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Depending on how long you have been a Baseball Prospectus subscriber, welcome or welcome back to the Expert FAAB Review. Every week, I’m going to take a look at the players and the process behind the bidding in LABR mixed, Tout Wars NL, and either LABR AL or Tout Wars AL (I will alternate every week). Bret Sayre and I participate in LABR mixed while I have a team in Tout Wars NL, so I can provide some insights behind the reasoning on the bids. Budgets in all three leagues start at $100 at the beginning of the season.

Random Quote of the Week:
“Even my job seemed as dry and bitter as a hot prairie wind. I found myself driving past convenience stores…that weren’t on the way home.” —H.I. McDunnough, Raising Arizona

LABR Mixed

Roberto Perez $18. Other bids: $1, $1.
Last week I wrote about Yan Gomes and how Jeff Erickson of Rotowire nabbed Francisco Cervelli as Gomes’s replacement instead of Perez. This week, Perez was added by Todd Zola of Mastersball with a hefty bid to replace the injured John Jaso. The bid was aggressive, but there is nothing wrong with ensuring production from a catcher slot in a two-catcher format.

Alex Guerrero $9. Other bid: $8
Is Juan Uribe going to lose his job as the Dodgers third baseman? I don’t know, but hasn’t stopped me from seeing some iteration of this question 10,237 times this month. It hasn’t helped that Uribe is off to a slow start while Guerrero has popped two home runs. But the season is young and it doesn’t seem like the Dodgers are going to make a move. I’d hold off in deep mixed unless you can stash Guerrero. The nice thing about this pick-up is I probably won’t have to write about Guerrero again for a while.

Nathan Karns $8. Other bid $7.
I recommended about Karns in yesterday’s Free Agent Watch. I like Karns in deeper mixed due to the strikeout value.

Alfredo Simon $7. Other bids $5, $5, $2, $2, $1.
I was less enthusiastic about Simon than I was about Karns yesterday. He does have quantity going for him this week in the form of a two-start week at home against the Yankees and the Indians.

Cameron Maybin $7. Other bid $1.
Maybin has worked his way into everyday at bats for the Braves and while he is off to a slow start, the power/speed combo makes him a great play as an OF5 as long as he is healthy.

Hector Santiago $7. Other bids: $3, $3, $1.
Bret and I discussed putting a $2-3 bid on Santiago but decided not to do so. We have already spent a significant amount of FAAB on Jason Grilli and don’t want to get cute in a league with no waivers or $0 FAAB. It didn’t matter, as Santiago went for $7. He has a nice two-start week this week at home against the Athletics and Rangers.

Carlos Peguero $6.
Peguero has worked his way into a job-sharing arrangement with Jake Smolinski. His power potential makes him intriguing, but the batting average will be brutal if he plays regularly.

Odrisamer Despaigne $4. Other bid $1.
I like Despaigne as a streamer but he may not get the Petco start if Ian Kennedy is back as expected.

Jose Iglesias $4. Other bids: $2, $2, $1
Iglesias’s ridiculously good batting average won’t hold up, but his surprising stolen base output may not be a complete mirage. 20-25 steals from a middle infielder make him 15-team mixed worthy.

Sam Fuld $3.
Travis Wood $3.
Wood has a two-start week coming up, with one favorable park in Pittsburgh. He looked great his last time out, though we have been through this before.

Gerardo Parra $3.
A nice add with Carlos Gomez on the shelf for at least a couple of weeks.

J.T. Realmuto $2. Other bids $2, $1, $1.
This was the only bid Bret and I made this week. We like Realmuto a little bit better than our second catcher, Ryan Hanigan, but didn’t want to put too much down on him given that Hanigan is still starting. We considered bidding $3 and moved the bid down to $2, which lost us the tiebreaker.

Yimi Garcia $2. Other bid: $1
I like middle relievers in 15-team leagues, and Garcia has been in position for some vulture wins of late (warning, vulture wins not guaranteed from week to week for fantasy owners).

Jordan Walden $2.
Walden picked up a save on Sunday night. Trevor Rosenthal is safe, but Walden is clearly the backup if Rosenthal can’t go.

