Excellent list of the bids, accompanied by interesting commentary about them by the Mastersball gang.
Ron Shandler finds some Oldies but maybe goodies on this week’s AL Waiver Wire, in his USA Today column.
Excellent list of the bids, accompanied by interesting commentary about them by the Mastersball gang.
Ron Shandler finds some Oldies but maybe goodies on this week’s AL Waiver Wire, in his USA Today column.
The Deal
05.13 | Gene McCaffrey | GBalfour | Oak | Trade | 05.08 @ 15:44 |
05.13 | Gene McCaffrey | RDetwiler | Was | Acquire | 05.08 @ 15:44 |
05.13 | Perry Van Hook | GBalfour | Oak | Acquire | 05.08 @ 15:44 |
05.13 | Perry Van Hook | RDetwiler | Was | Trade | 05.08 @ 15:44 |
Why?
Gene sent out this note: “I have one closer (Balfour), and I am entertaining the notion of dumping Saves. Any one of you can help me with this decision by offering a hitter or starting pitcher of comparable value. I know that nobody wants to witness the spectacle of my indecision; you are sensitive souls. Thank you for your consideration.”
Perry responded with the best player.
Gene has one point in Saves with one closer. He could have added another, but that would have cost him a decent player and likely points in other categories.
Perry has gotten 43 innings of excellent ERA out of Detwiler, who has allowed a fair number of baserunners and shouldn’t be expected to continue with a >3.00 ERA, so dealing him has an element of sell high about it.
Reality
Gene was able to deal his near-worthless (t0-him) reliever for one of the more beloved young pitchers this year. As a starter Detwiler helps in strikeouts only a little, since he isn’t a K/9 guy, but Gene is in good position to gain with any increase in Ks. Detwiler should also help in Wins, even if he is not a plus in ERA and WHIP. Meanwhile Perry, who is in the middle of the pack in Saves, has a chance to gain 5.5 easy points by adding a third closer (joining Holland and League). Perry’s risk is in strikeouts, where he could quickly lose four or five points. Gene stands to gain a few more points than Perry in the deal, but any points the frontrunner (Van Hook) could prove decisive.
Final Note
Phil Hertz had a piece in USA Today this week about how you can throw draft day prices out the window once the season starts, that once the season starts values change because draft prices sometimes reflect draft conditions rather than player value, and a player’s value on his fantasy team changes in context depending on how the categories in his league shake out. While Phil’s certainly right that it isn’t fair to judge his recent NL Tout trade of Ike Davis ($25) for Jeff Samardzija ($14) based on the prices, figuring out what is going on in the league and how teams did, in this case, on draft day, Â makes those prices pertinent. So how much did Balfour and Detwiler cost? Gene took Balfour in the 13th round, while Detwiler lasted until the 19th. In the Tout Mixed Auction Balfour was $11, while Detwiler was a reserve pick. I guess Gene would agree with Phil.
The weekly Mastersball summary of all four leagues can be found here.
And Nick Minnix shows his finger-nicking Tout Mixed Auction rationale here.
Perry Van Hook’s Tout Mixed Draft backstory on the big bids can be found here.
The Deal:
The following trade has been inserted, effective 05.06:
Mike Gianella gets:
Welington Castillo ChC from Derek Carty
Derek Carty gets:
Matt Garza ChC from Mike Gianella
Why?
Despite having Clayton Kershaw, Carty’s team is last in ERA and WHIP. He needed reinforcements and had three catchers. He in fact offered any of the three, including Buster Posey, and this was the best deal he could shake loose. Despite spending $18 on Mat Latos and bupkis on the rest of his pitchers, Gianella has had strong results. Matt Garza has been on the DL and won’t be back for another two weeks, while Mike’s been playing two blanks at catcher.
Reality?
Castillo was a $4 catcher on draft day, but is off to a good start, hitting for a good average. Garza was a $7 draft day DL starter who has yet to return. That’s close enough for a fair deal. One concern for Gianella is that with Hanley Ramirez just returning from the DL, and Aaron Hill coming back around the end of this month, his offense-heavy squad may not need a catcher who plays, while he may wish he had Garza once Travis Wood and Barry Zito end their hot streaks. Unless Tim Lincecum puts it back together, Carty needs starting pitching. Garza could be a good pickup if he can get and stay healthy.
Update:
5/4, 5:26pm ET: What I didn’t know that Mike Gianella certainly knew when he made the deal is that Hanley Ramirez is going to the DL for an extended period with a hamstring injury, meaning that Mike’s offense isn’t quite what it seemed like it might be.
Here’s the deal:Â
Chris Liss gets:
Ike Davis NYM from Phil Hertz
Phil Hertz gets:
Todd Helton Col from Chris Liss
Jeff Samardzija ChC from Chris Liss
Why?
Classic deal. Hertz has 12 points in runs, 11 in HR and 12 in RBI. Liss has 7 in Wins, 10 in ERA, 10 in WHIP and 12 in Strikeouts.
Reality?
Hertz’s strength in power has been fueled by surprising power from Nick Hundley and Dexter Fowler, while Ike Davis has underproduced. He runs the risk of not having the bats to sustain his leads as the season goes on. On the other hand, his underpowered pitching staff needed starting help, and nothing helps that more than adding a quality starter early in the season. The cost? A player highly coveted on auction day.
Liss has apparently improved his strong staff by adding Tony Cingrani and Jose Fernandez through waivers, allowing him to deal the $14 Samardzjia for the $25 Ike Davis. Helton will even things up some when he comes off the DL, depending on how much he’s able to play.
Lawr Michaels slips down into the bottomless rabbit hole of second guessing after releasing David Phelps in two leagues, including Tout AL, just before Phelps magical rise into the Yankee rotation.
You can read it here.
You can see all four Tout Wars leagues waiver claims each Sunday night at 12:01 am. Follow the links for each link in the right nav here at toutwars.com. When you get to the onRoto.com page for your league, look in the League Pages | Transaction Logs | View Bid-meister Results for all the FAABs, claims and releases for each league.
Then read the Mastersball FAAB Report, with analysis and a closer look at all the bids.