Justin Mason’s 2022 Apology Tour: NFBC Main Event

2022 was the worst year I have ever had as a fantasy player. I played in 16 leagues and did not cash in a single one. The hard part is that I don’t even know what went wrong. I had teams I really liked coming out of the draft and some that were doing very well throughout the season. Over the next few weeks I will deep dive into each team in a series of articles to examine what went wrong and what the common threads were. This is my 2022 Apology Tour.

The thirteenth team I am covering in my apology tour was my twelfth draft of the year. The draft was a live draft with weekly FAAB. It is 5×5 roto with 15 teams and an overall. The league was packed with great fantasy analysts and some top tier NFBC players. I finished 14th.

Justin Mason’s Main Event #1
Rank Team Overall Rank Hitting Pitching Points
1 Oaktown 105 72 32.5 104.5
2 Franey_Main 194 39 58.5 97.5
3 FLAWLESS VICTORY 151 39.5 57.5 97
4 Miami Mac 213 30.5 62.5 93
5 Sporer Main 284 55 37.5 92.5
6 High Hopes 282 64 26.5 90.5
7 Dos Gringos 308 32 55 87
8 Low Talkers 377 56 27 83
9 GOVIER 325 35.5 42.5 78
10 Del Don 464 19 50 69
10 Eroh 499 27.5 41.5 69
12 Duggan 481 54 13.5 67.5
13 Rusty is Always Eating 512 19 47 66
14 MasEvent1 576 37 17 54
15 What Was I Thinking 598 20 31.5 51.5

 

The Draft
An NFBC live draft is an event in itself. I did mine in Las Vegas this year and there were six or seven Main Event drafts occurring at the same time in two different ballrooms. My draw in the draft was a pretty fun group with a ton of industry analysts including Scott Jenstad of RotoWire, Paul Sporer of Fangraphs, Michael Govier of FTN, Dalton Del Don of Yahoo, Dustin McComas of Five Tool, Jeff Zimmermann or Fangraphs who was teamed up with his co-author of The Process Tanner Bell and Dave Potts of RotoGrinders. It was a very fun draft and was probably more relaxed than most high stakes drafts because of the great people involved.

Once again, my draft was pretty strong at the start:

Justin Mason’s Main Event #1 Draft
Round Pick Player Pos
1 3 Ramirez, Jose 3B
2 28 Hader, Josh P
3 33 Nola, Aaron P
4 58 Musgrove, Joe P
5 63 Lindor, Francisco SS
6 88 Altuve, Jose 2B
7 93 Reynolds, Bryan OF
8 118 Contreras, Willson C
9 123 Bell, Josh 1B
10 148 Sandoval, Patrick P
11 153 Cruz, Nelson UT
12 178 Verdugo, Alex OF
13 183 Benintendi, Andrew OF
14 208 DeSclafani, Anthony P
15 213 Grossman, Robbie OF
16 238 Patino, Luis P
17 243 Schwindel, Frank CI
18 268 Flaherty, Jack P
19 273 Matz, Steven P
20 298 Hernandez, Cesar MI
21 303 Suarez, Robert P
22 328 Stratton, Chris P
23 333 Marsh, Brandon OF
24 358 DeJong, Paul SS
25 363 Finnegan, Kyle P
26 388 Bumgarner, Madison P
27 393 Zimmer, Bradley OF
28 418 Wisdom, Patrick 3B
29 423 Alfaro, Jorge C
30 448 McCullers Jr., Lance P
Red = Injured
Blue = Finished season on team

Looking in retrospect, I actually feel decently about the draft of this team. While Hader didn’t return value, he did get me a bunch of saves. For the most part, I got what I wanted out of my top 10 picks, which is pretty good. The problems came after my first ten picks. Regression from Nelson Cruz, Robbie Grossman, Frank Schwindel and Cesar Hernandez was disastrous. Coming out of the draft I knew I was light on power and had almost drafted Hunter Renfroe over Andrew Benintendi. The difference between drafting Beninntendi over Renfroe was the difference between 12th place in home runs and fifth place in home runs.

Clearly my biggest issue on this team was pitching. The start of my rotation was great with Aaron Nola, Joe Musgrove and Patrick Sandoval, but after that I was unable to land a single starting pitcher that really benefited my team. Anthony DeSclafani, Luis Patino, and Steven Matz all got hurt and I invited more injury trouble on my team by trying to stash Jack Flaherty and Lance McCullers. In NFBC leagues, you need to be really careful with stashes because there are no IL spots.

I also ended up with no second closer in spite of drafting multiple specs. The Padres looked like they were going to go with a closer committee with Robert Suarez rumored to be the leading candidate. Mid-draft a report came out that Chris Stratton would be the co-closer with David Bednar. Kyle Finnegan looked to be the leading candidate to get saves in Washington. By Opening Day, Tanner Rainey had been named the closer in Washington and the Padres traded for Taylor Rogers. Christ Stratton struggled and would lose the role shortly after that. I was never able to get that true second closer in FAAB.

