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Whitestone’s Waiver Watch: NFBC Main Event (6/26)

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Welcome to my weekly Main Event recap article. Each week, I’ll dig into the top free agents added in this premiere fantasy baseball contest, letting you know who was added in the most leagues, how much money was spent and more. In addition, we’ll revisit the top pickups from three weeks ago and even scan the Main Event overall standings to see who’s at the top. And this week we are marking the fact that we’re halfway through the season (or pretty close at 48%). Maybe not a cause for celebration, as Homer Simpson seems to think, but it’s still noteworthy nevertheless.

 

MLB Counter: 48.0% of the season complete

Half Way GIF by Quizizz

Updated MLB Stats

I am planning to alternate this overall MLB pitching and hitting stats with the 80% Main Event target update in this section moving forward, since there is less movement in the numbers now. So next week we will check in on those 80% levels for the year to date.

But below I’ve also updated the runs scored, home runs and batting average for this year (through Sunday), and they are shown below compared to the 2017-2022 period. Over the past couple of weeks, runs per game have edged up just a little to 4.55 (from 4.54) but home runs and batting average have been steady. Stolen bases also are up to 0.73 per game from 0.72, and the success rate is holding at 80%. This is still a remarkable shift from the 0.51 stolen bases per game from just a season ago. In the second chart below, the pitching stats show that strikeouts have trended up to 8.59 (from 8.56 two weeks back), which of course is a big rebound from the 8.40 of last year. However, an overlooked stat has been the unintentional walks per game — now at 3.28 from 3.06 last season. Perhaps this is an outgrowth of the pitch clock, but it means that the leaguewide K:BB ratio is worse than 2022 despite more strikeouts.

MLB Hitting Stats Runs/Game Home Runs Batting Average Stolen Bases/Game SB Success Rate
2023 YTD 4.55 1.14 .248 0.73 0.80
2022 4.28 1.07 .243 0.51 0.75
2021 4.53 1.22 .244 0.46 0.76
2020 4.65 1.28 .245 0.49 0.75
2019 4.83 1.39 .252 0.47 0.73
2018 4.65 1.15 .248 0.51 0.72
2017 4.65 1.26 .255 0.52 0.73
MLB Pitching Stats MLB WHIP Strikeouts/Game Unintentional Walks/Game K:BB Ratio
2023 YTD 1.31 8.59 3.28 2.62
2022 1.27 8.40 3.06 2.75
2021 1.30 8.68 3.25 2.67
2020 1.33 8.68 3.39 2.56
2019 1.33 8.81 3.27 2.69
2018 1.30 8.48 3.32 2.55
2017 1.34 8.25 3.26 2.53

Most Common FAAB Pickups in the Main Event: Shooter McGavin

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The 10 widest acquisitions are in the chart below, and because Main Event owners are contractually obligated to have a rookie starting pitcher as the top acquisition, we have Gavin Williams of Cleveland as the leader this week. Shooter was added in all 53 leagues; Pittsburgh catching prospect Henry Davis was not far behind. Williams was still the leader, with a high of $228, while Davis had a high bid of $137. Then we did have a veteran presence beyond that, as Joey Votto returned with a bang and Main Event managers added him in 47 leagues. Next was Alek Thomas, who just might get regular playing time in Phoenix, while the hope of stolen bases vaulted speedster David Hamilton of the Red Sox into fifth overall as he was picked up in 43 leagues.

Added in Most Main Event Leagues Leagues Added Reason Highest Winning Bid Lowest Winning Bid
Gavin Williams 53 A new rookie pitcher! 228 28
Henry Davis 52 Young PIT C Prospect 137 2
Joey Votto 47 Fountain of Youth? 112 8
Alek Thomas 46 Back in AZ 72 1
David Hamilton 43 Speed in BOS 34 1
Andy Ibáñez 37 Hitting well in DET 24 1
David Peterson 37 Back from the minors 23 1
Jhony Brito 37 Two starts for NYY 21 1
Matt Manning 28 Almost ready in DET 33 1
Brandon Pfaadt 27 Could he be back? 28 1

The Century Club

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In the 14th FAAB run (see below), there were four $200-plus successful bids as they drift away from our consciousness (up from zero, though) — and 42 over $100 (with 32 of these 42 for Williams and five for Davis). As you can see below, we’ve had 528 total winning bids over $200 (which may be about the final total) and 1,250 total $100-plus winning bids in the first thirteen weeks of FAAB. It’s interesting to think that of the 795 Main Event managers, two-thirds on average have had one $200-plus winning bid and each manager on average has had 1-2 $100-199 winning bids. Some managers have gone more “stars and scrubs” and have more than one $200 player, while others haven’t gone above $200 at all and are content with $100 and below.

