This past Friday I competed in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship (NFBC) in Las Vegas in a 15-team mixed auction format. The salary cap was $260 in a Rotisserie league format with standard 5 x 5 categories. Due to the cost of the entry fees and the prizes that are paid out, all of the NFBC leagues are no trade leagues in order to avoid possible collusion.

Going into the auction, I had mocked up eight sample teams I could possibly buy in order to hit the targeted goals for each category depending on the flow of the auction. Here are the results for my team:

Hitters:

C – Victor Martinez ($25) – one of the guys I was targeting, as I have written many times before, I don’t believe in punting the catcher position.

C – Russell Martin ($11) – I wasn’t looking to get Martin, but several other catchers went for higher dollar amounts and I needed his 10 stolen bases.

1B – Lance Berkman ($16) – sometimes I am willing to price enforce a player if I think he is under the value I have set for him depending on the makeup of my roster and the other owner that is bidding on him, knowing that I am okay with rostering him if no one bids another dollar. I had $20 forecasted for Berkman so I was okay with him at $16.

2B – Brian Roberts ($17) – I was targeting him at the $16-$17 range, even if he only steals 20, I am happy to get him at a discount

SS – Derek Jeter ($22) – I had him a few dollars higher and was bidding him up, again, happy to get him at this price.

3B – Michael Young ($15) – I had him in the $17-$18 range and with this auction team, I was really trying to ensure my batting average held up to my goal.

Cor – Garrett Jones ($9) – I like being able to put his stolen bases at the corner spot.

Mid – Erick Aybar ($7) – another high average guy, he should steal 15-20 bases and score a ton of runs hitting first.

OF – Shin-Soo Choo ($19) – one of my targets, love to get 20-20 outfielders.

OF – Jason Bay ($22) – I had him a few dollars higher than this.

OF – Adam Dunn ($16) – was too cheap to pass up his power.

OF – Hunter Pence ($15) – another guy I thought was under valued.

OF – Lastings Milledge ($5) – not a huge fan of his, but needed 20 steals and he was the best fit. He is only 25 so there is still some upside there.

UT – Kyle Blanks ($5) – this was one of my main targets, I think he has a ton of upside even in San Diego, especially if he hits clean up.

Overall, I LOVE my offense. I tried to minimize risk by not going over $25 for any player so I think I was able to get a solid team and I should be first or second in every hitting category barring injuries. There was another team that drafted all closers and bought Albert Pujols, Hanley Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez as his first three hitters so his offense is loaded as well.

On the flip side, the pitching staff is not as pretty. I figured from mock drafts the way that pitchers were getting drafted several rounds higher that the prices would be higher as well and I was correct. I had set slots for 4 $10 starting pitchers, but once I saw those guys going in the $13-$15 range, I loaded up on offense and will have to scramble for pitching during the season.

Pitchers:

P – Max Scherzer ($8) – not a target, but I was happy to get his strikeouts for under $10

P – Stephen Strasburg ($5) – once I realized I was going to be short on pitching, I needed to take a chance on some strikeout pitchers that can help me later in the season. I think his numbers as far as starts / innings should mirror Tommy Hanson of 2009.

P – Aroldis Chapman ($3) – see Strasburg.

P – Jeff Niemann ($5) – picked up his strikeouts the second half of last year and has been striking out even more this spring

P – Wade Davis ($5) – hasn’t been that good in spring, but I still like his talent.

P – Hiroki Kuroda ($3) – good ratios to balance the rest of my staff.

P – Bronson Arroyo ($3) – numbers were much better the second half of the season when he put down his guitar.

RP – Jonathan Broxton ($19) – I would rather play two closers than three when possible so I wanted at least one solid guy. His price was the same as Mariano Rivera’s and I would rather have the extra 30-40 strikeouts.

RP – Leo Nunez ($5) – decent price for a second closer.

Reserves:

I had the first pick in the reserve draft so that too played into my thinking for how I built my pitching staff. I was hoping to grab Colby Lewis, Ian Kennedy, Jaime Garcia or Jeremy Hellickson here but they were all taken at the end of the auction.

So instead I went with Daisuke Matsuzaka with my first reserve pick followed by Kevin Correia and Ricky Romero. I also took a flier on Oliver Perez and added David Bush, so I have a few pitchers to possibly rotate into my rotation while waiting for Strasburg and Chapman. I grabbed two hitters in Chris Carter (Oakland) and Nate Schierholtz.

The way my offense is stacked, I don’t really need any hitters on reserve, but Schierholtz is insurance in case Berkman misses the first week and I can swing Dunn over to first base, which is another advantage of drafting / buying players that are eligible at multiple positions.

Overall, my pitching staff is a little short on some numbers, although I should be okay in saves assuming Nunez has the job the entire season. If Correia and Romero hold up, Dice-K comes back to form and Strasburg and Chapman are up by the start of June, I think my team will be in contention.