Expert League FAAB Report - Week of 6/9
It’s a Mets-heavy edition of the FAAB report.
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
Ronny Mauricio ($136) - A former top prospect, Mauricio missed the entire 2024 season recovering from knee surgery but he’s healthy now. After a highly impressive five-week rehab stint in the minors, the 24-year-old is back in the big leagues. Fresh off a dominant three-game series at Coors Field in which he went 5-for-11 with a homer, two steals and four runs, Mauricio is officially fantasy-relevant in deeper mixed leagues. He figures to get fairly regular playing time at third base while Mark Vientos is sidelined with a hamstring injury but unless Vientos’ absence extends into July, the Mauricio buy could end up being a significant overpay. There were no other bids aside from the $136 winning bid.
Chase Meidroth ($72) - Acquired from the Red Sox this past off-season in the Garrett Crochet trade, Meidroth has shown some promise in his rookie season, scoring 20 runs and swiping eight bags in 43 games. He doesn’t offer much power but he offers a lot in the plate discipline department. Meidroth boasts a .383 OBP so far this year while walking the same number of times as he’s struck out. The White Sox infielder also received bids of $44 and $32.
MY BUYS
Jose Quintana ($38) - Injuries continue to plague my starting rotation as I’ve now lost Pablo Lopez until at least mid-August and Corbin Burnes for the season. Quintana won’t fill the void left by either of those guys but he’s at least a bit better than waiver-wire quality in a deep mixed league. The veteran southpaw has allowed two earned runs or fewer in seven of his eight starts this season.
Jeff McNeil ($23) - Timing might not be on my side here as I can easily see McNeil go ice-cold following a monster weekend at Coors Field that included three home runs and five RBI. On the other hand, maybe he can reward me with a few productive games until my weak outfield is boosted by the call-up of Roman Anthony, which should come sometime this decade.
LABR MIXED
TOP BUYS
Jac Caglianone ($34) - I discussed Caglianone two weeks ago, before he began his big-league career by going 6-for-25 with no homers, one RBI and a pair of doubles through six games. This solid yet unspectacular performance along with his tremendous upside were enough to convince one manager in this league to spend more than one-third of his season FAAB budget to add the Kansas City top prospect. One might think the winning bid of $34 was excessive but it really wasn’t. Among the 11 other bids for Caglianone were six double-digit offerings, including bids of $24 and $23.
Ronny Mauricio ($8) - Unlike in Tout Wars, Mauricio was a popular FAAB target in LABR Mixed this week, receiving a total of five bids. Ultimately, whether or not Mauricio proves to be a profitable acquisition at the $8 price tag largely depends on the length of Mark Vientos’ absence.
MY BUY
Jeff McNeil ($2) - My outfield in LABR is in even worse shape than my Tout Wars group as it includes the injured Yordan Alvarez and Jordan Walker along with the struggling Adolis Garcia. I have my doubts about McNeil’s ability to be a long-term lineup solution but I might as well give him a shot. At least Roman Anthony is patiently waiting on my bench in this league as well.
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