Expert League FAAB Report - Week of 3/31
Welcome to another season of expert league FAAB reports. I’ll be covering my two industry leagues, Tout Wars and LABR, but my goal with these reports is to help readers with their own waiver-wire searching by sharing player-specific insight.
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.
TOUT WARS MIXED DRAFT WITH IP & SAVES+HOLDS
TOP BUYS
Spencer Torkelson ($79) - Torkelson is looking to return to fantasy relevance following a miserable 2024 campaign that included significant time spent in the minors. The former top prospect was plenty productive for the Tigers in 2023 (31 HR, 94 RBI), so there’s certainly reason for optimism considering his fine start to this season (4-for-9, 1 HR, 3 R through three games). The winning bid of $79 seems reasonable taking into account the power upside. I didn’t have an urgent need for Torkelson but still offered a $57 bid, which turned out to be the third-highest, trailing the runner-up bid of $62.
Richard Fitts ($66) - Although a long-term spot in Boston’s starting rotation is far from assured, Fitts pitched well enough on Sunday to at least earn mixed-league attention for favorable matchups. This week’s matchup, at home versus the Cardinals, isn’t exactly scary, so taking a chance on him could pay off. The $66 winning bid was uncontested, suggesting that there’s much doubt as to whether Fitts can make a mixed-league impact.
Chris Paddack ($39) - Remember this guy? Paddack has dealt with a mind-boggling amount of injuries throughout his big-league career but he’s healthy now (we think). The 29-year-old righty is fresh off a mediocre showing in spring training but he’s expected to make two starts this week, which probably explains most of his FAAB appeal.
***NOTE: As I’m writing this, Paddack is being removed from today’s start after allowing nine runs over 3 1/3 innings versus the White Sox. Barring a dominant performance this coming weekend, he will be back on the waiver wire next week.
MY BUYS
Nobody. Torkelson was the only player I tried to acquire and I fell a bit short.
LABR MIXED
TOP BUYS
Luke Jackson ($8) - That didn’t take long. The FAAB saves hunting is already underway with Jackson being the flavor of the week. After pitching poorly in his first outing of the season, the veteran righty has now recorded back-to-back saves. Who knows how the Texas closer situation will play out over the next few weeks but Jackson is the choice right now, so it’s not surprising that more than half of this league placed a bid on him. I opted to pass as saves isn’t a big need for me and Jackson’s nonexistent track record in the closer role doesn’t inspire much confidence.
Jack Leiter ($6) - A last-minute raising of my bid for Leiter from $4 to $6 proved to be the difference as the $6 winner beat out two $5 bids in addition to a $4 offering. The top prospect struggled during his brief big-league exposure last year but his first start of this season (5 IP, 1 ER) was encouraging. As a Gerrit Cole drafter, my lack of starting pitching depth became an issue before the season even began. I’m hoping that Leiter can be a quality short-term addition but even more importantly, a profitable long-term investment.
Griffin Canning ($5) - We’ve been waiting for a breakout season from Canning for awhile now. Maybe it happens in his first year with the Mets. Maybe it doesn’t. He was very effective in his opening outing of 2025, limiting the Astros to two runs across 5 2/3 innings. I’m not ready to hop on the Canning bandwagon just yet but would it surprise me if he proves to be helpful in deeper mixed leagues? Not at all.
MY BUYS
Leiter was the only player I targeted this week. After spending $14 during the one preseason FAAB run and $6 this week, only $80 remain out of my $100 season budget. I think I’ll need to follow a more conservative approach to LABR FAAB bidding during the month of April.
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