Week 9 FAAB Projections

This week’s mixed league FAAB run, especially in The NFBC where Corbin Martin is still available, will have the most money spent that I can ever remember. It reminds of an Only league at the trade deadline. There are just so many moving parts. I’m going to try to cover it all but let me know if any questions come up and I’ll try to answer them.

The guidelines:

• The ownership rates are from CBS since they have some quickdraw waiver wire leagues where players can be picked up at any time.
• The FAAB estimates are based on the 2018 15-team mixed NFBC leagues which used a $1000 FAAB budget. Owners are going to need to convert these values to their own league.
• The ownership values were taken from Saturday and lots can happen in between when they publish and FAAB bids run.
• Only players owned in 50% or fewer of CBS leagues are examined.

● I’ll start with some reference values. Here are the average bits on some major rookies from the past 1.5 seasons.

Examing just the hitters, I could see Riley and Hiura go for around $350 and even higher. Rodgers around $300. Calhoun is the real wild card but could be in the $200 range, especially with his fast start. Mercado and Lopez will go around $100.

There are a few lines of thought on the bidding. One is that with so many bids, people won’t go all in like they did with Juan Soto last year and the prices will be down.

The second is that it’ll be like an Only league at the trade deadline. Each team wants a piece and will spend. If they don’t get their top player, they’ll keep the same bid and get the second player. I think Riley, Hiura, and Rodgers fit this for sure and Calhoun could sneak in.

The last is that teams will bid on their needs. If Mallex Smith goes for over $400 last week, Mercado could easily go for triple digits.

In all fairness, owners will move on after the bids are done but owners might need to look back at this week’s bidding (and the hype leading up to it).

● If Tommy La Stella (i.e. Babe Ruth) is available, get ready to pay up.

● Ronny Rodriguez, Charlie Tilson, David Fletcher, and Jarrod Dyson could all for little or nothing this week with all the focus on the rookies. The list could go on with C.J. Cron, Kole Calhoun, and Marwin Gonzalez. I’d not be surprised if some of the best deals come from players further down the pecking order. After coming to grips with the rookie bids, spend five minutes and look for any available regulars.

● Corbin Martin, where available, could go for a ton. While some owners need hitting and others need pitching. Some need both. And there is only one pitching option this week. I’m thinking some owners will jump in with both feet and he could be in the $200 range since Griffin Canning went for $151 a few weeks back.

● Weekly Closer Rankings

• Luke Jackson
• Chris Martin
• Steve Cishek
• Michael Givens
• Hansel Robles
• Diego Castillo
• Taylor Rogers
• Scott Barlow – 10th inning Save with Royals
• Marcus Walden
• Brandon Workman

● Cole Irvin and Shaun Anderson are two rookie pitchers trying to stick in a rotation. Irvin has two decent outings under his belt and Anderson makes his second start tonight for the Giants. For now, I prefer Anderson but both are barely replacement level.

● Felix Pena should be rostered in all leagues.

● While I don’t provide two-start pitcher rankings, many others do. Pour over those rankings as they may come on the cheap with owners focusing on he promoted rookies.

● Grab Craig Kimbrell if he’s available. He’ll likely sign with a team after the draft (June 3rd to 5th)

Here are last week’s successful NFBC bids (38 leagues) and last year’s numbers.