Is the BP print edition out yet? Anyone know, for those of us living happily in 1997?

I tried to talk my leagues into dropping IPs altogether. Did so in one league which lead to the winners going with two SPs and 7 middle relievers, not quite the lima but close.

Last year with all of the IP issues/ramifications of the short/pandemic year, our final standings changed such that one owner fell out of the money. We had a record 3 of 12 teams (NL only) not make the IP limit. I personally dropped like 18 points, because I missed the limit by one inning - and I hadn't even considered I would fall short of the limit. This year, after a lot of back and forth, we decided to drop the limit altogether. Lowering it is arbitrary and still, say by 50, might not be enough - and if by too much it becomes worthless. Of the options discussed we never thought of adding a P. I am sure that would have been nixed knowing the league. We are trying with no limit this year. We can always change it again if we don't like it.

Mike and I had a number of head to head battles during the auction.

Peter's sheet, which I was using as my north star, said $30.  I was half enforcing when I said 28, as it forced me to rebalance my bid sheet when I won him - I was planning on saving the money at 2B and picking Cesar Hernandez in the end game for less than 10 (he went for 6).  Because of that I ended up with Donaldson at 3B for 18, instead of saving money to chase Moncada, who I was targeting at Peter's 22 bid.

Ended up being the right move, as Moncada ended up going for 27 a few bids later.

Also LeMahieu going for 32 two picks after I got Merrifield also made me feel good about it.  Although I guess there's going to be trade rumors all year about Merrifield if KC starts slow.

I smiled when I read that.

It goes directly to this question: Did Bauer excel because the hitters stunk? Or did Christian Yelich stink because the pitchers in the Central were so good?

And did all those Gold Glove finalists in the Central help the pitchers and hurt the hitters? Or did the good pitching and bad hitting make the fielders look especially good?

I bumped mine up to $18 about four hours ago. I don't know what I was thinking.

When Rotoman wrote "You want elite you'll have to pay elite" in his extended comment, I doubt he was thinking $47. But that's what Gerrit Cole cost in CBS.

Scott White paid it, then shelled out $26 for Zach Plesac, $21 for Dylan Bundy and $11 for John Means. Then threw five $1 darts at wannabe closers and one more starter.

It certainly looks like he had Cole, Plesac, Bundy and Means circled on his list and kept bidding until he got them.

His fifth starter is Danny Duffy. I wonder if he was circled?

Texpope's big-ticket item in CBS: $28.

Much like Mike G, but much less radically, he spread the risk.

If the salary scan tells us anything, and I think it does, he'll get a profit from his most expensive player.

Mike Gianella's big-ticket item in CBS: $24.

Spreading the risk with a vengeance.

PK5 $13

AP4 $11

That's what we have right now in the Projector. In the March 4 update, I'm thinking mine has to come up a ways. Maybe a long ways.

Also in the first update: Mike Fenger's bids for 5x5.

Peter has been getting picks and pans from the annual contributors to the Guide. Here's one that was posted here four days ago for subscribers.

JD BOLICK PAN: A notoriously thin-skinned personality moving from the
Midwest to a major media market would be enough to send alarm bells
ringing, but there are many other on-field reasons to believe that Bauer
will not come close to earning his contract. His .215 BABIP allowed was
second lowest among qualified starters and far beyond anything he had
ever posted before, while his 90.9% left on-base percentage also
explains his career best ERA. But the biggest red flag of all is the
fact that Bauer faced one of the weakest groups of opposing batters of
any pitcher in 2020, with only one regular season start coming against
an offense outside of the bottom ten.

That was easy to fix -- I changed 100 earned runs to 10 -- but a far peskier problem is the phantom 2021 stat line, which we thought we had fixed but haven't.

There's a problem with his 2020 ERA.

Opting out again for 2021, freeing up a 40-man roster spot.  Which sparked the below observation from a writer.  I cannot imagine what it feels like to be a Rockies fan this offseason.  Oops, never mind, I can.  I'm a Texans fan, losing Watt and watching Watson demand a trade.

But really, no actal ML free agent signings at all?

-------

As Joel Sherman of the New York Post points out (on Twitter), the Rockies are the only team in the league not to have signed a major league free agent this offseason.

How many at bats does it cost him playing for the Mets? The smart money seems to be saying he's going to end up with 350 at bats or so. But the smart money has been giving him short shrift every year. 

Castro has some impressive speed, too. Many he'll add some SB this year. 

Lo and behold, I have Willi Castro on two out of three of my teams. I probably picked him up in 2019 based on his very good AAA line. I never realized he put up an outstanding partial season last year, securing a starting job for this year.  He's now on my protections lists in both leagues.

Joey Lucchesi (P) NY-N - Feb. 20

https://www.rotowire.com/baseball/player.php?id=763287

Lucchesi went to Driveline during the offseason in an effort to smooth his delivery and better his mechanics, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

ROTOWIRE RECOMMENDS: Lucchesi said the focus of his sessions at Driveline included work on his lead, his front side and shoulder mobility. He's coming off a disappointing 2020 season, when he threw only 5.2 innings and was regularly placed at the alternate site. Though he's not a lock for the rotation, Lucchesi should have a chance for an increased role with the Mets this season and will look to regain his 2019 form when he posted a 4.18 ERA and 1.22 WHIP across 163.2 frames.

Nineteen teen games isn't that small a sample size. Of all the amazing numbers, perhaps the most notable is the LD%+.

Nick Anderson (P) TB - Feb. 20

https://www.rotowire.com/baseball/player.php?id=763292

Anderson spent most of the offseason in St. Petersburg instead of his native Minneapolis to work out at a new facility with the goal of enhancing mobility and strength, Adam Berry of MLB.com reports.

ROTOWIRE RECOMMENDS: The right-hander took his normal amount of time off after the Rays' postseason ended, which means he's a bit behind what is his typical spring schedule. Nevertheless, the right-hander has already thrown one bullpen session and is set for another in the coming days as he begins gearing up for the new campaign. After a dominant regular season during which he posted a career-best 0.55 ERA and 0.49 WHIP across 19 appearances, Anderson clearly struggled with fatigue in the postseason while giving up at least one earned run in each of his last seven October appearances.

What is your max bid for Smith?