Strategy | Fantasy Baseball Tools

2010 AL and NL LABR Results

Posted by Todd Lammi on March 10th, 2010

Just a quick note that I will continue to add updates to the previous articles for the 2010 AL LABR and 2010 NL LABR results.

I currently have results for four teams each in both leagues as well a bunch of individual player prices. You can click the links below to get quick access to those articles.

2010 AL LABR

2010 NL LABR

Auction Keeper League – How to Rebuild

Posted by Todd Lammi on March 9th, 2010

If you are new to fantasy baseball auction leagues or have been playing in an auction league for a few years but have not had much success winning, this article will take you on a step-by-step guide of how to rebuild in an auction league format.

The majority of keeper auction leagues have contract limits which means you are likely going to be able to be competitive for a certain amount of years before you have to rebuild. Some owners think they can draft every year and have a shot at winning, but that is not the case. In an auction league with keepers, there is too much inflation to prices to be able to draft a team and make a run at the title unless you get extremely lucky, it is a shallow league and the rest of the owners are not very good.

Your best chance at rebuilding is by doing it from day one of the season. That way you can focus on which rookies you want to target in the draft as well get first dibs on the best keepers in trade from other owners. If you wait until June before deciding to throw in the towel and rebuild for next year, you are already behind the other rebuilding teams. At that point, you are rebuilding for two years away instead of being competitive the following season.

Heading into the auction there are two types of players you are trying to draft. Players that will help your team next year and form your core and the second group are players that you can trade to bring back in return younger players and draft picks.

Here is a look at my team from a NL only auction league from last season. This is a 14 team league with a $275 salary cap plus a six round reserve draft where the draft picks can be traded. I went into the draft knowing I wanted to rebuild from day one.

My keepers:

Ryan Doumit – 11
John Baker – 10
Rickie Weeks – 25
Cameron Maybin – 16
Tim Lincecum – 22
Chad Qualls – 6

Out of this group, the only players I wanted to keep for this year were Lincecum, Qualls and Doumit; the other players were traded.

Drafted:

Edgar Renteria – 13
Matt Kemp – 36
Jake Peavy – 31
Aaron Cook – 13
Ricky Nolasco – 26

This entire group were players I wanted to trade. While Kemp was at a good price, there are always outfielders in the $30 range I knew I could grab in 2010.

Core: these were the main players I targeted to form the cornerstone of my team for the next few years:

Alcides Escobar – 2
Carlos Gonzalez – 3
Jonny Gomes – 3 (did not plan on him being a core guy but at $3 for 15-20 home runs makes him a core guy)
Jason Heyward – 1
Pedro Alvarez – 7
J.A. Happ – 2 — I was able to get him as a relief pitcher due to our rules based on a certain number of appearances as a starter / reliever.
Tim Hudson – 3 — injured players are a great place to look for keepers when you are rebuilding. If you are in an NL only league this season and are rebuilding, you should be targeting guys like Edison Volquez and Jordan Zimmermann.
Stephen Strasburg – 5

Farm System:

Before the auction I had several other players I did not want to keep going into the draft so I flipped those for draft picks, so instead of the usual six picks per team, I went into the draft with close to 20 picks to search for players that would be able to have an impact for me in 2010. As from my previous articles, I am always looking for players that have the best chance of helping me the following year so I am targeting guys that are in Triple-A or in Double-A with a shot to get to the major leagues based on the guys ahead of them at their position. Here is who I got:

Drew Stubbs – 5
Chris Coghlan – 5
Everth Cabrera – 10 – his salary was higher because he started the year in the major leagues
Gerardo Parra – 5
Bud Norris – 5
Aroldis Chapman – 10 – picked up September 1 when rosters expanded. Again, it pays to know and understand the rules of your league. In my league in September we can add three slots so I look for guys that may be coming over from Japan or were drafted in the June draft and could make a direct leap to the major leagues.

Picked up in trade:

Bronson Arroyo – 8
Omar Infante – 3
Eric Young Jr. – 5

In addition I have 23 out of the 84 draft picks in the reserve round. Six of my own picks plus 17 I picked up in trade, including three additional first round and second round picks.

So overall my team looks something like this heading into 2010:

C – Doumit – 11
C – open
1b – open
2b – Infante 3 / E. Young 5
ss – A. Escobar 2, E. Cabrera 10
3b – open
of – C. Gonzalez 3, Gomes 3, Stubbs 5, Coghlan 5, Parra 5,
utility – Heyward 1, P. Alvarez 7
sp – Lincecum 22, Arroyo 8, Norris 5, Strasburg 5, Happ 2, Hudson 3, Chapman 10
rp – Qualls 6

You can see from the roster layout that there are several trade opportunities I will have to improve the team by moving a shortstop, outfielder and starting pitcher.

With the additional draft picks I will also be able to use those to trade for guys from other teams that will be rebuilding this season.

2010 NL LABR Results

Posted by Todd Lammi on March 8th, 2010

Every year in early March fantasy baseball “experts” from around the world gather in Arizona for the NL LABR (League of Alternative Baseball Reality) auction. Categories are 5 x 5 with 23 man rosters, including two catchers and 13 teams.

Here is a look at some of the results that have been posted in regards to National League teams.

Greg Ambrosius / Shawn Childs – NFBC

It looks like they have a similar problem to their AL team where there are going to be short four hitters to open the season, after drafting two catchers from the Houston Astros, Pedro Alvarez, Jermaine Dye (hard to see him signing in the NL) and Mike Jacobs (unless he wins the New York Mets first base job). In a NL only league, it is so crucial to get the most at bats in order to accumulate counting stats. If you check the at bat totals for the top three winners each year in an only format, the majority of the time those three teams will have led the league in at bats.