April
During the month of April I spent my FAAB attempting to address what I thought was my weakest point which was saves. Unfortunately, I didn’t land much of anything in that department in spite of spending $108 on three relievers.

Justin Mason’s Main Event April FAAB
Date Team Add Drop Bid Runner-Up
4/3 MasEvent1 Kyle Isbel Bradley Zimmer $3
4/10 MasEvent1 Jorge Alcala Robert Suarez $13 $3
4/17 MasEvent1 Aristides Aquino Kyle Isbel $12
4/17 MasEvent1 Brad Hand Jorge Alcala $17 $12
4/17 MasEvent1 Daulton Jefferies Kyle Finnegan $13 $9
4/17 MasEvent1 Hansel Robles Luis Patino $78 $71
4/24 MasEvent1 Willie Calhoun Aristides Aquino $7
4/24 MasEvent1 Jose Suarez Lance McCullers Jr. $3
Money Spent $146
Money Left $854

I did have a good stream with Daulton Jefferies, but I pushed my luck a little too far because he was blown up the following week. However, by the end of April, I was in fourth place in the league with a pretty strong offense and pitching staff.

 

May
In May, I tried to build up my starting pitchers as I had lost DeSclafani to injury, Matz to injury, Patino, and McCullers had a setback.

Justin Mason’s Main Event May FAAB
Date Team Add Drop Bid Runner-Up
5/1 MasEvent1 Rafael Ortega Willie Calhoun 7
5/1 MasEvent1 Bryce Elder Jose Suarez 1
5/8 MasEvent1 Josh Winder Bryce Elder 176 91
5/8 MasEvent1 Tyler Wells Brad Hand 56 27
5/8 MasEvent1 Nick Pivetta Daulton Jefferies 56 23
5/8 MasEvent1 Jose Iglesias Paul DeJong 7 5
5/15 MasEvent1 JT Brubaker Chris Stratton 7
5/15 MasEvent1 Ji-Man Choi Frank Schwindel 3
5/22 MasEvent1 Nolan Gorman Jose Iglesias 177 145
5/22 MasEvent1 Matthew Liberatore Anthony DeSclafani 35 11
5/22 MasEvent1 Isaac Paredes Ji-Man Choi 27
5/22 MasEvent1 Zach Davies Steven Matz 17
5/29 MasEvent1 Yadier Molina Jorge Alfaro 13 8
Money Spent $286
Money Left $568

Initially Tyler Wells, Josh Winder, and Nick Pivetta were pretty nice pickups for me helping shore up my staff. Spoiler Alert: That would not end well. I also made a big spend on Nolan Gorman for a power boost and upside play. While he ended up being fine, I regretted spending the amount I did.

A week later, Scott Jenstad would pick up Jon Berti for $13 and he would go on to steal 39 bases for Scott which was the difference between fourth place in the category and 14th place in the category. Jon Berti signlehandedly won Scott the league. Was this lucky? Sure, but you have more chances to get lucky if you don’t blow huge amounts of your faab on one or two guys early on. The more darts you have the more dart throws you can make. It is something I will subscribe to in future leagues.

By the end of the month, I had a fantastic offense and a mediocre pitching staff and I was in third place, but the standings were very fluid.

June
In June I made one real big move. Eduardo Rodriguez was on rehab assignment and could have been a huge boon for my pitching staff. I felt like he could be the biggest pitching pickup rest of the way. Unfortunately for me, he was placed on the restricted list less than two weeks later due to personal issues and I would be forced to drop him.

Justin Mason’s Main Event June FAAB
Team Add Drop Bid Runner-Up
6/5 MasEvent1 Eduardo Rodriguez JT Brubaker 82 16
6/5 MasEvent1 Nomar Mazara Robbie Grossman 13
6/5 MasEvent1 Sam Huff Isaac Paredes 2
6/12 MasEvent1 Matt Strahm Matthew Liberatore 9 5
6/12 MasEvent1 Garrett Hampson Hansel Robles 1
6/12 MasEvent1 Matt Reynolds Yadier Molina 1
6/26 MasEvent1 Miguel Cabrera Matt Reynolds 2
6/26 MasEvent1 Jonathan Heasley Eduardo Rodriguez 2
6/26 MasEvent1 Seby Zavala Sam Huff 1
Money Spent $113
Money Left $537

By the end of June, my pitching was coming together and my hitting was still among the best in the league. I moved into first place just ahead of Scott Jenstad and Jeff Zimmerman/Tanner Bell. I was feeling pretty confident.

 

July
If you were wondering where it all went wrong, this is the moment we have all been waiting for.

