In their own words: NL LABR owners' strategies and analysis
After the conclusion of the NL LABR draft, each team owner was asked to answer the following questions about their draft strategy and their observations about how things unfolded. Here are their stories.
DRAFT RECAP:Kershaw fetches top dollar in NL LABR auction | Draft grid
Derek Carty
Affiliation: RotoGrinders and ESPN
Year in LABR (championships if applicable): Ninth, 2 titles (2009, 2016)
Overall strategy going into the draft: Try to get Kershaw for cheap, pair him with Rich Hill, and target a select few cheap pitchers. NL pitching gets really gross, really quick this year, so I'd rather pay even value for Kershaw than overpay for mid-tier guys.
Did it work? I got pushed higher than I wanted to go (and higher than I told myself I'd go) on Kershaw, but with the state of NL pitching, locking him in just made sense. I also paid more than I wanted for the cheaper pitchers I was targeting, but I got enough value on offense where I feel very good about my team.
Best bargain of the draft: Yasiel Puig. He was nominated very early on, and I wasn't expecting the bidding to stop so abruptly. He has his issues, sure, but he's closer to a $20 player than he is to a $10 one.
Biggest surprise of the draft: Dalton Del Don bidding me up so high on Robert Gsellman. I expected to get him for $2 or $3 and Dalton went $10.
Which pick do you regret? Neil Walker. I was worried about not spending all of my money, so I took him at close to even value, which led to my missing out on some bigger bargains toward the end of the draft.
Which player do you wish you'd gone the extra dollar for? Tommy Joseph. Power did not come cheap this year, but he was one of the best mid-range bargains.
Which team looks the strongest? Apart from mine, I like Dalton's. We were competing over a lot of the same players, so I like the look of his team.
C Molina, Yadier $10
C Bandy, Jett $3
1B Zimmerman, Ryan $10
2B LeMahieu, DJ $21
SS Cozart, Zack $8
3B Prado, Martin $14
CI Peralta, Jhonny $6
MI Walker, Neil $15
OF Gonzalez, Carlos $27
OF Eaton, Adam $20
OF Puig, Yasiel $13
OF Markakis, Nick $10
OF Jennings, Desmond $1
UT Hechavarria, Adeiny $4
P Kershaw, Clayton $44
P Kelley, Shawn $10
P Hill, Rich $20
P Gonzalez, Gio $9
P Glasnow, Tyler $9
P Holland, Greg $2
P Hutchison, Drew $1
P Bailey, Homer $1
P Trienan, Blake $1
RESERVES: Hoffman, Jeff; Chacin, Jhoulys; Richard, Clayton; Stewart, Brock; Dayton, Grant; Thompson, Jake.
Doug Dennis
Affiliation: BaseballHQ.com
Year in LABR (championships if applicable): 17th, 1 title
Overall strategy going into the draft: Spend $30 on pitching, spread the risk on offense.
Did it work? For the most part, the pitching went far too cheap to get hitting bargains, but it went fine.
Best bargain of the draft: Hit or miss, maybe, but I really love Aaron Nola at his price ($12). Love.
Biggest surprise of the draft: No one paying for closers whatsoever.
Which pick do you regret? So far, David Dahl and his stress reaction.
Which player do you wish you'd gone the extra dollar for? Probably Keon Broxton, I just didn’t have that dollar to give!
Which team looks the strongest? Derek Van Riper has a very balanced, solid team
C Realmuto, Jacob $16
C Contreras, Willson $18
1B Joseph, Tommy $18
2B Wong, Kolten $10
SS Swanson, Dansby $17
CI Carpenter, Matt $25
3B Lamb, Jake $18
MI Crawford, Brandon $13
OF Hamilton, Billy $25
OF Dahl, David $20
OF Tomas, Yasmany $20
OF Santana, Domingo $13
OF Dickerson, Alex $10
UT Flores, Wilmer $7
P Velasquez, Vincent $8
P Ottovino, Adam $7
P Hader, Josh $4
P Chen, Wei-Yin $4
P Weaver, Luke $3
P Vizcaino, Arodys $1
P Anderson, Brett $1
P Strickland, Hunter $1
P Edwards. Carl $1
RESERVES: Alcantara, Arismendy; Feldman, Scott; Law, Derek; Garrett, Amir; Cahill, Trevor; Cecil, Brett.
