preparing for an auction (1 Viewer)

[billrob]

I've got my first auction in a few weeks after years of using a regular redraft. What's the best way to prepare?

I've got my position rankings done. I was going to split them all into categories: QB1, RB1, WR1, RB2, etc...and then separate each category into upper and lower tiers. And finally give a dollar range for each tier.

Some articles I've read say you should give a precise dollar value to every player and to not spend more than that.

What do you guys think?

 

[GregR_2]

You do need to assign dollar values going in. Personally I don't tier them, I assign everyone a minimum salary and subtract that much money from the league total. Then I create a set of VBD-like values for all players, where guys I think should get the min salary get a 0 value. Then I sum up all the values of all players that should make a roster. That gives me a total value. Divide total value by cap room left after minimum salaries to fill rosters are spent. That's how much cap room each value point is worth. Multiply that by each player's value and I have his salary I think he's worth.

As for your second question, no, just because you have a dollar value doesn't mean that you shouldn't spend more than that. GENERALLY you shouldn't spend more than that, but sometimes you need to.

Let's say everyone in the league is overspending at RB. This means you should end up with better players at other positions than others, but if you wait until the RBs come down to what you show as being an appropriate salary, you may not get 2 of them worth starting. You might end up with RB30 being your best RB on your team. (Edit to add: This is more a problem in 12 team leagues than in 10 team leagues.)

So at times when the league is consistently overspending at a position, realize that you may need to overspend as well. But what you try to do is to overspend less than the other teams are doing. If you have late 1st and early 2nd round RBs in a big tier and they are consistently going for $50 when you think they are worth $30, then if you can get one for $43 or $45 you want to jump on him.

Any amount that you come out ahead of the other owners is that much more you can put into your other positions.

Also, this is the most important part of prep for a first time auction person. DO SOME MOCKS. There is an art to being able to control the end of the auction, and it doesn't take a large amount of money more than someone else to be able to do it. But it takes some practice and seeing it done to get the hang of it. Also, if you've overspent earlier, STOP SPENDING MONEY. Let other teams spend and after awhile the draft will come back to you.

Dodds had an excellent article over on fantasyauctioneer.com, but I don't think I've seen it in a few years. Might want to check the archives here.

 

[mcd]

Also, this is the most important part of prep for a first time auction person. DO SOME MOCKS. There is an art to being able to control the end of the auction, and it doesn't take a large amount of money more than someone else to be able to do it. But it takes some practice and seeing it done to get the hang of it. Also, if you've overspent earlier, STOP SPENDING MONEY. Let other teams spend and after awhile the draft will come back to you. Dodds had an excellent article over on fantasyauctioneer.com, but I don't think I've seen it in a few years. Might want to check the archives here.

Just a comment about "over-spending early", many times the value of the auction will be early on. Don't be afraid to be the guy that grabs 3 or 4 quality players in the first dozen or so nominations. There is nothing worse than trying to control the end of an auction when 3 other teams are attempting to do the same, it ends badly for all the teams. I do agree that once you have spent a good portion of your $$$, you need to stop until the later portions of the auction. 10% of your cash can go a long ways at the end, when $2 will get you your choice of players, as opposed to the guys stuck bidding the $1 minimum.

 

[gebz306]

