Expert League FAAB Report - Week of 6/23
In a repeat of last week, a top starting pitching prospect is the featured player this week. His name is a lot easier to spell.
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
Chase Burns ($402) - Burns is in the midst of a phenomenal first season in the minors, boasting a 1.77 ERA and a 0.77 WHIP in 13 starts split between three levels while striking out more than 12 batters per nine innings. The second overall pick in last year’s First-Year Player Draft is scheduled to make his big-league debut tomorrow against the Yankees, filling the rotation spot of the injured Wade Miley. The 22-year-old righty has a great opportunity to stick around in the majors for good as long as he doesn’t struggle mightily, so it wasn’t surprising that he was the most expensive FAAB buy this week. Still, I was surprised to see the $402 bid, which dwarfed the runner-up bid of $89. If I was looking for a starting pitcher, my bid for Burns would not have exceeded $125, but FAAB trading is allowed in Tout Wars, making FAAB dollars less valuable in Tout compared to LABR.
Mike Toglia ($153) - Toglia’s extended early-season slump earned him a ticket to the minors. But since rejoining the Rockies last week, he’s slugged three homers while driving in six in seven games. Toglia continues to be an OBP drain (career .283 OBP) but the power is legit, as evidenced by last season’s 25 home runs. And of course, any power hitter benefits from playing his home games at Coors Field. There was a decent amount of interest in Toglia as he received bids of $88, $61 and $55 in addition to the $153 winner.
MY BUY
Jurickson Profar ($52) - Profar’s PED suspension will come to an end on July 2 and the Braves say he will immediately take over as the club’s starting left fielder and No. 2 hitter. The downside of adding him this week as opposed to next week is that I’ll get a week of no stats from one of my active hitter slots. But if I waited another week, Profar’s FAAB price could have approached $200. The 32-year-old is coming off a career-best season in which he launched 24 homers to go along with 85 RBI, 94 runs and a .380 OBP. I’m not expecting him to match that level of production, especially in the early going as he shakes off rust. But Profar could be a starting lineup fixture on my squad throughout the second half of the season and is certainly worth this modest investment.
LABR MIXED
TOP BUY
Orion Kerkering ($7) - Kerkering was by far the most popular FAAB target in LABR Mixed this week as eight of the 15 teams tried to acquire him. The $7 winning bid is reasonable since the Philadelphia righty has recorded saves in two of his last three appearances. That said, Matt Strahm also picked up a save last week, suggesting that the Phillies are still following a closer-by-committee approach. Maybe Kerkering will emerge as the clear-cut choice in the ninth inning but we’re not at that point yet.
MY BUYS
Nobody. Aside from Kerkering, I didn’t view any waiver-wire options as difference-makers and saves aren’t a need for me. So, I didn’t place any LABR bids this week.
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