Brian Walton
Affiliation: Mastersball
Year in LABR (championships if applicable): Second year
Overall strategy going into the draft: After struggling to collect saves in 2016, I decided to try to get one of the top tier of four or five closers. That would be my top spend on pitching. On the offensive side, the target was simply to build as a balanced roster as possible and look for (relative) bargains.
Did it work? Yes and no. The top closer in the NL, Kenley Jansen, was the second player thrown out. Obviously, the market for saves had not yet been established. I paid a fair price of $22, but it was clearly not a bargain. Soon it became clear the other top closers were in the $17-18 range with the next tier in the $11 neighborhood. Had I waited, I would not have rostered as good of a closer as Jansen, but I could have saved $4 or $5.
Best bargain of the draft: $5 was a cheap lottery ticket for a proven closer on an improving team in Fernando Rodney. It was a nice low-risk buy for Glenn Colton and Rick Wolf. Overall, the closer market was depressed and I was able to roster both Hector Neris and Jeanmar Gomez for a total of $6.
Biggest surprise of the draft: I was probably most surprised by David Freese going for $9, a player I had in the $3 area. After thinking about it, I sensed concern about both of Pittsburgh’s starting corner infielders – but for different reasons. Despite his inexperience, Josh Bell still went for $19, but likely others at the table were less sure about his potential. Jung-ho Kang’s inability to stay out of trouble with the law certainly added to the uncertainty. Even so, the Bucs also have John Jaso, who went for just $1. I like that deal better than $9 for Freese.
Which pick do you regret? I am not sure I would call it regret, but in hindsight, I paid more of a full price load for Kang. His ongoing legal problems and a likely suspension ahead means his $15 selection was a bit of a crapshoot. I made shortstop Luis Sardinas my first reserve pick just to have someone ready who will accrue at-bats in case Kang opens the season in the penalty box.
Which player do you wish you'd gone the extra dollar for? I had been in on the first base scrum but bailed out on several of the big names as the prices were high for my tastes. By the time my list was down to two names, I did not go $23 on Brandon Belt, but ended up having to spend the same on Adrian Gonzalez. The alternative was to have to accept a lesser player at the position.
Which team looks the strongest? I especially like the top end of the pitching staff of Steve Gardner -- Max Scherzer, Zack Greinke and Kenta Maeda – acquired for a total of $55. Derek Van Riper also has a strong and deep rotation with Johnny Cueto, Jameson Taillon, Jeff Samardzija, Jerad Eichkoff and Ivan Nova. In part due to his usual strategy of minimal spend on pitching, 2016 second-place finisher Doug Dennis assembled a strong offense, with just one hitter under $10 (Wilmer Flores at $7).
C Norris, Derek $3
C Hedges, Austin $5
1B Gonzalez, Adrian $23
2B Hernandez, Cesar $11
3B Kang, Jung-ho $15
SS Villar, Jonathan $29
CI Reyes, Jose $14
MI Harrison, Josh $13
OF Stanton, Giancarlo $27
OF Peralta, David $17
OF Pence, Hunter $15
OF Toles, Andrew $5
OF Parker, Jarrett $3
UT Almora, Albert $2
P Jansen, Kenley $22
P Teheran, Julio $17
P Moore, Matt $11
P Ray, Robbie $9
P Gray, Jonathan $9
P Neris, Hector $4
P Anderson, Tyler $3
P Gomez, Jeanmar $2
P Wheeler, Zack $1
RESERVES: Sardinas, Luis; Buchter, Ryan; Smith, Dominic; Hood, Destin; Stephenson, Robert; Kingery, Scott.
Colton and the Wolfman (Glenn Colton, Rick Wolf, Stacie Stern)
Affiliation: Fantasy Alarm
Year in LABR (championships if applicable): 16th (three AL titles)
Overall strategy going into the draft: Play SMART, budget close to $200 of the $260 on hitting, get good hitting early before the prices for mediocre hitters skyrocket and get either Noah Syndergaard or Madison Bumgarner to anchor the staff.
