Today we are going to take a look at some numbers for a 2010 fantasy baseball auction league in a mixed 15 team format. I use 15 teams as the standard with the increasing number of high stakes fantasy baseball leagues that continue to appear every year as the sport continues to grow.
One thing to keep in mind when looking at a magazine’s auction dollar values is you need to determine the league size. Some magazines will use 15 team, some use 12, or some only post dollar values for a AL or NL only type format. Be sure to read the fine print before using those dollar values in preparation for any draft you are doing.
You also need to factor in that some magazines use a dollar amount for what they think a player will earn. In a lot of cases, the player in a real auction will get bid higher than the amount in a magazine because of the position scarcity factor. For example, a player like Joe Mauer at catcher, his dollar value in a magazine for a 15 team league will be around $20, but his price in a real auction will be closer to $30. So you need to plan for that when you are doing your preparation.
Also, the majority of magazines use dollar values but they don’t equate to a real auction. If you are in a 15 team with 23 player rosters, then a total of 345 players and only 345 players need to have a dollar value and the maximum dollar value there can be assuming a $260 budget is $3,900 (15 x 260).
If you are looking for 15 team dollar values where the numbers are true to a real auction and add up to real numbers, you can get those in the next update to the FBT Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide which is on sale now. The new update will be sent out this Monday, 2/22 and is only available to those that purchase the draft guide.
Also in an auction, players with stolen bases tend to go for a few dollars more than players that don’t run. This means that just because player A goes higher than player B in a fantasy baseball draft, there is a good chance that if player B can steal bases, the price at an auction will push player B higher than player A.
So let’s take a look at some numbers from a 15 team mixed auction league from the NFBC last season. In the dollar range from $20 – $60, there were 60 players selected for a total of $1,759 which accounted for 45.3% of the total available auction dollar values. The 60 players work out to a nice round number because if you convert that over to a draft, 15 teams by 60 players comes out to exactly four rounds. So give or take a player or two, the first four rounds of a 15 team draft will have all of the players in this dollar range.
In the next dollar range of $10-$19, there were 105 players selected for a total of $1,482. Again, from a draft standpoint, this converts perfectly to seven rounds of players. So right now we have a total player pool of 165 players taken (11 rounds) for $3,241.
In the dollar range of $1-$9, that leaves 180 players for a total of $638. You will notice if you add up all of the dollars, that comes out to $3,879 which means there were $21 left on the draft table that were never used.
Looking strictly at $1-$2 players, there were 86 players selected, or 5.7 players per team. Knowing this, you can plot out in advance of the draft what positions you are willing to take a dollar player at. Some people are willing to tank catchers and spend $1 each there (not a good idea!!), or go with two to three dollar starters or a couple of dollar outfielders. It is up to you on the strategy, but if you want to control the draft, it is best to plan for $2 per roster spot.
By leaving $2 per roster spot, you guarantee yourself of getting the players you want in the end game. For example, there were 55 players bought at $1 last year. When it comes down to the end of an auction, it turns into a draft at that point. Your team will be much better off if you are able to own players 1-4 in the final 55 by having $2 saved per position than by waiting for players with only $1 left which means if you are 8th in the auction order, you end up with player 8, 23, 38, 53.
