Well, one, you won't know that other person's bid limit. Two, the question is whether you want to overpay or not.

In a keeper league, the bid limit for Halladay could be $40 for one team and $50 for another, even if both owners are expecting exactly the same stats.

Ah - but if it's down to those two left bidding on Halladay - what does the bid limit become for team A ($40 bid limit)? Because if he keeps his limit at $40, he's just handed team B an additional 9 bucks in the auction.

Or is that too 9th dimensional chess?

RE: Inflation

I use kind of a gut-feeling, buzz-worthy assignment of extra dollars.

Heading into your auction, based on the news and your own league makeup, it's pretty easy to identify those guys that everyone 'loves' this year.

There's no need to put an extra buck or two on Rafael Furcal or Chipper Jones, just slap an extra buck on Jordan Zimmerman or Strasburg.

I also then put extra $ to the things I need. For example, in the PCL I've got pretty good offense and suspect pitching. So I'd more likely give extra money to Cliff Lee and Kershaw than to Kemp and Braun, even though all four probably deserve it.

Oh, and if you need to find 12 more dollars, just give it to Joey Votto, because apparently he's worth whatever you decide to pay.

I think almost everyone nowadays agrees you shouldn't assign inflation evenly. Just how unevenly to assign it is the tricky part. The better your freeze list is -- compared to other people's freeze lists -- the more unevenly you should assign it. In a keeper league, the bid limit for Halladay could be $40 for one team and $50 for another, even if both owners are expecting exactly the same stats.

I've never taken a computer into the auction, but I may change that this year. Too many sheets of paper have tangled me up for a few years.

I wonder how much of actual auction bidding is "inflation assignment theory."

If we both agree that Roy Halladay will earn about 32 and that the overall league inflation is 20%, but you assign it evenly (giving Halladay a price of 38) and I assign it with 2/3 to the top half (giving me a price of 41 for Halladay) and we both are "true to our prices" then I will generally score the cadillac players.

I miss having a mixed league to play in - dwindling leagues out here in Phoeinx - but i may end up in NoCal or Seattle so maybe better chances there.

I love bar auctions, TMU2009. Usually after an hour in when my auction is already in the sh*tter, and asking myself, "did I really bid $19 on Chase Headley?", I can ease the pain by throwing back some cold ones. Funny, but now that I think about it, one of best auctions I ever had was in a bar in NYC. It was the perfect storm of Corona's and values falling in my lap. Won the league that year. Bar auctions rule!

I wanted to give it a try. Plus, neither Mike nor I are "mixed" specialists by any stretch of the imagination, so I figure I should start doing them before I have to answer so many questions about them.

The 15-team mixer gets a bad rap. You need to know every team (and more players) and you have choices when players get hurt. I really think it rewards skill more than the mono leagues.