Author: Todd Zola

Welcome to the weekly Tout Wars FAAB report, on its new home right here on the Tout Wars site. Each week, we’ll review the free agent acquisitions from all five leagues, with commentary from a league member, as well as yours truly. We changed the timing of the weekly run to 1 PM ET every Sunday, with the report posted later that afternoon so you’ll have time to digest and apply to your own leagues. In addition, I’ll be joining Lawr Michaels and Justin Mason on the Tout Wars Hour on the FNTSY Network every Sunday at 3:20 PM ET to discuss the results.

You can find the complete list of Tout Warriors here. Everyone starts with 1000 FAAB units, less any penalty incurred by finishing below a designated point in the standings. This is a means of keeping everyone motivated to keep playing all season long. The minimum bid is $0. FAAB units can be traded as well as rebated for players released off the DL.

The report will list all winning bids along with unsuccessful tries and contingencies. This provides the maximum level of information to help gauge interest on the players.

The American and National League only formats are 12-team leagues, as is the new points-based head to head league, The Mixed Auction and Draft each have 15 clubs. All the leagues have four reserves with an unlimited DL, expect the head to head league, which allows six reserves.

The headings above each league are links to publicly accessible sites where you can see standings, roster and a complete review of transactions. The initial auctions and drafts can be found here.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Todd’s Take

AL only leagues are faced with a huge conundrum. If you have the hammer, do you go all-in on Brian Goodwin or hope someone else comes over prior to Wednesday’s deadline? Goodwin is a nice player, likely to get regular playing time with the Royals but is he a difference-maker? I think it comes down to deciding if Goodwin is enough to get you where you want to go or if your forced to hope for a miracle at the deadline.

Part of the problem is there aren’t any rumored players crossing over from the National League. This isn’t to say it won’t happen, but this is the classic bird in hand scenario.

Nick Martini wasn’t traded into the league, but a solid week as him a hot commodity. He’s bumped Dustin Fowler from the leadoff spot, which is key in front of the power-laden Athletics lineup. Despite social media pointing out I had the metaphor reversed… Martini may not shake things up with power, but he can certainly stir stuff up with his on base ability and speed.

Brett Phillips also crossed leagues. Phillips is still young enough to figure things out, especially contact. He’s been given a couple of chances with the Brewers, with patches of mediocrity before getting exposed. To be honest, I have a feeling another B. Phillips, namely Brandon, may end up being a sneaky AL only pickup.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Todd’s Take

It’s pretty much chalk at the top with some decent consolation prizes after Manny Machado was purchased last week. The only question was whether someone on the top three wanted pitching more than hitting. Speaking of which, I know Cole Hamels has struggled lately but I’m intrigued by the park/league. Overall, the move to Wrigley Field is huge, at least according to park factors. Hamels lines up to allow fewer runs, fan more and walk fewer – and that’s without even considering the lack of the DH.

Most of the other hitting pickups are injury replacements, including my all-in bid for David Bote who is picking up some extra time with Kris Bryant out. Mason Williams is getting some run in the Reds outfield with Jesse Winker out for the season and Scott Schebler on the shelf, though the latter is on rehab and could be back this week. Jose Osuna is another injury fix with Josh Bell on the DL.

As opposed to the AL where it’s hard to envision someone of consequence coming over by the deadline, we could have another set of spirited bidding in the Senior Circuit next week.

MIXED LEAGUE AUCTION

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Todd’s Take

This week’s flavor of the week in terms of closing is Jace Fry, replacing Joakim Soria. This is an intriguing pickup as the White Sox play the Royals and Rays next week, on paper a couple of lesser teams. The problem is Fry blew Sunday’s save chance, well before the bids were finalized. It’s not like the South Siders have a treasure trove of options, but Sunday’s events are discouraging.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has been seeing regular playing time which shouldn’t be hindered with the Blue Jays acquisition of Brandon Drury. Gurriel Jr. profiles as a high average without much power or speed, though he’s shown some pop in his rookie campaign.

Derek Holland was the most sought after starter, for good reason. He’s over 100 innings into the season, still maintaining over a whiff an inning. This week, Holland has a good pair of starts, first facing a weak Padres lineup followed by a manageable Diamondbacks offense.

MIXED LEAGUE DRAFT

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Todd’s Take

It’s a little surprising Jeff McNeil didn’t garner more attention. It appears the Mets will play McNeil regularly after dealing Asdrubal Cabrera. His .268/.427/.600 line in Triple-A looks impressive, but keep in mind Las Vegas is one of the best hitting venues while McNeil is a little old for the level at 26 years old.

