Expert League FAAB Report - Week of 4/21

Another FAAB week dominated by prospects. Let’s see if they can live up to their hefty price tags.

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

Chandler Simpson ($222) - I wasn’t sure what to expect in the Simpson bidding as it’s unclear if he can be a consistent contributor in any category aside from stolen bases. But he’s so dominant in the speed department that I knew there would be plenty of interest in him. I didn’t know that he would receive a $222 bid and four other bids of at least $135. Simpson swiped 104 bags in 110 minor-league games last year and notched eight steals in 17 games at Triple-A this season before recording his first big-league stolen base in his second game with the Rays. He’s the kind of player who could be worth 5+ roto points in the final standings if handed regular playing time. Tampa Bay plans on giving him that opportunity as long as he performs well.

Caleb Durbin ($196) - Durbin is another newly-promoted prospect who could get a real chance to stick around in the big leagues as the Brewers lack appealing options at third base. The 25-year-old doesn’t hit for power but he’s posted strong stolen-base and OBP numbers in the minors. I was surprised that only two managers in this league placed a bid on him, the runner-up offering being $54. The Durbin winner is surely hoping that he comes through as this buy was a huge overpay.

Logan Henderson ($79) - Continuing with the prospect theme, Henderson was terrific in his major-league debut yesterday, tossing six innings of one-run ball while striking out nine. But the matchup, at home versus the A’s, was very favorable, so I’m not quite ready to label Henderson a must-add in all mixed leagues (assuming he makes another start for Milwaukee this week). That said, his minor-league track record, which includes a 3.12 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP and a 12.3 K/9 across 47 starts, is excellent enough to warrant a $79 bid. Only one other manager tried to add Henderson, his $33 bid falling way short.

MY BUYS

Nobody. I at least made an effort to acquire Simpson. I doubted that my $33 bid would be enough to win him but getting outbid by nearly 200 FAAB bucks was a bit shocking.

LABR MIXED

TOP BUYS

Chandler Simpson ($37) - Twelve of the 15 managers in this league tried to add Simpson but only one was willing to shell out more than one-third of their season FAAB budget to land him. In my seven years competing in LABR Mixed, this might have been the most expensive overall FAAB competition as there were two losing bids which exceeded $20. I made what is in retrospect a very weak attempt to win Simpson, bidding $3.

Luisangel Acuna ($6) - The risk with Acuna pertains to his long-term playing time outlook with Jeff McNeil set to come off the IL soon and Brett Baty swinging a hot bat of late. From a performance standpoint, the speedster deserves to remain in the Mets’ lineup but a trip to the minors is possible. For six bucks, I think the risk is worth taking, especially since McNeil has spent some time in the outfield during his rehab stint, suggesting that the club is exploring ways to keep Acuna in their major-league lineup.

MY BUYS

Jose Quintana ($3), Alek Thomas ($2) - The Easton Lucas two-start week experiment was a total disaster so I needed a decent starting pitcher to replace him in my active lineup. Quintana has opened his 2025 campaign by allowing a combined one run through two outings, spanning 12 2/3 innings. He’s scheduled to make two starts this week and neither of the matchups (@SF, @STL) are particularly scary. As for Thomas, he was a need-based pickup as my other acquisition from last week, Griffin Conine, promptly got injured. Maybe Thomas can give me a helpful batting average and a steal or two, filling my fifth outfielder spot until Roman Anthony finally gets called up to the majors.

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