Did it work? Yes, we have a core of Thor, Goldy and Kris Bryant – a trio that should keep us competitive all year long.
Best bargain of the draft: Ours was Jordy Mercer at $4. When “has-beens” and “never-will-bes” were going for more in the end game, we were able to roster an everyday player who will provide decent counting stats.
Biggest surprise of the draft: Clayton Kershaw going for $44 despite concerns over back issues.
Which pick do you regret? While we think the prices were too high, the team is divided – Colton most regrets not being able to roster Javy Baez (he predicts a 30-30 season) and the Wolfman most regrets not getting Trea Turner (he predicts a 20-40 monster campaign).
Which player do you wish you'd gone the extra dollar for? Howie Kendrick. A 2B/OF who has hit .279 or better every year except 2016 and is hitting in good park for first time this year was worth another buck.
Which team looks the strongest? Doug Dennis (though in his self-deprecating way, he will disagree).
C Suzuki, Kurt $1
C Hermann, Chris $3
1B Goldschmidt, Paul $38
2B Zobrist , Ben $18
SS Cabrera, Asdrubal $13
3B Bryant, Kris $37
CI Adams, Matt $3
MI Mercer, Jordy $4
OF Kemp, Matt $25
OF Inciarte, Ender $18
OF Broxton, Keon $17
OF Drury, Brandon $14
OF Ethier, Andre $3
UT Alvarez, Pedro $3
P Syndergaard, Noah $31
P Watson, Tony $11
P Rodney, Fernando $5
P Buchholz, Clay $5
P Finnegan, Brandon $3
P Nicasio, Juan $2
P McCarthy, Brandon $2
P Hand, Brad $2
P Peralta, Wily $2
RESERVES: Perdomo, Luis; Barrett, Jake; Godley, Zack; Ramos, Edubray; Rivero, Felipe; Szczur, Matt.
Greg Ambrosius/Shawn Childs
Affiliation: NFBC
Year in LABR (championships if applicable): 24 (1 NL title)
Overall strategy going into the draft: We were willing to build our team around Clayton Kershaw if the price was right, but if we got outbid there as expected then we'd pivot to Madison Bumgarner. As usual, we wanted to build our offense around six top hitters and fill in with lower-priced hitters in a Stars and Scrubs strategy. We also were willing to jump in on a closer if the prices were depressed there, giving us a more balanced team. Usually we punt saves, but we didn't want to do that this time.
Did it work? We got Bryce Harper and Madison Bumgarner for fair value and also got the players we wanted in Anthony Rizzo, Dee Gordon, Maikel Franco and Addison Russell. Now we'll have to see if the players we targeted were the right ones. When relievers were discounted too much we took two in Familia and Iglesias, which is unheard of for us. I wish we could have gone with a better No. 2 SP than Matt Harvey, but hopefully he holds up. This team has the potential to contend if the pitching holds up, so yes we're happy with the results.
Best bargain of the draft: Jake Arrieta at $23 seems like a bargain for an ace. The prices for all of the starting pitchers after Kershaw went lower than expected, but $23 for this Cubs ace was a good $7 lower than we expected.
Biggest surprise of the draft: Clayton Kershaw going for $44 is the highest I can remember since John Hunt threw out Pedro Martinez for $50!! He may return that value again for Derek Carty, who always builds his team around Kershaw, but it still was higher than expected.
Which pick do you regret? Matt Harvey. Shawn is predicting a comeback, so I'll rely on his intuition, but he burned us last year and there's no guarantees here. We went with the upside, but I hope we don't get burned again.
Which player do you wish you'd gone the extra dollar for? Kenta Maeda for $13 was a bargain and he would have been an ideal No. 2 SP for our team. He came out after we gambled on Harvey and personally I wish we had waited for Maeda instead.
Which team looks the strongest? I'll pass on this one.
