After a few quiet weeks, we had a decent inventory of players to bid on this week.
The highlights included Mallex Smith, who replaces the injured Kevin Kiermaier in Tampa Bay and perhaps could be the biggest source of stolen bases in our free agent pools all season, Felipe Rivero as the Pirates' closer, and Pat Neshek who appears to be closing on those scarce occasions when the Phillies have a save opportunity.
Let's start off in the 15-team Mixed LABR league ($100 budget, no $0 bids, unlimited DL slots, trades allowed):
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Mallex Smith awarded to Razzball (Rudy Gamble) for $27.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Failed bids for Mallex Smith: $7, $11, $23, $23, $3, $12, $8, $12, $16, $26, $1, $2.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Lewis Brinson awarded to Fantasy Alarm for $12.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Failed bids for Lewis Brinson: $4, $12, $12, $1, $2.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Matt Albers awarded to Fangraphs for $8.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Failed bids for Matt Albers: $2, $2, $1.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Buck Farmer awarded to MLB.com for $8.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Failed bids for Buck Farmer: $3, $3, $3, $1, $1, $2, $1, $2.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Sean Newcomb awarded to Baseball Prospectus for $6.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Failed bids for Sean Newcomb: $2, $5, $1, $2.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Jose Pirela awarded to USA TODAY Sports for $6.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Failed bids for Jose Pirela: $4, $1, $1, $2.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Pat Neshek awarded to @TheFantasyFix for $5.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Failed bids for Pat Neshek: $2, $3, $3, $1, $2.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Alex Meyer awarded to Baseball Prospectus for $3.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Failed bids for Alex Meyer: $2, $1.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Mike Montgomery awarded to USA TODAY Sports for $3.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Failed bids for Mike Montgomery: $1, $1, $1.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Jake Junis awarded to Mastersball for $2.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Seth Lugo awarded to RotoExperts/ FNTSY for $2.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Failed bids for Seth Lugo: $1.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: C.J. Cron awarded to Mastersball for $1.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Failed bids for C.J. Cron: $1, $1, $1.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Kyle Gibson awarded to Baseball Prospectus for $1.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Chris Iannetta awarded to Fangraphs - Sleeper & Bust for $1.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Failed bids for Chris Iannetta: $1.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Tyler Moore awarded to Baseball HQ for $1.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Chase Headley awarded to Baseball HQ for $1.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Scott Feldman awarded to Rotowire for $1.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Joe Panik awarded to Rotowire for $1.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Failed bids for Joe Panik: $1.
Mon Jun 12 12:09 AM ET: Cory Spangenberg awarded to MLB.com for $1.
I spewed a good chunk of my FAAB on the very first session of bidding to win ... Blake Treinen. Here it is in June and we're still speculating on the Nats closer job. So good job, good effort by me. I currently have nine players on the DL in this league, and even after picking up two players, I still have two unused spots, with potentially two more players going on the DL in Adrian Gonzalez and Giancarlo Stanton, though the news on Stanton seems better.
For what it's worth, here were my two sets of bids so you can see who I was trying to add - almost all of my bids are min-bids at this point, so that I can still have some budget remaining at the end of the season.
| DL Spot 2 | |||
| $2 | Meyer, Alex (P), LAA | Primary claim out bid, winning bid $3 | |
| $1 | Feldman, Scott (P), CIN |  | Player awarded. Roster not full, no one released. |
| $1 | Lugo, Seth (P), NYM | Contingent claim out bid, winning bid $2 | |
| $1 | Bergman, Christian (P), SEA | Contingent bid cancelled. | |
| $2 | Neshek, Pat (P), PHI | Contingent claim out bid, winning bid $5 | |
| $1 | Farmer, Buck (P), DET | Contingent claim out bid, winning bid $8 | |
| DL Spot 1 | |||
| $3 | Smith, Mallex (U,OF), TB | Primary claim out bid, winning bid $27 | |
| $1 | Panik, Joe (2B,MI,U), SF | | Player awarded. Roster not full, no one released. |
| $1 | Sogard, Eric (2B,SS,MI,U), MIL | Contingent bid cancelled. | |
| $1 | Joyce, Matt (U,OF), OAK | Contingent bid cancelled. | |
| $1 | Cordero, Franchy (U,OF), SD | Contingent bid cancelled. | |
| $1 | Utley, Chase (1B,2B,MI,CI,U), LAD | Contingent bid cancelled. | |
| $1 | Cron, C.J. (1B,CI,U), LAA | Contingent claim out bid, winning bid $1 Tie-Breaker: Standings Position | |
I made my Panik move over others because of an upcoming four-game series in Colorado this week, though I understand that Panik might not be 100 percent going into that series.
