This article is part of our Rounding Third series.
When I started going through the bidding process for my leagues this week, my first reaction was one of revulsion in looking at the starting pitchers available. It was that sort of week, with very little immediate help on the waiver wire. In fact, the more common bids that I saw were people swooping in to stash other manager's drops.
AL Tout Wars:
What do you do when you can't find a decent starting pitcher on the waiver wire? You add high-performing non-closers. At least, that's what happened in AL Tout Wars this week, as a slew of them were added. Tayler Scott of the Astros caught my eye. He barely made the team out of spring training as the team had to add a number of new relievers, but seems to have hit his stride after bouncing around a number of different franchises, picking up his first hold last weekend. I added Kirk Kyle Muller of the A's for this week, with the A's hosting the Rockies at home this week and him possibly piggybacking Mitch Spence's start.
NFBC Main Event:
So far MJ Melendez has more resembled the hitter from the first four months of 2023 rather than the one that heated up over the final two months, and the Royals' patience might start to wear thin. But I'm making one, last (maybe!) cheap bet that there's still something left here. At any rate, the Jon Singleton experience seems to be coming to a close
When I started going through the bidding process for my leagues this week, my first reaction was one of revulsion in looking at the starting pitchers available. It was that sort of week, with very little immediate help on the waiver wire. In fact, the more common bids that I saw were people swooping in to stash other manager's drops.
AL Tout Wars:
What do you do when you can't find a decent starting pitcher on the waiver wire? You add high-performing non-closers. At least, that's what happened in AL Tout Wars this week, as a slew of them were added. Tayler Scott of the Astros caught my eye. He barely made the team out of spring training as the team had to add a number of new relievers, but seems to have hit his stride after bouncing around a number of different franchises, picking up his first hold last weekend. I added Kirk Kyle Muller of the A's for this week, with the A's hosting the Rockies at home this week and him possibly piggybacking Mitch Spence's start.
NFBC Main Event:
So far MJ Melendez has more resembled the hitter from the first four months of 2023 rather than the one that heated up over the final two months, and the Royals' patience might start to wear thin. But I'm making one, last (maybe!) cheap bet that there's still something left here. At any rate, the Jon Singleton experience seems to be coming to a close soon, so there's not much left to lose. Keep churning those bottom roster spots!
Beat Jeff Erickson1:
Luke Raley has heated up after a slow start, and for the light-hitting Mariners, that's especially important. Even as they bring back J.P. Crawford from the injury list and bring in one more bat, it looks like Raley will continue to get plenty of run against right-handed starters.
Beat Jeff Erickson2:
This team has turned out to be a disaster, and this week was geared towards being able to field a full roster. Raley directly replaced Encarnacion-Strand at first base (finally) for me, and I played Austin Riley all last week at CR, so in goes Bell at least for the first half of the week.
Yogurt (TGFBI):
If you squint, you can see some signs of life with Colt Keith, even though he hasn't homered yet. But he's playing more than Oswaldo Cabrera and has a better chance on long-term playing time too, so I thought he might be worth a shot. Griffin Canning is the human whipsaw - I will always get him at the wrong time, but still, he's pitching well right now.
I wasn't in on the Alek Manoah bidding, despite acknowledging how well he has pitched in his last two starts. As for Luis Matos, he was my top bid but I was nowhere close at $23. I think we probably just missed out on the best week of his career, though I can will concede he at least he has some prospect pedigree plus guaranteed playing time that could justify the higher bid.
SCARF:
There's Raley again, and my pitcher here was the unlucky Joe Ross. Ross was my fourth pitching preference (Tylor Megill, Patrick Sandoval, Michael Lorenzen), but I thought at least I'd get a two-start pitcher with the first start coming against the Marlins. Instead, Ross got hurt two innings into his start and is already on the IL. Womp, womp, womp.
RotoWire Staff Keeper League:
Between Ian Happ and Luis Matos, we had a couple of relatively big bids for a league that has a $100 FAAB budget and no $0 bids (it's a keeper league - everyone has to have a price). I went relatively small with Adam Ottavino, who could play a short-time role in the Mets' closing picture while the Mets try to get Edwin Diaz straightened out.
But my big move was on the trade market - I decided to make a bid at defending my title despite losing Spencer Strider for the year. Former champ Ryan Rufe is rebuilding this year and made acquiring Strider his priority; Strider will need to be extended this offseason. Ryan offered and I accepted the following deal:
Rufe trades: Max Fried $31C (C is his expiring contract season), Justin Verlander $10D24 (Verlander also expires this year, via a slightly different mechanism with Verlander getting a contract extension), Matt Olson $50B, and Nico Hoerner $9C.
Erickson trades: Spencer Strider $3B, Max Muncy $17A, Cam Collier $0M, Richie Palacios $1A.
Making a "go-for-it" trade is always nerve-wracking, more so when the player most responsible for last year's win is the cost of doing business. But, "Flags Fly Forever" and all that is absolutely true, and this was the best deal I could do. I only wish I would have done it two weeks ago.
