How do fantasy baseball auction drafts work

If at all possible, get a master of ceremonies to manage your salary-cap draft even if it's the ESPN draft room. This role is critical; he or she keeps the process running smoothly, is an independent arbiter in the case of bid or sale disputes and sets the cadence for player sales, which helps managers determine the amount of time with which they have to make decisions.

In these respects, the master of ceremonies role is every bit as important to a league as the commissioner's. Select a friend to serve in this role, and be kind with making it worth their time -- buy them a calzone and an adult beverage, for example. Some leagues allow bids in multiples of cents, such as 10 cents, 25 cents or 50 cents, especially those with smaller salary caps. Some salary-cap drafts require that bids, following a player's initial nomination, proceed in a specific order.

I don't recommend this format for beginner or intermediate fantasy baseball players, especially those new to the salary-cap draft format, but I admit that I have also never played in a league that used it. My suspicion is that it'd be more time-consuming than a traditional salary-cap draft, due to the greater amount of organization as well as a decreased likelihood of "jump bids" -- a topic we'll get into a little later.

Teams are not only restricted from purchasing players who cannot fill a specific spot on their roster, they are restricted from nominating them as well. If you're conducting your salary-cap draft live and in person -- always my preferred method, outside of this social distancing period, of course -- the best way to track and prevent any rules mishaps is to provide a full, visual display of all teams, rosters and purchases, so people can quickly reference them midstream.

This can be done with a computer and projector, or with a large paper board, which can be filled in either with player stickers or filled in by pen. One of the reasons the salary-cap draft format works so well is that it best mimics an open market. The team that places the highest value upon a player is almost always going to roster that player, certainly much more often than in a snake draft. What you need to do is determine your value of each player in your league's player pool.

In the previous two Playbook editions, we examined the different league types, and with the one you've selected -- be it mixed, AL- or NL-only, , , team or greater, and points, roto and seasonal or head-to-head -- you need to identify all players who you think are valuable enough to fill every eligible roster spot in your league.

It's also helpful to determine a number of "fringe" players you think might be worth rostering but whom you probably wouldn't have make the cut. This is most important to help with determining your replacement-level player -- we'll get to that topic shortly -- but also to help with a potential serpentine reserve draft or for quick adjustments in the event that you find you have a roster need -- say, some additional stolen bases in a roto league -- that wouldn't be filled by the endgame players you have remaining on your price sheet.

Once you identify this roster-worthy subset of your league's player pool, you need to rank and price each according to your salary-cap draft's format. You'll next need to determine the percentage of that pool to allocate to hitters versus pitchers. The best way to determine how much money to assign to each player is to craft your own set of projections, then use those to calculate dollar values. In a points league this is easier: Since each player's output results in a single number -- for example, Mookie Betts' ESPN projection has him earning points this season bear in mind that's based on a game schedule -- you'd take every player's projected point total, then subtract the projected point total of the best player outside your selected player pool at his position, to get the aforementioned "replacement-level" player, and the value you're extracting is the player's "value above replacement.

Realmuto 's projected points using ESPN scoring would turn into points above replacement in a team, one-catcher points league because the No. In a roto league this is more challenging, and a familiarity with spreadsheets can be quite a help.

In order to calculate dollar values, you'll need to convert each player's projection into a single number, so that you can determine his value above replacement as in the points-league example above. The simpler -- but not the only -- way to do that is to figure out the average number in each of your categories from all members of your player pool, then determine the standard deviation -- again, spreadsheets are a huge help here -- of each category.

You'll then compare each player's total to the league's average in the category, then divide by the standard deviation, do this for each category and come to a final "valuation" number for that player. So, for example, in a team league using ESPN's projections, the average number of home runs by the selected player pool is Using Betts' projection again as the example, his value in the home run category would be 35 minus You'd then find those results for his RBIs, runs scored, stolen bases and batting average and total them up.

There are several methods for calculating roto values, though, including determining Standings Gain Points, a topic somewhat too complicated to dive into in detail here but that can be researched with a quick web search. Just as in the points-league calculation method, you would then take these player values, compare them to the replacement-level player at each position, and come to a final value above replacement.