C d’Arnaud, Travis $8
C Montero, Miguel $3
1B Rizzo, Anthony $33
2B Gordon, Dee $24
SS Russell , Addison $20
3B Franco, Maikel $22
CI Bellinger, Cody $2
MI Gennett, Scooter $1
OF Harper, Bryce $35
OF Pederson, Joc $19
OF Williamson, Mac $3
OF Jay, Jon $1
OF Gutierrez, Franklin $1
UT Crawford, JP $3
P Bumgarner, Madison $30
P Harvey , Matt $16
P Familia, Jeurys $11
P Iglesias, Raisel $10
P Wainwright, Adam $10
P Miller, Shelby $3
P Glover, Koda $2
P Conley, Adam $2
P Bradley, Archie $1
RESERVES: Nelson, Jimmy; Wisler, Matt; Reed, Cody; Hoskins, Rhys; Aybar, Erick; Phillips, Brett.
Derek VanRiper
Affiliation: RotoWire
Year in LABR (championships if applicable): 6th, 4th in NL (1 title)
Overall strategy going into the draft: I had two paths – one featuring Clayton Kershaw at a max bid of $44, the other with Kris Bryant as the most expensive player on my roster, likely serving as the first buy in a stars-and-scrubs approach. In both cases, I had no intention of paying for saves.
Did it work? I didn't end up with Kershaw or Bryant, but I managed to get hitters near the top of the pool at what I felt were reasonable prices (Joey Votto, $29 and Trevor Story, $26) and a discounted ace in Johnny Cueto at $22. From there, I was more aggressive in the middle of the auction, and I managed to get into dollar days with three roster spots left: CI, UT and P. I didn't pay a premium for any closers, so that aspect of the strategy was executed correctly.
Best bargain of the draft: Domingo Santana at $13 to Doug Dennis is one of my favorite buys. I think he's a $20 player this year (I had to overpay late to get him in 2016), as he showed even while dealing with a shoulder injury last year that there is 25-30 homer power in that bat.
Biggest surprise of the draft: It's a tie – the first is that I did not end up with Paul Goldschmidt after getting him in each of the last three NL LABR auctions. The second is that the non-Kenley Jansen closers were $3-4 less than I expected.
Which pick do you regret? My regret was buying Hunter Renfroe at $11. I think he can earn a little more than that, but looking back at the construction of my roster, I would have been better off getting a corner infielder around that price point since Tommy La Stella ($1) will likely struggle to start more than a game or two per week. Holes in the outfield are a bit easier to fill in season since so many bench options come and go over the course of the year.
Which player do you wish you'd gone the extra dollar for? Yangervis Solarte. He sold for $11, and if I had purchased him for $12, I would feel a better about the hole on my roster being in the outfield rather than in the corner infield since it's usually easier for me to find useful outfielders during the season.
Which team looks the strongest? I really like my squad again this year (shocker), but the Greg Ambrosius and Shawn Childs team is scary if Matt Harvey is healthy. It's a big if, but I liked the way they put together their roster and I don't see any major categorical weakness.
C Grandal, Yasmani $13
C Susac, Andrew $3
1B Votto, Joey $29
CI Forsythe, Logan $14
SS Story, Trevor $26
3B Perez, Hernan $10
2B LaStella, Tommy $1
MI Phillips, Brandon $9
OF Schwarber, Kyle $21
OF Piscotty, Stephen $20
OF Jankowski, Travis $13
OF Heyward, Jason $12
OF Renfroe, Hunter $11
UT Meadows, Austin $1
P Cueto, Johnny $22
P Taillon, Jameson $14
P Samardzjia, Jeff $10
P Eickoff, Jerad $9
P Nova, Ivan $9
P Foltynewicz, Mike $7
P Rondon, Hector $2
P Capps, Carter $3
P Phelps, David $1
RESERVES: Strop, Pedro; Lawrie, Brett; Butler, Eddie; Ruiz, Rio; Hernandez, Guillermo; Van Slyke, Scott.