Pitching staff looks okay but just like their AL team, it looks like they will be chasing saves all season long.

POS	Name	$$
C	Jason Castro	3
C	J.R. Towles	2
1B	Ryan Howard	35
2B	Rickie Weeks	16
3B	Pedro Alvarez	3
SS	Tory Tulowitzki	31
COR	Juan Uribe	6
MID	Jose Reyes	26
OF	Matt Holliday	32
OF	Chris Young	14
OF	Melky Cabrera	10
OF	Ryan Spilborghs	1
OF	Jermaine Dye	1
UT	Mike Jacobs	2
P	Tim Lincecum	36
P	Edwin Jackson	11
P	J.A. Happ	10
P	Homer Bailey	5
P	Chris Volstad	2
P	Jason McDonald	2
P	Kyle McClellan	1
P	Juan Gutierrez	3
P	Ryan Madson	6
R	Rich Hill
R	Ryan Hanigan
R	Gary Matthews
R	Chad Tracy
R	Freddie Freeman
R	Aaron Poreda

Bob Radomski – Sandlot Shrink

He did a good job of getting players that should be getting at bats throughout the season outside of David Ross at catcher, but his team is short on steals. Has three solid starters and was able to roster two closers relatively cheaply although both might only hold onto the job for half the season.

POS	Name	$$
C	John Baker	8
C	David Ross	1
1B	Derek Lee	23
2B	Blake DeWitt	2
3B	Chase Headley	17
SS	Yunel Escobar	19
COR	Aubry Huff	13
MID	Daivd Eckstein	2
OF	Hunter Pence	27
OF	Carlos Lee	26
OF	Skip Schumaker	10
OF	Nate Schierholtz	9
OF	Gerardo Parra	3
UT	David Freese	7
P	Yovani Gallardo	20
P	Matt Cain	19
P	Jair Jurrjens	16
P	Derek Lowe	8
P	John Maine	5
P	Jared Burton	1
P	Bobby Howry	1
P	Matt Lindstrom	8
P	Matt Capps	14

Derek Carty – The Hardball Times

Mr. Carty is going to have a hard time defending his NL title based on his auction results. It looks like he is short on steals and has a tremendous amount of downside in batting average with Ian Stewart, the LaRoche’s, Nick Hundley and Elijah Dukes. Also was able to grab only two solid starting pitchers and went with a spaghetti approach to his reserve squad. Spaghetti as in throw a bunch of starting pitchers against the wall and hope a few are able to stick.

POS	Name	$$
C	Gregg Zaun	4
C	Nick Hundley	3
1B	Prince Fielder	37
2B	Ian Stewart	22
3B	Andy LaRoche	10
SS	Ronny Cedeno	3
COR	Adam LaRoche	24
MID	Adam Kennedy	9
OF	Jay Bruce	23
OF	Elijah Dukes	20
OF	Ryan Ludwick	18
OF	Kosuke Fukudome	6
OF	Angel Pagan	2
UT	Jeff Clement	8
P	Ricky Nolasco	26
P	Joe Blanton	10
P	Clayton Richard	8
P	Edison Volquez	1
P	John Smoltz	1
P	Takashi Saito	4
P	Pedro Feliciano	3
P	Kiko Calero	1
P	Joe Thatcher	1
P	Francisco Rodriguez	16
R	Chien-Ming Wang
R	Kevin Hart
R	Livan Hernandez
R	Fernando Nieve
R	Carlos Silva
R	Brian Moehler

Perry Van Hook – Fantasy Baseball.com

I really like the squad that Perry was able to assemble getting a great deal on Pujols at $41 and getting steals from Castillo, Milledge, Jones and Heyward. He also got two great catchers which is always a plus in an only type format.

POS	Name	$$
C	Brian McCann	21
C	Miguel Montero	16
1B	Albert Pujols	41
2B	Luis Castillo	10
3B	Mark Reynolds	30
SS	Tommy Manzella	2
COR	Hank Blalock	2
MID	Emilio Bonifacio	2
OF	Lastings Milledge	16
OF	Jason Heyward	14
OF	Garrett Jones	18
OF	Aaron Rowand	9
OF	Fred Lewis	2
UT	Starlin Castro	2
P	Wandy Rodriguez	19
P	Tommy Hanson	22
P	Mike Pelfrey	1
P	Aroldis Chapman	6
P	Doug Davis	1
P	Scott Elbert	1
P	Leo Nunez	14
P	Brandon Lyon	9
P	Sammy Gervacio	2
P	John Grabow	2
R	Garrett Anderson
R	Ryoto Igarashi
R	Scott Mathieson
R	Brandon Allen
R	Brad Lincoln
R	Blake Parker

Here are a few other prices that were posted for certain players.

Hanley Ramirez $42
Ryan Braun $39
Matt Kemp $38
Prince Fielder $37
David Wright $36
Chase Utley $35
Justin Upton $34
Troy Tulowitzki $31
Jimmy Rollins $30
Ryan Zimmerman $30
Pablo Sandoval $30
Joey Votto $30
Roy Halladay $29
Hunter Pence $27
Adrian Gonzalez $27
Jonathan Broxton $26
Aramis Ramirez $25
Andrew McCutchen $24
Stephen Drew $23
Yunel Escobar $19
Alcides Escobar $19
Kelly Johnson $18
Martin Prado $16
Ryan Theriot $16
Placido Polanco $16
Carlos Beltran $16
Cameron Maybin $15
Akinori Iwamura $13
Russell Martin $10
Stephen Strasburg $9
Madison Bumgarner $5

See also the 2010 AL LABR results.

