Champ snags Kershaw
NL owners break tradition, battle for pitching
Of the two LABR aucPHOENIX tions, the National League version has historically been more unpredictable. From extreme strategies to teams trying to corner the market on scarce positions, there always seems to be something odd going on — forcing league owners to adjust on the fly.
While there were plenty of surprises and unexpected bidding wars, this year’s NL draft seemed tame in comparison to previous ones — with one major twist.
Defending champion Derek Carty, who rode Clayton Kershaw to an 11.5-point victory in 2016, had the honor of the first nomination. Predictably, he tossed out Kershaw — and challenged the other owners who might look to bid him up.
“I’m going to throw him out at the number I want him. If you go above me, be prepared to take him,” Carty declared, as he opened with a bid of $40 on the Los Angeles Dodgers ace ($2 more than he paid last year).
The other owners pushed Carty all the way up to $44 before the room went silent. The auction was off and running.
Money flowed quickly in the early going with Glenn Colton and Rick Wolf of Fantasy Alarm spending big on star sluggers, Kris Bryant for $37 and Paul Goldschmidt for $38. Those two, along with Nolan Arenado at $38, were the league’s three most expensive hitters.
But in a bit of a surprise, the most active early bidding was on pitchers. This league is known for an overall reluctance to spend heavily on pitching, partly because of the annual strategy Doug Dennis of Baseball HQ employs of putting together the cheapest pitching staff possible.
Dennis’ plan tends to drive hitting prices higher than normal, and it suppresses the prices on pitchers. That seemed to be the case on the second starting pitcher nominated, Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals.
Although it’s uncertain whether he’ll be ready for opening day because of a stress fracture on the knuckle of his right ring finger, Scherzer led the majors with 284 strikeouts and was fantasy’s best pitcher last season. At $28, he seemed like a steal for my USA TODAY Sports squad, as long as the injury doesn’t linger.
That price looked even better soon after when aces Noah Syndergaard and Madison Bumgarner sold for $31 and $30, respectively. (By comparison, Dennis’ nine-man pitching staff cost a total of $30.)
There were even bidding wars on starters, something that rarely happens in NL LABR. Carlos Martinez of the St. Louis Cardinals went to 2014 champion Lenny Melnick for $24 and the Dodgers’ Rich Hill sold for $20 to Carty.
Speaking of Melnick, the newly inducted Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall of Famer had some travel issues getting to Arizona and was forced to draft over the phone (with assistance from former LABR owner Perry Van Hook).
The unconventional setup might have been a factor in Melnick waiting until the third round of nominations to purchase his first player (Justin Bour, $15) and paying what seemed to be inflated prices for Martinez and infielder Javier Baez ($22).
Another unexpected bidding war erupted over Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Josh Bell, who is recovering from knee surgery and is questionable for opening day. The bidding went all the way to $19 before Yahoo’s Dalton Del Don won out.
Unlike in the AL LABR auction a day earlier when only 13 outfielders sold for $20 or more, NL owners were more than happy to pay up.
Bryce Harper ($35), Ryan Braun ($31) and Charlie Blackmon ($30) all sold for more than all but two of their AL counterparts. They were among 21 NL outfielders to hit the $20 mark.
Dennis and Melnick had three of those $20-plus outfielders. Del Don spent heavily in the infield with Corey Seager ($30) and Jose Peraza ($22) joining Bell and Justin Turner ($22).
Among other intriguing developments:
Closers come cheap: The Dodgers’ Kenley Jansen was the second player purchased, at $22. Mark Melancon ($17), Seung Hwan Oh ($17) and Wade Davis ($15) were the only others closers selling for more than $11.
Catching options: Buster Posey was the top catcher at $25, with Willson Contreras next at $18. But LABR only requires five games played at a new position during the season to qualify there. That makes Kyle Schwarber a potential growth stock at $21 for Derek VanRiper of Rotowire.
Speed is always at a pre
mium: That’s especially true in the current environment where stolen-base attempts are down: Trea Turner went for $34, followed by Jonathan Villar ($29), Starling Marte ($29), Billy Hamilton ($25), Dee Gordon ($24), Jose Peraza ($22) and Eduardo Nunez ($20). Keon Broxton ($18), Manuel Margot ($15), Travis Jankowski ($13), Hernan Perez ($10) and Roman Quinn ($4) were also speculative steals sources.
Thames time: Perhaps the most intriguing player in the draft, first baseman Eric Thames, was a $22 buy for Sandlot Shrink’s Bob Radomski. After hitting a total of 124 home runs over the past three seasons in South Korea, Thames is set to be the Milwaukee Brewers starter this season. He also hit .349 over that span and stole 64 bases. But how will his statistics translate? By comparison, first basemen Adrian Gonzalez ($23), Brandon Belt ($22) and Tommy Joseph ($18) were in the same general price range.