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RotoWire's AL LABR Team

I assembled our AL LABR team Saturday night. It's a 12-team AL-only 5x 5 $260 auction with 2 C, 1 1B, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 SS, I CI, 1 MI, 5 OF, 1 U, 9 P.

Here's my team:

PosPlayer$
CJoe Mauer30
CJarrod Saltalamacchia7
1BKendry Morales27
2BDustin Pedroia29
3BBrandon Inge8
SSDerek Jeter25
CICasey Kotchman6
MIAlex Gonzalez3
OFGrady Sizemore29
OFAustin Jackson6
OFRyan Sweeney10
OFDesmond Jennings5
OFMichael Brantley5
UHideki Matsui11
PScott Baker16
PDavid Price12
PErvin Santana6
PErik Bedard6
PGio Gonzalez4
PRicky Romero3
PJake Westbrook2
PJeremy Guthrie2
PJeremy Hellickson1
RBrandon Snyder0
RDustin Ackley0
RDanny Valencia0
RScot Shields0
RJ.J. Putz0
RRyan Strieby0

A couple notes:

You might notice the dollars add up to $253, instead of $260, i.e., I left $7 on the table. While I was initially beside myself because of this - I could have bought Jon Lester instead of Scott Baker, for example - it's actually wasn't like that. I had a good deal of money left for the end game, I wanted to get certain players (Ricky Romero, Gio Gonzalez and Austin Jackson), and I thought they would cost about $20 collectively. They wound up costing $13 - hence the difference of $7. Had I known I'd get them that cheap, obviously, I would have spent more money early. But I'm not sure how I could have known that.

My plan was to be strong at catcher, middle infielder and get a couple power hitters, and I accomplished that. I also wanted a bunch of young, upside pitchers, and I got that, too. The only area I fell short was missing out on closers, but other owners hoarded them, so there are a bunch of people in a similar boat, and it shouldn't be too hard to trade for saves.

I also took some gambles on Michael Brantley, Jeremy Hellickson and Desmond Jennings whose playing time is uncertain as well as Erik Bedard who's not due back until May. Still, I expected them collectively to earn more than the $17 I paid for them.

The key to this team is the development of the young pitchers (Price, Gonzalez and Romero) - I like all three, but they're all high risk, too.