You do need to assign dollar values going in. Personally I don't tier them, I assign everyone a minimum salary and subtract that much money from the league total. Then I create a set of VBD-like values for all players, where guys I think should get the min salary get a 0 value. Then I sum up all the values of all players that should make a roster. That gives me a total value. Divide total value by cap room left after minimum salaries to fill rosters are spent. That's how much cap room each value point is worth. Multiply that by each player's value and I have his salary I think he's worth.As for your second question, no, just because you have a dollar value doesn't mean that you shouldn't spend more than that. GENERALLY you shouldn't spend more than that, but sometimes you need to.Let's say everyone in the league is overspending at RB. This means you should end up with better players at other positions than others, but if you wait until the RBs come down to what you show as being an appropriate salary, you may not get 2 of them worth starting. You might end up with RB30 being your best RB on your team. (Edit to add: This is more a problem in 12 team leagues than in 10 team leagues.)So at times when the league is consistently overspending at a position, realize that you may need to overspend as well. But what you try to do is to overspend less than the other teams are doing. If you have late 1st and early 2nd round RBs in a big tier and they are consistently going for $50 when you think they are worth $30, then if you can get one for $43 or $45 you want to jump on him. Any amount that you come out ahead of the other owners is that much more you can put into your other positions.Also, this is the most important part of prep for a first time auction person. DO SOME MOCKS. There is an art to being able to control the end of the auction, and it doesn't take a large amount of money more than someone else to be able to do it. But it takes some practice and seeing it done to get the hang of it. Also, if you've overspent earlier, STOP SPENDING MONEY. Let other teams spend and after awhile the draft will come back to you. Dodds had an excellent article over on fantasyauctioneer.com, but I don't think I've seen it in a few years. Might want to check the archives here.

I agree with your Value assesment during the draft. I actually made an excel spreadsheet that recalculates every players value based on the demands of the draft after each pick. Lemme know if yall wanna check it out. Make sure to get a #1 wr and a 1a.... goodluck

 

[AnonymousBob]

I agree with your Value assesment during the draft. I actually made an excel spreadsheet that recalculates every players value based on the demands of the draft after each pick. Lemme know if yall wanna check it out.

I'm interested.

 

[Chop_Block]

This is for anyt auction that takes place over time (free for all, 12 hour clock, online sort of thing)- vs a live in persona auction, where it might not work as well.

Read a good article elsewhere that mentioned the idea that if you are doing IDP (and you don't say, so I don't know if this will apply), you might want to toss some good players out early - while everyone else is beating themselves over the head shooting for all the stud RBs, a few IDP guys can slip through. The money is focused elsewhere, so take advantage.

Of course, you need to keep in on the offensive bidding as well, but try to catch some people asleep at the wheel early.

 

[gebz306]

Hey, I would love to send you guys the spreadsheet but I have to make some changes to it to make it work correctly... I will need about a week... I will keep in touch though!

 

[BigRed]

I've got my first auction in a few weeks after years of using a regular redraft. What's the best way to prepare?I've got my position rankings done. I was going to split them all into categories: QB1, RB1, WR1, RB2, etc...and then separate each category into upper and lower tiers. And finally give a dollar range for each tier.Some articles I've read say you should give a precise dollar value to every player and to not spend more than that.What do you guys think?

I think that's idiotic. "Stick to your plan" has to be one of the worst pieces of advice given out about auction drafts. You have to stay flexible.For more I suggest searching on "auction" using the search function above. Lots of good stuff

 

[BigRed]

Make sure to get a #1 wr and a 1a.... goodluck

because.........Not saying that's good or bad per se, but it very much depends how the draft goes. eg I got Coles and Walker cheap late in our draft last year, and with my strong RB corps, had a good team.

 

[gebz306]

Make sure to get a #1 wr and a 1a.... goodluck

because.........Not saying that's good or bad per se, but it very much depends how the draft goes. eg I got Coles and Walker cheap late in our draft last year, and with my strong RB corps, had a good team.

Sorry I actually lost my train of thought when I was responding earlier. Grabbing 2 good wr's for my draft is essential no matter what the cost, normally 15%-17% of your cap, because we start 4 wr's. A suitable answer to all Auction drafts is to yes be patient and to realize what each team needs. Great Example... Suppose the top 12 wr's are gone, you would expect the other wr prices to drop right? Yes they will if you are in a league of 12 and everybody has a wr. BUT, if 4-6 teams have the top twelve, then that leaves half of the teams scrambling for wr's and thus raising the price a la law of supply and demand. YES, you may choose to say #### it and not overspend and load up on rb's for cheap, but honestly, who really wants to go into a fantasy season loaded up on one side and weak on the other. I have seen many teams get screwed this way. YES, I do believe a bit in loading up a bit at RB especially with rookie or sleeper rb's and hoping to pick up other wr's during the year. WR's stats vary so much I tend to go for guys that are considered 1b and 2a.... good luck

 

[BigRed]

Sorry I actually lost my train of thought when I was responding earlier. Grabbing 2 good wr's for my draft is essential no matter what the cost, normally 15%-17% of your cap, because we start 4 wr's.

got it, thx for clarification -

 

[Varmint]

I do things a bit differently than this...and with pretty good success.

