2005 LABR Values

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 8:11 am

The 2005 LABR League, hosted by USA Today Sports Weekly, held its AL-only and NL-only auctions in Phoenix, Arizona this past weekend and I was lucky enough to attend and compete. The AL-only auction featured 12 owners -- six industry writers and six Regular Guys -- while the NL-only had a mix of 7 and 6 for a total of 13 owners. Each auction was very competitive as they featured well-seasoned owners.

While I'm not allowed to disclose all of the results, I thought it would be appropriate to post some of the top dollar values in each league. Next week's special Fantasy Baseball issue will hit newsstands on Wednesday and we'll have free copies for every manager and co-manager in all three cities at the registration booths.

Okay, here's the top results in the AL:

Johan Santana, $39

Vladimir Guerrero, $39

Carl Crawford, $38

Alex Rodriguez, $37

Randy Johnson, $36

Ichiro Suzuki, $34

Miguel Tejada, $34

Alfonso Soriano, $33

Manny Ramirez, $33

Derek Jeter, $31

Curt Schilling, $31

Adrian Beltre, $31

Gary Sheffield, $30

Francisco Rodriguez, $30

As for the interesting buys, they included:

Richie Sexson, $21

Jason Giambi, $10

Dallas McPherson, $11

Tadahito Iguchi, $14

B.J. Upton, $9

Rocco Baldelli, $6

Dan Haren, $9

B.J. Ryan, $20

Justin Speier, $10

This should be good for conversation.

Edwards Kings · Post by **Edwards Kings** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 8:20 am

I have what may be a stupid question...why are there always (seemingly) 12 teams for AL only and 13 teams for NL only? It cannot be because of hitting since the two additional NL teams would add 16 starting position players to the mix where the AL adds 14 DH's. Is it because of the pitching. Sure, the NL would add ten starters, two closers, and a couple of desirable other relivers (maybe), but is that enough for a whole other team?

Just a rant, but I never really got my arms around that one (maybe I do not value pitching enough!).

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 8:29 am

Okay, here's the top results from the NL:

Carlos Beltran, $44 (I bid up to $43)

Albert Pujols, $43

Bobby Abreu, $39 (mine)

Jason Schmidt, $37

Todd Helton, $36

Scott Rolen, $33

Juan Pierre, $33

Mark Prior, $33

Ben Sheets, $33

Adam Dunn, $33

Eric Gagne, $32

Miguel Cabrera, $32

Jimmy Rollins, $31

Brad Lidge, $31

Here are the interesting picks:

Troy Glaus, $23

Jose Reyes, $22

Chris Burke, $12

Clint Barmes, $10

Garrett Atkins, $13

Lance Berkman, $17

Preston Wilson, $17

Ken Griffey Jr., $14

Raul Mondesi, $12

I hope this helps.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 8:30 am

Originally posted by Edwards Kings:

I have what may be a stupid question...why are there always (seemingly) 12 teams for AL only and 13 teams for NL only? It cannot be because of hitting since the two additional NL teams would add 16 starting position players to the mix where the AL adds 14 DH's. Is it because of the pitching. Sure, the NL would add ten starters, two closers, and a couple of desirable other relivers (maybe), but is that enough for a whole other team?

Just a rant, but I never really got my arms around that one (maybe I do not value pitching enough!). Because there are 16 teams in the NL and 14 in the AL. To keep the same percentage of players selected in one-league auctions, you add one more team per league and one more player per team. I hope this helps.

Edwards Kings · Post by **Edwards Kings** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 8:43 am

Thanks, Greg. I never did the math to see it was a percentage issue.

Like I said, just a rant....

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 10:22 am

Okay, here's an early look at my team. Pick it apart if you'd like. I competed with Eric Peden, who won the CDM Diamond Challenge league and competed against me in the 13-team NL Auction League. Eric, feel free to post your team here, too! It's mano-y-mano for bragging rights, buddy, and you're going down!

LABR NL

Greg Ambrosius' Team

C - Benito Santiago, $3

C - Yadier Molina, $2

1B - Carlos Delgado, $26

2B - Ty Wigginton, $9

SS - Jack Wilson, $13

3B - Ryan Freel, $12

CI - Wes Helms, $2

MI - David Eckstein, $5

DH - Freddy Guzman, $2

OF - Bobby Abreu, $39

OF - Brian Giles, $23

OF - Milton Bradley, $17

OF - Matt Lawton, $18

OF - Wily Mo Pena, $9

P - Tim Hudson, $24

P - Jeff Weaver, $13

P - Woody Williams, $8

P - Brett Tomko, $8

P - Jeff Suppan, $5

P - Victor Santos, $1

P - Danny Graves, $15

P - Ryan Wagner, $3

P - Cal Eldred, $1

P - Tim Worrell, $2

The Lollygaggers · Post by **The Lollygaggers** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 11:07 am

Eric, feel free to post your team here, too! Sure, here goes:

P P Martinez $29

P J Smoltz $20

P G Maddux $15

P A Eaton $10

P B Myers $2

P J Patterson $2

P An Osuna $1

P J Lehr $2

P J Valverde $7

P B Wagner $26

C D Miller $2

C H Cota $1

1B P Fielder $1

3B A Ramirez $29

CO E Alfonzo $7

2B L Castillo $18

SS K Matsui $18

MI J Castillo $2

OF J Edmonds $29

OF M Grissom $9

OF T Redman $12

OF X Nady $1

OF C Wilson $16

UT A Marte $1

FWIW, I'll reserve Marte & Fielder (assuming they get sent to the minors after spring training), move C Wilson to 1B, and activate R Cedeno & O Palmeiro.