Justin Mason’s Main Event June FAAB
Team Add Drop Bid Runner-Up
7/3 MasEvent1 Will Smith Zach Davies 27 17
7/3 MasEvent1 Michael Lorenzen Jonathan Heasley 7
7/3 MasEvent1 Yasmani Grandal Garrett Hampson 4
7/3 MasEvent1 Nicky Lopez Cesar Hernandez 4
7/3 MasEvent1 Jason Adam Josh Winder 3
7/3 MasEvent1 Chad Kuhl Jack Flaherty 3
7/3 MasEvent1 Alfonso Rivas Miguel Cabrera 1
7/3 MasEvent1 Michael Perez Seby Zavala 1
7/10 MasEvent1 Jonathan Aranda Brandon Marsh 3
7/10 MasEvent1 Spencer Howard Matt Strahm 1
7/17 MasEvent1 Kyle Finnegan Michael Lorenzen 17 17
7/17 MasEvent1 Jonathan Davis Michael Perez 1
7/17 MasEvent1 Joe Mantiply Will Smith 1
7/17 MasEvent1 Owen Miller Jonathan Aranda 1
7/24 MasEvent1 Roansy Contreras Jason Adam 2 1
7/24 MasEvent1 Wil Myers Jonathan Davis 2 1
7/31 MasEvent1 Janson Junk Chad Kuhl 1
7/31 MasEvent1 Adrian Sampson Tyler Wells 1
Money Spent $26
Money Left $429

I spent most of the month making pitching dart throws. I didn’t want to put myself in a worse financial situation so I tried to be careful. Unfortunately, I could not land many saves outside of what I got from Kyle Finnegan. What really killed me was my pitching falling apart. Nick Pivetta, who had been great, turned back into a pumpkin. I got killed by just about every streamer: Michael Lorenzen, Chad Kuhl, Spencer Howard, and Janson Junk. This was also the week where Josh Hader began to fall apart, allowing nine earned runs in 1.1 innings during the week of July 11th. I had a 5.33 ERA during the month of July. I was never able to recover.

 

Rest of the Season

Justin Mason’s Main Event ROS FAAB
Team Add Drop Bid Runner-Up
MasEvent1 Austin Meadows Nomar Mazara 1
MasEvent1 Pete Fairbanks Joe Mantiply 7
MasEvent1 Nolan Jones Alfonso Rivas 3 2
MasEvent1 Zack Greinke Janson Junk 1
MasEvent1 John Schreiber Spencer Howard 1
MasEvent1 Luis Garcia John Schreiber 7 4
MasEvent1 Ryan Pepiot Madison Bumgarner 2
MasEvent1 Akil Baddoo Owen Miller 2 2
MasEvent1 Jacob Stallings Yasmani Grandal 1
MasEvent1 JJ Bleday Austin Meadows 3 3
MasEvent1 Max Castillo Zack Greinke 2
MasEvent1 Erick Fedde Rafael Ortega 2
MasEvent1 Anibal Sanchez Ryan Pepiot 2
MasEvent1 Franchy Cordero Nolan Jones 1 1
MasEvent1 Corbin Carroll Andrew Benintendi 24 18
MasEvent1 Michael Chavis Nicky Lopez 2
MasEvent1 Elehuris Montero Franchy Cordero 2
MasEvent1 Mike Mayers Anibal Sanchez 1
MasEvent1 Javier Assad Pete Fairbanks 1
MasEvent1 Dylan Floro Luis Garcia 2
MasEvent1 Jake Odorizzi Max Castillo 2 2
MasEvent1 Max Stassi Akil Baddoo 1

To be honest, this league hurt more than all of the others and not just because of the $1700 buy in. I would dig into each move I made the rest of the way, but it was really a bad July that killed me. My team would just kind of be mediocre the rest of the way. That one atrocious month was the difference between a pitching staff that might have been good enough to be competitive and a complete dumpster fire.

 

Conclusion
Pitching was my weakness. I left the draft with too many injuries and questions in the pitching staff and at closer and was never able to catch up. I also did a poor job of streaming, but had I focused more on building a safe, reliable pitching staff in the draft, I wouldn’t have been in that situation. In my drafts for 2023, I will be making pitching depth a priority.





Justin is the co-host on The Sleeper and The Bust Podcast and writes for Rotographs covering the Roto Riteup as well as other periodic articles. In addition to his work at Rotographs, Justin is the lead fantasy writer/analyst and co-owner for FriendswithFantasyBenefits.com, and the owner of The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational. He is also a certified addiction treatment counselor. Follow Justin on Twitter @JustinMasonFWFB.

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Greggmember
1 year ago

I think the “conclusions” on these articles have been missing the mark from time to time, especially this one. I don’t think one month of bad FAAB acquisitions sunk your team to 14th out of 15th. Incredibly, you likely had the best draft out of anyone when looking at your first ten picks. The major flaw in this team was how poorly the rest of the draft went – I don’t think you drafted a single good value past pick 10 except for McCullers, who you dropped in April. The FAAB acquisitions throughout the year were bad, with the exception of a month of Pivetta and a few weeks of Carroll.