Don’t look now but Sonny Gray is relevant again. The veteran righty is sporting a 1.10 ERA and .92 WHIP over his past three outings, featuring 19 punch outs in those 16.1 frames.

HEAD-TO-HEAD MIXED AUCTION

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Todd’s Take

There’s still plenty of season left but my spring declaration that Matt Chapman would have a better season than Matt Olson doesn’t look as outrageous as some made it out to be, especially after Chapman missed some time due to injury. OK, Olson will outpace Olson in terms of homers and RBI, but by triple-slash, Chapman can be considered to be having a better campaign. This isn’t an indictment of Olson, just another reminder how sometimes outstanding fielders can translate their superior hand-eye coordination and timing to the dish, most notably with respect to contact.

Rick Wolf lead three FSWA Hall of Famers a top the standings in the week’s Tout Daily Contest, the initial week of Period 5. This is the last chance for the Touts to gain entry into the Survivor Tournament finals.

Fantasy Alarm’s Wolf posted an impressive 159.6 total, followed closely by Lenny “The Legend” Melnick’s 155.6. ESPN’s Stephania Bell’s 148.9 placed her third. All three Hall of Famers were sage enough to click in Masahiro Tanaka and his complete game effort.

Rick’s lineup also featured a pair of Twins with Eduardo Escobar and Eddie Rosario having big nights along with a late home run from Khris Davis. Check out the Wolfman’s entire roster below.

Not only is Rick leading the final period, his first weekly winning score propelled him back on top of the overall standings, almost 45 points in from of Todd Zola. Check to see how your favorite Tout is doing on the Leaderboard.

Be sure to come back for the rest of our great content, beginning Sunday with the Tout Wars FAAB report, then Monday for the ToutTable, Tuesday with our Tout Daily picks and Wednesday for the Tout Daily wrap.

Here’s Rick’s lineup – ART ART OOOWWOOOOOO!

It’s the first week of the final period for Tout Daily. The final three Golden Tickets for entry into our Survivor Finals will be awarded. Here’s some picks we hope will bring home the Golden Tickets.

Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire, @JeffBoggis)

Shane Bieber: Shane Bieber ($8,100) – Going with one medium priced starting pitcher tonight. Cleveland’s Shane Bieber is at home tonight against Pittsburgh. He has 13 strikeouts in his last two games combined. All of this has me with Bieber fever tonight.

Jonathan Schoop : Jonathan Schoop ($3,700) has hit successfully in 14 of his last 15 games. He is breaking out of his first half slump, so get him while he is still this cheap at $3,700 tonight.

Charlie Wiegert (CDM Sports, @GFFantasySports)

Bieber & Lauer: Went Cheap! Bieber will stop Bucks at home and Lauer will dominate hapless Mets

Davis, Judge & Springer: 3 if’s that will go deep plus offense stacked with Carpenter, Gattis and DeDe

Lawr Michaels (CreativeSports2, @lawrmichaels)

Gerrit Cole:Rockies hitting a sorry .224 against right-handers

Wil Myers: Facing the hittable Zack Wheeler (4.44 ERA, 1.34 WHIP), Myers is in the midst of a hot period, batting .317-3-7 over his last 10 games with a season OPS of .910.

Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola)

Felix Pena: 32 to 9 K per BB in 26.1 IP, at home vs. White Sox for 5.5K? Drooooooooooooooooooool.

Matt Carpenter: Stacking Astros, using Carp as a one-off against Everyone Hits a Homer off Bailey.

Gene McCaffrey (Wise Guy Baseball, @WiseGuyGene)

Lauer/Buchholz: Going super-cheap in hopes of two 15-20 point starts, which seems like a strong possibilty. Buchholz was on top of his gane he got hurt, and the Mets are floundering.

Mookie Betts: I’m loading up on Coors’ hitters and adding the super expensive ($6200) Mookie in hope that few will be able to afford him.

Rick Wolf (Fantasy Alarm, @RickWolf1)

Zach Wheeler: Wheeler is lower priced than Zimmermann and I almost took both of them. Wheeler has six or more strikeouts six times in his last ten starts. He faces the Padres who have been lame with a K percent that is more than one to four vs RHP. He was slightly less than Zimmermann so I took the value and upside.

Khris Davis: Super hot with 3 HRs in the last two games and facing a LHP in Texas. Good spot for all the Oakland RHH so I am stacking them all. If you are batting 1-4 for the Athletics tonight, you are also playing from team CTW.