Weekly Summary (FAAB Date) Winning Bids Over $200 Winning Bids Over $100
3/26 2 13
4/3 24 80
4/10 27 98
4/17 66 149
4/24 37 102
4/30 79 151
5/7 86 147
5/14 61 117
5/21 11 75
5/28 44 66
6/4 29 59
6/11 58 123
6/18 0 28
6/25 4 42
YTD 528 1250

The Wow Bid of the Week

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So, who attracted the highest single bid of the week? Of course, it is no surprise that the highest winning bid was for Gavin Williams — but this week is our first “wow” bid of the with an exact tie. The top winning bid was $228 by two separate managers, which beat the $145 and $138 runner-up amounts. The magical $228 worked!

FAAB Summary

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In the first 14 FAAB weeks, Main Event managers have had 21,896 winning bids (so each Main Event team has won 27.5 bids on average YTD — roughly two per week) and spent about $806 of their $1,000 allocation. Comparing that to the last two years at the 14-week mark, that’s more than the $718 spent in 2022 and the $710 spent two years ago. You can see in the chart below (the average amount spent per team column) that there was a huge drop in weekly spending two weeks ago — from $65 spent per team to $28, and this week it held steady at that $28 level. But with 27 FAAB periods and $806 spent in 14 weeks, owners who have an average amount left are going to have to economize even further by averaging $14.92 per week for all their winning bids over the final 14 weeks of the campaign. It is time for some really strong $5-$10 bids.

Main Event: 2023 FAAB Period Total Number of Main Event Winning Bids Total FAAB Dollars Spent Main Event Average Winning Bid Main Event Average Amount Spent Per Team Cumulative FAAB Spent Per Team
1 341 $6,722 $19.71 $8.46  
2 1410 $50,519 $35.83 $63.55 $72.00
3 1793 $55,661 $31.04 $70.01 $142.02
4 1822 $68,776 $37.75 $86.51 $228.53
5 1725 $53,876 $31.23 $67.77 $296.29
6 1748 $61,632 $35.26 $77.52 $373.82
7 1902 $74,183 $39.00 $93.31 $467.13
8 1775 $59,903 $33.75 $75.35 $542.48
9 1659 $40,999 $24.71 $51.57 $594.05
10 1501 $37,183 $24.77 $46.77 $640.82
11 1524 $34,488 $22.63 $43.38 $684.20
12 1619 $51,953 $32.09 $65.35 $749.55
13 1546 $22,441 $14.52 $28.23 $777.78
14 1531 $22,510 $14.70 $28.31 $806.10
           
Total 21896 $640,846 $29.27 $806.10  

The Colosseum

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Each week during the season, I take a look at the four widest 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 the chart below, you can see the results from the 10th FAAB period. Royce Lewis of Minnesota leads us off and he’s been very good — a .393 batting average with 2 homers, 1 steal and good counting stats — he gets a thumbs up from the emperor of course. Then we have a tough one — Justin Lawrence of the Rockies. He has provided two saves, and the ERA is nice — but look at the K:BB and WHIP. I’m not impressed by that — and it might cause him to lose the gig eventually. He gets a PUSH for now. Reese Olson of the Tigers has been good — he has the 1 win and a nice K:BB ratio and WHIP. His ERA is high, but since I prefer WHIP as an indicator to ERA, I’ll award him with a thumbs up. Finally, Gary Sánchez is another tough case. He has provided power — 5 homers and 14 RBIs. But the .183 batting average is ominous — will he still get regular playing time if he hits that low? I think this is a PUSH even though I understand many owners are happy with a power surge from the catcher position.

