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Saturday, March 20, 2010

BBA BLOGZKRIEG! 2010 Auction Features Cheap Closers, Expensive Injuries, Inebriated Late-Night Bidding

The inaugural BBA BLOGZKRIEG! auction, hosted by Couch Managers took place over the course of sixteens days, beginning on the first of March.  BLOGZKRIEG! is a mixed 5 X 5 league with twelve teams, 30-man rosters (23 active), and a $330 budget.

This cast of fantasy baseball pundits clearly came into the auction with the impression that the stiff competition was grounds for some outside-the-box strategies.  Jonathan Gangi of Roto Rebel spent the same amount of money on Victor Martinez ($24) as he did on all eight of his starting pitchers combined.  Scott Swanay, The Fantasy Baseball Sherpa, didn't draft a closer until ten days into the auction, when he brought home Bobby Jenks ($10).  The Sporting Hippeaux gambled on young players, generally, and especially young arms, bringing home nine pitchers under the age of 27.

Clearly, "risk adversity" was not part of  the BLOGZKRIEG! vocabulary.  A relatively high premium was paid for potential studs coming off serious injuries, like Jose Reyes ($35), Josh Hamilton ($21), and Jake Peavy ($20).  Young, high-upside starting pitchers also cost a pretty penny, as Tommy Hanson and Clayton Kershaw came in at the same price as Chris Carpenter ($19), and guys like Max Scherzer and Clay Buchholz cost as much as A. J. Burnett and Carlos Zambrano ($8).

The high profile rookies, however, were treated with some skepticism.  Stephen Strasburg and Aroldis Chapman both sold for $4, while Jason Heyward and Julio Borbon went for $7.

As a unit our contestants refused to "pay for saves," as no closer cost more than $18 (half the price of Halladay & Lincecum), though 22 relievers went for $10 or more.  Some teams are going to get a lot more bang for their buck when it comes to saves.

One of the advantages of a slow auction that progresses through the heart of Spring Training is that strategies can be altered "on the fly."  Joe Nathan ($18) was drafted early and following news of his injury, Ryan Lester (of Lester's Legends) moved to corner the market on his potential replacements by adding Jon Rauch ($3) and Matt Guerrier ($1).  Continuous and widely varying injury updates probably effected the bidding on Justin Morneau ($22), Brandon Webb ($16), Jairr Jurrjens ($9), Daisuke Matsuzaka ($6), and Kevin Slowey ($4).

As usual, most contestants expressed optimism following the auction's conclusion.  We may have even preferred the auction to last a little longer, rather than sit quietly on frozen rosters for the remainder of March.  Mercifully, Opening Day is now just over a week away.  You can see the teams here and the contestants and complete auction results here.

Most Expensive Players By Position:

C - Joe Mauer ($33)
1B - Albert Pujols ($50)
2B - Chase Utley ($37)
3B - Alex Rodriguez ($43)
SS - Hanley Ramirez ($50)
LF - Ryan Braun ($42)
CF - Matt Kemp ($41)
RF - Justin Upton ($32)
SP - Roy Halladay & Tim Lincecum ($36)
RP - M. Rivera, J. Nathan, & J. Soria ($18)

Median Players (not including <$5):

C - M. Montero, G. Soto, & K. Suzuki ($12)
1B - Joey Votto ($23)
2B - Aaron Hill ($17)
3B - Aramis Ramirez ($17)
SS - Elvis Andrus & Asdrubal Cabrera ($13)
LF - Manny Ramirez ($16)
CF - Carlos Beltran ($16)
RF - S. Choo, A. Ethier, & H. Pence ($16)
SP - Brett Anderson & Scott Baker ($15)
RP - F. Francisco, T. Hoffman, & B. Wagner ($11)

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