Every week the Staff Keeper League holds a blind auction for free agents. Each team starts the season with 100 free agent auction dollars. The auction provides a great way to fill holes in your roster, add depth, and speculate on future keepers. In order to bid on a player they must be active on a major league roster. This means no minor leaguers and no players on the disabled list. Check out the results from Week 1 (last week).
Tuffy's Goats: Pick up Emmanuel Burriss ($6), drop Freddy Sanchez
(High-A West Madison: $12)
(High-A West Madison: $12)
(Tuffy's Goats: $6)
The Bros McKeown: Pick up Chris Coghlan ($6), drop Matt LaPorta
(Barsoom Warlords: $1)
Erickson: Pick up Todd Frazier ($2), drop Ryan Madson
The Bros McKeown: Pick up Chris Getz ($8), drop Duane Below
(McLovin's Spoonful: $4)
(Erickson: $1)
Browns: Pick up Jeanmar Gomez ($2), drop Koji Uehara
Frozen Ropes: Pick up Jeremy Guthrie ($3), drop Brett Cecil
Barsoom Warlords: Pick up Matt Hague ($2), drop Brad Hawpe
(High-A West Madison: $3)
(High-A West Madison: $3)
(Tuffy's Goats: $1)
Tuffy's Goats: Pick up Brad Lidge ($12), drop Dallas Braden
(Schin Kickers: $10)
(Barsoom Warlords: $5)
Downtown Ass Clowns: Pick up Paul Maholm ($1), drop Orlando Hudson
(Tuffy's Goats: $2)
(Tuffy's Goats: $2)
Schin Kickers: Pick up Jake McGee ($2), drop Joakim Soria
(Schin Kickers: $2)
High-A West Madison: Pick up Jordan Pacheco ($15), drop Casey Blake
(Erickson: $1)
(Tuffy's Goats: $1)
(Tuffy's Goats: $1)
Barsoom Warlords: Pick up Bobby Parnell ($5), drop Wade Davis
(Schin Kickers: $4)
(Schin Kickers: $4)
(Browns: $2)
(Erickson: $2)
(Downtown Ass Clowns: $1)
High-A West Madison: Pick up Henry Rodriguez ($13), drop Julio Borbon
(High-A West Madison: $13)
(Barsoom Warlords: $6)
As you can see the highest bids were on players who won jobs at the end of spring training. Brad Lidge and Henry Rodriguez earned a share of the closer duties. Getz and Burris gained playing time. Pickups like Parnell, Frazier, and McGee were speculating on future value. There weren't many surprises here. You can see everyone valued these players pretty evenly. I lost out on Lidge and Parnell by $2 and $1. The largest difference in bids were Pacheco and Coghlan. Pacheco's bid went for $14 more than the next highest while Coghlan went for $5 more.
Week 2 was a bit more interesting. The closer situation for several teams continue to evolve.
Browns: Pick up Anthony Bass ($1), drop Jeanmar Gomez
(Browns: $1)
Liss and Shoe's Dynasty: Pick up Yuniesky Betancourt ($1), drop Travis Wood
Schin Kickers: Pick up Daniel Descalso ($3), drop Jonny Gomes
(Schin Kickers: $3)
(Schin Kickers: $3)
Schin Kickers: Pick up Orlando Hudson ($1), drop Zach Britton
(Schin Kickers: $1)
(Schin Kickers: $1)
Shadynasty: Pick up George Kottaras ($1), drop Hank Conger
Frozen Ropes: Pick up Kirk Nieuwenhuis ($7), drop Nate McLouth
(Liss and Shoe's Dynasty: $2)
(Erickson: $1)
(Erickson: $1)
Shadynasty: Pick up Fernando Rodney ($27), drop Jon Rauch
(Next Stop Pottersville: $19)
(High-A West Madison: $17)
(High-A West Madison: $17)
(Tuffy's Goats: $12)
(Tuffy's Goats: $12)
(Liss and Shoe's Dynasty: $8)
(Erickson: $7)
(Schin Kickers: $4)
(Schin Kickers: $4)
(Schin Kickers: $4)
(Schin Kickers: $4)
Tuffy's Goats: Pick up Hector Santiago ($43), drop Emmanuel Burriss
(Browns: $41)
(High-A West Madison: $41)
(Browns: $41)
(High-A West Madison: $41)
(The Bros McKeown: $39)
(East Coast Bias: $25)
(Erickson: $17)
(Next Stop Pottersville: $16)
(Casale Industries: $15)
(Schin Kickers: $14)
(Schin Kickers: $14)
(Liss and Shoe's Dynasty: $9)
(Frozen Ropes: $8)
(Frozen Ropes: $8)
Erickson: Pick up Ryan Sweeney ($5), drop Brandon Guyer
(High-A West Madison: $3)
(High-A West Madison: $3)
Barsoom Warlords: Pick up Tom Wilhelmsen ($1), drop Matt Hague
Santiago and Rodney went for huge amounts, but nothing crazy when you compare to competing bids. Both players were handed the closer responsibilities during Week 1, Santiago with the largest vote of confidence of the two. I completely undervalued Santiago. I was hesitant a lot of money into him because of his lack of experience at the major league level. I also have doubts if he's going to keep the job long term. Addison Reed seems to be the heir apparent and Thorton has been in the running the last two seasons. I have a feeling that job will move around throughout the season. I also have doubts about Rodney based on his past performance which is part of the reason I grabbed McGee in Week 1. Rodney's stats are not a pretty sight and McGee was in the running for the closer job last year.
This part of the season is probably the most important when it comes to pickups. Roles are uncertain and now is the chance when players can grab hold of playing time and not let go.