NFBC Main Event (15tm mixed, $1,000 budget, no DL slots, no trades):
| Team | Player | Bid | Runner-Up |
| BaBaBaBANDY AND THE JETT | Mallex Smith (CF) | 255 | 252 |
| Cheaper cigs | Jose Pirela (2B) | 247 | 10 |
| Bronx Yankees (ME2) | Joe Ross (SP) | 95 | 89 |
| Team Erickson | Zack Godley (SP) | 83 | 31 |
| Team Erickson | Pat Neshek (MR) | 73 | 39 |
| Bronx Yankees (ME2) | Sean Newcomb (SP) | 64 | 48 |
| Man In Black | Matt Albers (MR) | 51 | 44 |
| Texas Connection | Tyler Moore (1B) | 44 | |
| Bronx Yankees (ME2) | Tyler Chatwood (SP) | 43 | 37 |
| Slappy and Pentaw | Dansby Swanson (SS) | 36 | 1 |
| Hungry Hippos | Robbie Grossman (LF) | 34 | 9 |
| Wags Warriors | Marcus Semien (SS) | 33 | |
| Team Robinson | Jacob Faria (SP) | 30 | |
| Team Robinson | Scott Feldman (SP) | 17 | 9 |
| Team Erickson | Guillermo Heredia (LF) | 13 | 11 |
| Team Withrow | Cory Spangenberg (2B) | 10 | |
| Cali Cartel | Austin Slater (RF) | 9 | |
| Texas Connection | Robert Gsellman (SP) | 7 | 1 |
| Bronx Yankees (ME2) | Robinson Chirinos (C) | 6 | |
| Cali Cartel | Brian Johnson (SP) | 3 | |
| Hungry Hippos | Carl Edwards Jr. (MR) | 3 | |
| Cali Cartel | Tommy Kahnle (MR) | 2 | |
| Cali Cartel | Ricky Nolasco (SP) | 2 | |
| Cali Cartel | Clayton Richard (SP) | 2 | |
| Hungry Hippos | Ezequiel Carrera (RF) | 1 | |
| Hungry Hippos | Tyler Anderson (SP) | 1 |
I "only" had eight guys on the DL here, though it's much worse in this league with no DL slots available (albeit with more to choose from on the waiver wire because of that fact).
Much like my Bud Norris pickup earlier this year, this isn't the start of a beautiful friendship with Pat Neshek, but hopefully I can sneak in five to 10 saves before he loses the job back as the Phillies closer or gets dealt by them at the trade deadline. Alas, I bid aggressively on Mallex Smith yet fell well short. The story of my season here - my hitting is tanking, and my attempts to add useful hitters have fallen woefully short.