2010 AL LABR Results

Posted by Todd Lammi on March 8th, 2010

Every year in early March fantasy baseball “experts” from around the world gather in Arizona for the AL LABR (League of Alternative Baseball Reality) auction. Categories are 5 x 5 with 23 man rosters, including two catchers and 12 teams.

Here is a look at some of the results that have been posted in regards to American League teams.

Chris Liss – Rotowire

Notice if you add the salaries up that he left $7 on the draft table. It is very hard to target players in a one league year league and save money for them because inevitably you are going to miss the mark. It is something you can do in a keeper league if you are rebuilding to ensure you get rookies for the future of your team, but not in a one year league. Lucky for him these leagues allowing trading so he will have some chances to fix his team.

POS	Name	$$
C	Joe Mauer	30
C	Jarrod Saltalamacchia	7
1B	Kendry Morales	27
2B	Dustin Pedroia	29
3B	Brandon Inge	8
SS	Derek Jeter	25
COR	Casey Kotchman	6
MID	Alex Gonzalez	3
OF	Grady Sizemore	29
OF	Austin Jackson	6
OF	Ryan Sweeney	10
OF	Desmond Jennings	5
OF	Michael Brantley	5
UT	Hideki Matsui	11
P	Scott Baker	16
P	David Price	12
P	Ervin Santana	6
P	Erik Bedard	6
P	Gio Gonzalez	4
P	Ricky Romero	3
P	Jake Westbrook	2
P	Jeremy Guthrie	2
P	Jeremy Hellickson	1
R	Brandon Snyder
R	Dustin Ackley
R	Danny Valencia
R	Scot Shields
R	J.J. Putz
R	Ryan Strieby

Greg Ambrosius / Shawn Childs – NFBC

The key to winning an AL or NL only league is by accumulating the most at bats to get the highest number of counting stats. It becomes a lot harder to do when you take rookies and injured players with 25% of your offensive picks. Playing in an only type format really limits the free agent pool unless someone is traded over from the other league. It looks like they have some work to on their offense after picking Justin Smoak, Michael Taylor, Adam Moore and Mike Aviles.

It also looks like they got into a bidding war for B.J. Upton who went for $31. That is part of the problem when trying to find speed in an only format, the cost tends to be slightly higher than you would expect. Especially if a player is thrown out in the mid to late part of the draft and two or three teams are short on steals, you end up over paying to get the steals you need, as it looks like was the case with Upton.

POS	Name	$$
C	Matt Wieters	18
C	Adam Moore	2
1B	Billy Butler	26
2B	Jose Lopez	19
3B	Evan Longoria	34
SS	Mike Aviles	2
COR	Justin Smoak	1
MID	Jack Wilson	2
OF	B.J. Upton	31
OF	Matt LaPorta	9
OF	Delmon Young	14
OF	Eric Byrnes	3
OF	Michael Taylor	3
UT	Vladimir Guerrero	16
P	Justin Verlander	28
P	Jake Peavy	16
P	Rich Harden	11
P	Phil Hughes	10
P	Kevin Millwood	2
P	Daniel Hudson	2
P	Jason Frasor	7
P	Chris Perez	3
P	Joey Devine	1
R	Ian Snell
R	Clete Thomas
R	Matt Tolbert
R	Mike Aubrey
R	Zach Stewart
R	J.P. Arencibia

Larry Schechter – Sandlot Shrink

Looks like he was able to pick up a lot of speed on his team with four outfielders than can steal bases plus the addition of Willie Bloomquist in the infield. The recent injury to Joe Nathan means he will luck into some saves after grabbing Jon Rauch.

POS	Name	$$
C	John Buck	5
C	Jason Kendall	2
1B	Mark Kotsay	2
2B	Aaron Hill	21
3B	Willie Bloomquist	2
SS	Miguel Tejada	16
COR	Jose Bautista	6
MID	Mark Teahen	10
OF	Jacoby Ellsbury	34
OF	Shin-Soo Choo	24
OF	Torii Hunter	23
OF	Franklin Gutierrez	18
OF	Rick Ankiel	4
UT	Travis Hafner	3
P	Zack Greinke	30
P	John Danks	13
P	Joe Saunders	7
P	Nick Blackburn	3
P	Brad Bergesen	1
P	Alfredo Aceves	2
P	Jon Rauch	3
P	Mariano Rivera	27
R	Matt Guerrier
R	Brian Bannister
R	Grant Balfour
R	Pedro Martinez
R	Dan Wheeler
R	Tommy Hunter

Lawr Michaels – Mastersball

Lawr got a steal with Ian Kinsler at $27 and was able to roster some speed between Kinsler, Figgins, Pennington and Aybar. had a tough break losing Nathan for the season with injury but still has a closer in Fuentes plus his handcuff in Rodney.

POS	Name	$$
C	A.J. Pierzynski	13
C	Landon Powell	1
1B	Lyle Overbay	13
2B	Ian Kinsler	27
3B	Chone Figgins	24
SS	Erick Aybar	16
COR	Kila Ka’aihue	1
MID	Cliff Pennington	7
OF	Jason Kubel	21
OF	Juan Rivera	13
OF	Jack Cust	8
OF	Jeremy Hermida	11
OF	Carlos Guillen	8
UT	Randy Winn	3
P	CC Sabathia	28
P	A.J. Burnett	14
P	Dice-K	10
P	Trevor Cahill	6
P	Justin Masterson	3
P	Carl Pavano	3
P	Fernando Rodney	3
P	JoeNathan	17
P	Brian Fuentes	14
R	Matt Harrison
R	Chad Gaudin
R	Gabe Gross
R	Jeff Mathis
R	Robb Quinlan
R	Armando Galarraga

Here are a few other prices that were posted for certain players.