Vlad Sedler (Fantasy Guru Elite, @Rotogut)

Eric Lauer: Hard to pass on a minimum-priced southpaw against a hapless Mets squad that can’t hit them. Can fit all the offense you want with him in your lineups.

Jonathan Schoop : Totally off the grid today since I love all the Cardinals against Homer Bailey, but Schoop is getting warm at just the right time and as long as the weather cooperates, I’d expect Schoop and the O’s to give Pomeranz a not-so-pleasant return to the bigs.

Jeff Erickson (Rotowire, @Jeff_Erickson)

Zach Wheeler: I get the idea that Lauer + Paxton/Cole is going to be widely owned, so I wanted to go against that. So I’ve got Wheeler with a high-K potential tonight paired with Tanaka.

Matt Chapman: I’m going back to the well from yesterday and running an A’s stack – five RH’s against Mike Minor.

Jason Collette (Rotowire, @jasoncollette)

Jordan Zimmermann: The Royals just aren’t good

Gary Sanchez: just kidding. Jake Bauers — he’s been excellent vs Yankee pitching this year and Tanaka has been extremely homer prone

Welcome to the weekly Tout Wars FAAB report, on its new home right here on the Tout Wars site. Each week, we’ll review the free agent acquisitions from all five leagues, with commentary from a league member, as well as yours truly. We changed the timing of the weekly run to 1 PM ET every Sunday, with the report posted later that afternoon so you’ll have time to digest and apply to your own leagues. In addition, I’ll be joining Lawr Michaels and Justin Mason on the Tout Wars Hour on the FNTSY Network every Sunday at 3:20 PM ET to discuss the results.

You can find the complete list of Tout Warriors here. Everyone starts with 1000 FAAB units, less any penalty incurred by finishing below a designated point in the standings. This is a means of keeping everyone motivated to keep playing all season long. The minimum bid is $0. FAAB units can be traded as well as rebated for players released off the DL.

The report will list all winning bids along with unsuccessful tries and contingencies. This provides the maximum level of information to help gauge interest on the players.

The American and National League only formats are 12-team leagues, as is the new points-based head to head league, The Mixed Auction and Draft each have 15 clubs. All the leagues have four reserves with an unlimited DL, expect the head to head league, which allows six reserves.

The headings above each league are links to publicly accessible sites where you can see standings, roster and a complete review of transactions. The initial auctions and drafts can be found here.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Todd’s Take

The league leaders, Colton and the Wolfman went all-in on Brad Hand. There’s no assurance he’ll be the full-time closer for the Indians, especially since he surrendered a homer in his first appearance with the Tribe. Glenn and Rick are on top of the saves category so Hand may be an odd choice, but the seasoned duo could be playing defense, blocking a competitor from gaining points or they could be setting themselves up for a deal. Regardless, they don’t make any moves without thinking things threw so expect some sort of follow-up move by Glenn and Rick.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Todd’s Take

While it may seem like a no-brainer for the FAAB leader to bid what it takes to get Machado, it may not be that cut and dried. With the early deal, Machado is the only prize available this week. It’s unlikely someone better will cross leagues, however if you need help[ in pitching, there could be someone more helpful. It’s a conundrum – take the bird in hand (pun intended) or roll the dice a hurler is dealt into the Senior Circuit. Trading isn’t always the answer as there’s no guarantee you can work out a deal or it could be a no-trade league, like the NFBC (I was faced with this exact conundrum several years ago).

MIXED LEAGUE AUCTION

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Jeff Zimmerman’s Commentary

Besides some injury roster fillers, three signings stood out this week. First, Ray Flowers picked up Kevin Gausman ($86) who Tim Heaney (leading league by ~25 points) dropped last week. Four teams bid on him so there was some league-wide interest. Gausman’s been OK this season with a 7.8 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 but his 4.33 ERA and only four Wins has limited his value. Ray is hoping Gausman comes through with his normal second-half improvement where his career ERA has dropped from 4.77 in the first half to 3.58 in the second half.

Tim McLeod was able to take home the Rockies Garrett Hampson for $129. While three other owners and myself put in bids, McLeod is hoping DJ LeMahieu will have a long DL stint. It’s tough to know how the situation will play out.

Fred Zinkie gambled $22 on Dakota Hudson for the week. With Carlos Martinez heading to the DL, some rumors place Hudson pitching on Monday or Tuesday while others have Daniel Poncedeleon and Austin Gomber as the options. It’s not a horrible gamble by Fred as even if Hudson doesn’t start, he can take the zero’s for the week (all free agent pickups must start for a week) and get him cheaper than if he was guaranteed to start.

