Whitestone’s Waiver Watch: NFBC Main Event (4/28)

Do You Have the Power?

2025 MLB Counter: 17.3% of games played

Powering Down

If you look at the chart below, you’ll see that home runs per game in MLB are down to 1.04 from 1.12 in 2024. We’ve previously discussed that batting average is down, currently at about .240 from .243 last year. But in MLB as a whole the combination of lesser batting average and lower power numbers (home runs are down about 7%) has significantly impacted scoring (down to approximately 4.29 per game from 4.35 last season). So how have Main Event managers responded to this problem? They have mined the barren landscape and rostered hitters that have more power! How do I know this? Well, look at the first column in the chart below. The 80% mark in the Main Event — usually cited as the bar needed to compete in the overall championship — is actually up approximately 8% (on a projected basis) to 313 from 289 in 2024. (I’ve also helpfully shown a live video of how the average Main Event manager feels about their ability to roster more home runs despite the dropoff below.)

MLB Home Run Stats 2019-2025 YTD

Who’s Got the Power Supply?

This is a chart of the leading power hitters so far in 2025 along with their ADP (those that have accumulated 7 or more homers). Sure, there are the expected top hitters listed — Main Event first rounders Aaron Judge, Fernando Tatis Jr., Corbin Carroll and Kyle Tucker are listed, as is second-rounder Jazz Chisholm Jr. But the seven players that caught my eye are the ones drafted in the Main Event after pick 250 — Tyler Soderstrom (281), Sean Murphy (341), Kyle Manzardo (380), Spencer Torkelson (381), Jorge Polanco (414), Matt Mervis (450), Wilmer Flores (488) and Trent Grisham (not drafted).

These 22 players account for 172 home runs through Sunday, April 27, which is 21% of the MLB total. 

Most Common FAAB Pickups in the Main Event: If You Didn’t Get Kurtz, It Kinda Hurts

Well, Nick Kurtz wasn’t added in the most Main Event leagues. That honor went to Jordan Beck, who was not previously rostered in any league but was added in all 57 Sunday. That’s because Mr. Kurtz was already rostered and held in 10 Main Event leagues, while his partner in crime Agustín Ramírez was held in five Main Event leagues. Kurtz and Ramírez were the headliners even though what Beck did was definitely impressive (Beck went 7-18 with 5 home runs last week). Now all three players are 100% rostered, but as you can see from the average winning bid amounts in the chart below, Kurtz and Ramírez took the most FAAB money off the table.

The top-10 FAAB acquisitions from Sunday, April 27 are in the chart below and after the big three discussed above, Emerson Hancock was the fourth most added player due to his good start and the fact that his place in the Seattle rotation appears secure. The only other player to take significant money, however, was Tigers’ pitcher Will Vest, who is clearly in the save mix in Detroit and was snapped up at an average of $120 as a result.

NFBC Main Event most added players: What Budget Restrictions?

The Wow Bid of the Week: Kurtz Asserts

So who attracted the highest single bids of Week Six FAAB? It turns out that someone was — no surprise — Nick Kurtz of the Athletics at a — wow — hefty $557 figure (runner up $377). The Kurtz prices ranged from 4 in the $400-499 range; 10 in the $300-399 range; 12 in the $200-299 range; and 3 bargains in the $100-199 range (the lowest successful bid was $145). The average winning bid for Kurtz was a substantial $341.

As for Agustín Ramírez, his winning bidders were no slouches either. The top bid ranged from two winning bids in the $500-plus range; 10 in the $400-499 range; 20 in the $300-399 range; 28 in the $200-299 range; and 9 bargains in the $100-199 range (the lowest successful bid was $153). The average winning bid for Ramírez was only slightly less impressive at $263. You can see the NFBC League Office as they collect the FAAB spent at their Wisconsin headquarters below…

In addition to the 10 most added players in the chart above, there were seven other players attracting average winning bids over $30 that were added in 10 or more leagues. These players were: Camilo Doval (average winning bid $131; 16 bids); Andy Pages ($72; 20); Porter Hodge ($46; 29); Justin Slaten ($43; 13); and three players with average winning bids of $40 — Colin Rea (19 bids); Eric Wagaman (18); and Ryan Gusto (15).

In addition, there were five notable players available in just a few Main Event leagues that each attracted average bids well over $130: Luke Weaver ($291 average winning bid in two leagues); Noelvi Marte ($228; 1); Christopher Morel ($177; 1); Matthew Liberatore ($158; 2); and Cade Smith ($135 in 6).

FAAB Summary: $328 Spent; $672 Remains

In the first six FAAB weeks, Main Event managers have recorded 9,514 winning bids (3% more than the 9,281 in first six weeks of last year — and about 11 total winning bids per Main Event team) and spent about $328 of their $1,000 allocation. Spending is up about 6% over last year’s total of $290 in the first six weeks. With all the spending on Kurtz and Ramírez, the average Main Event winning bid was $42 in week six, which was well above the average winning bid of $27 in this week last season. 

