You can read the sister article of AL observations here.

The days of the sleeper are over.  You read it here first.  The AL auction really opened my eyes to this fact.  But the NL auction completely sealed the deal.  The prices and the intense bidding for any player of discernable talent sold me on the sleeper search being dead.

Rotoexpert.com offers you this list of NL only keeper league auction prices and the breakdown of the player to wake you up.  If you want these players, and your league is competitive, don’t expect to get them for less than fair value.  If you are acquiring these players for under $10 in your league, please, please, invite Rotoexpert.com to join your league.

Here are the prices of some of the “sleepers” in our recently completed auction.  It is NL-only, $280 budget, 25% draft inflation, expert league of 12 years:

$27 Edwin Encarnacion - A guy turning 25 with steadily improving power numbers and a solid average.  He should be a solid buy in your league at $15.  I had to pay $27.

$22 Lastings Milledge - This guy has been thrown around my roto league forever.  He’s only 23, going for a buck a year old almost.  Way too expensive.  I put him on here not as a sleeper for a Rotoexpert, but to show you that even young guns are well-known and over-hyped.

$20 Cameron Maybin - There is little doubt this guy is going to be a sweet player when he gets older…I try not to spend double-digits on a player until they can buy alcohol. Oh yeah, he started the year in the minors.

$11 Edinson Volquez - This pitcher was supposed to be the next coming of Nolan Ryan for the Rangers, but then they traded him to the NL.  I like to grab players 2 years after their hype has died down – IF they have talent.  Back in the Pre-Rotoexpert days, Volquez would’ve went for $2.  Now, everyone knows about him and he went for double-digits.  A ton of risk for a young unproven starting pitcher. 

$20 Barry Zito - Just kidding.  This is an awful pick at this price.  Someone started the bidding out for Zito at $20 to be heroic and get someone else to spend on him. They only heard crickets.  Don’t do this.

$10 Ken Griffey Jr. - Griffey isn’t going to carry your team but you never know if he is finally going to stay healthy.  An educated gamble at $5.  $10, a risk.

Analogy of the day: Sleepers are to Roto as cassette tapes are to music.  Once a must-have item that is now fallen by the wayside to technology.   When faced with going that extra dollar or two on a known stud player, pay the price.  Because there is very little sleeper talent left at the end of the auctions these days.