Todd’s Take

For what it’s worth, it’ll be Poncedeleon for the Cards on Monday, but that doesn’t mean Hidson won’t get the call down the line.

When a Rockies prospect is called up, the first thought is POWER, WOO HOO! While Hampson has a little pop, his primary fantasy asset is speed, though he’s also hit over .300 at every level. The expectation is for DJ LeMahieu not to miss too much time but obliques can be tricky.

MIXED LEAGUE DRAFT

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Todd’s Take

Is Willie Calhoun up to stay this time? Help was needed with Nomar Mazara on the shelf but Calhoun has been tearing up Triple-A so the summoning was warranted.

HEAD-TO-HEAD MIXED AUCTION

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Todd’s Take

It’s an odd week for two-start pitchers. As is often the case the week after the break, there’s fewer off days than most other weeks, rendering a larger array of options. However, since teams can shuffle their rotations to have their better arms work the first weekend out of the break, double-dippers are mostly back-end pitchers. Still, in a league like this, that can be important. Justin Mason took advantage with Felix Pena and Drew Pomeranz. Pena has quietly been fanning a ton of hitters (32 in 26.1 innings) while Pomeranz is coming off a solid rehab effort.

On a rare Friday night edition of Tout Daily, Jake Ciely from FNTSY Network and the RotoExperts lapped the field, putting up an impressive 157.95 total. Despite a mere 2.05 points from Domingo German, the All In Kid rode Nate Eovaldi and Ronald Acuna Jr. to victory. Check out the rest of Jake’s lineup below.

Lawr Michaels from CreativeSports had his best showing of the year but still fell 12.4 points shy of Ciely’s score. Howard Bender edged out Brian Walton for the third spot.

This was also the final week of the fourth Tout Daily period, meaning three more Golden Tickets into the Survivor Tournament Championship are awarded. The first belongs to the top scores, SI.com’s Michael Bellar. Bellar also receives a complimentary T-shirt from Rotowear for his efforts. The second ticket is awarded to the golden voice of Rotowire, Derek VanRiper. Todd Zola captured his third entry into the finals as well as leapfrogging Rick Wolf for the overall points lead and earning a wild card entry into the playoff round.

So far, tickets have been awarded to Zola (3) and Clay Link (2) with Wolf, Ray Murphy, Derek Carty, Steve Gardner, Bret Sayre, VanRiper and Bellar, all with one.

Follow your favorite Tout’s plight on the Leaderboard.

We’ll be back to our normal night next Tuesday. This will be the final chance for the participants to win a Golden Ticket. As always, we’ll post our favorite pitching and hitting picks around 6 PM ET that evening. Don’t forget to pop back Sunday for the Tout Wars FAAB report and then on Monday for our popular Tout Table.

Here’s Jake’s full week-leading roster:

It’s a special Friday edition of Tout Daily to make up for the Tuesday night All Star game and if the following is an indication, choices will be all over the place tonight. This marks the final week of Period 4 so there’s a lot on the line with the next three Golden Tickets awaiting to be awarded along with a t-shirt courtesy of Rotowear.com for the points leader this period.

Phil Hertz (BaseballHQ, @prhz50)

Robbie Ray: He had a nice outing against the Rockies already this year. Like him in Phoeniex

Anthony Rendon : Consistently underrated. A big second half is coming.

Lawr Michaels (CreativeSports2, @lawrmichaels)

David Price: Price gets to face Detroit who do hit left-handers at a reasonable pace, but with very little pop (just 22 homers). I am guessing Price, with a long rest, can do his thing against the generally punchless Tigers.

Colin Moran: Moran faces Tyler Mahle (4.02, 1.44) who gives up a lot of dingers (17 over 100.2 innings) in a game that should be fun to track with potentially a lot of points.

Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola)

Jake Arrieta: He’s better at home, I’ll take that on a weird slate with most good pitchers drawing tough matchups, many on the road

Mike Trout: Should be able to fit him in, hoping for low ownership, yet of course I’m going public with my recommendation. What a doofus.

Rob Leibowitz (Rotoheaven, @rob_leibowitz)

Robbie Ray: I like him at home against one of the higher-strikeout rate offenses. Less risk than other, more epxensive starters in terms of how deep their teams may let them go

JD Martinez: Boyd doesn’t have much in the way of righty/lefty split, but Martinez has a good one vs. lefties. I’ll go with his.