I don't assign values to individual players. Sure, I have an idea of what I want to pay and could just as easily assign number to each player...but I found it easier to assign values to each position and bid using that.

In our league, each team will fill a 12-man roster with a cap of $120. Everyone may do it differently but I look to fill these slots during the auction:

2 QB

4 RB

4 WR

1 K

1 DEF/ST

Here's how my budget looks for this year..... I already have 2 keepers. I make the budget keeping them in mind.

QB #1.....$10

QB #2.....$ 1 (already on roster)

RB #1.....$38

RB #2.....$10

RB #3.....$ 2

RB #4.....$ 1

WR #1....$36

WR #2....$17 (already on roster)

WR #3....$ 2

WR #4....$ 1

K............$ 1

DEF/ST...$ 1

How did I come up with these numbers?

They are based on the available talent.

The reason my QB #1 is so low is because MOST of the top QB's will be kept by other teams. I can land many of the best remaining QB's for near this price.

I've also budgeted the WR #1 and RB #1 according to the talent pool that will be available when the auction starts. I may have to go a bit higher to get one of the remaining "studs". I don't expect to get more than one "stud" at any position. If I get a "stud" WR...I will probably disburse much of the money I allocated for RB #1 to other positions.

You have to be flexible when it comes to these numbers and you have to be able to change them on the fly...

You bid for players as they come up. You don't try to fill certain slots until you only have a few slots to fill.

Let's say that you're bidding on a RB and there aren't to many RB's left after this one. You find yourself approaching your cap for RB #1. If you pass that number, you have to be ready to take something away from some other slot. Say you end up getting that RB for $40. You have to immediately take $2 from some other slot...WR #2 or something.

If you are bidding for an RB you really want and you end up getting him for $30...you get to disperse $8 to one or more open postions...

If you're bidding on a WR and you end up getting him for $10...it makes more sense to say that you got your #2 WR at a bargain rather than saying you spent WAY too much for your #3 WR!

You MUST be flexible.....the best bidders are the ones who make adjustments as needed!!

If you overbid...you overbid the position...not the individual player.

Also...in just about every auction I've particiapted in, I've finished filling my roster last.

I have no problem letting people overbid just to get done and then I use my $1 picks to "sweep the floor" as I call it.

Some noteable $1-$2 players that have been gotten lately have been: J. Cutler.....T. Henry.....K. McCardell....Charger Def/St.

They're there if you wait the other teams out.

 

[kwille]

I do things a bit differently than this...and with pretty good success.

I don't assign values to individual players. Sure, I have an idea of what I want to pay and could just as easily assign number to each player...but I found it easier to assign values to each position and bid using that.

In our league, each team will fill a 12-man roster with a cap of $120. Everyone may do it differently but I look to fill these slots during the auction:

2 QB

4 RB

4 WR

1 K

1 DEF/ST

Here's how my budget looks for this year..... I already have 2 keepers. I make the budget keeping them in mind.

QB #1.....$10

QB #2.....$ 1 (already on roster)

RB #1.....$38

RB #2.....$10

RB #3.....$ 2

RB #4.....$ 1

WR #1....$36

WR #2....$17 (already on roster)

WR #3....$ 2

WR #4....$ 1

K............$ 1

DEF/ST...$ 1

How did I come up with these numbers?

They are based on the available talent.

The reason my QB #1 is so low is because MOST of the top QB's will be kept by other teams. I can land many of the best remaining QB's for near this price.

I've also budgeted the WR #1 and RB #1 according to the talent pool that will be available when the auction starts. I may have to go a bit higher to get one of the remaining "studs". I don't expect to get more than one "stud" at any position. If I get a "stud" WR...I will probably disburse much of the money I allocated for RB #1 to other positions.