Kyle Lobstein $1
Brock Holt $1
A.J. Pierzynski $1

Pierzynski was tied for the major league lead for catchers in home runs heading into Monday before Stephen Vogt hit another one. He’ll obviously cool off, but Christian Bethancourt is hardly what I’d call an obstacle to playing time.

Yonder Alonso $1. Other bid $1.
Yangervis Solarte $1.
Jeff Locke $1.

Tout Wars NL

Tout Wars uses a Vickrey bidding system, which awards the winning bidder the player at one dollar more than the second highest bidder bid (this sentence uses the word “bid” a lot).

Kevin Plawecki $41 ($32). Other bids: $31, $21, $15, $9.
With the late news that Travis D’Arnaud’s injury was DL-worthy, Plawecki became Tout Wars NL’s latest boy-toy, flavor of the month in the FAAB wires. I thought $41 was aggressive, but the winning bidder – Derek Carty of Fantasy Insiders – owns D’Arnaud. I bid nine dollars. I have some holes on my offense, but didn’t want to sink more than 10% of my budget on a hitter whose fantasy upside isn’t particularly high.

Cody Martin $3 ($2). Other bids: $1, $0, $0, $0.
Martin is striking hitters out at a prodigious rate and with Jim Johnson slipping a little this week Martin could be moving into the primary set-up role behind Jason Grilli. He’s a good add for his whiff potential alone.

Kris Negron $5 ($1). Other bid $0.
Pedro Baez $4 ($1).
Reed Johnson $1.
Jason Rogers $1.
A.J. Ramos $1.
Other bid $1.
Michael Bolsinger $1.
Hector Sanchez $1
Brandon Maurer $1

Jonathan Herrera $0.
Skip Schumaker $0.
Ruben Tejada $0.
Rafael Martin $0.
Kevin Siegrist $0.
Jared Hughes $0.
J.P. Howell $0

There’s no snuggling in N.L. Tout Wars; you just strap yourself in and feel the G’s (hey, a bonus quote of sorts)! Early April is a time for lazy weekend afternoons with the family and low end bidding in mono formats. I picked up Ramos for a buck to replace the injured Neil Ramirez and Howell for $0 for Antonio Bastardo. Exciting. I can also be hired for parties and funerals.

LABR AL

Paulo Orlando $8. Other bids: $6, $3, $1.
There was an assumption after Alex Rios hurt himself that Jarrod Dyson would get most of the at bats in the outfield, but Orlando has been getting more of the starts. Orlando is a useful AL-only cog, though he could still lose some at bats to Dyson, unless Alex Gordon’s injury turns out to be more serious.

Tim Beckham $6. Other bids: $5, $4.
Beckham has (indirectly) taken advantage of James Loney’s injury, as Logan Forsythe has slid in at first while Beckham has picked up a good chunk of starts at second base for the injured Nick Franklin. Beckham’s fast start could lead to additional at bats even after Franklin comes back.

Kyle Lobstein $3. Other bids: $1, $1, $1.
Justin Verlander’s injury keeps getting more mysterious so the Tigers finally bit the bullet and put Lobstein on tap for today’s start against the Yankees. He could have a two-start week if Verlander isn’t ready on Sunday.

Pat Neshek $1
Ryan Madson $1
Liam Hendriks $1
Christian Colon $1
Carson Smith $1.
Other bid $1.
Jimmy Paredes $1.

Mono fever! Catch it! Wait, that sounds awful. Don’t do that.

Thank you for reading

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steve687
4/21
I love these articles, they're a great resource to read some analysis on the slim, slim FA pickings available in my 16-team.

One suggestion, and I don't know how much additional work this would require -- could we include who's being dropped for these pick ups? Outside of injuries and streamers, it'd maybe give an indication of what players experts are giving up on.
cnote66
4/21
This is a valuable resource that I look forward to reading every week -- keep up the great work!
mdthomp
4/21
I'm in a very deep dynasty and took a flier on Ryan Brett. A chance for anything there?
cnote66
4/22
Ouch...
jiggynits
4/21
Can anyone share their opinion on the 5$ bid on Kris Negron in an NL-only? I need a bench hitter to replace Scooter.