Gene McCaffrey (Wise Guy Baseball, @WiseGuyGene)

Dylan Bundy: Tough contest tonight and in the tournament I’ll enter at least five teams. Bundy will be on some of them, at a good price against a weak offense.

Kike Hernandez: He doesn’t really hit a home run every game he starts against a lefty. It only seems that way, and he’s mighty cheap. And the lefty is, I am told, Wade Miley.

Stephania Bell (ESPN Fantasy Sports, @Stephania_ESPN)

Noah Syndergaard: I know. Trevor Bauer is pitching if want to pay for a premium arm. And he’s pretty good. But Syndergaard costs less and despite the potency of the power in the Bronx, it’s inconsistent. So I’ll take my chances with a guy who ranks among the five best in both chase rate and swing-and-miss percentage since he came into the bigs (qualifying min 400 IP)

Nicholas Castellanos: Castellanos has been raking against lefties all season and I thought he’d be pricey against Price (see what I did there?). But he’s not top dollar price (like Betts, for instance) and since I saved a little in the pitching department, I’m willing to give a little more for the upside potential he brings.

Charlie Wiegert (CDM Sports, @GFFantasySports)

Gaviglio, Mahle : Going cheap with two guys that can both get me 20 points

Trout, Harper, Arenado: Using saving on pitching for big three

Mike Gianella (Baseball Prospectus, @MikeGianella)

Kyle Gibson: Outside of one shaky outing Gibson has looked great in his last few turns on the hill. Hoping he can capitalize against a weak Royals lineup.

Jesse Winker: The power hasn’t come yet but Winker’s getting on base at a .400+ clip and is going to provide points/fill up a box score even if he doesn’t deliver the dongs.

Jeff Erickson (Rotowire, @Jeff_Erickson)

Robbie Ray: When’s the last time you saw a COL-AZ game with the lowest O/U on the board? Ray might not have staying power, but at least I’ll get K’s.

Edwin Encarnacion: I’m running three Indians (Lindor, E5, Guyer) against Martin Perez, who has been miserable at home and against RH’s this year.

Welcome to the weekly Tout Wars FAAB report, on its new home right here on the Tout Wars site. Each week, we’ll review the free agent acquisitions from all five leagues, with commentary from a league member, as well as yours truly. We changed the timing of the weekly run to 1 PM ET every Sunday, with the report posted later that afternoon so you’ll have time to digest and apply to your own leagues. In addition, I’ll be joining Lawr Michaels and Justin Mason on the Tout Wars Hour on the FNTSY Network every Sunday at 3:20 PM ET to discuss the results.

You can find the complete list of Tout Warriors here. Everyone starts with 1000 FAAB units, less any penalty incurred by finishing below a designated point in the standings. This is a means of keeping everyone motivated to keep playing all season long. The minimum bid is $0. FAAB units can be traded as well as rebated for players released off the DL.

The report will list all winning bids along with unsuccessful tries and contingencies. This provides the maximum level of information to help gauge interest on the players.

The American and National League only formats are 12-team leagues, as is the new points-based head to head league, The Mixed Auction and Draft each have 15 clubs. All the leagues have four reserves with an unlimited DL, expect the head to head league, which allows six reserves.

The headings above each league are links to publicly accessible sites where you can see standings, roster and a complete review of transactions. The initial auctions and drafts can be found here.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Todd’s Take

Let’s look at everyone’s place in the standings along with remaining FAAB.

Colton and the Wolfman are mid-pack in terms of FAAB. Mike Podhorzer has the 4th most but it’s unlikely a significant player will fall to him. It looks like this isn’t the year to be hoarding FAAB in AL only with the likelihood of scant crossover help.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Todd’s Take

I’ll go out on a limb and predict Tristan Cockcroft will bid $972 on Manny Machado on Sunday night.

The top is interesting as the front two teams are 4th and 3rd with respect to remaining FAAB units. The league may come down to the acquisition by each after the deadline deals flesh out.

For what it’s worth, when looking at the AL FAAB totals, I didn’t suggest it was a mistake for the lowest teams to still have a ton of FAAB left, knowing all too well where the bottom clubs are with the rest of their budget.

MIXED LEAGUE AUCTION

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Fred Zinkie’s Commentary

In what was likely my biggest overpay since I joined Tout Wars in 2011, I grabbed Yu Darvish at $174 with a runner-up bid of $12. Perhaps some of my leaguemates didn’t realize that Darvish has been returned to waivers, and others likely doubt that he will amount to anything in the second half. Still, his upside is probably greater than that of anyone else who will be on waivers from this point forward, and I had more FAAB than I knew what to do with. And grabbing injured players during the abbreviated week is generally a solid plan, as I can move Darvish to my DL in just a few days. I made a similar move with Ryan Braun, who cost me $2 and will effectively cost me three days of Denard Span before I can stash him on my DL. Finally, I made a low-cost acquisition of Elias Diaz, who has been respectable at the dish this year and should play regularly until Francisco Cervelli recovers from (another) concussion.