This now gives us 19 thumbs up for the season thus far (43%), 17 down (39%) and 8 pushes (18%). That’s slightly better than 2022, which registered a 39% thumbs up on these weekly pickups, and well ahead of 2021 (24%). 

Royce Lewis 53 .393 BA 2 HR 1 SB (8/8 R:RBI) Thumbs Up
Justin Lawrence 46 9.1 IP (7/8 K:BB) 1W 2.97 ERA 1.50 WHIP 2SV PUSH
Reese Olson 44 19.2 IP (22/5 K:BB) 1 W 5.03 ERA 1.17 WHIP Thumbs Up
Gary Sánchez 43 .183 BA 5 HR 0 SB (8/14 R:RBI) PUSH

Overall Leaderboard: The Crusade for Christenson

The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Christian Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these military expeditions are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were intended to conquer Jerusalem and its surrounding area from Muslim rule. Although dozens of military campaigns were organized, crusading declined rapidly after the 15th century. Apparently that news has not reached Eric Christenson, though, as he ascended to the top spot in his own Main Event Crusade (you can see him pictured below working on his FAAB this week). Eric has been steady and solid all season and assures us all that this crusade will end in victory.

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Overall Leader Standings Through This Date Fantasy Owner Overall Points Margin Over Second Place Current Overall Place
1 4/2 Robert Henke 7065 82.5 59th
2 4/9 John Pausma 6694 7 10th
3 4/16 Michael Mager 7254.5 545 4th
4 4/23 Michael Mager 6820 168.5 4th
5 4/30 Michael Mager 7056 338.5 4th
6 5/7 Michael Mager 7038 230 4th
7 5/14 Jeff Tudor 6791 158 7th
8 5/21 Steve Maier 6786 158 2nd
9 5/28 Steve Maier 6945 233.5 2nd
10 6/4 Steve Maier 6902.5 172.5 2nd
11 6/11 Michael Kurland 6745 68 15th
12 6/18 Steve Maier 6934 304.5 2nd
13 6/25 Eric Christenson 7057.5 231 1st

In the overall top 30 standing below, we find Steve Maier now in second place (from ninth the previous week), and Brandon King now in third from second last week. Michael Mager is lurking in fourth (and he also has the eighth-place overall team), and the great Andrew Geller moves to fifth from sixth. Clark Olson is now sixth and 17th — and Jeff Tudor is solidly in contention in seventh overall. Ari Benjamin is now ninth (moving up from 15th), and John Pausma — that’s MR. JOHN PAUSMA — is 10th and 24th.

Speaking of guys to watch out for, Bob Catsiroumpas is 11th, Mark Srebro 12th, Dalton Del Don 13th, Gregg Martin 14th and Michael Kurland 15th — all of these guys are definitely in the hunt for the title. 

There’s lots of other strong contenders in the top-30 list — just take a look at the standings below — and with more than half of the season left, anything can happen.

Overall Rank Overall Prize Money Fantasy Owner Overall Points Points Behind First Place
1 $200,000 Eric Christenson 7057.5 0
2 $50,000 Steve Maier 6826.5 231
3 $30,000 Brandon King 6774 283.5
4 $25,000 Michael Mager 6686.5 371
5 $20,000 Andrew Geller 6563 494.5
6 $15,000 Clark Olson 6553.5 504
7 $12,500 Jeff Tudor 6540 517.5
8 $10,000 Michael Mager 6480.5 577
9 $9,000 Ari Benjamin 6375 682.5
10 $8,000 John Pausma 6343.5 714
11 $7,500 Bob Catsiroumpas 6320 737.5
12 $7,000 Mark Srebro 6305 752.5
13 $6,000 Dalton Del Don 6281 776.5
14 $5,500 Gregg Martin 6228 829.5
15 $5,000 Michael Kurland 6211.5 846
16 $4,000 Ned Donohue 6199.5 858
17 $3,500 Clark Olson 6173.5 884
18 $3,000 Vic Tafur 6159 898.5
19 $2,500 Stephen Fiore 6122 935.5
20 $2,400 Rey Diaz 6019.5 1038
21 $2,300 Scott Waggener 6001 825.5
22 $2,200 Joe Meyer 5997.5 776.5
23 $2,100 Robert Mirshak & Ian Kahn 5997 689.5
24 $2,000 John Pausma 5987 576
25 $1,950 Zachary Waxman 5986.5 567
26 $1,900 Nelson Sousa 5984 556
27 $1,850 Michael O’Brien 5980 500.5
28 $1,800 Nelson Sousa 5973 402
29 $1,750 Brian Edwards 5941.5 402
30 $1,700 Kyle Pantalone 5939.5 380.5
  Average Top 30 Overall Score Average Top 30 Overall Score 6266.9  

