$42 for Tulo?!?!I like Troy Tulowitzki and had an aggressive price on my sheet for him on Auction Day. But $42 wasn't only too much, it's nearly an impossible target for Tulo unless he elevates his game to the Albert Pujols/Hanley Ramirez levels of last year. I suppose that Tulo did steal 20 bases last year, so it's possible that if he hits .320 this year instead of .297 that he has an outside shot of earning $40+. However, that price is still batty.
Why would Scott White of CBS Sports pay it?
Tulo was his first buy of the day, and it's possible that White was feeling the pressure of not only buying a player, but spending his money. Players tend to be overpriced on the front end of the CBS auctions, and while this year's N.L. auction was somewhat tighter, this phenomenon still held true. Overspending on Tulo isn't as relevant to White - or any owner in the room - if he believes that bargains are coming later.
I have a different theory, though, that I believe makes more sense.
A few of the analysts in the CBS leagues also play in mixed leagues and/or draft leagues, where this is a different dynamic at work. If Tulo is the last elite or near-elite SS on the board in a draft league and it's your turn to pick, there is a good chance that you're going to grab Tulo if you believe that Stephen Drew is too big of a drop. And, sure enough, Jimmy Rollins, Hanley Ramirez, and Jose Reyes had all been bought when Tulo's name came up. It looks like some teams chased him, thinking that this was their last chance to get a big-time producer at SS.
Ryan Howard came up eight players earlier than Tulo, but I think the same phenomenon may have occurred. Adrian Gonzalez, Albert Pujols, and Prince Fielder were all nabbed before Howard, and I think that a few owners looked at Howard and thought they'd better spend if they wanted an elite option at 1B.
What makes sense in a draft format doesn't compute in an auction league, particularly in a one-league format. Your goal is to maximize your dollars by spending your money wisely. If you don't have an elite player at a position, it doesn't matter if you're getting bargains elsewhere and are spending your $260.
I don't mind going over par by $1 or $2 on top players - particularly in an auction where there's so much uncertainty at the bottom of the player pool due to the early timing of the auction - but at a certain point, you're playing a losing game. Spend your money wisely...and take your opportunities where they come. I didn't spend over $21 on a single player on offense, yet still think I have a strong team going in to this season.
8 comments:
"If you don't have an elite player at a position, it doesn't matter if you're getting bargains elsewhere and are spending your $260."
These words need to be put on everyone's computer on auction day.
These words need to be put on everyone's computer on auction day.
Computer? I have three pieces of paper with my prices and three other sheets to track all of the teams' rosters and dollars remaining. Six pages and a blue pen is all I've been using for 20 years.
I've seen a lot of people ask for time to get their computer reset, catch up on inputting rosters/prices into their spreadsheet, and announce players already taken b/c of the computer than I can stand. I never want to be that guy.
Well, whatever you use, those words need to be on it.
The funny thing is, paper or computer, I disagree completely (while I do not have a problem with computers, I prefer the pad and pen).
If getting the elite player wrecks the budget, there is no need to go get that elite player. There are plenty of lower first tier, upper second tier players to provide sufficient stats that set your team up to win.
Toz,
Isn't that what this is saying... if you don't have an elite player, who cares, as long as you're getting bargains elsewhere and are spending all your money?
Or maybe I'm reading this incorrectly, and it's saying who cares if you're getting bargains elsewhere, you need an elite player?
If the sentence means what I think it means, then that's exactly what people should be remembering on auction day: Spend the money wisely, and spend all of it.
Getting everyday ABs is the default focus of single league formats, auction or not. I'd add every team should set-up their roster to have a few "open" spots to add the undrafted player who falls into those ABs in the first few weeks after the season starts.
Frankly, yes...despite reading it over about 20 times, I managed to misread it.
This appplies to one-league formats at least...I think in mixed leagues, stars and scrubs is a viable, and perhaps the only logical, strategy.
I write for a living and I still have a hard time reading sentences.
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