Amed Rosario garnered a bid of $46 by Ray Flowers. The 22-year-old is going to be a liability in the OBP category (lifetime .283 mark), but he was a coveted prospect at this time last year and has some speed. Dan Straily also garnered a significant bid, fetching $33 from Zach Steinhorn, who is likely looking to fill out his rotation and pick up extra whiffs and wins in this short week. Straily faces the Rays on Friday. My favorite bid by a leaguemate was Ron Shandler’s $8 acquisition of Jeff McNeil, who is thriving in the Minors this year (1.043 OPS) and should get a shot with the Mets by the beginning of August. Other players who were targeted as stash additions during this short week were Jung Ho Kang (Bret Sayre, $6), Peter Alonso (Sayre, $6) and Julio Urias (Tim Heaney, $1).

Todd’s Take

Obviously, mixed league formats don’t deal with crossover players which is why the totals are much lower.

MIXED LEAGUE DRAFT

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Rudy Gamble’s Commentary

Todd’s Take

Look like we’re in for a fun finish with the top couple of teams also having a lot of FAAB to take advantage of the impending players yet to emerge.

HEAD-TO-HEAD MIXED AUCTION

SUCCESSFUL BIDS

UNAWARDED BIDS

Todd’s Take

Keep in mind even though this is a head to head league, there’s no playoffs, best record wins.

This week’s question

What do you do over the break to get ready to manage your teams the rest of the season? Please feel free to answer in context – this is what I do to protect a lead, this is what I do when I need to make up ground, etc.

Derek VanRiper (Rotowire, @DerekVanRiper): Unfortunately, I’ve got a lot more experience trying to make up ground than trying to protect a lead, but this time of year, I’m looking for similar things regardless of my position. I begin by looking at the category standings to determine where I can gain or lose the most points in the shortest amount of time. If I’m protecting a lead, I’m looking at pickups or trades that will help me out in the categories where I’m most likely to lose points. If I’m trying to make up ground, I’m making those moves to try to upgrade roster spots in those categories. The All-Star break is typically a time where I’ll begin shifting resources on my pitching staff to go more starter-heavy if wins and strikeouts are an opportunity to gain points, and if my position in saves is relatively safe.

Rob Leibowitz (Rotoheaven, @rob_leibowitz): When I’m ahead in the standings, unfortunately not the case in Tout Wars this particular year, I will often look at the standings and see where I can block my competitors by trading away stats in categories that will have greater impact by stifling or slowing down my competitors chance of moving up in those categories, rather than hoarding them for myself. I especially look to do this as close to the league trade deadline as possible for categories, such as saves, stolen bases so there is limited opportunity to counter such a move. In Tout this year, i”m just kinda desperate to climb my way back as best I can to the 60 point level. So longshot faab picks and trades will be necessary.

Seth Trachtman (Rotoworld, @sethroto): Generally, I find the All-Star break to be a good time to assess where I am in each category and make trade offers to assess those needs. Let’s face it, the break is torture! If there are needs I can address easily via trade, the break is a great time to evaluate other rosters and come up with potential trade offers for the stretch run. It’s also a time to reassess where my injured players are in their timetables, and in Tout I’ve had more than my fair share over the last month.

Perry Van Hook (Mastersball): The most important first step is to look at every category and see how many points you have now and what is required to gain the point. Look at the weekly rate stats for the teams you need to catch and perhaps those close behind and not just yours. You want a very realistic guide that may change your lineup or free agent pickup or help you with trades. You should end up with a plus minus chart for any team you have that has the ability and motivation to improve (I would say all teams but I understand the drag if you have several teams who are out of it – still in fairness to the league you should always be looking to improve your team’s performance.

Rudy Gamble (Razzball, @RudyGamble): While the ASB doesn’t hold any great significance, it is helpful to take a step back around this time of year from week-to-week roster optimization to gauge your chances at winning a league. Maximizing category points is always the goal. But the slimmer your chances, the greater your risk tolerance should be. The biggest risk/reward is through trading but roster construction opportunities include: 1) changing up SP/RP mix depending on points to gain/lose in pitching, 2) being more aggressive in FAAB on a rookie power or speed bat, and 3) changing up your hitter/pitcher bench mix to prepare for pennant runs.