This week I am also showing below the scoring breakdown of the top five overall players. As you can see, Eric Christenson’s weakest category is batting average at 605 points out of 795 (that’s not too bad), and he has seven categories above 700. Steve Maier has five above 700 but does have a weakness in steals that he needs to address. Brandon King has the top overall team in both home runs and RBI and is tied for the top spot in runs scored — wow. If he gets some steals and saves, watch out! Michael Mager has six above 700 and is really focused on steals, I am sure. Finally, Andrew Geller has five over 700 and is looking to improve in batting average and steals moving forward.

Fantasy Manager Eric Christenson Steve Maier Brandon King Michael Mager Andrew Geller
Overall Place 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
Runs 712.5 712.5 794.5 749 783
Home Runs 771.5 711.5 795 741.5 783.5
RBI 714.5 686 795 722.5 789
SB 638.5 406 406 287.5 479
Batting Average 605 689 750 717 304.5
Strikeouts 745.5 758 691.5 643 614
Wins 783.5 649.5 770 744 758.5
Saves 610.5 681.5 255 662.5 639.5
ERA 777 775 755 645 757
WHIP 701 744 762 789 655
Total Overall Points 7059.5 6813 6774 6701 6563

Champions Update

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I like to keep tabs on our recent Overall Champions, because they have proven their mettle over long, difficult campaigns and therefore must be threats to do so again.

Philippe Dussault: Philippe is back, and I take full credit for this. After employing my motivational strategy in this article, Phil first shot up to 201st from 275th place (out of 795 total) four weeks ago, three weeks ago to 187th! Two weeks ago? 160th overall. Last week? 134th. And now? He is 91st. Wow, I am good!

Robert Cramutola: Bob bounced back — as he has a history of doing. Two weeks ago he fell from 56th to 206th. But then he rose to 130th, before fading to 171st this week. Bob remains calm despite the fact that angry fans are surrounding him in his car dealership, calling for him to replace the general manager.

 