Alex Rodriguez $42
Miguel Cabrera $37
Mark Teixeira $36
Evan Longoria $34
Jacoby Ellsbury $34
Carl Crawford $33
Felix Hernandez $31
B.J. Upton $31
Kevin Youkilis $30
Joe Mauer $30
Zack Greinke $30
Grady Sizemore $29
Justin Morneau $29
Dustin Pedroia $29
Robinson Cano $28
Nelson Cruz $28
CC Sabathia $28
Justin Verlander $28
Ian Kinsler $27
Josh Beckett $27
Mariano Rivera $27
Adam Lind $27
Gordon Beckham $24
Julio Borbon $22
Jonathan Papelbon $21
Elvis Andrus $20
Howie Kendrick $19
Josh Hamilton $17
Alex Gordon $16
Brandon Wood $15
Francisco Liriano $14
Ben Sheets $11
Wade Davis $9

See also the 2010 NL LABR results.

National League Auction Dollar Values – Pitchers

Posted by Todd Lammi on March 6th, 2010

Here is a look at the 2010 National League auction dollar values for pitchers for the 2010 fantasy baseball season. These values are based on a 12 team league with 9 pitchers using the standard 5 x 5 categories and a $260 budget per team. I used a 70%-30% split for hitting and pitching so the total pitcher pool is 108 players for a total of $936.

The dollar values are a blended mix of what I think the player will earn mixed with what I think the player will go for at an actual auction. So you will notice that some of the player rankings are different then my 2010 fantasy baseball rankings, but the dollar values will give you a good idea of pricing so you are not surprised when the real auction rolls around. Especially if this is the first season you are participating in a fantasy baseball auction league.

Starting Pitchers
Rank	Name	$$
1	Tim Lincecum	31
2	Roy Halladay	29
3	Dan Haren	27
4	Johan Santana	25
5	Adam Wainwright	23
6	Josh Johnson	22
7	Tommy Hanson	21
8	Chris Carpenter	20
9	Yovani Gallardo	19
10	Matt Cain	18
11	Ubaldo Jimenez	18
12	Clayton Kershaw	18
13	Cole Hamels	17
14	Ricky Nolasco	17
15	Chad Billingsley	16
16	Wandy Rodriguez	16
17	Jair Jurrjens	15
18	Ryan Dempster	15
19	Ted Lilly	14
20	Roy Oswalt	14
21	Carlos Zambrano	14
22	Brandon Webb	13
23	Tim Hudson	13
24	Jonathan Sanchez	13
25	J.A. Happ	12
26	Randy Wolf	12
27	Hiroki Kuroda	11
28	Jorge de la Rosa	11
29	Stephen Strasburg	11
30	Johnny Cueto	10
31	Edwin Jackson	10
32	Randy Wells	10
33	Joe Blanton	8
34	Aaron Harang	7
35	Bronson Arroyo	7
36	Kevin Correia	6
37	Brett Myers	6
38	Mat Latos	5
39	Madison Bumgarner	5
40	Ian Kennedy	5
41	Derek Lowe	4
42	Clayton Richard	4
43	Bud Norris	4
44	Barry Zito	4
45	Chris Young	4
46	Ross Ohlendorf	4
47	Homer Bailey	4
48	John Maine	3
49	Paul Maholm	3
50	Oliver Perez	3
51	Vicente Padilla	3
52	Jason Hammel	3
53	Brad Penny	3
54	Kyle Lohse	3
55	Chris Volstad	3
56	Aroldis Chapman	3
57	Zach Duke	2
58	Anibal Sanchez	2
59	Aaron Cook	2
60	Mike Pelfrey	2
61	John Lannan	2
62	Jon Garland	2
63	Kenshin Kawakami	2
64	Jon Niese	2
65	Jason Marquis	1
66	Dave Bush	1
67	Sean West	1
68	Doug Davis	1
69	Manny Parra	1
70	Charlie Morton	1
71	Jaime Garcia	1
72	Wade LeBlanc	1
73	Jeff Francis	1
74	Daniel McCutchen	1
75	Chien-Ming Wang	1
76	Felipe Paulino	1
Relief Pitchers
Rank	Name	$$
1	Jonathan Broxton	23
2	Francisco Rodriguez	19
3	Heath Bell	18
4	Huston Street	17
5	Brian Wilson	17
6	Francisco Cordero	16
7	Billy Wagner	15
8	Trevor Hoffman	15
9	Chad Qualls	14
10	Carlos Marmol	14
11	Ryan Franklin	13
12	Brad Lidge	13
13	Matt Capps	12
14	Leo Nunez	12
15	Octavio Dotel	10
16	Brandon Lyon	9
17	Matt Lindstrom	8
18	Ryan Madson	5
19	Drew Storen	3
20	Ryota Igarashi	2
21	Kris Medlen	2
22	Bobby Howry	2
23	Luke Gregerson	1
24	Takashi Saito	1
25	George Sherrill	1
26	Mike Adams	1
27	Jason Motte	1
28	LaTroy Hawkins	1
29	Ramon Tronosco	1
30	Rafael Betancourt	1
31	Ronald Belisario	1
32	Brian Bruney	1

National League Auction Dollar Values – Hitters

Posted by Todd Lammi on March 5th, 2010

Here is a look at the National League auction dollar values for hitters for the 2010 fantasy baseball season. These values are based on a 12 team league with 14 hitters (includes two catchers) using the standard 5 x 5 categories and a $260 budget per team. I used a 70%-30% split for hitting and pitching so the total hitter pool is 168 players for a total of $2,184.

The dollar values are a blended mix of what I think the player will earn mixed with what I think the player will go for at an actual auction. So you will notice that some of the player rankings are different then my 2010 fantasy baseball rankings, but the dollar values will give you a good idea of pricing so you are not surprised when the real auction rolls around. Especially if this is the first season you are participating in a fantasy baseball auction league.