NFBC RotoWire Online Championship - "Beat Jeff Erickson" league. (12 teams)
| Team | Player | Bid | Runner-Up |
| Troynado | Felipe Rivero (MR) | 159 | 96 |
| Space Cowboy | Mallex Smith (CF) | 143 | 37 |
| Space Cowboy | Edinson Volquez (SP) | 57 | |
| Stricks SlumpBusters OLC 03/22 | Cameron Maybin (CF) | 45 | 35 |
| Collins & Fitz Forever | Delino DeShields (CF) | 35 | 12 |
| Troynado | Jeff Hoffman (SP) | 33 | |
| The Road Warriors | Pat Neshek (MR) | 23 | 7 |
| Troynado | Brandon Phillips (2B) | 15 | |
| The Dirty Pearls | Alec Asher (MR) | 13 | |
| Billyhaze | Sean Newcomb (SP) | 11 | |
| Billyhaze | Seth Lugo (MR) | 11 | |
| The Dirty Pearls | Robbie Grossman (LF) | 8 | |
| MustSeeTV314{OLJE} | Buck Farmer (MR) | 8 | 3 |
| The Road Warriors | CC Sabathia (SP) | 8 | 1 |
| 3Point1416=Pie | Alex Meyer (SP) | 3 | |
| 3Point1416=Pie | David Freese (3B) | 3 | |
| 3Point1416=Pie | Matt Albers (MR) | 3 | 1 |
| Billyhaze | Taylor Motter (SS) | 3 | |
| 3Point1416=Pie | Jose Reyes (SS) | 2 | |
| This American Carnage | Chris Iannetta (C) | 1 | |
| The Road Warriors | Yangervis Solarte (2B) | 1 | |
| The Road Warriors | Travis d'Arnaud (C) | 1 | |
| Team Walker | Joe Musgrove (SP) | 1 | |
| Team Walker | Wilson Ramos (C) | 1 |
This team is actually doing pretty well, but DeShields gives me some speed upside for a decent price, and a little roster flexibility among my outfielders, where I have a handful of injuries.
NFBC Online 2
| Team | Player | Bid | Runner-Up |
| Last Shot 11 | Felipe Rivero (MR) | 247 | 81 |
| The Beers | Mallex Smith (CF) | 135 | 2 |
| The Beers | Pat Neshek (MR) | 131 | |
| Lone Star | Chris Taylor (2B) | 53 | 20 |
| Cheez Its | Seth Lugo (MR) | 50 | |
| The Beers | Matt Albers (MR) | 41 | |
| Dem Brooklyn Bums | Jaime Garcia (SP) | 31 | |
| FitzCollins17 | Joe Biagini (MR) | 23 | 13 |
| Dark Mariners | Kyle Freeland (SP) | 13 | 2 |
| Team Brody | Hunter Pence (RF) | 12 | |
| Dumpster Fire OC3 | Scooter Gennett (2B) | 5 | |
| Cheez Its | Edinson Volquez (SP) | 1 | |
| The Krukster | David Dahl (LF) | 1 |
The results from this league best illustrate the randomness that can occur in these 12-team online leagues. The Main Event league seems to reflect a lot more uniformity in the bidding (and yet I still am pretty damn far from mastering it!). Here, Mallex Smith gets just one aggressive bid, with a $2 runner-up. Yes, the quality of the player available on the waiver wire is higher - that's what happens when 90 extra players are available - but yet there still seems to be a disconnect. And that can best be seen by the fewer players taken and the fewer runner-up bids. Yet if you look closely - 10 of the 12 teams in the league still were able to pick up someone. So it's not a dormant league.