You have to be flexible when it comes to these numbers and you have to be able to change them on the fly...

You bid for players as they come up. You don't try to fill certain slots until you only have a few slots to fill.

Let's say that you're bidding on a RB and there aren't to many RB's left after this one. You find yourself approaching your cap for RB #1. If you pass that number, you have to be ready to take something away from some other slot. Say you end up getting that RB for $40. You have to immediately take $2 from some other slot...WR #2 or something.

If you are bidding for an RB you really want and you end up getting him for $30...you get to disperse $8 to one or more open postions...

If you're bidding on a WR and you end up getting him for $10...it makes more sense to say that you got your #2 WR at a bargain rather than saying you spent WAY too much for your #3 WR!

You MUST be flexible.....the best bidders are the ones who make adjustments as needed!!

If you overbid...you overbid the position...not the individual player.

Also...in just about every auction I've particiapted in, I've finished filling my roster last.

I have no problem letting people overbid just to get done and then I use my $1 picks to "sweep the floor" as I call it.

Some noteable $1-$2 players I've gotten lately have been: J. Cutler.....T. Henry.....K. McCardell....Charger Def/St.

They're there if you wait the other teams out.

Varmint:Great post overall. Very similar strategy to how I go about auctions.

But I question the skill of your opponents if you got Travis Henry for $1-2!

 

[Lehigh98]

I do things a bit differently than this...and with pretty good success.

I don't assign values to individual players. Sure, I have an idea of what I want to pay and could just as easily assign number to each player...but I found it easier to assign values to each position and bid using that.

In our league, each team will fill a 12-man roster with a cap of $120. Everyone may do it differently but I look to fill these slots during the auction:

2 QB

4 RB

4 WR

1 K

1 DEF/ST

Here's how my budget looks for this year..... I already have 2 keepers. I make the budget keeping them in mind.

QB #1.....$10

QB #2.....$ 1 (already on roster)

RB #1.....$38

RB #2.....$10

RB #3.....$ 2

RB #4.....$ 1

WR #1....$36

WR #2....$17 (already on roster)

WR #3....$ 2

WR #4....$ 1

K............$ 1

DEF/ST...$ 1

How did I come up with these numbers?

They are based on the available talent.

The reason my QB #1 is so low is because MOST of the top QB's will be kept by other teams. I can land many of the best remaining QB's for near this price.

I've also budgeted the WR #1 and RB #1 according to the talent pool that will be available when the auction starts. I may have to go a bit higher to get one of the remaining "studs". I don't expect to get more than one "stud" at any position. If I get a "stud" WR...I will probably disburse much of the money I allocated for RB #1 to other positions.

You have to be flexible when it comes to these numbers and you have to be able to change them on the fly...

You bid for players as they come up. You don't try to fill certain slots until you only have a few slots to fill.

Let's say that you're bidding on a RB and there aren't to many RB's left after this one. You find yourself approaching your cap for RB #1. If you pass that number, you have to be ready to take something away from some other slot. Say you end up getting that RB for $40. You have to immediately take $2 from some other slot...WR #2 or something.

If you are bidding for an RB you really want and you end up getting him for $30...you get to disperse $8 to one or more open postions...

If you're bidding on a WR and you end up getting him for $10...it makes more sense to say that you got your #2 WR at a bargain rather than saying you spent WAY too much for your #3 WR!

You MUST be flexible.....the best bidders are the ones who make adjustments as needed!!

If you overbid...you overbid the position...not the individual player.

Also...in just about every auction I've particiapted in, I've finished filling my roster last.

I have no problem letting people overbid just to get done and then I use my $1 picks to "sweep the floor" as I call it.

Some noteable $1-$2 players I've gotten lately have been: J. Cutler.....T. Henry.....K. McCardell....Charger Def/St.

They're there if you wait the other teams out.

Varmint:Great post overall. Very similar strategy to how I go about auctions.

But I question the skill of your opponents if you got Travis Henry for $1-2!

Guessing this was last year and then $1-2 makes complete sense.

 

[Varmint]

I do things a bit differently than this...and with pretty good success.