League of Legends

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NFBC League No. Leader $7,500 prize 2nd Place $3,500 prize 3rd Place $1,750 prize
1220 Michael Mager Dave Smith Steven Weimer
1221 Ned Donohue Brian Edwards Brian Ambos
1228 Tom O’Bryan John Pausma Jeremy Brader
1229 Clark Olson Chris Uram Danny Bronski
1230 Todd Whitestone Chas Nelson Adam Mayer
1244 Jason Anthony David Einhorn Philippe Dussault
1276 Andrew Geller Gregg Martin Bradley Libros
1282 Danny Bronski David Miller Jenny Butler
1412 Dalton Del Don Mark Srebro Paul Hong
1417 Danny Bronski Leonard Ringle Tony Saccucci
1418 Graham Dawick Eric Heberlig Dominic Rello
1419 Kyle Brinkmann Thomas Warner Stephen Goodwin
1420 Jeffrey Biddle Johnathon Olive Joe Green
1426 Steve Maier Clark Olson Jody Ryan
1427 John Pausma Bill Gaffney Michael O’Brien
1428 Scott Waggener Glenn Schroter James Anderson
1429 Markus Sultan Dustin Wagner Jeff Mitseff
1443 Jeff Tudor Eric Albright Brian Slack & Nickolaus Sackett
1444 Michael Mager Clark Olson Michael O’Brien
1445 Vic Tafur John Pausma Robert DiPietro
1446 Dave Clum Toby Guevin Chris Fessler
1447 Ari Benjamin Joe Meyer James Anderson & Todd Whitestone
1448 Zachary Waxman Marc Winokur David Ehansipoor
1449 Stephen Fiore Matthew Davis Matt Strickler
1450 Philippe Dussault Steven Puntenney James Tomony
1469 Eric Heberlig Vince Clemente Daniel Prepas
1488 Nelson Sousa Michael Kurland Greg Jewett
1489 Brandon King John Pausma Mike Ballschmiede
1513 Brent Grooms Dave Rhydderch Benjamin Graff
1520 Bob Catsiroumpas Mark DiMondo Bradley Libros
1521 Mike Cameron Nelson Sousa Elliott Pell
1555 David Miller Steven Weimer Rob Silver
1567 John Pausma Al Williams Michael Duin
1569 Eric Christenson David Hubbard David Miller
1571 Eric Albright Scott Feschuk Scott Jenstad
1572 Robert Mirshak & Ian Kahn Michael Mager Stephen Fiore
1573 Matthew Shepherd William McAleer Charles Sommer
1574 Rey Diaz Hunter Dorbandt Mark Srebro
1575 Bryan Fitzgerald Dave Petroziello Mike Rothe
1576 Stephen Marshall Scott Waggener Bob Mazur
1577 Andrew Sullivan Todd Whitestone Michael Noakes
1578 Andrew Geller Kellen Arneson Brian Slack & Nickolaus Sackett
1579 Scott Slezak Robert Henke Travis Sawchick
1589 Ned Donohue Seth Trachtman Thomas Eshenfelder
1604 Ned Donohue Scott Gilbert Nelson Sousa
1613 Theodore Kristek Jarrett Greco Usman Ahmad
1614 Kyle Pantalone Jordan Rosenblum Christopher Torres
1646 Charles Holleman Jeffrey Bryl Matt Dozier
1663 Gregg Martin Brad Solander Brian Slack & Nickolaus Sackett
1673 Jody Ryan Grant Witte Chris Oliver
1677 Jason Santeiu Brian Magnani Andrew McQuiston
1717 Zach Bettencourt Nelson Sousa Vlad Sedler
1737 John Fish Eddie Gillis Austin Sodders

Shout-Outs

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John Pausma is still great — don’t get me wrong. But a few weeks ago he was first in all five of his Main Event leagues and now he leads in two while placing second in three others. For mere mortals that would be outstanding. But I can tell you that John is none too happy about this and is vowing to turn his season around (by the way, John, many people would be ecstatic about your position). 

Nelson Sousa also isn’t complying with my categorization of him as a fantasy football expert. He’s in a cashing position in four Main Event leagues, and says he just needs a good solid wide receiver and he will move up even further. Ned Donohue continues to lead in three Main Events — yawn — as usual. Mike Mager, Clark Olson, Danny Bronski, David Miller and the glorious tag team of Brian Slack and Nickolaus Sackett are also in the top three in three leagues. Those eight fantasy players have 12 first-place positions, nine second-place and six third-place — wow. Excellent job gentlemen!

Sixteen other players are in two cashing spots, with Philippe Dussault back in a cashing spot in the two leagues he is in. In fact, these 21 Main Event fantasy managers below have a combined 22 first-place positions (42%) and 53 cashing spots (33% of the 159 total available). There’s a long way to go of course, but right now the story of the season in the Main Event is Pausma, Sousa, Donohue, Mager, Olson, Bronski and Miller — but remember — the Crusades are just beginning! So that $194 average FAAB remaining has to last all the way to the Middle East (or at least until September).

Shout Outs First Place Second Place Third Place Total Cash Positions
John Pausma 2 3 0 5
Nelson Sousa 1 2 1 4
Ned Donohue 3 0 0 3
Michael Mager 2 1 0 3
Clark Olson 1 2 0 3
Danny Bronski 2 0 1 3
Brian Slack & Nickolaus Sackett 0 0 3 3
David Miller 1 1 1 3
Andrew Geller 2 0 0 2
Eric Albright 1 1 0 2
Gregg Martin 1 1 0 2
Todd Whitestone 1 1 0 2
Eric Heberlig 1 1 0 2
Scott Waggener 1 1 0 2
Philippe Dussault 1 0 1 2
Jody Ryan 1 0 1 2
Stephen Fiore 1 0 1 2
Steven Weimer 0 1 1 2
Mark Srebro 0 1 1 2
Bradley Libros 0 0 2 2
Michael O’Brien 0 0 2 2
Total 22 16 15 53

Good luck during Week 15.

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