RotoWire Staff Keeper League (18 teams, no DL slots, $100 budget, no $0 bids, in-season $360 cap):
| High-A West Madison: Pick up Matt Albers ($15), drop Mark Canha (Casale Industries: $14) (Browns: $9) (Erickson: $5) |
| Anderson: Pick up Lonnie Chisenhall ($5), drop Brandon Moss (High-A West Madison: $7) (Shoe and Liss' Dynasty: $2) (Browns: $1) (Browns: $1) |
| Anderson: Pick up C.J. Cron ($4), drop Nick Markakis (Erickson: $1) |
| Browns: Pick up Sean Doolittle ($1), drop Darren O'Day (Browns: $1) |
| Wakanda Panthers: Pick up Buck Farmer ($5), drop Chris Tillman (Wheeler in the Sky: $5) (Schin Kickers: $4) (Schin Kickers: $4) (Frozen Ropes: $3) (Shoe and Liss' Dynasty: $3) (Frozen Ropes: $3) |
| Anderson: Pick up Mike Fiers ($6), drop Yusmeiro Petit (Frozen Ropes: $4) (Frozen Ropes: $4) (High-A West Madison: $3) (Shoe and Liss' Dynasty: $2) (Diamond Dogs: $2) (Schin Kickers: $2) (Wakanda Panthers: $2) (Wakanda Panthers: $2) (Browns: $1) (Browns: $1) |
| Tuffy's Goats: Pick up David Freese ($6), drop Christian Vazquez |
| Diamond Dogs: Pick up Brian Johnson ($4), drop Matt Andriese (McLovin's Spoonful: $3) (Wakanda Panthers: $2) (Wakanda Panthers: $2) (Shoe and Liss' Dynasty: $2) |
| Wheeler in the Sky: Pick up Mike Montgomery ($3), drop Jacob Turner (Browns: $1) (Browns: $1) |
| Erickson: Pick up Tyler Moore ($4), drop Neftali Feliz |
| McLovin's Spoonful: Pick up Pat Neshek ($18), drop Jose Urena (High-A West Madison: $17) (Tuffy's Goats: $13) (Erickson: $5) (Schin Kickers: $4) (Schin Kickers: $4) (Shoe and Liss' Dynasty: $2) |
| Shoe and Liss' Dynasty: Pick up Brett Phillips ($5), drop Matthew Boyd (Browns: $2) (Browns: $2) |
| Frozen Ropes: Pick up Jose Pirela ($5), drop Jesus Aguilar |
| Shoe and Liss' Dynasty: Pick up Daniel Robertson ($2), drop Christian Arroyo |
| Frozen Ropes: Pick up Austin Slater ($3), drop Derek Holland (Frozen Ropes: $13) |
| Anderson: Pick up Joe Smith ($2), drop Matt Cain |
| McLovin's Spoonful: Pick up Kevan Smith ($2), drop Nate Jones |
| McLovin's Spoonful: Pick up Eric Sogard ($4), drop Hector Santiago (Shoe and Liss' Dynasty: $2) |
| Wakanda Panthers: Pick up Ramon Torres ($1), drop Chad Pinder |
| Wakanda Panthers: Pick up Nik Turley ($5), drop David Phelps (Wakanda Panthers: $5) |
I'm in first this season after a couple of rebuilding years, but I'm starting to hit critical DL mass - Mike Trout, Aroldis Chapman, Dallas Keuchel, Eduardo Rodriguez and Justin Bour. At least I have Bour's direct replacement in Tyler Moore.
AL Tout Wars (12tm, $1,000 budget, $0 bids allowed, unlimited DL slots):
So, you have a mono-league with unlimited DL slots? You can imagine how trashy the waiver wire can be. Hence my "winning" bid below:
Rob Leibowitz: dis AAlford Tor, pur RWeeks TB 0
Chris Liss: res AJackson Cle, pur KVargas Min 84
Jeff Erickson: res RNolasco LAA, pur BFarmer Det 187
Seth Trachtman: dis TRoss Tex, pur DGossett Oak 11
Steve Moyer: dis JSegura Sea, pur TFeatherston TB 0
Steve Moyer: res AWilson Det, pur ABibensDirkx Tex 6
Lawr Michaels: dis KKiermaier TB, pur PBourjos TB 37
Jason Collette: dis ATriggs Oak, pur JDiaz TB 1
Jason Collette: dis PHughes Min, pur NTurley Min 17
Rick Wolf/Glenn Colton: rel DMarrero Bos, pur RTorres KC 8
Nando DiFino: res RRefsnyder NYY, pur AHanson CWS 3
Chris Liss: dis CBedrosian LAA, pur JJunis KC 11
Chris Liss: dis DKeuchel Hou, pur CBergman Sea 34
Is Buck Farmer anywhere close to being for real? I'm not really sure, but (a) I do like that his strikeout rate has spiked, (b) he has the clear job after the Tigers' latest moves, and most importantly (c) I'm already starting Ricky Nolasco and Josh Tomlin on a regular basis. There's not really that much to lose by trying. Such is life in a mono-league when you're behind the 8-ball in the percentage categories.