It's mano-y-mano for bragging rights, buddy, and you're going down! Still hungover from the weekend, eh Greg?

Walla Walla · Post by **Walla Walla** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 12:04 pm

Johan Santana, $39

Vladimir Guerrero, $39

Seeing Santana tied with Guerrero for high price is suprising to me. Thats pretty pricey for a pitcher. Makes Curt Schilling at $31 look like a bargain.

eddiejag · Post by **eddiejag** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 12:18 pm

MAROON AND WHITE 114 on pitching is a bit extreme.Your going to have power promblems.Theirs a lot of holes in your offense ,and if edmonds goes down for any amount of time would kill you.Insted of smoltz at 20 maybe another hitter. I LIKE SOME OF YOUR OTHER PITCHERS , PATTERSON AT 2 IS A NICE SLEEPER. Just my opinion and i wish good luck.

The Lollygaggers · Post by **The Lollygaggers** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 12:25 pm

I agree, Eddie. If I could take back one bid, it would be Smoltz. I don't think $20 is a bad price, it's just that adding a second top-priced starter limited my flexibility later in the auction. One positive, however, is that LABR allows trading, so I should be able to swap pitching for hitting at some point.

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 12:30 pm

Originally posted by Maroon and White:

One positive, however, is that LABR allows trading, so I should be able to swap pitching for hitting at some point. hopefully you took smoltz with this in mind.

eddiejag · Post by **eddiejag** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 1:00 pm

Having trading changes everything . I thought this was like the NFBC. sO YOU CAN BUILD ON YOUR PITCHING , GET A LEAD THEN TRADE . I thought greg had pretty good balance , 80 on pitching. woody williams and suppan for 13 dollars not bad. I love wily mo pena and at 9 i would of been very happy.If he gets 500 at bats , he will be a 20 dollar player next year . Im not a huge freel fan , not to sure he can get 400 at bats . They could play kearns at 3rd base to get wily mo in the lineup. Somebody is going to lose out .Good luck to you greg also.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 2:16 pm

Originally posted by eddiejag:

Having trading changes everything . I thought this was like the NFBC. sO YOU CAN BUILD ON YOUR PITCHING , GET A LEAD THEN TRADE . I thought greg had pretty good balance , 80 on pitching. woody williams and suppan for 13 dollars not bad. I love wily mo pena and at 9 i would of been very happy.If he gets 500 at bats , he will be a 20 dollar player next year . Im not a huge freel fan , not to sure he can get 400 at bats . They could play kearns at 3rd base to get wily mo in the lineup. Somebody is going to lose out .Good luck to you greg also. If Eric is going to trade with me, he's going to have to buy some beers first.

After hanging out with me for a full day in Phoenix, he knows me well enough to buy beer with every trade offer.

Yeah, I agree with you Eddie on Freel, but when you look at how much everyone was paying for speed, taking a $12 chance on a guy who can get 20+ SBs is worth it. Last year in LABR, 110 steals won the category and I think I'm well on my way to that without killing my power. I have balance in every category, but it's obvious I'm not dominant anywhere. I'm hoping for 70+ points early on and then getting a solid FAAB pickup or making a trade that can really get me in contention for the title later on. Eric's team is solid as he got some nice buys and we battled for a few players, but I agree that he's going to have to shift some points during the season to win it all, which is definitely possible in LABR. It's a heavy trading league, especially with all of the Regular Guys.

seefer · Post by **seefer** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 5:10 pm

Greg, When and where will the full results be posted for LABR? I remember seeing it last year in the Sports Weekly (used to be Baseball Weekly), is that where it will be again?

Auction King · Post by **Auction King** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 7:12 pm

Seefer, it will be in Baseball Weekly but not until AFTER the NFBC, the issue comes out the following week.

seefer · Post by **seefer** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 3:56 am

Thanks A.K.

I thought the NFBC was a bit early this year but I guess they wanted to coordinate it with the opening round of March Madness.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 3:58 am

Originally posted by seefer:

Greg, When and where will the full results be posted for LABR? I remember seeing it last year in the Sports Weekly (used to be Baseball Weekly), is that where it will be again? It will be in next week's issue of Sports Weekly, the March 16-22 issue. Pick one up on the flight to Las Vegas or wait until you get there and I'll have one waiting for you at the registration table. USA Today is giving us complimentary copies of that issue for all of you valued customers.

seefer · Post by **seefer** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 4:03 am

Hi Greg, how are you? Busy I imagine. I just wanted to say I like your NL Only team and keep up the great work!!!

See you in Vegas baby!

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Mar 08, 2005 4:36 am

Yes, busy. Just so you know, flattery will get you everywhere!

I don't have enough power to win LABR yet, but I'll be active in FAAB and active in trading to make up for my lack of power. As always, I need good health to challenge for a title. We'll see how it plays out. It was a lot of fun, watching the AL Auction League on Friday night and then competing in the NL Auction League on Saturday night. I'm fired up and ready for the NFBC to begin.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 4:55 am

Hey, I didn't realize it at the time, but I think we had another NFBC member in that NL LABR Auction League last weekend. Michael and Laurence Edelman have separate teams in the NFBC, but I believe they were co-managers of a LABR team in Phoenix last weekend. Guys, is that true? And if so, why didn't I buy you guys more beer before and during the auction?

Anyway, what the heck, post your team here for all to see, too! Now we really have to make some side bets about this league. Eric, you up for it along with these guys?

I think I already lost Freddy Guzman in LABR, but that's better than losing Kerry Wood. Good luck guys.