Ray Murphy (BaseballHQ, @RayHQ): Lots of people giving the right answer about category/standings assessments. That’s obviously critical work, and needs to be done by anyone in contention entering the second half. A little more philosophically, I make a point to try and sort of “clear my cache” of recency bias, preconceived notions about players on my roster / free agent pool based on how they have done recently. Basically, try to reboot (geez, second computer metaphor in one graf) my own impressions of my team. As others have said, marinating with the league standings/overall 1st half stats helps to do that. Just unplugging a bit helps too. Basically, I tend to develop blind spots over the course of half a season, and I’m trying to clear them and prepare myself to make more sound decisions down the stretch.

Ray Flowers (Fantasy Guru Elite, @BaseballGuys): I’ll be the one to say it… I work on football over the break. I wish I had more time to devote to in-season baseball management, but the truth is I really don’t. My job is to help others succeed, which often means I do so at the expense of my own squads. With the rush of fantasy football in July, there really isn’t any more time for fantasy baseball during the A.S.B. than any other week of the season.

Scott Engel (RotoExperts, @scotteRotoEx): I am assessing the team and league throughout the season, and the break does not give me any more time to examine anything more than I normally would. But I my get anxious without any daily action, and some others may feel the same, so it’s n ideal tie to make trades

Ron Shandler (RonShandler.com, @RonShandler): In my 30+ years of playing this stupid game, this is the first time ever – in ANY league – that I find myself headed into the Break in dead last. Odds of winning = 0%. Odds of making a run into contention = maybe 10%. I would follow Ray’s lead and start planning for football, but I’d be scanning cheat sheets for Fran Tarkenton and Terry Bradshaw. I’m committed to being a good fantasy citizen, however, so I’ll keep plugging away with small, incremental goals. Goal #1: Get the heck out of last place. Goal #2: 75 points, which preserves my FAAB for 2019. Goal #3: Figure out how to accomplish #1 and #2 after having already traded my Machado-caliber chips. Last thing I ever thought I’d be doing is likening myself to the ownership of the Baltimore Orioles. There’s a first time for everything.

Fred Zinkie (Years in Tout Wars: 8, @): This answer will come as little surprise to people who play in leagues with me, but I love to talk trade during the ASB. Trade talks are often impacted by daily results. For example, an owner wants to trade you a certain starter until that starter throws eight shutout innings, and then he suddenly wants to keep him and deal a different starter instead. The ASB is the only time in the season when we get an extended time with static stats and no new injuries. For this reason, trade talks that are started on Sunday night have five full days to reach completion before anything happens that will cause either owner to change their player valuations. Additionally, with no game action to occupy our time, owners should have plenty of available minutes to work through trade talks.

Gene McCaffrey (Wise Guy Baseball, @WiseGuyGene): I take a look at possible trades and then I take a break. If I didn’t already know what I need to do to hold a lead or make up ground, I would be ashamed of myself. And sometimes a break gives me a new idea or a fresh perspective. And my family is happy to see me. Usually.

Scott Swanay (FantasyBaseballSherpa, @fantasy_sherpa): Generally, I’ll go over my own roster, see where my statistical category shortcomings and redundancies are, then look at other rosters to see if there’s a potential good match with another owner. I don’t alter my approach much based on where I currently sit in the standings. I’ll also spend some extra time reading about minor leaguers who stand a good chance of being called up to the majors to see if that might be another source of help.

Steve Gardner (USAToday Fantasy Sports, @SteveAGardner): First off, it’s a bit of a relief to do nothing over the break. Worrying every day about lineup changes and standings positions can be a bit overwhelming. Like Fred, Gene and others, I like to use the break to find potential trade partners who can help me reach my goals of making a championship run … or building for next year. The great thing about the break is no one’s generating any stats, so we don’t have to worry about a big game or a potential injury impacting players’ values in the middle of any trade talks.

Doug Dennis (BaseballHQ, @dougdennis41): I focus a lot more effort in July in my dynasty league. It is a good time to assess the remainder of 2018, but also start to consider 2019 and 2020 (and 2021) and set goals, figure out how to marshal resources for those goals. Redraft leagues–it really is no different from every other week of the season–trying to consider where I can gain/lose points in the standings, fill holes, who may be traded and what opportunities get created from that, how other teams’ moves affect my position, etc.  I try to have the most up-to-date set of projections (making my own adjustments and following multiple sites that update themselves–like BaseballHQ.com) to help me assess.

