Going once. Going twice. Sold! There’s something special about hearing the auctioneer announce you have the winning bid. For practical reasons, snake drafts dominate the fantasy baseball landscape, but most agree auctions are the superior format.
For those unfamiliar with auction drafts, each team has a set budget from which to build their roster. In fantasy baseball, the standard amount is $260. Don’t worry, it’s almost always funny money. Maybe calling it 260 units is better.
Teams take turns nominating players. Bids ensue, with the highest bid rostering the player. Most auctions are free-for-alls with an auctioneer counting down each player. Some entail going around the table with teams either raising the bid or dropping out until one team remains.
The primary reason auctions are considered better than drafts is auctions avail an infinite number of pathways for team construction. Of course, various strategies can be used in a draft, but player acquisition is confined to selecting an undrafted player at your turn. Unless you are drafting first, you don’t have a shot at Ronald Acuna Jr., well, assuming the person with the first pick doesn't have something against winning. If you pick in the middle of each round, you probably don’t have the chance to roster two closely ranked players. A nuance of the draft format is making the right choice between the two, but in an auction, you can roster both.
In a draft, your roster consists of a player expected to return first round earnings, then second round earnings, etc. In an auction, you can roster four “first rounders”, then fill in with players who would be drafted in the later rounds. Another ploy is eschewing the high-priced players and acquiring 12 players normally drafted between Round 3 and Round 7. This is arbitrary, but the point is every team has equal access to every player.
The Internet is replete with auction strategy discussions. The topic for the remainder of this piece is money management. Leaving money on the table is the cardinal sin of auctions. To be honest, you can read about auctions all you want but the best teacher is experience. Though, to be fair, this is true of almost everything.
There are some outstanding tools available to track auctions, ranging from a self-made spreadsheet to sophisticated drafting software making pricing recommendations based on your team, other teams, and the available player pool. Personally, I’m an old-fashioned pen-and-paper guy. I’ve tried drafting software, but I find I miss out on some of the charm of an auction, reading the room, the fun banter, etc.
My drafting tools are simply four pieces of paper with the inventory divided into position tiers (gratuitous plug alert: these will soon be available for common leagues in the Fantasy Index Baseball Draft Kit, see the footer below to subscribe) and a few pens. Admittedly, the auctions in which I participate track rosters and available budget for everyone to see, so I don’t have to worry about populating everyone’s roster with bids to know what others need and how much they have available to spend.
The typical roster for leagues in which I play has 23 roster spots consisting of 14 hitters and nine pitchers. On the back of one of the tiered pricing sheets I have 23 lines, each with a targeted price, whose sum is $260. Here is my typical roadmap.
Hitting
40____________
30____________
20____________
20____________
15____________
15____________
10____________
5____________
5____________
5____________
3____________
3____________
2____________
2____________
Pitching
25____________
15____________
15____________
10____________
5____________
5____________
5____________
3____________
2____________
This isn’t necessarily my plan; it’s more for bookkeeping purposes. I am free to spend more or less than a line.
My process involves redistributing the targeted price of the above lines, based on my purchases. If I buy a player a hitter at $45, I’ll put his name on the $40 line, then take away $5 from another line, or lines. If I spend $28 on my first pitcher, I’ll put him on the top line, then adjust elsewhere.
Early on, I’ll keep the hitting and pitching pools separate. However, as the auction progresses, I may sense more, or fewer buying opportunities on one side of the ledger. Sometimes, I’ll be preemptive and move budget from one side to the other, confident that’s how it will play out. Other times, after winning a bid, I’ll make the line adjustment between the two pools.
The key to this process is using the tiered pricing in conjunction with the empty roster lines. If I have a $30 hitting line, and there are no batters for which I’m comfortable bidding $30, I’ll lower the target for that line and add the difference to another line. This is a fluid process. By the end, I may have 10 different target prices allocated to some of the lines.
In the beginning, it’s no big deal to lower the highest priced remaining lines. There is still adequate inventory to fill the rest at the adjusted targets.
Hopefully, this doesn’t transpire, but sometimes it gets to the point where you’ll see the available player pool to fill all your lines is dwindling. You need to start spending, or you’re going to leave money on the table. This process is the best approach I have utilized to prevent this massive faux pas.
Some of the more advanced drafting software alerts you to when you need to start winning some bids. You can program a spreadsheet to do it. I’ve found organizing players in pricing tiers so I can see the players available at each price point is simple, yet powerfully effective.
I’m happy to address questions regarding this method, or any auction related inquiry in the comment section below.
Todd Zola is an award-winning fantasy baseball writer and 2020 inductee into the Fantasy Sports Writers Hall of Fame. He's the content provider for the 2024 Fantasy Baseball Index Draft Kit, available now. To purchase, click HERE.