The best players in the world play on NFBC. The most popular high-stakes contest is the NFBC Main Event, which has a $1,750 buy-in with a $7,000 league prize and a $200,000 overall prize. Thankfully, for everyone, NFBC allows us to see what each team is doing with their FAAB pickups on Sunday night.
Each week, I look at the most popular fantasy baseball waiver wire and FAAB pickups in the NFBC Main Event to see who the best players in the world are picking up and whether we should add them.
The best players in the world play on NFBC. The most popular high-stakes contest is the NFBC Main Event, which has a $1,750 buy-in with a $7,000 league prize and a $200,000 overall prize. Thankfully, for everyone, NFBC allows us to see what each team is doing with their FAAB pickups on Sunday night.
Each week, I look at the most popular fantasy baseball waiver wire and FAAB pickups in the NFBC Main Event to see who the best players in the world are picking up and whether we should add them.
Fantasy Baseball FAAB Waiver Wire Pickups
Emilio Pagan was picked up in 53 out of 57 Main Event leagues with a max of $155 and a minimum bid of $17. Pagan picked up the first save of the year for the Reds, who are missing last year’s closer Alexis Diaz due to injury.
In their first game, they went with Ian Gibaut, who promptly blew the game. Before the season started, the talk in Cincinnati was that the closer battle was between Scott Barlow, Tony Santillan and Graham Ashcraft. This has all the makings of a very frustrating committee.
This is the Athletics’ version of Max Muncy, not to be confused with the Dodgers’ one. Muncy was picked up in 39 Main Event leagues with a max bid of $57 and a minimum bid of $1. This Muncy is a former first-round pick, but one that does not have a carrying tool for fantasy, which means he will need to accumulate to have value.
Muncy does have a home run already, but he is unlikely to do enough to be more than deep league depth.
Luke Jackson was picked up in 37 leagues with a max bid of $379 and a minimum bid of $122. Jackson has taken the lead in the Rangers’ closer battle, saving two of their games and blowing one. The skills aren’t as good as fellow reliever Chris Martin, but he is the leading candidate.
Leody Taveras was picked up in 33 leagues with a max bid of $75 and a minimum bid of $7. Taveras was expected to start the year as a fourth outfielder, but the Rangers sent Evan Carter to the Minors, giving Taveras the centerfield job. He will platoon some, but there is plenty of speed and a bit of pop here in a good lineup.
Kyle Stowers was picked up in 32 leagues with a max bid of $23 and a minimum bid of $1. Stowers has started the year off hot, hitting .333/.500/.333 with a stolen base. He is playing every day in Miami. While the team around him isn’t very good, Stowers has some power and speed. He will be a decent accumulator if he can keep the strikeouts in check.
Derek Hill was picked up in 31 leagues with a max bid of $23 and a minimum bid of $1. Hill is similar to Stowers but with more speed and a worse strikeout problem. Hill is in the everyday lineup for now, but he is already striking out at a high rate. He will need to keep those in check or he will lose playing time at some point.
Blake Treinen was picked up in 27 leagues with a max bid of $89 and a minimum bid of $17. Treinen got the save on Thursday, while Tanner Scott pitched the eighth inning. Scott still appears to be the leader of this committee, but it is a committee nonetheless. Treinen will factor into that and could become the main guy if Scott were to get hurt or falter.
Zach McKinstry was picked up in 28 leagues with a max bid of $60 and a minimum bid of $1. McKinstry has started the season hot and is eligible at shortstop, third base and outfield, which makes him the perfect bench guy in deeper formats. However, he likely isn’t much more than that.
Seth Halvorsen was picked up in 20 leagues with a max bid of $233 and a minimum bid of $22. Halvorsen got the first save for the Rockies and has elite skills, but the Rockies likely won’t win a lot of games, and pitching in Colorado is dangerous. He has the talent to make it work, but there is a lot of risk here.
Camilo Doval was picked up in $26 leagues with a max bid of $107 and a minimum bid of $2. Doval got the save for the Giants on Sunday because Ryan Walker was dealing with a minor injury. Doval is the next man up in San Francisco, but reports sound good for Walker returning very soon, so Doval is not much more than a handcuff.
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