Steve Gardner
Affiliation: USA TODAY Sports
Year in LABR (championships if applicable): 12th
Overall strategy going into the draft: Be mindful of this league’s tendency to spend heavily on hitters and don’t jump at the early pitching values. Be prepared to pay extra for power and speed.
Did it work? I wasn’t patient at all, paying $28 for the second pitcher nominated. But I thought the value for Max Scherzer was too good to pass up. Likewise, I jumped on Freddie Freeman (power), A.J. Ramos (saves) and Starling Marte (steals) among the first 20 players nominated.
Best bargain of the draft: Kyle Hendricks for $17 seemed out of place, considering 12 other starters went for more.
Biggest surprise of the draft: The bidding wars for Clayton Kershaw ($44), Rich Hill ($20) and Josh Bell ($19). Plus the fact that no one besides Doug Dennis went really cheap on pitching this year. Everyone had at least one $20 pitcher.
Which pick do you regret? Michael Wacha at $5. I still had several spots to fill and it would have been helpful to have that extra cash to spend on other less-risky guys in the endgame.
Which player do you wish you'd gone the extra dollar for? I dropped out of the bidding on Jedd Gyorko at $13. Considering I ended up needing more power, his pop out of the middle infield would have been very helpful.
Which team looks the strongest? Derek VanRiper punted saves, but the rest of his team looks very strong. Brian Walton also has a solid all-around team.
C Cervelli, Francisco $8
C Barnes, Austin $1
1B Freeman, Freddie $29
2B Murphy, Daniel $28
SS Galvis, Freddy $7
3B Shaw, Travis $12
CI Garcia, Adonis $7
MI Spangenberg, Cory $3
OF Marte, Starling $29
OF Fowler, Dexter $17
OF Bruce, Jay $16
OF Granderson, Curtis $13
OF Quinn, Roman $4
UT Rosario, Amed $1
P Scherzer, Max $28
P Grienke, Zack $14
P Maeda, Kenta $13
P Ramos, A.J. $11
P Wacha, Michael $5
P Wood, Alex $5
P Reed, Addison $4
P Straily, Dan $3
P Ziegler, Brad $2
RESERVES: Dietrich, Derek; Koehler, Tom; Lagares, Juan; Ruf, Darin; Garza, Matt; Garcia, Jose Adolis.
Bob Radomski
Affiliation: Sandlot Shrink
Year in LABR (championships if applicable): 15th year (one title)
Overall strategy going into the draft: Budget was set per position with a 70/30 split. Heavy bidding was expected in the first quarter of the draft, strategy was to participate fully because of limited potential in the NL. Hitting focus was on the outfield and corners. Pitching strategy was one “stud” starter and relief pitcher, then wait for pitching value later in the draft.
Did it work? The draft was relatively subdued for a LABR affair with modest bidding in the early third. This provided opportunity to fill key positions at a LABR "bargain," which is not over value. On the corners our focus was third where we purchased Arenado for $38. Getting Yelich and Cespedes for a total of $53 was $2 under budget.
The pitching focus on one top starter and relief pitcher netted Lester and Davis. Then we had to pick our spots for other starters with DeSclafani a bargain at $7 with upside projected.
Best bargain of the draft: For our team the bargain seems to be Alen Hanson at $1.
Biggest surprise of the draft: Big surprise and gamble is on Thames at $22, I overpaid with risk. Has Thames’s swing changed from his 2012 all-fields line drive to more power? Thames seems to have developed in Korea a more fluid compact swing and is stronger. He will get his home runs. How many is the question as he faces much better pitching in more spacious parks.
Which pick (if any) do you regret? Regret going to $5 for Barraclough.
Which player do you wish you'd gone the extra dollar for? Freeman at $29, and Teheran at $17.
Which team looks the strongest? Doug Dennis.
