But, spending $65 on a player like Bryce Harper this early in the season may really pay off – yes that was the top bid in our league – but only time will tell. 

Some owners take the strategy in an “only” league to hold onto their FAAB to spend it on a big name that will jump from one league to the other at the deadline.  The most recent notable name to do so, that went for big money in our league, was Matt Holliday in 2010.  By doing this you essentially are regulating yourself to picking up very low end guys to replace your injured players, or passing on guys that could contribute close to 400 at-bats to your team versus the 200 or so at-bats a deadline bat would add to your lineup.

Recently Allen Craig came off of the disabled list, making him eligible to be bid on in our league.  I saw this as a great opportunity to upgrade the weaknesses at my corner infield spot, and even though he does not have guaranteed at-bats when Lance Berkman becomes healthy, if he is producing at the plate he will easily get 350-plus at-bats the rest of the way.  I confidently bid $27 on him, but lost out to another league member in a similar situation – who also is a Cardinal fan – who bid $33.  If we used a soft bid system I probably would have gone much higher, and I would have been willing to pay $34 if I knew that was the magic number, but I thought $27 would be enough.

Bobby Abreu became eligible this past weekend after the trade from the Angels to the Dodgers, and was able to be bid on Sunday night.  With Willie Bloomquist occupying an outfield slot I saw this as an opportunity again to upgrade.
Considering Abreu can swing the bat from the left side, and Juan Rivera not being the most consistently healthy right handed bat, I figured he would get enough at-bats to make him part of the roster.  I put the modest bid of $5 on him and won.  I am sure if Rivera hit the DL before bidding happened he would have gone for more – and I would have bid more as well, but Monday morning I got a text from a league member asking why I overpaid for Abreu. 

Well, it is simple, I’d rather have 350 at-bats from him instead of 350 at-bats from Bloomquist here on out, so I bid accordingly, not being afraid of not having enough FAAB in the middle of July for the sexy name that makes the jump to the National League.

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Written by Nate Springfield exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com. Check back weekly for Nate’s NL-Only expertise, and follow him on his journey for a title of the State House League in 2012.

Follow Nate on Twitter @NateSpringfield