From the Desk of the Commish

The 2018 season promises to be the most competitive and exciting season we've seen in many years. With so many competitive teams vying for that trophy, it is highly likely that the ultimate champion will be determined by how this winter's auction and draft plays out.

This auction/draft class is unusually deep. Quality players for both the 2018 season and the near future are available for the taking, in both the auction and draft, at every position. Shrewd payroll management could make the difference between contender and also-ran in 2018.

In the past eight years, only one auction class (last year's) topped this year's class in overall VORP:

In terms of the top ten, we're also looking at only one class (2017) that tops this one in the past eight years:

What sets this class apart is its depth. You need a catcher? This auction includes FOUR catchers with an 800+ OPS (Kurt Suzuki, Tyler Flowers, Alex Avila, and Chris Iannetta), plus Brian McCann (759 OPS) and the rifle-armed Salvador Perez (.792).

Need a first baseman? How about MVP candidates Freddie Freeman or Anthony Rizzo? In total, there are THIRTEEN first basemen available in this auction/draft that hit 20 or more home runs last year. That is enough to supply more than half the league.

Need a second baseman? How about AL MVP Jose Altuve? Or maybe Brian Dozier and his 34 dingers? Or D.J. LeMahieu? Or Ian Kinsler? If you're in the market for a third baseman, you have several options for bidding, including Todd Frazier, Chase Headley, Derek Dietrich, David Freese, Logan Forsythe, and Kyle Seager. Any one of those guys would be an asset.

Shortstops? Take your pick: Zack Cozart, Paul DeJong, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jose Reyes, and several others. In the outfield, take your pick among Nelson Cruz, Charlie Blackmon, Yoenis Cespedes, Andrew McCutchen, and others.

The one shortage of talent may be on the mound. But even then, the Class of 2018 has to offer the likes of Gio Gonzalez, Carlos Carrasco, Lance Lynn, Jose Quintana, Cole Hamels, C.C. Sabathia, Jeff Samardzija, and several others. The only true closer in the auction is Andrew Miller -- but what a fantastic closer he is!

This may also be the strongest draft class in recent memory as well. This class is chock-full of names that were once among the best in the game, but suffered through a subpar 2017 MLB season and dropped out of the top 50; names such as: Michael Brantley, Dustin Pedroia, Melky Cabrera Jason Heyward, Carlos Gonzalez, Jason Kipnis, Russell Martin, Jayson Werth, Jose Bautista, Carlos Beltran, Cameron Maybin, Matt Wieters, Michael Saunders, Jhonny Peralta, Joe Mauer, Chris Davis, Hanley Ramirez, Mark Trumbo, Kendrys Morales, Albert Pujols, Mike Napoli, Adrian Gonzalez, and Troy Tulowitzki. And those are only the hitters!

On the pitching side, we have Yovani Gallardo, James Shields, Ian Kennedy, Jason Hammel, Matt Moore, Jordan Zimmerman, and Mark Melancon among the notable names that were excluded from the auction.

If you're looking for bullpen help, chances are you'll find it in the draft, where Tommy Hunter, Wade Davis, Pedro Strop, Cody Allen, Chris Rusin, Pat Neshek, and Matt Barnes are only some of the quality arms available.

It just doesn't seem like auction season without Anthony Peburn warning everyone about how much money is "out there this year," and his predictions about wild and careless spending. Alas, relatively speaking, there isn't actually a lot of money out there this year:

Year	Total cash available ($MM)	# of free agents needed	Cash per player ($MM)	$ spent in auction ($MM)
2003	$557.1	360	$1.55	$328.5 (59%)
2004	$606.2	343	$1.77	$363.5 (60%)
2005	$498.2	292	$1.71	$318.0 (64%)
2006	$621.3	327	$1.90	$341.5 (55%)
2007	$569.0	296	$1.92	$364.5 (64%)
2008	$595.5	320	$1.86	$324.0 (54%)
2009	$543.3	292	$1.86	$289.5 (53%)
2010	$417.5	261	$1.60	$289.5 (69%)
2011	$472.9	295	$1.60	$269.0 (57%)
2012	$361.0	267	$1.35	$214.5 (59%)
2013	$511.8	293	$1.75	$272.0 (53%)
2014	$489.0	297	$1.64	$296.5 (61%)
2015	$352.5	275	$1.28	$201.0 (57%)
2016	$540.9	291	$1.85	$278.5 (51%)
2017	$589.7	306	$1.93	$294.0 (50%)
2018	$505.9	295	$1.71	TBD

In terms of cash per player, we're looking at the eighth-lowest figure in the auction's sixteen year history. In other words, the 2018 auction is at the median.

The league leaders this year are the Saskatoon Sasquatch, who have a whopping $38 million to spend this winter. They have sixteen roster spots to fill (an average of $2.4M per spot), and need a first baseman, at least one outfielder, and starting pitching. With $38 million, they could probably sign Anthony Rizzo, Nelson Cruz, and Gio Gonzalez. The Higuera Division just got a little more interesting, didn't it?

The Squatch aren't alone on the big-spenders list this year. Las Vegas ($35M), South Carolina ($34.5), Ravenswood ($34.4), Charlotte ($31.8), and Western Kansas ($30.1) all have north of $30 million to blow-- err, I mean, make wise decisions with. On a per-player basis, Charlotte ranks #1 in that category at $2.7 million. They seem to need a first baseman and an ace starting pitcher (or two.)

Just in case you don't already feel nauseous about all of this, let me point out that the new Joplin GM, one William James Doyle, also has an average of $2.7 million per player to spend this winter. The Miners somehow ended up with only ten batters on their 35-man roster as of Cutdown Day, so they have a lot of open positions to fill, including first or third base, shortstop, and left and center field. Needless to say, it will be interesting to see how Doyle spends his $27 million. Will he blow it all on one player or spread it around? My money's on the former.

At the other end of the spectrum, it looks like Flagstaff ($2.9M), Southern Cal ($6.9), Myrtle Beach ($10.7), Kansas City ($10.8), and Akron ($11.3) will mostly be spectators this winter.

The Class of 2019 looks to be the Class of the Ace Pitcher at this point. Among the aces that will be available a year from now: Clayton Kershaw, Chris Sale, Madison Bumgarner, Zack Greinke, Jon Lester, Felix Hernandez, Dallas Keuchel, Ervin Santana, Danny Duffy, Marco Estrada, and Jake Arrieta. WOW!

The hitting class isn't nearly as impressive, yet still strong: Ryan Braun, Jedd Gyorko, Evan Longoria, Justin Turner, Buster Posey, Daniel Murphy, Brett Gardner, Joey Votto, Ben Zobrist, Matt Carpenter, Miguel Cabrera, and Elvis Andrus.

2018 Draft Day Preview