By Eric KarabellThe NL auction
Admit it: There are times you enter a fantasy draft or auction and just have to get a certain player. We shouldn't think that way, especially if others know it, because it makes it tougher to get the player. It's especially true in an auction, when others can keep raising the price. But there we were sitting in the sun in Peoria, Ariz., watching the Mariners and Padres play from the first base side of the stands, myself and others who were going to compete in the Sports Weekly LABR-NL auction that evening. One guy said he was thinking about Rickie Weeks, whom we had seen in action the day before. Another fella had mentioned Chris Carpenter's name enough we knew what was on his mind. Someone blurted out he'd never take Adam Dunn because of the low batting average (and then, naturally, four hours later, he went and got Dunn anyway). Me? I wanted Sal Fasano for a buck.
Now really, who can argue with that? The case can be made that in an NL-only, 13-team auction, anyone loosely called a hitter for a stinkin' dollar is worth it. We watched the possibly rejuvenated Dewon Brazelton pitch two solid innings, and I announced that someone would bring his name up for bid. Others disagreed. I should have wagered on it. He went for 10 dimes. Nobody went to $2. Didn't even cross my mind.
When Fasano was brought up for a dollar, a few minutes before I planned to do the same thing, it was about three hours into the proceedings. What should I do? I'm a man of my word! The people who heard me saying it smiled and looked at me. I said I'd get him, even if I wasn't entirely serious, so I shocked half the room and went to $2. Surely that's worth my pride, and maybe nine home runs, 24 RBI and a low batting average. And really, I don't think $2 is a bad price for the chance at double digit home runs. There's kind of an unspoken rule in deep auctions that a dollar catcher is, well, a dollar catcher, and when you bid a guy up to $2, you're evil. It happened a bunch of times this weekend. In the NL, you've gotta pay twice as much for some dollar catchers.
I wrote on Thursday about the AL auction from the weekend, but I tried to have a little more fun in the NL. I'm an NL guy, if I had to choose, being a Phillies fan and a member of the LABR-NL auction for five prior years. I like the AL, and know it well, but everyone seemed more at ease in the NL, maybe a bit tired, too, from the weekend. Hey, it's not easy sitting in the sun three straight days watching baseball! Plus, we had just come from In-N-Out Burger. Again, tremendous.
Anyway, here's what I did and why.
Like any auction, the early bids are on the top players, the ones everyone should spend the most money on. You don't bring up Sal Fasano's name here. But one of the things I was most curious about was the dearth of catchers. It's not pretty. Michael Barrett is clearly the top NL catcher, but there are at least six or seven better ones in the AL. So what would Barrett go for when he was the best of the sad lot? Probably too much, and I had no intention of being involved in the bidding on him or any other NL backstop who reached double digits.
Skipping to two hours in, and after watching Brian Schneider, Paul Lo Duca, Johnny Estrada go for $10, I became concerned Fasano would end up being my top catcher. That can't be a good thing. But still, I couldn't in good conscience top the $9 bids made on Yadier Molina and Brian McCann, or the eight on Mike Lieberthal and Damian Miller. Damian Miller! I know what he does. How can it be worth $8? Well, I know what Dioner Navarro is capable of, and I don't think it's worth the $6 I spent, but given the options, it has to do. That Navarro-Fasano combo will be deadly. Hopefully not to my batting average.
So back to the big names. On Thursday, I wrote that I wouldn't spend $30 on any players. That was the goal this day as well. But sometimes you've gotta zig when you intended to zag, or something like that. Derrek Lee and Jason Bay went for $38. Albert Pujols was $42. David Wright and Bobby Abreu were $34, and it was clear money was being spent.
Now everyone knows I'm a Phillies fan, but they also know I'm not going to spend $20 on David Bell, either. Chase Utley settles in at $30, which in retrospect seems low. Does that mean Jimmy Rollins is more money? Utley's arguably the top second baseman in the NL. Later that will be proven when Alfonso Soriano goes for $27. So right after Jose Reyes gets bid all the way up to $33, which surprised me, Rollins is next. Now I don't want to go past $30, but I didn't have any hitters at this point, as I watched everyone else bid. Also, a lot of the stolen bases were going early. The guy with Reyes already had Juan Pierre at $32. Later Rickie Weeks and Rafael Furcal went to the same guy for $26. While Saturday's price enforcement was on saves, here it was on stolen bases.
I went to $33 on Rollins. I didn't really want to, but I'm not angry I did. I like him. He's safe for 30 steals, 100 runs, double digit power and a good batting average. Reyes will run more, but Rollins is, in my mind, the better fantasy player, so like the reversed shortstop situation from the AL league when I got Miguel Tejada cheaper than Michael Young, I was OK. Sometimes you just have to spend the extra $2 or $3 to get a player you need, or want. Everyone assumed I took Rollins because I was a Phillies fan. It's really because I wanted a big stolen base guy, especially at middle infield, and they were going fast. And really, why do I care what someone thinks about the move? Just remember that Al Davis mantra, and win, baby. Everyone's razzing everyone else anyway.
Once I got Rollins, it was time to fill out the infield, and there weren't many top options left. I didn't want my starting first baseman to be Tony Clark. Carlos Delgado was the last big one left, I got him for $27. Jeff Kent is older than Carlos, but should he be three bucks cheaper than Weeks? Well, I got Kent for $23. And the rest of the third base list didn't excite me much either, so when the bidding on Scott Rolen appeared to be stalling in the high teens, I said $20. Rollins is overpriced, but the rest of that infield is just right. I do expect Rolen to earn that $20, even if it takes him a month to get going.
