Historically in this league there is at least one, if not two, $50-plus players and a good handful of $40-plus players by the time the auction concludes.  In fact, last year the top eleven salaries were as follows:  Albert Pujols $56, Hanley Ramirez $52, Prince Fielder $45, Ryan Braun $44, Joey Votto $44, Matt Holliday $43, Ryan Howard $43, Roy Halladay $43, Ryan Zimmerman $41, Troy Tulowitzki $40, and Tim Lincecum $40.  Obviously some of those players went too high, but in an auction it comes down to supply-and-demand and the remaining budgets the bidding teams have.

Out of those 11 players I estimate that only five at best would get a $40 bid this year, (Braun, Votto, Holliday (St. Louis Midwest bias), Halladay, and Tulowitzki) and only three of which (Braun, Votto, and Tulowitzki) I would be willing to go that high on.  The departure of Pujols and Fielder, along with the varying concerns surrounding the other players, really depletes the number of National League upper tier bats, but because of “tradition” or stupidity there will still be a fair share of $40-plus players.

The second factor is the players that will be available at auction when considering the other owner’s keepers.  By talking to a few owners I know Votto, Matt Kemp ($36), Michael Bourn ($19), Jay Bruce ($18), Michael Morse ($3), and Jose Reyes ($28) are all currently being strongly considered as keepers.  That is a pretty good chunk of offensive talent that has just been eliminated from the player pool – that as I already mentioned is depleted.

If I want to own Braun, or any of the other remaining highly revered bat, I am going to have to overpay, and probably would at a greater “difference” in value than what I am currently paying for Braun.  Essentially I’d rather pay $44 for Braun, than end up paying $40-plus dollars for David Wright, which I envision the future David Wright owner doing.