Acuña injury scare chills excitement
CLEARWATER, Fla. – The news rippled through the hotel ballroom like a toxic red tide.
Ronald Acuña Jr. had an appointment with one of the world’s most renowned surgeons for a consultation on his sore knee.
Coming off the greatest single season in fantasy baseball history, Acuña was a virtual lock to be the most popular (and expensive) player in the League of Alternative Baseball Reality draft. And that afternoon’s news was not what the participants wanted to hear.
In putting up the first 40-homer, 70-steal season in baseball history, Acuña racked up an astounding $60 in Roto value last year in NL-only leagues. If healthy, he’d be almost certain to surpass the all-time LABR record of $50 for a single player.
After Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto went for $26 and Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. reached $38, Acuña was the next name called.
The bidding passed Tatis, but then inexplicably went silent. Defending NL champions Rick Wolf and Glenn Colton of SiriusXM Radio rostered the best player in baseball for a mere $40. The move looked even better a few days later when Dr. Neal ElAttrache confirmed Acuña didn’t have a serious injury and the Braves said he should be ready for opening day.
Acuña’s unexpected impact
The Acuña discount had a dramatic effect on the rest of the draft, depressing the prices to roster other elite players even further. The bidding for top infield options Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Trea Turner and Austin Riley all stopped at $35.
(Adding to the unpredictability in the room was the absence of National Fantasy Baseball Championship founder Greg Ambrosius, who stepped aside this season after being part of LABR for each of its previous 30 seasons. In addition, former AL LABR champ Ian Kahn and NBC Sports’ D.J. Short were not able to attend in person, so they were represented by Ariel Cohen of the Beat the Shift podcast and Jesse Roche of Baseball Prospectus.)
So where did the extra money go?
Relief pitchers took up a major chunk. Ten of the first 24 players nominated were closers, with Edwin Diaz ($24) and Devin Williams ($22) leading the way, and the rest falling in the $15-$20 range.
More resources ended up being transferred to the middle class, and while some nice bargains slipped through the cracks – Paul Goldschmidt for $20, Ketel Marte and Merrill Kelly for $15 – inflation made things difficult for several of the teams looking to build balanced rosters.
Factoring in risk
Acuña wasn’t the only player who came with a little extra risk attached. Unsigned free agents are fair game in LABR, but if they sign with a team in the other league, they must be cut immediately.
Pitchers Blake Snell ($6) and Jordan Montgomery ($3) and slugger J.D. Martinez ($3) didn’t generate as
much interest as they did in the AL auction the previous night.
Meanwhile, Mets pitcher Kodai Senga, who’s been shut down for three weeks due to a shoulder strain, went for $6. The Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw, who hopes to be back after the All-Star break, was a $5 buy.
My USA TODAY team took a chance early on one of this year’s most polarizing players, Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz, landing him for what I felt was a discounted $24 as my first hitter. Shortly afterward, I added Kyle Schwarber for $23 and Shohei Ohtani for $34, leading one of the other team owners to quip that I must be looking to “lead the league in exit velocity.”
(In a sense, he was right. I decided fairly early to punt batting average and focus on homers, steals and pitching.)
Outfielders continued to be in high demand into the late stages of the draft. With several people still sitting on unspent funds, bidding wars surprisingly emerged for the likes of Jarred Kelenic ($17), Jack Suwinski ($17) and Sal Frelick ($15).
NL prospects abound
In the end, those remaining dollars made sure even unproven prospects required a slight premium to roster. Among them:
OF Jackson Chourio: $15
3B Michael Busch: $8
SP Paul Skenes: $7
SS Jackson Merrill: $7
SS Jordan Lawlar: $6
SS Joey Ortiz: $6
OF Victor Scott: $6
OF Pete Crow-Armstrong: $5
SP Max Meyer: $5
2B Tyler Black: $5
OF James Wood: $2
MLB’s new rules that encourage teams to promote their minor leaguers earlier in the season seems to be having its intended effect. With the success last year of youngsters Corbin Carroll, Matt McLain, Spencer Steer, Eury Perez and the tantalizing talents of De La Cruz, fantasy managers might be even more willing than ever before to take a chance on newcomers with high-upside potential.