Buying Your Team Pre-Auction

NSH had something this spring that I seldom have: a deep freeze list.

Long story short...advice to find your own corner of the auction, got me thinking and for better or worse, I decided to "buy" my team prior to the auction.

If you're interested in you NSH froze go to the link.

The idea of locking in stats with your freeze list is not a new one. The best way to do this is by freezing expensive players.

Inflation Impact on Freezes

Sal	Val	10%	15%	20%	25%	30%	35%
$40	$38	$41	$44	$46	$48	$49	$51
$35	$33	$36	$38	$40	$41	$43	$45
$30	$28	$31	$32	$34	$35	$36	$38
$25	$23	$25	$26	$28	$29	$30	$31
$20	$18	$20	$21	$22	$23	$23	$24
$15	$13	$14	$15	$16	$16	$17	$18
$10	$8	$9	$9	$10	$10	$10	$11
$8	$6	$7	$7	$7	$8	$8	$8
$5	$4	$4	$5	$5	$5	$5	$5
$3	$2	$2	$2	$2	$3	$3	$3

Above is a simple chart of a player salary, a corresponding value, and the projected impact inflation will have on that value. Dollar values in bold reflect where the inflation price is $2 or more over the player's salary.

It's obvious that higher inflation has an impact on which players you should or shouldn't keep. But the main idea is that while it's perfectly fine to freeze slightly overvalued and expensive players in order to combat inflation, it's generally unwise to do the same thing with players on the lower end of the spectrum.

There are always exceptions. You have Asdrubal Cabrera at $18, your projected value on him is $15 but the only decent shortstop out there is Derek Jeter and your league is dominated by Yankee fans. Should you keep him? Depends on your league, but if you have enough value elsewhere on your roster, maybe you should.

In general, though, the hard realities of inflation apply regardless of whether you "bought" your team prior to the auction or not. A good freeze is one that saves you money during the auction; a bad one is one who costs more than what you could have purchased him for at the table.