I don't assign values to individual players. Sure, I have an idea of what I want to pay and could just as easily assign number to each player...but I found it easier to assign values to each position and bid using that.

In our league, each team will fill a 12-man roster with a cap of $120. Everyone may do it differently but I look to fill these slots during the auction:

2 QB

4 RB

4 WR

1 K

1 DEF/ST

Here's how my budget looks for this year..... I already have 2 keepers. I make the budget keeping them in mind.

QB #1.....$10

QB #2.....$ 1 (already on roster)

RB #1.....$38

RB #2.....$10

RB #3.....$ 2

RB #4.....$ 1

WR #1....$36

WR #2....$17 (already on roster)

WR #3....$ 2

WR #4....$ 1

K............$ 1

DEF/ST...$ 1

How did I come up with these numbers?

They are based on the available talent.

The reason my QB #1 is so low is because MOST of the top QB's will be kept by other teams. I can land many of the best remaining QB's for near this price.

I've also budgeted the WR #1 and RB #1 according to the talent pool that will be available when the auction starts. I may have to go a bit higher to get one of the remaining "studs". I don't expect to get more than one "stud" at any position. If I get a "stud" WR...I will probably disburse much of the money I allocated for RB #1 to other positions.

You have to be flexible when it comes to these numbers and you have to be able to change them on the fly...

You bid for players as they come up. You don't try to fill certain slots until you only have a few slots to fill.

Let's say that you're bidding on a RB and there aren't to many RB's left after this one. You find yourself approaching your cap for RB #1. If you pass that number, you have to be ready to take something away from some other slot. Say you end up getting that RB for $40. You have to immediately take $2 from some other slot...WR #2 or something.

If you are bidding for an RB you really want and you end up getting him for $30...you get to disperse $8 to one or more open postions...

If you're bidding on a WR and you end up getting him for $10...it makes more sense to say that you got your #2 WR at a bargain rather than saying you spent WAY too much for your #3 WR!

You MUST be flexible.....the best bidders are the ones who make adjustments as needed!!

If you overbid...you overbid the position...not the individual player.

Also...in just about every auction I've particiapted in, I've finished filling my roster last.

I have no problem letting people overbid just to get done and then I use my $1 picks to "sweep the floor" as I call it.

Some noteable $1-$2 players I've gotten lately have been: J. Cutler.....T. Henry.....K. McCardell....Charger Def/St.

They're there if you wait the other teams out.

Varmint:Great post overall. Very similar strategy to how I go about auctions.

But I question the skill of your opponents if you got Travis Henry for $1-2!

Guessing this was last year and then $1-2 makes complete sense.

Correct...We are allowed to keep up to two players for a max of 3 seasons...total.

The players must meet some pretty strict rules to qualify as a "keeper".

This adds a dimension to the auction that has owners picking up a rookie or two or a player in a certain situation that may change the following season....This is EXACTLY how this team ended up with T. Hernry for only $2!! In 2006, his situation made him worth about $2

Trust me....I've tried for an off-season trade....to no avail!!

 

[KellysHeroes]

Speaking of auction draft.... I have one tonight and had a last minute drop out... if anyone is ready; PM me and we'll get you loaded.

Free; using Fantasyauctioneer and espn w/ IDPs

 

[TerZilla77]

I do things a bit differently than this...and with pretty good success.

I don't assign values to individual players. Sure, I have an idea of what I want to pay and could just as easily assign number to each player...but I found it easier to assign values to each position and bid using that.

In our league, each team will fill a 12-man roster with a cap of $120. Everyone may do it differently but I look to fill these slots during the auction:

2 QB

4 RB

4 WR

1 K

1 DEF/ST

Here's how my budget looks for this year..... I already have 2 keepers. I make the budget keeping them in mind.

QB #1.....$10

QB #2.....$ 1 (already on roster)

RB #1.....$38

RB #2.....$10

RB #3.....$ 2

RB #4.....$ 1

WR #1....$36

WR #2....$17 (already on roster)

WR #3....$ 2

WR #4....$ 1

K............$ 1

DEF/ST...$ 1

How did I come up with these numbers?

