I play in a 10 team, 5X5 roto league, during the auction, should I bid higher for Byung Hyun Kim or Matt Mantei (who do you think is going to be the closer in Arizona?)
Right now Mantei is throwing well and apparently without problem, but it is still a long slow rehab he has to get through before he’ll rejoin the big club for real games. Projections right now are for a May return, until which time Kim is the closer.
If your 10 team league is an NL only league, I think modest bets on both Kim and Mantei are in order. If Mantei is truly healthy he will reclaim the job from Kim, but he has quite a few hoops to jump through before that happens. Meanwhile, Kim is great when he’s on, and not very good at all when he isn’t. It is possible Mantei could not make it back and Kim wouldn’t hold the closer job.
How much to bid on Kim? Maybe $8 or $10 if you want to play it safe. Will someone bid higher? Almost certainly. But that’s okay. This is a very unsettled situation and throwing money at it isn’t going to solve it. Mantei should cost even less.
In a 10 team mixed league I don’t think you should pay more than a buck or two for either of them. Relievers in 5×5 are of limited value.