I had two leagues with a FAAB run last night - we had a 1:00 a.m. PT on Friday deadline to be specific. One is an AL-only, 4x4 league. The other is an NL-only keeper league, with OPS instead of Runs as a category in a 5x5 league. Because it's a keeper league, the NL big names (Hiura, Rodgers, Riley) weren't available in FAAB unfortunately. Nonetheless, perhaps the AL results can help you with this monster weekend, and we can at least look at some other alternatives in that NL league.
Amici (AL-only)
This is the league where I spent blew a good chunk of my FAAB budget on Nate Lowe, only to see him get sent down 10 days later. I've also been aggressive earlier in the season, too aggressive to be honest, so I'm short on FAAB dollars. I put in token bids on a number of the big names, knowing that I probably couldn't get them. Having also recently lost Tyler Glasnow, starting pitching is my biggest priority, though I'll take any good pitching right now. We have a $100 FAAB budget, with $0 bids allowed. Let's look at some of the big buys.
Keston Hiura ($33): Our league is so old school that the Brewers still qualify as an AL team for our AL-only team. I wonder a little bit about Hiura's playing time once Travis Shaw comes back, but Hiura has the advantage of being a true second baseman, and not striking out a metric ton so far this year.
Willie Calhoun ($18): For more on the merits and risk of Calhoun, listen to this clip from RotoWire's James Anderson on our SiriusXM show today, and read the subsequent Twitter discussion.
Corbin Martin ($17): As I said earlier, this one hurt - I need to replace Glasnow for at least six weeks, and I'm not going to be able to afford the likes of Martin each time they come up. My consolation prize is Josh James, who I got unopposed for $0. James's ratios aren't great, but his strikeouts are, and his recent form has been better. I think that there's a chance he's in the rotation soon enough, though I'm going to need either Brad Peacock or Wade Miley to falter a few more times first.
Gio Urshela ($14): There probably should have been more bidding here, with Miguel Andujar out for the season. It serves as a good reminder, though, that we'll be able to find some guys to slip through while we bid big on the newcomers.
Nicky Lopez ($10): Lopez probably has more job security than the more expensive guys listed above - the Royals showed their hand by moving Whit Merrifield to the outfield to accommodate him.
Dawel Lugo ($7): I wasn't on Lugo but maybe I should have been. I asked Peter Schoenke about his wining bid on him, and Peter cited the playing time. Lugo should play regularly with Jordy Mercer out and Jeimer Candelario's demotion. He was the primary piece coming over to the Tigers in the J.D. Martinez trade with the Diamondbacks in 2017.
Cavan Biggio, Bradley Zimmer ($0): Two stashes in hopes of them getting the call soon. That's how Oscar Mercado was picked up before this deadline, saving his owner a lot of FAAB.
Midnight Madness (NL-only keeper):
My team is Soto's Circle Change. I picked up Sandoval because I'm hemorrhaging corner infielders, with both Matt Adams and Jung Ho Kang on the IL. Mahle is going to have a longer-term hold on a rotation spot, with Alex Wood out until the All-Star break at least. His 49:9 K:BB is also eye-opening, even though I'm not going to use him this weekend against the Dodgers. The "NO PLAYER" drops are because we have unlimited IL spots in this league - which also explains the lower volume of pickups.