C Wieters, Matt $11
C Iannetta, Chris $1
1B Thames, Eric $22
2B Panik, Joe $13
SS Diaz, Aledmys $20
3B Arenado, Nolan $38
CI Jaso, John $1
MI Hanson, Alen $1
OF Cespedes, Yoenis $27
OF Yelich, Christian $26
OF Grichuk, Randal $19
OF Altherr, Aaron $4
OF Taylor, Michael $3
UT Thompson, Trayce $2
P Lester, Jon $24
P Davis, Wade $15
P Matz, Steven $11
P DeSclafani, Anthony $7
P Leake, Mike $5
P Barraclough, Kyle $5
P Lorenzen, Michael $3
P Lugo, Seth $1
P Hudson, Daniel $1
RESERVES: Frazier, Adam; Peterson, Jace; Siegrist, Kevin; Romo, Sergio; Drew, Stephen; Blanco, Gregor.
Dalton Del Don
Affiliation: Yahoo! Sports
Year in LABR (championships if applicable): 9th year
Overall strategy going into the draft: I prefer to spread the wealth and not pay up for stars in only leagues. Otherwise I was pretty agnostic with few players I targeted.
Did it work? I was happy with it. At-bats and innings pitched are a commodity here, and I feel like I at least came away with plenty of those.
Best bargain of the draft: Daniel Hudson could very easily be a closer, so getting him for $1 was great.
Biggest surprise of the draft: Biggest surprise was me grabbing three catchers. I didn't exactly enter with this strategy, but I wasn't going to let Devin Mesoraco go for $3 in an NL-only two-catcher league. Thankfully trading is allowed here.
Which pick do you regret? I can't quit Stephen Strasburg, but I'm sure he'll blow out his elbow before this is published.
Which player do you wish you'd gone the extra dollar for? Clayton Kershaw is the No. 1 player on my board, so I'll say him. But he wasn't quite the bargain as in years past.
Which team looks the strongest? Derek Carty is the reigning champ, and his team looks strong yet again.
C Flowers, Tyler $5
C Murphy, Tom $10
1B Duda, Lucas $13
2B Schimpf, Ryan $7
SS Seager, Corey $30
3B Turner, Justin $22
CI Bell, Josh $19
MI Peraza, Jose $22
OF Conforto, Michael $12
OF Span, Denard $10
OF Saunders, Michael $8
OF Werth, Jayson $8
OF Schebler, Scott $7
UT Mesoraco, Devin $4
P Strasburg, Stephen $23
P Nola, Aaron $12
P Urias, Julio $10
P Gsellman, Robert $10
P Walker, Taijuan $9
P Feliz, Neftali $8
P Garcia, Jaime $4
P Colon, Bartolo $4
P Kazmir, Scott $3
RESERVES: Benoit, Joaquin; Wright, David; Beede, Tyler; Brito, Socrates; Cingrani, Tony; Arroyo, Bronson.
Lenny Melnick
Affiliation: lennymelnickfantasysports.com
Year in LABR (championships if applicable): 10th (3 titles)
Overall strategy going into the draft: Do not draft a closer in an auction format. ... Do not draft one-trick SB ponies in outfield. Meet the benchmarks in categories from last year any way possible.
Did it work? Perry Van Hook and I partnered on Facebook messenger as my flight got cancelled from NY. We did it!!
Best bargain of the draft: Blake Treinen taken by Derek Carty at $2 and Daniel Hudson at $1 by Radomski. Tanner Roark on my team for $11
Biggest surprise of the draft: That Perry and I managed to get the team we prepared for as we connected on Facebook, when we learned the phone was out!!
Which pick do you regret? Howie Kendrick was a mistake, as I typed NO on Facebook Messenger and Perry thought he saw $10.
Which player do you wish you'd gone the extra dollar for? Yasiel Puig went for $13. I liked him at $14.
Which team looks the strongest? We hit all the benchmarks from 2016 except saves. Our starting pitching is better than we hoped. If Gerrit Cole does well, WE WIN!
