If you’ve never participated in an auction draft before, give it a try. Even if you just check out a mock auction, you won’t regret it.

Auction drafts are an entirely different beast than normal snake drafts. They can be overwhelming at first, but the different strategies and paths to success will quickly flood into the minds of first-time drafters. And that’s exactly what makes an auction so appealing: the strategy. There’s just something appealing about knowing that everyone truly has an equal shot at acquiring every single player.

With that said, all auction drafts are different. Different mock auctions are especially distinct from one another. It simply takes two drafters badly wanting the same player to drive the price up astronomically. All of a sudden, a guy you had counted on drafting now has a price tag out of your range. In your next auction draft, no one might be interested in that same player, and you might snag a bargain. It’s no different from a player falling in a snake draft; every ebb and flow just affects all drafters in an auction.

For this individual mock auction draft, I implemented the tried-and-true stars and scrubs strategy. Basically, this approach is wrapped around surrounding as many expensive stud players as possible with $1 or 2 bargains.

Unlike a top-tier fantasy football team, odds are, even the best fantasy baseball squad will experience a high level of turnover. There’s no reason to mostly target mid-level players when half of a typical team will get dropped regardless.

So, I aimed for as many stars as possible. In this scenario, I would count on my stars producing all year long while hoping my sleepers and waiver-wire additions pick up the slack for my bottom half.

This mock auction draft is a standard 5×5, 12-team, $260 budget league. (Note, the pitchers are grouped by two SP slots, two RP slots, and four generic P slots in the starting rotation.) The FantasyPros’ mock drafts and draft simulator are fantastic tools to practice for yourself.

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Final Roster

C – J.T. Realmuto (PHI – C,1B): $18

1B – Luke Voit (NYY – 1B): $1

2B – Jose Altuve (HOU – 2B): $40

3B – José Ramírez (CLE – 2B,3B): $46

SS – Francisco Lindor (CLE – SS): $37

OF – J.D. Martinez (BOS – OF): $42

OF – Khris Davis (OAK – OF): $24

OF – Harrison Bader (STL – OF) : $2

UTIL – Mike Moustakas (MIL – 3B) : $1

UTIL – Domingo Santana (SEA – OF): $1

SP – Gerrit Cole (HOU – SP): $25

SP – J.A. Happ (NYY – SP): $3

RP – José Leclerc (TEX – RP): $5

RP – Corey Knebel (MIL – RP) : $5

P – Ryan Brasier (BOS – RP) : $1

P – Matt Barnes (BOS – RP): $1

P – Jordan Hicks (STL – RP): $1

P – Jon Lester (CHC – SP): $2

B – Ross Stripling (LAD – SP,RP): $1

B – Tyler Glasnow (TB – SP,RP): $1

B – Drew Pomeranz (SF – SP): $1

B – Mike Minor (TEX – SP): $1

B – José Martínez (STL – 1B,OF): $1

Strengths

Hitting

I really just wanted to end my paragraph here and move on, but I won’t be that guy. In all seriousness, my batting lineup is projected to be the best in this league. I love relying consistently on a strong offense. I’m projected to lead in home runs and won’t exactly lack in steals or average. The two weakest spots in the order, sleepers Luke Voit and Domingo Santana could both prove valuable pieces to this team.

It’s also a deep lineup. While I never draft many extra position players, Jose Martinez backs me up at first base, which is my weakest hitting position. While I obviously lack stars throughout my pitching staff, I have enough names who I’m hoping can collectively get the job done.

I was also able to snag some great value picks. Francisco Lindor’s stock definitely fell from where it would have been before his calf injury. Even if he misses the first few weeks, I’ll take the rest of the season of Lindor for only $37. Khris Davis also falls under that same category. This is a guy who’s been among the league leaders in home runs the last few seasons. Picking him up for only $24 felt like a steal.

Weaknesses

Pitching

Again, I could stop my paragraph right here! Really though, I would not anticipate my pitching to be nearly as bad as it might look on paper. In fact, I’ll give myself a solid shot to take wins, K’s, and saves many weeks. Yes, my first three starters don’t look pretty. However, Gerrit Cole, J.A. Happ, and Jon Lester all play for teams that could help them top 15 wins. If I don’t have the budget to buy top-tier starters, I at least want guys who can get strikeouts and wins. All three of those guys have both of those capabilities.

Notes

I’m going with a closer-by-committee approach here. I just didn’t have the money to snag any of the top ones, so I grabbed a slew of sleepers. Corey Knebel went through a rough patch last year, but he has the stuff to bounce back big time. Jordan Hicks and Ryan Brasier or Matt Barnes could all offer tremendous upside as closers on great teams. Hopefully, with the sheer numbers of relievers I have, enough will emerge as quality options.

If you’re entertaining an option other than the stars-and-scrubs strategy, I would highly advise against it. The unbelievable depth available at the end of 2019 rankings is mind-boggling. Owners can pick up “scrubs” who have a real chance of producing throughout the year. Grab some stars early, and let the scrubs do their job.

Best of luck in your 2019 auction draft!

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Alex Altmix is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Alex, check out his archive or follow him @Altmix_23.