Catchers
Rank	Name	$$
1	Brian McCann	24
2	Russell Martin	17
3	Miguel Montero	16
4	Geovany Soto	15
5	Ryan Doumit	13
6	Bengie Molina	12
7	Yadier Molina	11
8	Chris Iannetta	10
9	John Baker	8
10	Miguel Olivo	5
11	Rod Barajas	4
12	Carlos Ruiz	4
13	Ramon Hernandez	4
14	Buster Posey	2
15	Ivan Rodriguez	2
16	Nick Hundley	2
17	Gregg Zaun	2
18	Ronny Paulino	2
19	Jesus Flores	2
20	Omir Santos	1
21	Chris Snyder	1
22	Brian Schneider	1
23	Jason Castro	1
24	Yorvit Torrealba	1
First Base
Rank	Name	$$
1	Albert Pujols	46
2	Ryan Howard	41
3	Prince Fielder	41
4	Joey Votto	34
5	Adrian Gonzalez	33
6	Lance Berkman	27
7	Derrek Lee	26
8	James Loney	21
9	Todd Helton	16
10	Adam LaRoche	15
11	Aubrey Huff	13
12	Daniel Murphy	7
13	Logan Morrison	5
14	Chad Tracy	2
15	Micah Hoffpauir	1
16	Gaby Sanchez	1
Second Base
Rank	Name	$$
1	Chase Utley	42
2	Brandon Phillips	31
3	Dan Uggla	21
4	Rickie Weeks	17
5	Martin Prado	15
6	Placido Polanco	14
7	Clint Barmes	13
8	Kelly Johnson	11
9	Luis Castillo	10
10	Kazuo Matsui	9
11	Felipe Lopez	8
12	Akinori Iwamura	8
13	Skip Schumaker	7
14	Adam Kennedy	7
15	Ronnie Belliard	6
16	Freddy Sanchez	4
17	Juan Uribe	4
18	Jeff Baker	4
19	Omar Infante	3
20	Jerry Hairston	3
21	Mike Fontenot	3
22	Eugenio Velez	2
23	David Eckstein	1
24	Eric Young	1
25	Delwyn Young	1
Shortstops
Rank	Name	$$
1	Hanley Ramirez	47
2	Jimmy Rollins	36
3	Troy Tulowitzki	37
4	Jose Reyes	30
5	Stephen Drew	18
6	Yunel Escobar	17
7	Everth Cabrera	16
8	Alcides Escobar	15
9	Orlando Cabrera	13
10	Ryan Theriot	12
11	Rafael Furcal	12
12	Cristian Guzman	11
13	Edgar Renteria	5
14	Brendan Ryan	5
15	Ian Desmond	4
16	Julio Lugo	4
17	Ronny Cedeno	2
Third Base
Rank	Name	$$
1	David Wright	35
2	Mark Reynolds	34
3	Ryan Zimmerman	33
4	Pablo Sandoval	29
5	Aramis Ramirez	26
6	Ian Stewart	19
7	Jorge Cantu	18
8	Chipper Jones	18
9	Casey Blake	15
10	Mark DeRosa	14
11	Casey McGehee	13
12	Scott Rolen	12
13	Troy Glaus	11
14	Chase Headley	10
15	David Freese	7
16	Andy LaRoche	5
17	Pedro Feliz	3
18	Emilio Bonifacio	2
19	Mat Gamel	2
20	Melvin Mora	2
Outfielders
Rank	Name	$$
1	Ryan Braun	43
2	Matt Kemp	42
3	Matt Holliday	35
4	Justin Upton	33
5	Jason Bay	31
6	Jayson Werth	31
7	Carlos Lee	28
8	Andre Ethier	27
9	Adam Dunn	26
10	Shane Victorino	26
11	Andrew McCutchen	26
12	Manny Ramirez	25
13	Raul Ibanez	24
14	Carlos Beltran	22
15	Hunter Pence	22
16	Michael Bourn	21
17	Alfonso Soriano	20
18	Carlos Gonzalez	19
19	Nate McLouth	19
20	Jay Bruce	19
21	Brad Hawpe	18
22	Corey Hart	18
23	Nyjer Morgan	18
24	Chris Coghlan	15
25	Garrett Jones	15
26	Ryan Ludwick	14
27	Jeff Francoeur	14
28	Marlon Byrd	14
29	Colby Rasmus	14
30	Cody Ross	13
31	Dexter Fowler	13
32	Conor Jackson	13
33	Drew Stubbs	13
34	Josh Willingham	12
35	Jason Heyward	12
36	Kyle Blanks	12
37	Scott Hairston	9
38	Seth Smith	9
39	Chris Young	9
40	Elijah Dukes	9
41	Carlos Gomez	8
42	Lastings Milledge	8
43	Melky Cabrera	7
44	Cameron Maybin	7
45	Kosuke Fukudome	6
46	Matt Diaz	6
47	Will Venable	5
48	Aaron Rowand	4
49	Xavier Nady	3
50	Gerardo Parra	3
51	Jonny Gomes	3
52	Reed Johnson	2
53	Nate Schierholtz	2
54	Ben Francisco	2
55	Angel Pagan	2
56	Ryan Spilborghs	1
57	Willie Harris	1
58	Fred Lewis	1
59	Wladimir Balentien	1
60	Tony Gwynn Jr.	1
61	Aaron Cunningham	1
62	Chris Dickerson	1
63	Jim Edmonds	1
64	Ryan Church	1
Utility
Rank	Name	$$
1	Jeff Clement	3
2	Mike Jacobs	1

Coming next will be the National League auction dollar values for pitchers.