They are based on the available talent.

The reason my QB #1 is so low is because MOST of the top QB's will be kept by other teams. I can land many of the best remaining QB's for near this price.

I've also budgeted the WR #1 and RB #1 according to the talent pool that will be available when the auction starts. I may have to go a bit higher to get one of the remaining "studs". I don't expect to get more than one "stud" at any position. If I get a "stud" WR...I will probably disburse much of the money I allocated for RB #1 to other positions.

You have to be flexible when it comes to these numbers and you have to be able to change them on the fly...

You bid for players as they come up. You don't try to fill certain slots until you only have a few slots to fill.

Let's say that you're bidding on a RB and there aren't to many RB's left after this one. You find yourself approaching your cap for RB #1. If you pass that number, you have to be ready to take something away from some other slot. Say you end up getting that RB for $40. You have to immediately take $2 from some other slot...WR #2 or something.

If you are bidding for an RB you really want and you end up getting him for $30...you get to disperse $8 to one or more open postions...

If you're bidding on a WR and you end up getting him for $10...it makes more sense to say that you got your #2 WR at a bargain rather than saying you spent WAY too much for your #3 WR!

You MUST be flexible.....the best bidders are the ones who make adjustments as needed!!

If you overbid...you overbid the position...not the individual player.

Also...in just about every auction I've particiapted in, I've finished filling my roster last.

I have no problem letting people overbid just to get done and then I use my $1 picks to "sweep the floor" as I call it.

Some noteable $1-$2 players that have been gotten lately have been: J. Cutler.....T. Henry.....K. McCardell....Charger Def/St.

They're there if you wait the other teams out.

This is very good advice. I, too, do a number of different things when I approach an Auction. And as always with an Auction in mind, rule #1 is that you need to be flexible. So this means that you cannot have just one plan and stick with that one. What I like to do is come up with about 3-4 gameplans or scenarios that I feel I could be successful with each year, complete with budgets for each scenario. Then I prioritize each one of those so this way I have a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and so on. If my plan A does not look like its going to pan out, I then target my plan B, etc etc. With each plan, I do target certain players who I feel will fit the mold. I like to have a list of players I target with each plan based on the tiers they are in primarily, and if things arent going my way, guys are too expensive, too many of my players from that plan are gone, I look at my other options. Its tough to explain, because the Auction goes fast, and if your gut is telling you to abandon your plan, its time to do so and look at your next one in line. You need to know when to jump ship and start going with your other plan.Anyway, each of these plans are usually the different approaches I will be ready to go with and I will try my best to stick to it, but as always, you MUST be flexible with your plans. I almost ALWAYS have at least one balanced Plan in place and it CAN be a good plan to go with sometimes. This plan takes a lot of patience, but if you do it right you can end up with a solid team, some great depth, and possibly set you up for some late $1-$2 steals.

The way I budget, is not by using dollar values, but by using percentages. Im in a couple different leagues where the cap is different, so this helps me out quite a bit since I can use my plans going league to league and get the new values based on each leagues cap. I also set a percentage range for each position. For instance: QB1 10%-15%, RB1 20%-30%, etc etc. These numbers are not set in stone, but I will usually let the higher number of those percentages exceed that value for another 3-5% (no more than 5% though, I do stop at that), you know, just in case you get into a bidding war. I will only do this for certain players though. This shouldnt happen for everyone. For instance, I would get in a bid war over a guy of Ladainians talents, spend that extra 5% that I had allocated to my RB1 position and downgrade who I was targetting for my RB2. Thing is, you need to make that adjustment on the fly. So if my RB2 position was 15%-25% I would subtract the additional % I spent on my RB1 just so I dont OVERSPEND and possibly ruin my budget. Damn I love the auction.

Im short on time, so I gotta run, but thing is, everyone does it differently. They all have their own way of doing things. Best thing I can say is be patient, definitely create a budget but be flexible with everything. It goes fast so be on your toes. best of luck.

JT

 

[BigRed]

bump for more auction talk