIMA" article from three years ago, for example. Can't believe Grey is trying to a) claim this as a new strategy and b) claim it as his own.

Not saying I invented it either. But I have been public about it for a long, long time. Matt, Perhaps next time you could actually you know, read the article and stuff.... I didn't do either of A) or B) as you stated, not even remotely. In fact I was expressing my surprise that you could actually win a league by punting saves, because I didn't think it was possible in this day and age. Money finish, yes, winning no. I had to punt by necessity and it worked out. It wasn't planned. It wan't a "Hot new strategy", it was merely pointing out how you have to adjust on the fly sometimes. So next time, please take the time to actually read what you're going to comment on instead of assuming. John was making a comment about the article and you interpreted that to mean that in the article I was claiming something new and innovative. And that's incorrect.

Wasn't in the leagues with Jason when he won the titles.Oh, and this is wrong too - 2003. But Matt is correct, he's finished higher than me as well.

And Duke did smoke my ass last year...I actually spent too little on pitching, not that it would have mattered one iota. I've participated in an auction with Duke and auctioneered his first year of NFBC, and I love the way he just sits back and executes his plan. I won LABR last year, in addition to a couple of Tout titles...but I'd have rather cashed here.

[ March 05, 2006, 06:36 PM: Message edited by: Jason Grey ]

Chest Rockwell · Post by **Chest Rockwell** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 7:35 am

Originally posted by Jason Grey:

quote:Originally posted by Matt Berry TalentedMrRoto.com:

Every year, there seems to be a new "buzz" theme. LIMA, RIMA, REMA, etc...

This year, it looks like "punting" saves is in vogue.

Jason Grey has done well with it and just published an article on rototimes.com

Uhhh... some of us have been using and promoting the "Never Pay for Saves" strategy for a long, long time now. Read my "ZIMA" article from three years ago, for example. Can't believe Grey is trying to a) claim this as a new strategy and b) claim it as his own.

Not saying I invented it either. But I have been public about it for a long, long time. Matt, Perhaps next time you could actually you know, read the article and stuff.... I didn't do either of A) or B) as you stated, not even remotely. In fact I was expressing my surprise that you could actually win a league by punting saves, because I didn't think it was possible in this day and age. Money finish, yes, winning no. I had to punt by necessity and it worked out. It wasn't planned. It wan't a "Hot new strategy", it was merely pointing out how you have to adjust on the fly sometimes. So next time, please take the time to actually read what you're going to comment on instead of assuming.

Wasn't in the leagues with Jason when he won the titles.Oh, and this is wrong too - 2003.

And Duke did smoke my ass last year...I actually spent too little on pitching, not that it would have mattered one iota. I've participated in an auction with Duke and auctioneered his first year of NFBC, and I love the way he just sits back and executes his plan. I won LABR last year, in addition to a couple of Tout titles...but I'd have rather cashed here.

[/QUOTE]Sam Walker thinks you need to get a tan dude-

Jason Grey · Post by **Jason Grey** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 8:26 am

...and get into selling aluminum siding while I'm at it.

[ March 05, 2006, 02:26 PM: Message edited by: Jason Grey ]

JohnZ · Post by **JohnZ** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 10:33 am

Originally posted by KJ Duke:

quote:Originally posted by UFS:

Here's the team, in the order we drafted them:

Comments welcome.

Thanks for posting John, I can taste the auctions already. On my projections, here's how you did ...

Undervalued players acquired ... 8

Overvalued players acquired .... 3

Best values ... Duch, Teahan, Chen, Grudz, Blake

Worst ......... Suzuki, Gibbons, Molina

Value of top 23 players .........$292 [/QUOTE]KJ, you are the auction man. Interesting stuff. There was little profit in the entire draft. Every decent player went over any "book" value and you had to jump in. 3-4 teams saved too much money for marginal players.