The outfield doesn't leave me with the same warm, fuzzy feeling. The first outfielder I got was Juan Encarnacion, at $16. That's a bit high. We have no idea how that new Cardinals ballpark will translate. But other somewhat comparable outfielders went for more (Shawn Green, Preston Wilson and Cliff Floyd at $20, Moises Alou $18, Austin Kearns $19, Brady Clark $18), so $16 on Juan isn't crazy. Frankly, I'd prefer him over Wilson and Kearns. Spending $19 on Arizona's Luis Gonzalez might be crazy, but I did it anyway. He's hitting cleanup. And he's 62 years old. Honestly, overspending on these outfielders doesn't trouble me much. Everyone seemed to be doing it. I like Aaron Rowand, but for $24? Couldn't do it.
The rest of the outfield isn't much safer, nor are they bargains. At some point I was filling spots and trying to get the best numbers I could. Dave Roberts could pull a hamstring while in the on-deck circle, but 30 steals (hopefully) is worth double digits in make-believe cash, so I went to $12. Jose Cruz Jr. is bereft of upside at this point, but $9 isn't embarrassing. Someone has to play center field for Florida. Chris Aguila went for $6. How could I not take Eric Reed for $4? He's the one who steals lots of bases, though I'm not actually expecting more than 15 or so.
The final outfielder I got was the only one, other than maybe Reed, who went for a nice price. And this tends to happen when nobody has any money left. I don't think Washington's Ryan Church will become a star this season by any means, but like my Brian N. Anderson pick in the AL, $6 is certainly worth it to find out. Church managed nine home runs, 42 RBI and a .287 average in less than half a season. It sure looks like he's going to play every day.
My corner and middle infield guys are reserves, but each could make a difference. The Giants' Mark Sweeney is old, but he can hit. He managed eight home runs and 40 RBI, generally as a pinch hitter. I'm not the biggest Lance Niekro fan, especially now. And Damian Jackson has long been a friend to my LABR-NL squads. If a dollar player steals 10 bases, you did well. Jackson is Washington's utility guy, and should get 10 steals with ease. In a 13-team NL-only league, Sweeney and Jackson aren't bench guys, they start.
While my offense is OK and has question marks, I like the pitching staff. Some of you have written about me overrating Matt Morris. Maybe I have done that, but I stuck to my word when the bidding on him was at $11. I got him for $12. What do I expect? Am I aware of the dropping strikeout rate? Of course I am, but he's also won 29 games the last two seasons, and enters a pitcher's park. He's my third starter behind Tim Hudson and John Smoltz, who I got for $17 and $16, respectively.
Some of you know I'm a big Steve Trachsel fan. No, I can't stand how he fidgets on the mound and reads chapters of Tolstoy in between pitches, but he's the epitome of a safe double digit winner whom nobody ever wants. He should be a fantasy fifth starter, but here he's my four. The other starters will be some combination of Brad Hennessey, Robinson Tejeda, Yusmeiro Petit and Brian Moehler. I think Hennessey is a sleeper for the Giants. I don't think Tejeda makes the Phillies' rotation, but could have value in the bullpen, where there are no guarantees among right-handers not named Gordon. There's no way Petit makes the Marlins, but he's got great potential, and could come up at midseason and be the next Dontrelle. Well, dare to dream. And Moehler's not good at all. I know it. You know it. But I might need innings. I can bench him.
I paid $18 for Jason Isringhausen, which is fine value, especially considering some other closer prices. Armando Benitez and Derrick Turnbow cost more. Tom Gordon, Jose Valverde and Brian Fuentes nearly did. Trevor Hoffman was $21. Izzy's safe. And I got his backup, Braden Looper, for $3. If a Cardinal save occurs, I should get it. I wanted a second closer, but I didn't want to overspend for a Marlin or Red, and the safe closers were too expensive. Only two teams in the league have two noted closers, and even then they have risks, like Ryan Dempster, Mike Gonzalez and Eric Gagne. I closed out my bullpen with Roberto Hernandez for $2 and Clay Hensley for a dollar. Maybe old man Roberto gets a few saves and wins. Hensley was very good last year, and should be again.
Hennessey is the only reserve pick I expect to use right away, probably for the soon-to-be-demoted Petit. I expect little from Moehler, Pirates minor leaguer Matt Capps and Padres seventh starter Tim Stauffer. I used my first reserve pick on Dodgers wunderkind Joel Guzman, who is being moved from shortstop to left field. I already had Cruz Jr., and Guzman really can hit, so maybe we see the kid up by midseason. He has to learn how to play outfield. I also have Robert Andino, who doesn't appear to have much offensive upside. But the Marlins might have to play him anyway.
Like my AL team, this isn't the best team on paper, nor the worst. Some people were leaving the auctions thinking they had cleaned up, but it happens every year and in every draft that the team that looks the best ends up merely average. These auctions were the first weekend of March. A lot will change before Opening Day. What if the Dodgers' Guzman becomes an instant star? Or Hernandez lucks into Pittsburgh's closing job? Or Philly's Lieberthal gets hurt, leaving my buddy Sal as the starting catcher?
