Expert League FAAB Report - Week of 4/28
An expensive FAAB week for the top spenders but a quiet one for me.
Every Monday throughout the season, I’ll be reviewing some of the top purchases along with my own buys in the Tout Wars Mixed Draft alternate category league and the LABR Mixed league. Note that the Tout Wars season budget is $1000 with $0 bids allowed while the LABR season budget is $100 with a minimum bid of $1.
LABR MIXED
TOP BUYS
Agustin Ramirez ($23) - Acquired by the Marlins from the Yankees in last season’s Jazz Chisholm trade, Ramirez made his big-league debut last week. The early results have been exceptional. In five games, the 23-year-old backstop has already swatted three home runs to go along with five RBI and a steal. Throughout his minor-league career, Ramirez has demonstrated an ability to hit for power while getting on base at a steady rate and showing off his high-end speed for a catcher. Last season’s 25 HR/22 SB stat line jumps off the page. Winning the Ramirez bidding would have been nice but I had my doubts as I was in the bottom half of the league in FAAB dollars remaining with $70. I entered in a $5 bid, fairly convinced I’d lose but expecting the winning bid to be somewhere in the $10-$12 range. Not quite. As it turned out, seven of the 12 bids for Ramirez matched or exceeded $11, including the $23 winning bid. The market for a five-category catcher was even stronger than I anticipated.
Jordan Beck ($16) - There was talk that Beck’s run as an everyday player for the Rockies would end once Brenton Doyle returned from the bereavement list. Well, Doyle is back and Beck is still starting regularly. His power/speed blend (5 HR/4 SB through 17 games with the Rockies this season) gives him instant fantasy appeal. Despite this, $16 is an aggressive bid considering the uncertainty regarding his long-term playing time. I’m a lot more comfortable with the $8 runner-up bid.
MY BUYS
Nobody. Ramirez was the only player I targeted in FAAB this week.
TOUT WARS MIXED DRAFT WITH IP & SAVES+HOLDS
TOP BUYS
Drew Waters ($217) - Waters has been swinging a hot bat of late, going 10-for-25 with a homer and five RBI over his last seven games. Still, spending 217 FAAB dollars to pick up a player who has yet to enjoy any prolonged success through 152 big-league games (.713 OPS) doesn’t make much sense to me. On the plus side, the Royals appear willing to give him a long look in their outfield and he could chip in a useful number of steals with regular playing time. Waters received only one other bid, a $14 offering.
Tim Tawa ($67) - Tawa has done an admirable job filling in at second base for the injured Ketel Marte, recording four homers, nine RBI, nine runs and two steals in just 16 games. But with Marte nearing a return, Tawa’s opportunity for fantasy relevance might be nearing an end. However, he does have experience playing other positions aside from second base while in the minors, including the outfield. So, the Diamondbacks could opt to keep him in the big leagues even after Marte comes off the IL. In addition to the $67 winning bid, Tawa garnered bids of $18 and $6.
Ryan Gusto ($47) - After opening his rookie season in the Houston bullpen, Gusto has now made three straight starts, the most recent two being particularly impressive. In a pair of challenging matchups versus the Padres and then the Blue Jays, the 26-year-old righty registered a combined 2.53 ERA and 1.22 WHIP, earning a win in both outings. He’s certainly pitched well enough to remain in the Astros’ starting rotation for now and 47 FAAB bucks is a more than reasonable price for him in deeper mixed leagues. Two other managers tried to add Gusto with $27 being the runner-up bid.
MY BUYS
Again, nobody. With a few players coming off the IL this week, I didn’t have the roster room. The good news is that there wasn’t anyone I would’ve bid on even if I did have the roster room.
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