Larry Schechter (Winning Fantasy Baseball, @LarrySchechter): I agree with most of the ideas above, but there’s no reason to wait for the ASB to access your roster, think about potential trades, etc. There’s only about 40% of the season remaining at the ASB, so whatever I think I need to do, I want to do that ASAP. I often use this time to take a break. It’s nice to have a few days not looking at box scores and thinking about any of this. In fact, I just recently started my football prep!

lawr michaels (CreativeSports2, @lawrmichaels): obviously, my spot in the relative standings is important. and, i will never roll over. eg, my LABR AL team is awful, but there are still 10-15 points i can gain if my players do what they are supposed to do, and if that means moving up in the standings, i will stick with it. plus, i think we owe it to our league-mates to play out the season as best we can so ideally the best team wins because they were the best team: not because a ghost team left Aroldys Vizcaino on the DL. but, i try to really–fearlessly and objectively–look at my teams and what are my chances and what do i need to do relative to the league and rules and my spot in the standings. and, if the answer is “five points in steals, four in runs, four in strikeouts, and four in wins” would put me among the contending teams, the question is can i realistically look to get that production, and if so, from what source? will the steals points cost me in saves and how much? and bearing that in mind, am i realistic when i think i can win? so, from there it is a question of what can i manipulate relative to my rosters–and my league-mate’s–that are reasonable that might push me to the top. and, then I try to achieve just that. but, i also try to do this concertedly, for there are still a lot of games to be played, so no time to panic just yet if I am hanging with the top teams. and, if i have not had a hot period for a while, all the better. finally, do make sure your reserve list is exploited to the max of your options so you have the max of choices when something goes wrong. for it will.

Glenn Colton (Fantasy Alarm, @glenncolton1): There are so many things that one should do to re-evaluate one’s fantasy baseball team in the calm of the all-star break. For me, I look at which players’ value is going to change by the trades that will occur over the next 2.5 weeks. Who is going to get traded to a better situation? Who is going to get traded into an “only” league? Who is going to benefit from a teammate being traded away (i.e., get a closer job). Foreseeing those changes a week earlier than everyone else could be the key to victory

Phil Hertz (BaseballHQ, @prhz50): The main thing I do is take a couple of days to ignore the standings, etc. About the time the All-Star game begins, I’ll take a look at the standings. In redraft leagues, I’ll try to determine what categories I can gain multiple points and whether there’s a path to achieving that goal. In keeper leagues, I make the final determination of whether to go for it or make trades to improve keepers .

D.J. Short (Rotoworld, @djshort): It’s always nice to take a breather during this time. Especially if you are in a league with daily lineup changes. It can get overwhelming. This season is a little different in that so much of the schedule has already been played out by the All-Star break that ideally you have been thinking about where you are a bit earlier, but if not, it’s important to look at categories you might have a cozy advantage in and try to leverage that in other areas. Nothing groundbreaking here. This is said time and time again for a reason. It works. Even with more than half the season behind us, many people still evaluate potential trades based on where players fall within website X or Y’s rankings. Please throw that out. Make your decisions based on what you need. Your own context.

Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire, @JeffBoggis): Over the break, I always use this opportunity to measure my team’s strengths and weaknesses in each statistical category. I look for the best possible scenarios before performing any drop/adds or trades. I never want to make any moves to where I gain a point in a category, but end up losing 2 or more points in another category. Like most of the Touts, we play in more than this league and most likely are either at the top, the middle, or towards the bottom of our league standings. For me, the higher that I am in the league standings, the more conservative I tend to be with making any moves or trades. I also keep a keen eye on prospects that may get the call up to the major leagues that can immediately make an impact.

Michael Rathburn (Rotowire, @FantasyRath): Depending on where I am in the standings will be how aggressive I will be with trade offers/FAAB. If I’m way back, I will look at the categories in which I think I can gain the most ground the fastest. If I have to overpay for a trade on paper so be it. I try to look at positional depth and where am I the strongest/weakest. If I can upgrade categories while also doing it in a positional sense, all the better.

Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola): I’m with those saying they’re already aware of where they stand within each league and have a feel for the category math. What I like to do is catch up on what some of my competitors are doing. Are they dumping saves? Ignoring steals? Whatever the case may be, I’ll make sure I’m not missing anything with respect to one of my competitors. The other thing I do is go through my DL and farm players to get the latest on their return or promotion. Knowing where I may get some internal help shapes my impending FAAB bids, especially in AL or NL only formats.