Once you've got your player values above replacement, determining dollar amounts for all players is the easiest part: You multiply each player's value above replacement by the total league budget, then divide by the total of all players' value above replacement. It's one of the most valuable tools available for fantasy baseball managers, and I run every league's player pool in which I play through it, even if just for a starting or reference point.

You can always run your league through the generator, then make manual tweaks if you'd rather not do calculations from scratch. If you've priced your players properly, you can attend your league's salary-cap draft with nothing more than a simple sheet of players and their dollar values. I've been asked many a time what materials to bring, and that'd be my answer every time. The more materials you bring and the more complex your cheat sheet, the less focused you'll be; these work in inverse proportion to one another.

In this case, focus is substantially more important than it'd be in a draft, where you have more decision-making time between picks and aren't potentially in the bidding on every player. Whatever game plan you decide to use, you must be ready to adjust if you don't get your key players. A fantasy owner can roster any player they want in an auction, but it comes with a price. The goal is to accumulate the most league points in five hitting categories batting average, runs, home runs, RBI, and steals and five pitching categories wins, ERA, WHIP, strikeouts, and saves.

In a team league, a first-place finish in a category would be worth 12 points, second place is 11 points, and so on until reaching 12th place one point.

The winner of each league is determined by adding up all ten categories. A common mistake fantasy owners make is hoping the players they want don't get called out early. It sounds good in principle, but the problem is all the other good players are coming off the board while you are sitting back holding your money. If you wait and miss on your targeted players, you will have fewer options left to build your team. It is essential to get your key players called out as quickly as possible.

If you want a player in the auction and you believe he is the key to your team winning, I would like to call him as soon as possible. By doing this, you find out how much he will cost you higher or lower than your predicted price point or if you need to start looking for someone else to build your team around.

The quicker you know where you stand on critical players, the better chance you have of executing your plan or adjusting on the fly. If I miss on him, I will need to find another player with a step down in overall expectations. In essence, I should have a secondary plan to shift to another player with a similar skill set with less upside, but I would then save some of my budget. In this example, my second elite option for power and speed could be Mookie Betts.

The matter could be a lot worse if 10 or more top players get called up before Acuna. This freelancing style could lead to an imbalance in roster construction in a non-trading format where a trade can't fix a shortfall in a category.

In this example, a detour off of Acuna may push a fantasy owner to Juan Soto, which in turn brings less upside in speed but a potentially high ceiling in batting average. This decision would then force a fantasy owner to find his speed in a different way while making sure not to give away his power edge. If the drop-down off Acuna led me to Trea Turner, I would set his foundation in steals with home run power and strength in batting average. Again, if Soto, Turner, and Betts get called out in the auction before Acuna or Tatis, a fantasy owner needs to get more creative with less inventory to build their offense for a fantasy team.

The other option is not missing on your targeted core player or players by overpaying with the theory of making up the lost dollars later in the auction. During the auction, it is crucial to focus on your game plan early while not worrying about how the other owners are spending their money.

My goal is to build my foundation in hitting and pitching while keeping my foot on the gas if the players I like are called out early. This strategy then requires me to shut down my spending for a long time in the middle of the auction.

I see many fantasy owners get aggravated when one or more fantasy owners hold onto their money. Don't just bid on players you want.

Keep your opponents guessing and you'll have the advantage. Leave some money for the endgame: There is a fine line here. You don't want to be cheap and end up not getting any good players but you would be wise to have more than a dollar per pick for your last five picks or so.

If everyone has a dollar per pick left at the end of the draft, it basically turns into a snake draft. If you have some extra money, however, you can control the endgame and get whoever you want. If you only have a dollar per player at the end of the draft, you have to nominate guys you want you don't want to get stuck with someone you don't want and risk them being stolen from you.

I would also recommend getting some practice in before your league's draft. Do some mock drafts so you are familiar with your league's platform. Otherwise, you may end up feeling overwhelmed at the start of the draft until you get comfortable with how it all works.

So there you have it. You won't have a perfect draft; No one does. You might get stuck with someone you didn't want and you might end up with extra money at the end, but if you follow my advice you'll increase your chances at having a great draft. This article is also featured on www.