The Colosseum: 4 Thumbs Up; 2 Thumbs Down

Each week during the season, I’ll review the most common Main Event pickups from three weeks ago and evaluate whether it was a good addition based on the early stats (thumbs up); a bad idea (thumbs down); or simply a push. In 2024, these pickups were rated as 30 thumbs up (38%), a little worse than in 2023 (44% up).

Our third set of Colosseum combatants is listed below. This group is from April 6, and the top hitter addition that week — Kyren Paris of the Angels — was doing very well initially. He was 6-for-17 in his first few games after he was added in 47 leagues but since is just 1-for-30 (yikes) and losing playing time (and he was dropped in 25% of Main Event leagues). He gets a thumbs down. Jake Mangum is now on the injured list and has been dropped in 54% of Main Event leagues, but for the purposes of this evaluation, he contributed very nicely in his first three weeks with a solid average (.289) and 4 steals. That earned him a thumbs up from the emperor. And finally, the best of the bunch was Tim Tawa of the Diamondbacks, who, despite hitting for a low average (.209), produced power with four homers and even threw in two steals — a definite thumbs up even though his playing time is now in question with Ketel Marte close to a return. 

On the pitching side, three starting pitchers were the major additions on April 6th. The first was a return visitor to the Colosseum — Landon Knack of the Dodgers — and this homecoming did not go very well. He had two horrendous starts and was optioned to the minors April 16 to earn a thumbs down. Michael Lorenzen of the Royals is a much happier story. He has garnered two wins since being added and produced a fine ERA and strikeouts. The WHIP is a little underwhelming, but he’s done enough for a thumbs up. Finally, Ben Lively did almost as well for the Guardians, with a win and slightly better ratios. He gets a thumbs up as well despite a relatively shaky outing in his last start. That’s four up, no pushes, and two down and makes the cumulative score 9 up; 3 pushes; and 6 down after three weeks (60% thumbs up).

The Most Added Free Agents from 3 Weeks Ago: Hitters

The Most Added Free Agents from 3 Weeks Ago: Pitchers

Overall Leaderboard: Some Fans Are Addicts

Well, this seems to be the week of the hashtag sign on the Main Event Overall Leaderboard. Leading the way is @thefanaddict (a tag team of Brian Ambos and Adam Ronis). As you can see above, I’m kind of a big fan of the way they have moved up to first place in one week (they weren’t in the top 34 at all last week). Excellent work, gentlemen! But we have two more hashtags in the top group — @nlsharks in 22nd and @Arasamaram in 25th — if this keeps up everyone will switch to naming their entries this way!

The top 34 Main Event entrants will earn a prize from the overall pool this year in addition to any league prizes awarded, and there are some solid competitors chasing our dynamic duo. Mike Cameron is in second overall (I should know because he’s in my Main Event league)! Kyle Pantalone — who led last week — drops down to third despite insisting going shirtless around his neighborhood, and the Kid Ben Tidd — who led for the first two weeks — is in solid position in fourth. Kyle Brinkmann has four teams in the top group — ninth, 10th, 16th and 21st — out of 12 Main Event entries (sure that’s great, but he does have one team in 713th, so come on Kyle, pick it up)! And outstanding fantasy manager Andrew Geller has only four Main Event entries but two are in the top echelon — at 29th and 34th.

Even though it’s still early, making the top 34 is a significant accomplishment — and we’ll follow the chase for the Main Event overall crown all season to see who can come out on top.

NFBC Main Event Overall Standings

2025 Final Table CLQ & Qualifier Standings

The first chart below shows the first annual CLQ Championship League Standings — these are the 15 fantasy managers who qualified last season by finishing with the best combined score in an across-the-board competition and therefore were invited to compete in an auction league in March. If you’re unaware, the CLQ requires fantasy managers to enter one specified team in the Online Championship, the Draft Champions, and the Main Event. These top 15 in the 2024 CLQ qualified for this first-ever auction league with significant prize money at stake built from entry fees from all CLQ entrants (201 fantasy managers entered this competition in 2024). It’s the best of the best in a no-holds-barred 15-team league, so we’ll track it to see who can become the initial Champions League Champ (the Champs Champ?) — and this week Chris Uram has taken over the top spot with 115 points over previous leader Brody John (aka Shawn Johnson) at 109 points. Matt Leahy is right in the thick of things in third place at 105.5, with Neil Petersen in solid position in fourth (95). Then three players are in a flat-footed tie for fifth at 91.5 points: Mike Ballschmiede, Tim Sansome and Toby Guevin, so they’re definitely in play for the title.

Below that I’m showing here the race for the NFBC CLQ — the Champions League Qualifier for next March. The top 14 in the CLQ qualify for the 2026 Champions auction league (the champion of the 2025 Champions Auction league automatically is invited back to defend their title). You can see the current 14 leading contenders to make the auction table in 2026 out of the 155 intrepid souls who entered this year. Kyle Pantalone is the leading qualifier at this point, with Matt Poole second and Michael Armstrong third. But all 14 of these fantasy managers have done an excellent job and have a leg up to be at the final table next March.

Good luck to all the fantasy managers as we enter May this week — there’s still a long way to go!

2025 Final Table CLQ

Champions League Qualifier Standings