Using bids and nominations to dominate your fantasy baseball auction

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Auction-style drafts are still less common than your garden variety snake draft. They tend to be less predictable due to any player being available for nomination at a given time. With snake drafts, there is no chance of seeing a fringe player being taken early on. In an auction, this might happen in an attempt to induce an overpay, to steal a player early, or to simply gauge value.

How you manage your bids and nominations will factor into how happy you will be immediately following the draft.

Make an 'Avoid List' and Nominate From it

Know the players who you do not want on your team no matter what. Don't worry about lesser players here. Focus on batters and pitchers who you know will be drafted. If you believe Pittsburgh Pirates OF Andrew McCutchen's best days are behind him, nominate him immediately.

He's not going to be left to your $1 starting bid, but there is a chance you can get him at a discounted price if your leaguemates share your concerns. The more likely scenario will see a bidding war between those who believe he will rebound. He might go slightly below market value, but at least someone else spent money on him instead of you. Any dollar put toward a McCutchen or another player you don't want is a dollar that can't be spent elsewhere.

This strategy is used to bleed your opponents' budgets. Nominate players you don't want and watch them get bid up. Remember that there is a finite amount of roster spots, so every time an opponent lands someone, they are a step closer to a full team.

Focus your avoid list on players you think will continue to decline (like McCutchen) as well as players who offer top returns in only one stat category. A home run champ with low batting average like Baltimore 1B Chris Davis will still have value, but also carries plenty of red flags. Nominate and watch others spend their auction dough.

Nominate Sleepers Early

A slight deviation from nominating guys from your "avoid" list is to pinpoint the obvious sleepers. This might seem like a misnomer, but if you do enough preseason digging, you'll know who all the pundits are targeting as a breakout talent. Everyone else in your draft is hoping these guys get forgotten so they can swoop in and scoop up a star in the making for cents on the dollar (think 2016 Jonathan Villar).

These players could still be had at a discount. If your opponents get cold feet because of the pedigree of the remaining players, you might be able to score a bargain. Otherwise, someone will overvalue their budget and overspend. In the end, while it's fine to overspend at times, you want others to do it early.

Make 'em Pay and Exploit What You Know

One of your auction goals should be to lure your opponents into overspending while avoiding doing so yourself. The risk is less dire on big names. When Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, or Paul Goldschmidt go for astronomical figures, you don't feel too bad because you know you're getting elite production. On other names ... not so much.

Last year, in a keeper auction, Detroit Tigers OF J.D. Martinez somehow became the most expensive player selected. Granted, those mentioned above had been kept at their lower rates for years so the pickings were somewhat slim. Still, people will overspend. If you're going big, make it for an elite player and don't do so out of frustration because you missed out early.

Know biases. If there is a hardcore Boston Red Sox fan, it might be worth bumping up bids on the likes of Hanley Ramirez or Jackie Bradley. While there is inherent risk involved, if you play it right, they'll be the ones overextending their purse strings.

Don't Be Overly Conservative

Almost anyone who has ever taken part in an auction has left money on the table at some point. Don't let it happen. Get the player(s) you want. To get the best, you will have to pay more than expected, but otherwise you'll be stuck with a roster of decent talent without any superstars. This will doom you to a middle-of-the-pack finish.

Auction drafts are a fun alternative (best suited for keeper leagues), but aren't for the passive observer. You have to be active at all turns. Sometimes an extra five dollar bid would have been the difference between landing Nolan Arenado and settling for a lesser name.

For auction vets, go nuts. For rookies, jump in the deep end and learn from your mistakes.