Fantasy baseball: Let the bidding begin

The first of February has come, and that means the start of free agency bidding in my dynasty baseball league.

Even though I've got a pretty full roster that I could start the season with if needed, it's still fun to check our message board to see the bidding process. It's done, auction-style, with winning bids needing to stand for a full 7 days (we do have provisions for bids done toward the end of the bidding process and that can't stand for the 168 hours).

It can be nerve-racking to see whether any of the other 19 owners have decided to top your bid. I found it's best to avoid topping a bid right away -- especially if you know the other owner is online. That leads to confrontation, and a lot of times owners will bid right back. Getting into a bidding war most likely will drive up the price on a player artificially too high -- much to the delight of the other 17 or 18 owners. Given that we work with a payroll system with luxury tax, overspending $1 million or two can be costly.

It's tough to find good values in free agency bidding. I'll likely wait toward the end of the period, which ends March 22. Once the big players are rostered and there are fewer roster spots to fill, bargains will begin to emerge.