American League Auction Dollar Values – Pitchers

Posted by Todd Lammi on March 4th, 2010

Here is a look at the 2010 American League auction dollar values for pitchers for the 2010 fantasy baseball season. These values are based on a 12 team league with 9 pitchers using the standard 5 x 5 categories and a $260 budget per team. I used a 70%-30% split for hitting and pitching so the total pitcher pool is 108 players for a total of $936.

The dollar values are a blended mix of what I think the player will earn mixed with what I think the player will go for at an actual auction. So you will notice that some of the player rankings are different then my 2010 fantasy baseball rankings, but the dollar values will give you a good idea of pricing so you are not surprised when the real auction rolls around. Especially if this is the first season you are participating in a fantasy baseball auction league.

Starting Pitchers
Rank	Name	$$
1	Zack Greinke	33
2	CC Sabathia	31
3	Felix Hernandez	28
4	Justin Verlander	26
5	Jon Lester	25
6	Cliff Lee	23
7	Josh Beckett	23
8	Javier Vazquez	22
9	Jake Peavy	19
10	James Shields	18
11	Matt Garza	18
12	Jered Weaver	17
13	Brett Anderson	17
14	Scott Baker	17
15	Max Scherzer	16
16	John Lackey	16
17	A.J. Burnett	16
18	John Danks	15
19	Gavin Floyd	15
20	Kevin Slowey	13
21	Francisco Liriano	13
22	Daisuke Matsuzaka	12
23	David Price	11
24	Rich Harden	11
25	Clay Buchholz	10
26	Scott Kazmir	10
27	Rick Porcello	10
28	Ervin Santana	9
29	Mark Buehrle	9
30	Andy Pettitte	9
31	Wade Davis	8
32	Jeff Niemann	7
33	Neftali Feliz	7
34	Shaun Marcum	5
35	Phil Hughes	5
36	Joba Chamberlain	5
37	Erik Bedard	5
38	Joe Saunders	4
39	Gil Meche	4
40	Kevin Millwood	4
41	Ricky Romero	3
42	Nick Blackburn	3
43	Justin Duchscherer	3
44	Marc Rzepczynski	3
45	Scott Feldman	3
46	Brian Matusz	3
47	Ryan Rowland-Smith	2
48	Dallas Braden	2
49	Jeremy Bonderman	2
50	Brandon Morrow	2
51	Joel Piniero	2
52	Brad Bergesen	2
53	Justin Masterson	2
54	Colby Lewis	2
55	Freddy Garcia	2
56	Chris Tillman	1
57	Derek Holland	1
58	Jake Westbrook	1
59	Trevor Cahill	1
60	Luke Hochevar	1
61	Brett Cecil	1
62	Carl Pavano	1
63	Tommy Hunter	1
64	Jeremy Guthrie	1
65	Doug Fister	1
66	Brian Bannister	1
67	Fausto Carmona	1
68	Aaron Laffey	1
69	Ian Snell	1
70	Jeremy Hellickson	1
Relief Pitchers
Rank	Name	$$
1	Joe Nathan	28
2	Jonathan Papelbon	27
3	Mariano Rivera	26
4	Joakim Soria	24
5	Andrew Bailey	21
6	Brian Fuentes	19
7	Jose Valverde	18
8	David Aardsma	17
9	Rafael Soriano	16
10	Bobby Jenks	16
11	Frank Francisco	15
12	Mike Gonzalez	14
13	Kerry Wood	13
14	Jason Frasor	8
15	J.P Howell	6
16	Scott Downs	5
17	Kevin Gregg	4
18	Chris Perez	4
19	Fernando Rodney	4
20	Matt Thornton	3
21	Daniel Bard	3
22	Michael Wuertz	3
23	Joel Zumaya	3
24	Jim Johnson	3
25	Alfredo Aceves	3
26	Brandon League	2
27	Kyle Farnsworth	2
28	Brad Ziegler	2
29	Ryan Perry	1
30	J.J Putz	1
31	C.J. Wilson	1
32	Hideki Okajima	1
33	Phil Coke	1
34	Kyle Davies	1
35	Juan Cruz	1
36	Matt Guerrier	1
37	Darren Oliver	1
38	Jose Mijares	1

Up next will be the 2010 National League auction dollar values for hitters.

American League Auction Dollar Values – Hitters

Posted by Todd Lammi on March 3rd, 2010

Here is a look at the American League auction dollar values for hitters for the 2010 fantasy baseball season. These values are based on a 12 team league with 14 hitters (includes two catchers) using the standard 5 x 5 categories and a $260 budget per team. I used a 70%-30% split for hitting and pitching so the total hitter pool is 168 players for a total of $2,184.

The dollar values are a blended mix of what I think the player will earn mixed with what I think the player will go for at an actual auction. So you will notice that some of the player rankings are different then my 2010 fantasy baseball rankings, but the dollar values will give you a good idea of pricing so you are not surprised when the real auction rolls around. Especially if this is the first season you are participating in a fantasy baseball auction league.

