Salary Cap-style drafts are arguably the most thrilling type of draft. The bidding wars, the overpays, the forgotten low-ball sleepers – it all may seem like a lot, but once you get the hang of it, it can be the most fun. A few mock drafts and you’ll be well on your way to understanding where to spend and how to save. If nothing else it gives you a shot at every player in existence and just makes for a more hands-on experience.
There are a variety of strategies you could turn to, but no matter what route you take, sometimes it’s those last few $1 selections that reward you with the biggest dividends. Today, we’ll be discussing which valuable targets that should only cost a single dollar. Some of these guys may go for one or even two bucks more, but as a whole, you should be able to obtain them for the minimum amount. Get these guys cheap and celebrate all season long.
Dollar values based on – 12 team league with a $260 budget and standard 5×5 scoring. Check out our Salary Cap Calculator to generate values specific to your league format.
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Pitchers:
Matz, for just a buck, could be the steal of the draft. Okay, maybe that’s going a bit too far, but judging by what he was able to accomplish last year in the AL East, there’s a good chance he outperforms his projections once again.
Matz threw 150 innings of quality ball last year while facing some robust competition. He not only won 14 games and struck out nearly a batter per inning, but his HR/FB rate also dropped to its lowest since his rookie season. His walks per nine also fell to its lowest since 2016. Pitching in Toronto and Buffalo, for that matter, is not easy, and yet the veteran lefty was still able to produce arguably his best season to date.
Matz now has the benefit of starting half of his games in St. Louis, which ranked as the top pitchers’ park last season. The competition in the NL Central is also vastly weaker. The division is full of teams going through a rebuild, minus the Brewers, who are known more for their pitching than their hitting.
By moving to an even more favorable environment and coming off a career year, I fully expect Matz to continue his success. Don’t be thrown off by his injury-plagued seasons. Matz is no doubt an above-average arm who will be a fine sixth or seventh starter for your squad.
DeSclafani seemed to come out of nowhere last year, but for those who didn’t put much stock into the 2020 season, his breakout came as little surprise. Anytime a pitcher can start four years in Cincinnati and keep his cumulative ERA under four, he is worth monitoring.
The University of Florida product started 31 games in 2019 and finished with an excellent 24 percent K-rate and an equally encouraging seven percent walk rate. He finished that season with a 3.89 ERA (on par with previous years) despite pitching in the most hitter-friendly bandbox in all of baseball. So when he moved to San Francisco, you knew DeSclafani was going to thrive.
Now into his second season with the Giants, there’s little reason to believe he’ll take much of a step back, if at all. He shows impeccable control, doesn’t allow home runs, keeps hitters off-balance with a nice five-pitch mix, and can pitch deep into games (threw two CG shutouts last year). He’s also extremely consistent. Out of the 31 games pitched last year, DeSclafani only allowed more than three runs a total of three times (4 runs twice, and one shellacking – everyone deserves a Mulligan). He also finished strong when the Giants were fighting for the division, allowing only eight runs over his final 32 innings.
Any pitcher who finishes a full season with 13 wins, a 3.17 ERA, and a 1.09 WHIP is undoubtedly worth $1 in redraft leagues. Especially when he’s shown the ability to produce in the past.
Javier’s biggest hurdle will be whether or not he can crack the starting rotation. With Lance McCullers Jr. already down and the team relying on 39-year-old Justin Verlander to be the ace of the squad, there will likely be more than enough starts to go around. And even if Javier spends his time moving back and forth from starter to reliever again, he’ll still garner a healthy amount of K’s while maintaining a respectable ERA and WHIP. He’ll also snag the occasional win.
Javier’s ceiling is high and even if he’s left to relief duties to begin the year, he’s still worth a dollar of your total budget.
Hitters
Dalbec was a huge disappointment to start the season. Even though many held onto the young slugger, he never really hit his stride until a few weeks after the All-Star break. The addition of Kyle Schwarber brought a mentor of sorts for the young first baseman, and after a long conversation they reportedly had, Dalbec dramatically turned his season around.
Over the final two months, the righty slugger crushed 14 home runs to go along with 38 RBIs in just 38 started games. He hit .287 during that stretch and cemented himself as a solid run producer in the Boston lineup. He still strikes out in a third of his at-bats and Boston does have one of their top prospects waiting in the wings to take over, but for just a buck, you could do a whole lot worse. Target Dalbec when your budget starts to run out.
Is there another player outside of Bryce Harper and Juan Soto who gets on base as consistently as Brandon Nimmo does? Let me answer that question for you. The answer is no! For the second consecutive season and third in the last four years, Nimmo produced an OBP over .400. If he could just manage to stay healthy, a full-time Nimmo could easily produce over 100 runs scored, with a .285 batting average, 15+ home runs, and about 10 steals. Plus, his RBI totals should increase not having having to hit behind the pitcher anymore (NL DH).
With New York’s vastly improved lineup and Nimmo leading the charge, you have to love his availability at such a low cost. Don’t forget about the Mets’ table-setter when figuring out how to spend your final few dollars.
No one knows for sure how Suzuki will fare in his first trip to the States, but at such a low cost, he is a must-have in all auction leagues. He has drawn multiple comps to many successful players, with the latest one being a young AJ Pollock – but without the injuries.
To be honest, I’m quite surprised to see Suzuki listed at only a $1 projection after launching 38 long balls in just 132 games last year while registering a .317 average. There is always the chance he struggles as other Japanese players have, but obviously, there have been more than a handful that took the league by storm. Most projections have him hitting in the neighborhood of 23-28 home runs while batting around .265. His recent signing with the Cubs won’t sway the needle much in either direction, but you have to believe that’s where he wanted to go considering he had a multitude of suitors.
There’s a slight chance he goes off and in that case, you’ve got yourself quite the steal. Either way, a single buck seems like a low evaluation, so it wouldn’t be a terrible idea to maybe set aside a couple of dollars just in case someone else ups the bidding.
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Austin Lowell is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Austin, check out his archive.