C Wolters, Tony $3
C Barnhart, Tucker $3
1B Myers, Wil $27
2B Baez, Javier $22
SS Arcia, Orlando $13
3B Suarez, Eugenio $14
CI Bour, Justin $15
MI Kendrick, Howie $10
OF Braun, Ryan $31
OF Desmond, Ian $26
OF Ozuna, Marcell $20
OF Parra, Gerardo $5
OF Suzuki, Ichiro $1
UT Herrera, Dilson $2
P Martinez, Carlos $24
P Cole, Gerrit $18
P Roark, Tanner $11
P Lynn, Lance $9
P Kuhl, Chad $2
P Ryu, Hyun-Jin $1
P Storen, Drew $1
P Blach, Ty $1
P Cabrera, Mauricio $1
RESERVES: Corbin, Patrick; Chatwood, Tyler; Nathan, Joe; Cozens, Dylan; Perez, Yefri; Senzel, Nick.
Eric Karabell
Affiliation: ESPN.com
Year in LABR (championships if applicable): 11th
Overall strategy going into the draft: Properly execute the plan of spending roughly $200 on hitters, with several five-category providers and versatility, and a few young, upside picks. Outbid Gardner for Jedd Gyorko. And with pitching, target one ace pitcher, one closer, safe innings options.
Did it work? Actually it did! If this team is awful, I sure can’t blame it on failing to follow my own game plan.
Best bargain of the draft: Cody Bellinger for $2. And the dinner.
Biggest surprise of the draft: Kershaw and Rich Hill for a combined $64.
Which pick do you regret? Gregory Polanco should have been Ian Desmond.
Which player do you wish you'd gone the extra dollar for? Desmond, Wilmer Flores, Jeanmar Gomez.
Which team looks the strongest? Walton.
C Rupp, Cameron $9
C Alfaro, Jorge $1
1B Belt, Brandon $22
2B Gyorko, Jedd $13
SS Nunez, Eduardo $20
3B Rendon, Anthony $23
CI Reynolds, Mark $3
MI Marte, Ketel $4
OF Blackmon, Charlie $30
OF Polanco, Gregory $28
OF Herrera, Odubel $20
OF Margot, Manuel $15
OF Brinson, Lewis $3
UT Freese, David $9
P DeGrom, Jacob $20
P Lackey, John $11
P Johnson, Jim $9
P Davies, Zach $6
P Montgomery, Mike $5
P Hellickson, Jeremy $5
P Knebel , Corey $2
P Rosenthal, Trevor $1
P Anderson, Chase $1
RESERVES: Utley, Chase; Bettis, Chad; Kingham, Nick; Brault, Stephen; Hazelbaker, Jeremy; Adelman, Tim.
Steve Moyer
Affiliation: Yakkertech
Year in LABR (championships if applicable): 19th (2 titles)
Overall strategy going into the draft: Back to the boring Steve Moyer - establish good dollar values and bargain hunt strategy. Any player is as good as any other at the right price.
Did it work? I've got a fighting chance.
Best bargain of the draft: Adam Ottavino at $7
Biggest surprise of the draft: Josh Bell - $19. Is this some cyborg Josh Bell I don't know about?
Which pick do you regret? Jesse Winker - $2. Not very excited about Winker. Just a guy who still had some value on my sheet in the end game. Although I always feel like the guy I officially regret is never the guy I regret at season end.
Which player do you wish you'd gone the extra dollar for? Austin Hedges. Hedges has trended steadily upward since the end of last season. Surely that he's supposed to be rock-solid defensively has a lot to do with that.
Which team looks the strongest? Brian Walton.
C Posey, Buster $25
C Hundley, Nick $3
1B Lind, Adam $7
SS Turner, Trea $34
2B Owings, Chris $10
3B Solarte, Yangervis $11
CI Hwang, Jae-gyun $3
MI Ceccini, Gavin $1
OF Pollock, A.J. $27
OF McCutchen, Andrew $25
OF Duvall, Adam $15
OF Winker, Jesse $2
OF Pagan, Angel $1
UT Pham, Tommy $1
P Arrieta, Jake $23
P Hendricks, Kyle $17
P Melancon, Mark $17
P Oh, Seung-Hwan $16
P Ross, Joe $9
P Maurer, Brandon $7
P Guerra, Junior $4
P Dickey, R.A. $1
P Volquez, Edinson $1
RESERVES: Albies, Ozzie; Tapia, Raimel; Blanton, Joe; Eflin, Zach; Rivera, T.J.; Cole, A.J.