Catchers
Rank	Name	$$
1	Joe Mauer	36
2	Victor Martinez	29
3	Matt Wieters	19
4	Jorge Posada	15
5	Kurt Suzuki	14
6	Mike Napoli	13
7	A.J. Pierzynski	11
8	Kelly Shoppach	6
9	Jason Kendall	4
10	John Buck	3
11	Jarrod Saltalamacchia	3
12	Gerald Laird	3
13	Lou Marson	3
14	Jason Varitek	2
15	Dioner Navarro	2
16	Ramon Castro	2
17	Carlos Santana	2
18	Alex Avila	2
19	Jeff Mathis	2
20	Rob Johnson	1
21	Taylor Teagarden	1
22	Jose Molina	1
23	Jose Morales	1
24	Josh Bard	1
First Base
Rank	Name	$$
1	Mark Teixeira	39
2	Miguel Cabrera	37
3	Kevin Youkilis	31
4	Justin Morneau	28
5	Kendry Morales	27
6	Billy Butler	24
7	Carlos Pena	19
8	Paul Konerko	16
9	Chris Davis	15
10	Nick Johnson	12
11	Lyle Overbay	10
12	Casey Kotchman	7
13	Russell Branyan	6
14	Daric Barton	5
15	Willy Aybar	5
16	Ryan Garko	3
Second Base
Rank	Name	$$
1	Ian Kinsler	33
2	Dustin Pedroia	31
3	Brian Roberts	29
4	Robinson Cano	25
5	Ben Zobrist	24
6	Aaron Hill	24
7	Jose Lopez	19
8	Howie Kendrick	17
9	Scott Sizemore	11
10	Maicer Izturis	9
11	Mark Ellis	8
12	Orlando Hudson	8
13	Luis Valbuena	7
14	Alberto Callaspo	7
15	Chris Getz	5
16	Jayson Nix	4
17	Nick Punto	4
18	Ramon Santiago	1
Shortstops
Rank	Name	$$
1	Derek Jeter	28
2	Alexei Ramirez	21
3	Jason Bartlett	21
4	Elvis Andrus	20
5	Asdrubal Cabrera	19
6	Miguel Tejada	15
7	Erick Aybar	14
8	Marco Scutaro	13
9	J.J. Hardy	12
10	Cliff Pennington	7
11	Yuniesky Betancourt	6
12	Cesar Izturis	6
13	Alex Gonzalez	4
14	Jack Wilson	3
15	Willie Bloomquist	3
16	Adam Everett	2
17	Reid Brignac	2
18	Mike Aviles	2
19	Omar Vizquel	1
Third Base
Rank	Name	$$
1	Alex Rodriguez	42
2	Evan Longoria	35
3	Chone Figgins	25
4	Michael Young	22
5	Gordon Beckham	22
6	Adrian Beltre	16
7	Alex Gordon	14
8	Jhonny Peralta	13
9	Edwin Encarnacion	11
10	Kevin Kouzmanoff	11
11	Mark Teahen	10
12	Garrett Atkins	9
13	Brandon Inge	8
14	Brandon Wood	7
15	Jake Fox	5
16	Jose Bautista	5
17	Mike Lowell	5
18	Brendan Harris	4
19	Ty Wigginton	4
20	Josh Fields	2
21	Bill Hall	2
22	Brett Wallace	1
Outfielders
Rank	Name	$$
1	Carl Crawford	37
2	Jacoby Ellsbury	36
3	Grady Sizemore	31
4	Ichiro Suzuki	31
5	Nick Markakis	29
6	Adam Lind	28
7	Curtis Granderson	28
8	B.J. Upton	27
9	Nelson Cruz	25
10	Shin-Soo Choo	25
11	Bobby Abreu	25
12	Torii Hunter	23
13	Denard Span	22
14	Josh Hamilton	21
15	Alex Rios	20
16	Johnny Damon	20
17	Adam Jones	20
18	Carlos Quentin	19
19	Julio Borbon	19
20	Jason Kubel	18
21	Michael Cuddyer	18
22	Juan Pierre	18
23	Vernon Wells	17
24	Nolan Reimold	17
25	Rajai Davis	16
26	Franklin Gutierrez	16
27	Nick Swisher	15
28	Mike Cameron	15
29	Magglio Ordonez	15
30	Juan Rivera	14
31	Travis Snider	14
32	Delmon Young	13
33	J.D. Drew	13
34	Jack Cust	12
35	Scott Podsednik	12
36	Milton Bradley	12
37	Coco Crisp	12
38	Luke Scott	11
39	Jose Guillen	11
40	David Murphy	11
41	David DeJesus	10
42	Matt LaPorta	10
43	Carlos Guillen	10
44	Austin Jackson	9
45	Michael Brantley	9
46	Ryan Sweeney	8
47	Brett Gardner	8
48	Randy Winn	7
49	Matt Joyce	6
50	Rick Ankiel	6
51	Marcus Thames	6
52	Ryan Raburn	5
53	Gabe Gross	4
54	Eric Byrnes	4
55	Jeremy Hermida	4
56	Desmond Jennings	3
57	Joey Gathright	2
58	Mark Kotsay	1
59	Wilkin Ramirez	1
60	Felix Pie	1
Designated Hitters
Rank	Name	$$
1	Vladimir Guerrero	19
2	David Ortiz	17
3	Hideki Matsui	15
4	Jim Thome	9
5	Travis Hafner	8
6	Pat Burrell	8
7	Randy Ruiz	4
8	Andruw Jones	3
9	Ken Griffey	3

Coming next will be the American League auction dollar values for pitchers.

2010 Fantasy Baseball Draft Leagues – Draft Position

Posted by Todd Lammi on March 1st, 2010

Now that we have been looking at fantasy baseball mock drafts, it is time to look at draft position and how that impacts your fantasy baseball team. For the purpose of this discussion, we will be using a 15 team mixed league format.

Usually there are several positions I want to grab in the early rounds of the draft based on the depth or lack of depth at a position. Some places in the draft order mean you will not have a shot at any of these positions. If you are not comfortable with having either a weak shortstop of second basemen or whatever position you value, than you might need to adjust your strategy or grab a player a round earlier than you wanted to because he will not make it back to your pick in the next round.

Some fantasy baseball leagues offer you the chance to list a preference for your draft order. If that is case, it pays to have made sure you have done several mock drafts from multiple positions before the real event. Every year I feel there is a stronger part of the draft order where an owner might have a slight advantage for drafting. Knowing where this spot is in your draft can make a huge difference in you winning or losing you fantasy baseball league.

Let’s take a look at some of the sections of the draft and assess the strengths and weaknesses of each group.

Picks 1-5: If you value a shortstop, unless you get Hanley Ramirez, you are most likely in trouble. From the previous fantasy baseball mock draft article we know it is likely that Jose Reyes and Jimmy Rollins are not going to make it back in the second round. Derek Jeter is there in the third round but it is probably a little early to take him based on other value on the board.

Also at risk picking in these slots are your team stolen base totals. I usually try to set a goal of getting 40% of my teams stolen bases from my first three picks of the draft. Unless you grab Matt Kemp in the top five, chances are you are getting 15-20 steals from your first round pick. On the way back in the second round unless Justin Upton or Grady Sizemore slide to you, the only real stolen base numbers come from second basemen like Brandon Phillips, Dustin Pedroia or Brian Roberts. Chances are though that if you took Chase Utley in the first round, you are not going to grab another second basemen in round two so you have to look elsewhere for steals.

In the third round, stolen base options would be a second basemen if you did not grab one in round two, Jayson Werth or reaching for Ichiro Suzuki or Derek Jeter. So if your goal for stolen bases is 170, and we are aiming for 40%, then we want to try and get 68 steals from the first three picks. Picking in the top 5 spots assuming no Kemp and unless Upton or Sizemore slide, you are most likely only going to be at around 40 to 50 steals so you need to keep that in mind as you prepare for the draft.

Picks 6-10: This is not a bad spot to be in as after the top five, the opinions widely vary on the next group of players so sitting at 10, there is a good chance that you could get one of the top players on your draft board.

Same potential problems with missing out on a shortstop lie in this draft range. Also at issue is possibly second base assuming Utley does not slide. There is a very good chance that Phillips, Pedroia and Roberts are all gone by the time the third round pick comes. That leaves possible options of Robinson Cano, Aaron Hill, or Ben Zobrist coming back in the fourth round.

Third base could be an issue as well as you miss out on A-Rod in the first round and on David Wright in the second round. Mark Reynolds might slide to this group, but if you take Ryan Howard in the first round, it would be hard to take Reynolds here because you would start in a huge hole from a batting average perspective. Ryan Zimmerman and Kevin Youkilis are gone by the end of round two / start of round three so you miss them in the third round which leaves possibly Pablo Sandoval or Aramis Ramirez in the third round or else take the risk of hoping Ramirez slides back to your spot in the fourth round.

If you like to take catchers early, this spot could work to your advantage as you would like have a shot at Joe Mauer in the first, Victor Martinez in the second and Brian McCann in the third.

Picks 11-15: If you are a fan of position scarcity, this spot of the draft will give you some great draft selections with David Wright, Jimmy Rollins, Jose Reyes, Troy Tulowitzki and Ian Kinsler all in this range. It is also a good spot to grab stolen bases with the above listed players as well as Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury in the mix as well.

Downside to this spot is you miss out on a top tier first basemen most likely. Five first basemen are off the board if the current average draft position (ADP) numbers hold up, as well as missing out on Joey Votto, Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis and Justin Morneau in the second round on the way back. Possible options in the third or fourth round would be Kendry Morales, Lance Berkman or Pablo Sandoval if he slid. If you pass on all of the above players, the last shot at an upper tier first basemen is Derek Lee or Billy Butler in the fifth round but there is no guarantee they make it back to your turn.

That would leave one power hitting first basemen left on the draft board in Carlos Pena. The power would help but depending on what you do in the first few rounds would impact whether you can afford to pick him or not. If you happened to grab Ian Kinsler and Jimmy Rollins in rounds 1 and 2, two guys that hit around .280 or lower, adding Pena to the mix would put at risk your points in the batting average category.

2010 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft – First Two Rounds

Posted by Todd Lammi on February 28th, 2010

Here are the results from 10 fantasy baseball mock drafts I have participated in over the last week in 15 team mixed league formats. The list below shows the order of players selected, the percent of time they were drafted in the top 30 players and their high and low number in the top 30 picks.

One player on the rise is Matt Holliday who has gone from a mid second round pick to someone that has been appearing late in the first round in my most recent drafts.

15 Team Mixed Draft
Rank	Name	% Drafted	High	Low
1	Albert Pujols	100%	1	2
2	Hanley Ramirez	100%	1	2
3	Alex Rodriguez	100%	3	4
4	Chase Utley	100%	3	7
5	Ryan Braun	100%	4	6
6	Mark Teixeira	100%	5	10
7	Prince Fielder	100%	3	18
8	Matt Kemp	100%	3	13
9	Ryan Howard	100%	4	12
10	Evan Longoria	100%	8	13
11	Miguel Cabrera	100%	8	14
12	Joe Mauer	100%	5	19
13	Tim Lincecum	100%	10	17
14	David Wright	100%	8	21
15	Carl Crawford	100%	12	19
16	Ian Kinsler	100%	9	19
17	Troy Tulowitzki	100%	13	21
18	Matt Holliday	100%	10	27
19	Jacoby Ellsbury	100%	15	25
20	Jimmy Rollins	100%	16	26
21	Mark Reynolds	100%	17	28
22	Jose Reyes	100%	19	27
23	Justin Upton	90%	12	30
24	Roy Halladay	90%	16	30
25	Victor Martinez	80%	22	30
26	Brandon Phillips	60%	25	30
27	Grady Sizemore	50%	20	26
28	Joey Votto	50%	18	28
29	Felix Hernandez	50%	20	29
30	Ryan Zimmerman	50%	21	29